A MEASURE OF TRUST

 

The story of the Jaredites would have to be one of the most interesting in the Book of Mormon.

Imagine the confusion and fear that would have ensued as the only language you have ever known became confounded and you saw people scattering  (Ether 1:33).

I presume this process was gradual and so the fear would have been so much greater. You would wonder if one day you would wake up and not be able to communicate with your family.

Ether, who was a descendant of Jared recorded that his brother cried unto the Lord a ‘long time’ before the Lord answered his petition to not confound the language in their family (Ether 1:6-32; 43). In fact, chapter 1 mentions the word ‘cry’ seven times suggesting the brother of Jared ‘pleaded’ with the Lord. But there is something else that piqued my interest.

I have never before noticed the hand that Jared had in his people’s possession of the land of promise. He must have been an optimist. He not only asked his brother to plead with the Lord so their language would not be confounded but he expressed a hope that the Lord might bless them beyond what they expect: “And who knoweth but the Lord will carry us forth into a land which is choice above all the earth?” This was the beginning of trust.

Then he went a step further. Jared did not only hope for the blessing but he ensured that his family and friends were worthy of the choicest land the Lord could give them by exhorting them to be faithful (Ether 1:38). He was no doubt the patriarch of his family and respected as a leader by his friends.

The Lord answered their petition and promised them He would deliver them to the land choice above all other lands (Ether 1:42,43). So intent was He that they would arrive to America that He personally led them in their travels and gave them directions where they should go ‘as he stood in a cloud’ in their midst (Ether 2:5).

The trust that the Jaredites had in the Lord during their experience is astounding.

I don’t know if this company of people ever travelled anywhere by sea. The fact that the Lord personally led them to it suggests, not (Ether 2:13). Now imagine you get into barges you had never seen or been in before to travel to another land. They were small and light and tight and the length of a tree (v 16,17).

All you know is that they were built according to the Lord’s instructions (v 16). And then a frightening warning: ‘you will be as a whale in the midst of the sea, for the mountain waves shall dash upon you’ (v 24).

If you were claustrophobic, would you get in? And once you are in, you see no rudder or anyone at the helm. All you are going on is the word of a friend who said that God told him He will blow you by the breath of His mouth to a ‘choice land’ you have never been to (Ether 2:24).

How would you feel if you were in there listening to the deafening sounds of crashing waves against the barge you were in? On top of that, you are constantly listening to a ‘furious wind which tossed you upon the waves of the sea continually’ (Ether 6:5). Add to that being ‘buried in the depths of the sea because of the terrible tempests which were caused by the fierceness of the wind’ (v 6).

You have no idea if the other barges are safe, if the other half of your family is alive or not. No mobile phones, no reception, no communication. Only trust.

The worst is this: you do not know how long you have to endure this journey. Three hundred and forty and four days, to be exact (Ether 6:11). That’s 21 days short of a year.

But something marvelous happened in those barges. The trust never died….. for one reason. They sang praises to the Lord unceasingly (Ether 6:9). And 344 days of praises later, when they arrived, they shed tears of joy ‘because of the multitude of the Lord’s tender mercies over them’ (v 12).

Next time you are buried in the depths of your sea, sing…… 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: God of Wonders by Yongsung Kim)

SACRED LIFE

 

I have always been touched by Enoch’s encounter with God as recorded in the Pearl of Great Price. One particular part touches me to the core.

Enoch witnessed the sacredness of life in all of God’s creations, including mother earth. When Enoch saw the day of the coming of the Son of Man of Holiness in the flesh, he was enraptured, but not for long (Moses 7:47).

Enoch looked upon the earth and he heard a voice from its depth bewailing: “Wo, wo is me, the mother of men; I am pained, I am weary, because of the wickedness of my children. When shall I rest and be cleansed from the filthiness which is gone forth out of me?” (v 48). And Enoch wept for mother earth (v49).

In the same vein, Moroni spoke of ‘great pollutions’ upon the face of the earth in the last days. Today we agonise over environmental pollution upon our planet but ignore the greatest pollution there is.  When mother earth cried she did not agonise over plastic bags or oil or fossil fuels, she agonized over spiritual pollution.

In his conference talk of October 1993, Elder Joe J. Christensen suggested that the great pollutants spoken in the scriptures of our day are not environmental but primarily spiritual:

“We all hear and read a great deal these days about our polluted physical environment – acid rain, smog, toxic wastes. But there is another kind of pollution that is much more dangerous – the moral and spiritual.”  (see commentary for Mormon 8:31: “Pollutions in the Last Days” in the Book of Mormon Institute Manual)

Why would the earth cry over its’ pollutions? Because it was created for a sacred purpose: for exaltation of man and the earth’s destiny to become a celestial habitation (D&C 88:25,26). Man can arrest this purpose by pursuing the course of evil and ungodliness.

