Forgiveness – The Balm of the Gospel

We sometimes find ourselves wronged by another. It may be unintended or purposeful. It may be small or very significant. It may be easy to forgive or very difficult to overcome. Whatever the offense, when we lack the ability to forgive, we enter the realms of Satan, the fallen son of the morning, who could not forgive his Father and Brother for their rejection of his flawed plan for our salvation. Because of his rancor and hatred, he suffers eternally, as do all of those spirits who supported him in the pre-existence. Holding grudges, festering our souls with hatred, resentment, and bitterness draws us inexorably away from the path that will return us to the presence of our Father and Elder Brother.

Touch Our Eyes That We May See

Father, let thy light divine
Shine on us, we pray.
Touch our eyes that we may see; [emphasis added]
Teach us to obey.
Ours the sacred mission is
To bear thy message far.
The light of faith is in our hearts,
Truth our guiding star.
(chorus of The Light Divine, Hymns, Pg 305)

The Savior healed many and various infirmities, but not all, because He had certain criteria for performing a healing miracle. He always ascertained that those he healed had the faith to be healed, or at the least that someone close to them possessed the necessary faith. As always, He had a deeper purpose, and eternal purpose, for his miracles. Certainly, one of his objectives was to relieve physical suffering. He healed the lame, the blind, the deaf, those with diseases, those with evil spirits, those with various ills of body and mind, and even raised the dead. Compassion and love also motivated Him.

Run, Henry, Run!

In June of 1974, I completed my Bachelors degree and entered Officer Training School (OTS) – the culmination of nine years of night school and one final year of full-time college attendance at Air Force expense. The Air Force had a program called the Bootstrap Commissioning Program (BCP) that offered a commission to those on their second or later enlistment who had accumulated 3 years of college, as selected by a BCP board of senior enlisted folks and officers. I was blessed to be selected. Selection meant that the Air Force would pay for my fourth year of college and give me a commission if I successfully completed OTS.

Rose Lake

In 1959, when I was about sixteen years old, living in northern California, our brave explorer leaders organized a wonderful trip for us to Rose Lake. The lake is well above the timberline in the high Sierras, almost due east of Merced and maybe 40 miles south of Yosemite National Park. It is surrounded by national forest lands and other national parks.

Wells and Cisterns

A cistern is a tank used for holding water – captured water from a spring, or stored rainwater. They were used extensively for storing water for drinking and for other uses in both old and new testament times.. Sometimes they were placed on a hill so that gravity could force the water to run into a home or irrigation plot, but most often, they were passive holding tanks from which the water was lifted with a bucket.

Enjoy to the End

I apologize for not posting during November and the first part of December. I had surgery on my Carotid Artery to remove plaque that was causing it to be 90% blocked. Through a very fortituitous set of circumstances, the blockage was discovered and removed before it caused a major stroke. I am now blockage free all over my body. I bear testimony that the Lord is involved in our lives. I was greatly blessed to have been saved from a very possibly debilitating or life-threatening outcome.

The Ultimate Conceit

When I was younger, in my twenties and thirties, and even when I was serving as a bishop, I believed that only the people of the LDS church were righteous. I was sure that the Lord did not care about those that did not embrace the gospel. I was convinced that he did not answer prayers except for those who were members in good standing of the Church. I really thought that prayers were answered in direct relation to one’s standing in the Church.