THE LINK

 

I wrote recently on how important the Church is in our preparation for Zion. The Church as an administrative institution is vital but the members of it even more so. If there were no members, there would be no Church.

There was a time when I was saved by two Wards I belonged to. The first was in my youth when I walked away from my family to be baptised and the second was following my divorce. I had never felt more loved and valued as I had in those two wards. I survived both crisis of enormous loss because of Church members who embraced me and would not let me become lost.

One of the greatest lessons I learnt from the Old Testament is the importance of belonging to a body of saints. Some of you will remember, when the children of Israel conquered the promised land following their captivity in Egypt, they were divided geographically by the River Jordan. The inhabitants of Canaan were ripe in iniquity and idol worship, and as a thorough and complete cleansing of the land was not achieved, they presented a very real threat to the covenant people (Joshua 23:11-16).

Among the first to receive land were the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half of Mannesah. They settled in the land of Gilead which divided them from the rest of Israel by the river Jordan (Numbers 34:14,15; Deuteronomy 3:12,13; Joshua 22:9). When these tribes settled they built an altar by that river.

When the rest of Israel heard of it they were outraged presuming the altar was built for idol worship. They sent Phineas, the son of Eleazor the priest, with the heads of the remaining tribes, to call these two and a half tribes to repentance. In their defense, these tribes explained that the altar was not made for any worship but was meant to stand as a witness to the rest of Israel that the tribe of Reuben, Gad and Mannesah were united with them in the worship of one true and living God.

These three tribes recognised that even though they were geographically divided from the rest, they were still a link in the chain. They knew that if they turned to the worship of other gods, the ripple effect would be detrimental to the whole House of Israel. They recognised the importance of unity in their righteousness.

Today the chain, being the Church of Jesus Christ, spreads across the globe. It unites me, who am an Australian, with you who are an American, European or African. It unites us through our faith in Him who is the Saviour of all, regardless of nationality, colour or culture.

Our faith in Christ and our commitment to that faith is our commonality. It creates a spiritual umbilical cord between us that tells us we are one. It tells us to be united in spirit, in love, in care, because you don’t know who you can one day save.

Next time you take the sacrament, think about every member in every ward in every stake in the world doing the same and that by it we are, like the Israelites of old "witnessing between us that the Lord is God" (Joshua 22:34) and thereby keeping the chain unbroken because one day this chain will bring us together to live with Him in Zion in preparation for the celestial kingdom of our eternal home.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Sacrament Meeting by Doc Christensen)

SELF-CONFIDENCE

 

“It is not just the mistake-free, no-fault life that pleases God. He has deliberately placed us in a sphere where the most sharply focused purpose is to learn from our experience and to grow in both our desires and our understanding to be like Him.

“Obviously that includes the greatest effort and integrity we can must as we seek to do His will. But the heart of it all is not SELF-confidence. It is confidence in HIM, and in His power to make us into creatures far beyond the reach of what our goal-setting and goal-achieving can ultimately accomplish in the process of becoming as He is.

“Through the power of the Atonement, the Saviour himself compensates ultimately for our inadequacies, even as He leads us along and strengthens our capacity for good. For that reason HE is the desired repository of our confidence.  To repose our confidence in ourselves rather than in Him is to trust in the arm of flesh…..”

-          Elder Bruce C. Hafen, “The Broken Heart”  p 120,121

 

When in heaven we meet,

Will you want my soul to keep?

 

Will I be worthy of forgiveness,

And a loving word from Thee?

I will kneel and I will weep when I witness

How graciously You accept

So little You find in me.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Within Our Grasp by Jay Bryant Ward)

LOVING YOUR BROTHER

 

“But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.” (Matthew 5:22)

In our world of contempt we have incorporated some pretty demeaning definitions of one another which is making it more and more difficult to love those who are not easy to love. By the above scripture, any form of negative interaction with another person is a serious offence. ‘Raca’ suggests derision in both Aramaic and Greek. The definition of derision in the English dictionary is: contemptuous ridicule and mockery. Anciently, ‘fool’ was a common definition of someone but we have swapped it for a more modern title of ‘idiot’. Same meaning and same serious consequences.