All that Jehovah has created has a sacred purpose. Consider the ‘choice land’ named America which has served as the beginning of mankind’s habitation and will be the end thereof as the New Jerusalem is built upon its soil and serves as the seat of the theocratic Government during the Millenium from which Jesus will govern.

There is one caveat to America’s special status though. This was made very clear to the Jaredites as they landed upon ‘a land which is choice above all other lands’: “he that does possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off” (Ether 2:7-10).

This promise was very much fulfilled. The Jaredites landed in America 2200 B.C. and were annihilated between 500 and 250 B.C. with the exception of Corinatumr, their king and last Jaredite survivor who was discovered by the people of Zarahemla (Omni 1:21).

I am always amazed at the arrogance of the people of this earth who claim that we can destroy this vast planet, the perfect workmanship of Jehovah’s hands.

Many prophecies have been uttered about the earth’s imminent destruction over the years by ‘false prophets’ in scientific robes, which have never come about. First it was acid rain, then a hole in the ozone layer, then global warming, then sea levels rising, then climate change. All this is Satan’s way of undermining the Saviour’s power of creation.

Yes, we have a stewardship of this planet which warrants a personal and individual response but we can never destroy it collectively because we do not have that power and we can never save it because we are not the Saviour.

This is His promise: “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease (Genesis 8:22) and: “The earth is full and there is enough and to spare, yea, I PREPARED ALL THINGS…..” (D&C 104:17). Do we honestly think that because of His foreknowledge, the Saviour would not have equipped this planet to survive all the environmental pollution?

In 2018, a top climate scientist claimed that climate change will wipe out all of humanity unless we stop using fossil fuels over the next five years. This did not happen and could never happen and this is why: “The works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught.” (D&C 3:1)

The earth will never be destroyed until its appointed time to die and be resurrected and that at God’s command (D&C 88:18-26; 130:8,9)……..but mankind can be destroyed for its blatant disregard of the Creator thereof and its unwillingness to serve and obey Him and only Him….

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: The Creator by Chris Brazelton)

KNOWING GOD

 

 

In his message to the unbelievers, Moroni points out that those who do not believe in the revelations of God, prophecies, gifts and healings, do not understand the scriptures nor do they know the unchangeable God ‘in whom they should trust’ (Mormon 9:8,19,20). This certainly includes those of us who have the Gospel but do not really ‘know’ God.

This is what I found interesting in Moroni’s message. Having listed all the things that prove that God is a God of miracles, Moroni brings prayer into the equation by saying that ‘whatsoever we ask the Father in the name of Jesus, doubting nothing’ will be given us (v 21). This is a plain indication that answers to prayers are included in the category of miracles, because they are one of the major ways of knowing God.

However, asking for ‘whatsoever’ comes with a warning: we should ask for what we stand in need of and that which will enable us to serve God (v 27,28). This is about submitting ourselves to God’s will. This is a scary concept for some of us because we feel that God’s will means denial of things that we want. In actuality, God’s will means something so much better:

 “Many of us are kept from eventual consecration because we mistakenly think that, somehow, by letting our will be swallowed up in the will of God, we lose our individuality (Mosiah 15:7). What we are really worried about, of course, is giving up not self but selfish things – like our roles, our time, our pre-eminence, and our possessions.

“No wonder we are instructed by the Saviour to lose ourselves (Luke 9:24). He is only asking us to lose the old self in order to find the new self. It is a question not of one’s losing identity but of finding one’s true identity.”  (Neal A. Maxwell, “If Thou Endure It Well”, p 51).

This is a sobering thought in our self-centered world where individuality and identity has become an obsession. However, nobody knows better who we truly are than God whom we should know enough to trust. We are His greatest miracle.

He will move heaven and earth to ensure we become who we are meant to be. He will chart our journey always for our ultimate good. If we know Him, we will trust Him and we will be able to let go of our self-perception according to our limited earthly knowledge.

The Saviour, in His hour of agony, trusted this process to the Father when He said, “Thy will be done” (Matthew 26:42). He now sits on His throne that He was destined to possess in the beginning. We likewise, were destined to be priests and priestesses, kings and queens to reign with Him forever and ever…..if we will but allow God to make of us what we are meant to become and be wise in the days of our probation that we ‘may be found spotless, pure, fair, and white, having been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, at that great and last day (vs 6, 28).

I will trust in Thee

My God and my King

To make of me what I am

Meant to be.

