Wednesday, October 10, 2012

We Heeded Them Not

One of the staples of my life and that of our family has been to read daily from The Book of Mormon.  I am not going to pretend that the results of this daily endeavor are bliss and happiness.  Sometimes it can be the most stressful part of our night time routine and I admit that there are times when I wonder why I bother to put myself through the torture.  Surely my kids are getting nothing from the experience and the goal is not to create contention in our home but rather to rid our home of it.  Well, it is an exercise of faith.  It is listening to a Prophets counsel and choosing to live it.  It is heeding the promise of a Patriarchal blessing and choosing to carry on even when it seems a waste of time.  No matter how hard it is I have a testimony of it.  I have partaken of the fruit of the book and I know it to be good.  And so we press forward with a steadfastness in Christ and we feast upon his words.  Let me submit that when I say feast there I don't mean to paint a picture of Natty, Jack, Andy and I sitting and dissecting each verse and delving in to the deep doctrinal vortex.  We do not.  Sometimes it is all we can do to get through 10 verses at night.  The two shortest verses going to Jack and Andy, who always ask if it is the shortest verse.  You know what, that is perfectly okay with me.  The Lord knows and the Lord blesses our efforts. 

For the past couple of nights we have been reading in 1 Nephi 8 and learning about Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life.  As we read through this tonight, I had read some pausing at the two shortest verses for Jack and Andy and then Natty read a few verses.  There were a few verses left after Natty read and so I finished off the chapter.  We got to the following verse and I felt inspired to expound: 

33   And great was the multitude that did enter into that strange building.  And after they did enter into that building they did point the finger of scorn at me and those that were partaking of the fruit also; but we heeded them not.

Natty and I discussed the strange building and what it represents, we discussed the fact that she will know people in her life that will choose to go in to that building, friends even.  These people will point at her, they will make fun of her, they will do things to try and belittle her and her beliefs and it will be a hard thing but we need to remember that the fruit is the most desirable thing we can have, it is the Love of God and it brings us true and lasting happiness.  No matter how hard it may seem, or how alone we may feel when the finger of scorn is pointing at us we need not heed those buffetings.  We had a good conversation and Natty gets it.  She wants to do what is right.  I know it isn't easy, life hasn't been easy on her but she is strong and she has a good heart.  I am grateful for her strength and all that she does for our family. 

During this conversation Jack was thumbing through one of his airplane books and I really didn't think he was listening.  Andy was playing with a roll of duct tape and I didn't know how close of attention he was paying.  I figured the message of being true to our Heavenly Father and not heeding those that would drag us down was one for Natty.  Well, as that conversation drew to a close Jack spoke up and said "Dad, I will always go with God".  Therein is a lesson in Jack, he is always listening, always observing and he understands a lot more then we think.  In that short statement he captured the entire lesson. 

We had our family prayer and then were off to bed.  I go in with the boys to put them to bed and per our usual Jack says his prayer and then it is Andy's turn.  Andy is a master of the repeat prayer which is quite simple "Heavenly father, bless us to have a good night.  Bless us to have good dreams not bad dreams.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen".  I invite him to think about others, to pray for his mom, to think about and pray about other things.  Every now and again he will remember to pray for his mom or me but that is about it.  Tonight, without any prompting from me he said something else in his prayer.  After his usual petition to the Lord for good dreams and not bad dreams he paused and said "bless us to always follow the Lord".  Perhaps that duct tape didn't have his undivided attention after all.  It certainly did my heart good to hear this surprise addition to his prayer.   

Each night I kneel at Andy's bedside and hold his hand while he falls asleep and I say my own prayers.  Tonight I am very grateful for this experience.  My heart is full as I think about these wonderful children.  My heart is full as I ponder the blessings of daily reading from the pages of The Book of Mormon.  Again, there are days when it is truly a trial of my faith and I feel that I am wading through the very depths of hell in an effort to do what is right.  As I ponder the goings on in my life and the things that we have been through in the last few years there have been some extremely difficult and depressing times.  There has been a lot of heartache, pain, loneliness and fear and yet through it all the Lord has not left us comfortless.  I attribute that to our diligently seeking the Lord through our daily reading from The Book of Mormon.  Through our daily prayers.  Through our regular attendance at church and in our weekly Family Home Evenings.  Sunday School answers I know, but more than that it is a recipe for lasting happiness.  I believe it starts with an open Book of Mormon.  An open Book of Mormon bespeaks power.  A closed Book of Mormon bespeaks no power.  That was a lesson I learned almost 20 years ago when Elder F. David Stanley of the Seventy visited the South Africa Capetown Mission.  I know that it is true.  If you are looking for something in your life, if you are seeking to draw nearer to God I invite you to open a copy of The Book of Mormon and sup from its pages.            

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