Imagine being in danger of hell by ridiculing or mocking someone. This is how seriously God takes our treatment of one another. And this is why. In this weakened state of mortality our understanding, perception, and even intelligence is somewhat impaired. We can only judge by what we see and what we see is not adequate knowledge to determine why someone does what they do.

We are not privy to other people’s life experiences, their pains, their mentality, their perceptions and their motivations. Nobody has lived in another person’s skin. I heard someone say recently that they hate the word ‘empathy’. He said empathy does not exist. The definition of it is to walk in another’s shoes to feel what it is like to be them and that is simply not possible.

I am constantly amazed that the Saviour loves us in this mortal state because we are so lacking. By virtue of the Atonement, however, the Saviour has complete understanding of why we do what we do and behave as we do. He knows the feel of our skin….because he has been in it. He is the only one who can lay claim to empathy. Because of it He will be able to judge us righteously and perfectly and I can assure you that because of it He will call nobody a fool.

 

Tread softly on my tender heart;

Even though in likeness

We are miles apart.

Though we are separate

In both body and mind;

We are linked together on humanity’s path.

Tread softly on my tender heart…..

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Eternal Love For You by Annie Henrie Nader)

THE DESTINY OF ZION

 

When Elder Bruce C. Hafen was the Area President here in Australia he shared with me that the goal of the Church was at that time to prepare the members for Zion. That was some 25 years ago.

I learnt something important this year from Section 105 of the Doctrine and Covenants. I was reminded of Elder Hafen and I came to see how important the Church is as an organisation of the body of saints because of its leaders who are implementing this preparation.

We are told certain conditions need to be met before Zion can be established as ‘the bridge between the world as it is and the world as God designed it and meant it to be’ (Hugh Nibley, “Approaching Zion” p 4).

Firstly, the elders of the Church are to be endowed with power from on high that we the members might be taught more perfectly in order to develop more experience concerning our duties and what God requires of us (v 10,11).

There are some who believe they can be inactive in the Church and in the end show up at New Jerusalem’s gate expecting to live a Zion life. Imagine arriving to Zion without any experience behind you that would have taught you to be obedient to the leaders’ instructions and to be  united with other members of the Church community.

Zion can only be built ‘according to the union required by the law of the celestial kingdom’  (v 3-5). It is this law and this only that enables men to obey the law of consecration whereby they impart of their ‘substance, as becometh saints, to the poor and the afflicted’ (v 3). This was the success of the city of Enoch. Because they were of one heart and one mind they willingly met each other’s needs so there was no poor among them (Moses 7:18).

If God’s goal for the human family is unity, you can be assured that Satan’s is division. I don’t know how much progress we have made in the last 25 years since Elder Hafen was here. Right now the world is divided into left and right and contention and disunity is rife. President Nelson is constantly warning us against this because our destiny as the Church of Jesus Christ is great.

The celestial law that will get us to Zion is not just about obedience but also love. Love leads to unity. The Lord called the city of Enoch, Zion the Pure in Heart. The people of this city ‘walked’ with God (Moses 7:69) which means they were ‘true’ followers of Jesus Christ and as true followers of Jesus Christ they were endowed with the ‘pure’ love of Christ (Moroni 7:48).

This is the key: He leads and we follow. We follow His example of love, compassion, understanding, tolerance, respect, giving and ministering……today obedience, tomorrow Zion, the day after Celestial Kingdom. In Joseph’s words: “We are on the pathway to eternal fame, and immortal glory.” 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: As I Have Loved You by B. Laura Wilson)

TO LIVE

 

 

“Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

(Isaiah 40:28-31)

In all our suffering and stumbling in the dark we tend to turn to the ways of the world to fill us. We seek for the corruptible things of this earth that have no lasting power to fill our cracks, heal our sorrows and make up for our lack. We think that this dismal telestial world has treasures to offer us that will somehow make us whole. The truth is that the lustre of this world can only be seen during the day. When the night falls, the emptiness is still there, the pain exposed, the suffering unbearable.

