We Are One

Elder Eyring’s talk from April General Conference, titled “We Are One” given in the Priesthood session, is the inspiration for this discussion.

Grace Versus Faith and Works

I distinctly remember that when I was young, gospel discussions about grace versus faith and works, with grace always losing in the discussion. The premise was that we are saved by faith and works, not by the grace of God. Instructors were pretty emphatic about it sometimes, but not always. I don’t remember a combination of the three being discussed. I am sure that it was I who misunderstood, and because of that misunderstanding I believed for years that faith and works alone would get me accepted into the Lord’s presence. I believed that I would be judged based on my faith and works here in mortality.

Not a Hair of my Head

I started losing my hair at about age 21. I first noticed it as a few hairs in the sink in England. No big deal. I noticed a few more in Florida, more in Wichita Falls and San Antonio, Texas. Even more in California and Okinawa, and more in Mississippi. It got even more serious in Virginia. My hairline started to recede, and I developed a noticeable bald spot. Still, when I looked in the mirror, I could see a lot of hair (at least in the front), and I never looked at the back. I have lost a hair or two in nearly every state of the union (including Hawaii and Alaska). I have to wear a hat nearly all the time to avoid too much sun on my mostly bald pate. I started telling my barber that a really good barber could get rid of the bald spot, but he just laughed, thinking it was a joke. I was serious. I considered, but rejected, a comb over.

Belief, Faith, and Knowledge

In testimony meeting this past Sunday, a good man (and one of the most Christ-like men I know) stated that he did not have true knowledge of the truthfulness of the gospel. He said that he hoped someday that he would, but all he could say today was that he believed the gospel was true.

The Repairer of the Breach

Isaiah 58:9-12

And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:

And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

Bending the Whole Soul

As I was preparing a lesson for High Priests group, I came across the phrase in the title of this missive. It struck me as very expressive of the need to humble ourselves so that we can live a life that is full of submission to the Lord’s will. The scriptures say that “every knee shall bow,” but something more than simple acknowledgement is required for exaltation. The soul is formed when the spirit and the body are joined together. This is our eternal form. When we are resurrected our bodies and spirits will be again fitted together in a glorified form for eternity.

A Christmas Story

The Christmas of my tenth year, our family lived in a little house in LaVerkin, Utah. We weren’t poor, but we weren’t rich either. Like Ralphie, I wanted a Daisy Red Ryder BB gun more than anything else in the world. When Christmas morning came, there it was, under the tree! I was ecstatic. I didn’t think about the sacrifices my parents must have made to give it to me, and graciously, my parents didn’t remind me. No one even told me that I would shoot my eye out. Dad showed me how to load it. He cocked it, pulled the trigger, and hit mom’s living room table leg. She was NOT happy. I can still see my dad’s sheepish grin, and I remember how quickly mom forgave him.