If we would but drink from the fountain of living water that the Saviour offers us, we would be filled with that which matters most, that which is lasting, that which will speak peace to the deepest recesses of our soul. Then the suffering will be bearable and even conquerable. Then the lack will not matter and the cracks will diminish and fade. Then we can look forward to the living water within us springing up into everlasting life.

 

Thou art the source of all my blessings,

Thou art the source of all my joys,

Thou art the living water

I drink with haste

And savour each and every drop

So careful of tragic waste.

Feed me Saviour ever more

The love that flows with every cup

Grant me my fill each day

That keeps me living and bears me up. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Jesus Living Water by Grok2)

ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE

 

We have the deepest and darkest nights in this earth life. If we endure them well, these nights teach us, give us a broader perspective and in the end heal us. And this is how the healing happens. After every deep and dark night comes the dawn.

Cast your mind on the death of the most prolific, important, significant and worshipped person who has ever lived on this earth. Thirty-four years after His birth, a huge, terrible storm swept over the land of America. The upheaval was of such proportion that the face of all the land was torn apart and deformed. Cities caught on fire and collapsed into the sea and mountains were upheaved (3 Nephi 9:5-22)

So great was the storm that a thick, frightening vapor of darkness covered the land. So dark, thick, suffocating and palpable was the darkness that the stars and the sun could not produce any light for three days (v 23). Imagine the chaos. Could people find their children and their loved ones? Did they know if anybody survived? Could they walk in any direction not knowing where they were? If they were hurt, could they get help?

Imagine such suffering that echoed across continents and caused the Spirit of God to exclaim: “The God of nature suffers” (1 Nephi 19:12). Such was the darkest night that brought about the light of dawn which proclaimed: “I am the light and the life of the world.” (3 Nephi 9:18).

There was no more fitting way to proclaim the Saviour to be the light of the world, the dawn after the night, the power that brings life, the truth that says nothing in this life is lost. This is not the beginning and not the end. First the night and then the dawn….first the death and then the life…..first the emptiness and then the full cup….

I stand in awe of Your sacrifice

And Your soul’s pain;

The body freely given

For nothing of You to remain.

 

I ache, I ache,

Knowing the cost;

Then I remember where You are

And I am comforted

Knowing nothing is lost.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Fill My Cup Lord by Danny Hahlbohm)

LOVE UNFEIGNED

 

I reflected this week on the hardest commandment that Jesus gave us: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”  (Matthew 5:44). Then I was reminded that He was the greatest example of this.

Never has there been a man who has been persecuted and hated more and who suffered greater pain at the hands of His enemies and who died an unjust death.  And all this whilst He possessed the power to defend himself and cause the destruction of those who He suffered for. Imagine the God who created worlds submitting himself to being mocked, spit upon, whipped, smitten, and adorned with a crown of thorns (Luke 22:63-65; Mark 14:65; Matthew 27:26-31)

Over and over the Lord’s own testimony of His subjection to this treatment came into my mind: “I gave my back to the smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.”  (Isaiah 50:6)

Following this testimony, the Saviour seeks our attention by saying twice: “Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord….the people in whose heart is my law” (Isaiah 51:1,7). He not only wants us to take note of the example He set but He then tells us that ‘the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads….” (v 11).

Why do you think the adversary is attacking America and causing so much division there right now? Because that’s where Zion is where ‘the redeemed of the Lord shall return’. We cannot be redeemed if we are not united, if hatred exists amongst us. Zion The Pure In Heart, cannot be pure if we are divided in purpose, in care of each other, in love.

The adversary is driving division amongst us in the best ways possible. He knows if he can divide us, he can destroy us. He doesn’t care who dies, bad or good, as long as it makes us hate one another. If you are posting about this week’s tragedy, even if it is something good, don’t. It just reminds others of the injustice and makes them more angry and more prone to hate. We are emissaries of Christ and not the enemy. Therefore, we are to spread love and not hate.

We are not asked to follow the Prince of Peace in times of peace but in times of turmoil. We the people in whose heart is Christ’s law of love unfeigned, unity and hope of joy, need to stand against the forces of evil that seek to plant hatred in us or we will never make it to Zion. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Jesus Prince of Peace by Danny Hahlbohm)