I will look up to heaven

And believe in Thy throne;

I will trust in the strength of Thine arms

To carry me home.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(ART: Not My Will by Yongsung Kim)

A BETTER WORLD

 

I happened to see a YouTube video recently that attempted to teach us that there are three words we should never say.

Apparently according to ‘the law of attraction’ the number one thing we should never say is, “I hope”. The self-help gurus teach that ‘hope’ lacks tangible stability and will therefore always have you chasing something that isn’t real rendering what you hope for incapable of manifesting into reality.

To me it spells this: those who teach we should invest ourselves in the law of attraction for our success, well being and survival in life, teach the techniques and wisdom of the world. I believe in the sustaining power of hope. My whole world revolves around it.

Imagine if there was no hope in the world. Would we ever stop seeing doctors if we had no hope that we would one day get better? Would we ever stop educating ourselves if we never had hope of getting a job commensurate with our level of education? Would we ever attempt to date if we had no hope that one day we will find a marriage partner? Hope propels us into action manifesting those things in life which are within our control.

 Now take this a step further to realise how this principle would destroy our faith in God for the reality of those things which are not within our control.  Would we ever stop praying because we had no hope of God’s help? Would we ever survive and endure this life if we had no hope of a better one? Would we ever accept Christ as our Saviour if we had no hope in His salvation?

"Every one of us has times when we need to know things will get better. Moroni spoke of it in the Book of Mormon as a "hope for a better world" (Ether 12:4). For emotional health and spiritual stamina, everyone needs to be able to look forward to some respite, to something pleasant and renewing and hopeful, whether that blessing be near at hand or still some distance ahead.

“It is enough just to know we can get there, that however measured or far away, there is the promise of 'good things to come'. My declaration is that this is precisely what the gospel of Jesus Christ offers us, especially in times of need. There is help. There is happiness. There really is light at the end of the tunnel. It is the Light of the World, the Bright and Morning Star, the 'light that is endless, that can never be darkened'. It is the very Son of God Himself."

- Holland, Jeffrey R., "An High Priest of Good Things to Come", October 1999

Imagine if this world was perfect. If there were no calamities, wickedness or turmoil....Imagine if this telestial life was an easy ride; one of constant happiness and devoid of strife. Would we, as disciples of Christ, be yearning and hoping for our Celestial home which is our ultimate destination?

Some say that there have been bad times on this earth since year one and what we are experiencing now is not new. That is true but never before have calamities and scourges come with such intensity, frequency and speed.

There will soon come a time when there will not be a period of respite; when we will long for peace, rest and freedom from oppression of every kind; when we will know beyond a shadow of doubt that He is our only hope, our Deliverer, our God; when we shall have hope through the Atonement and Resurrection of Christ, to be raised unto life eternal (Moroni 7:41).

It will be a time when we will say, in the words of John the Beloved: Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Revelation 22:20) for if a man have hope he will also have faith, for without faith there cannot be any hope (Moroni 7:42).

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Second Coming by Brent Borup)

A BELIEVING HEART

 

I recently wrote a post about the Nephite’s last battle on hill Cumorah, titled “O Ye Fair Ones”. One interesting comment came from a man who was not convinced one bit about the authenticity of such an event in American history because there is no archeological evidence of such a battle, therefore, he argued it’s a fictional story.

I know there is some archeological evidence of the Book of Mormon but I never pay much attention to it because it is irrelevant to me and my testimony of the origin of this book. In fact, I think unearthing such evidence is futile.  As much evidence as is discovered, there will always be some that won’t ever be found.

Those who seek authenticity of the origin of the Book of Mormon will therefore never be converted through it. There will always be some missing evidence that will support their argument that the Book of Mormon cannot be true. And even if the evidence they seek is ever found, I doubt very much that they would accept the Book as true and join the Church. Why? Because tangible evidence does not convert. Conversion comes through the spirit to a true seeker of truth.

Today, I read Moroni’s vision of us in chapter 8 of his father’s book and I thought….here is evidence! Even if Joseph wrote the Book of Mormon himself, he could not have detailed our day and age so well (Mormon 8:27-32). But Moroni could because he told us: “Behold, I speak unto you as if you were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing” (v 35).

I cannot help but believe Moroni when I read evidence that he saw my home land: "Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be heard of fires, and tempests, and vapors of smoke in foreign lands" (Momon 8:29). Australia is renown for bush fires. They are a done deal every summer but in 2020 Australia was burning. The smoke reached New Zealand. 6,300,000 hectares of its land were scorched and burnt to the ground.  I wondered back then if Dorothea MacKellar's heart ached when she penned her famous poem "I love A Sunburnt Country" as much as Moroni's when he saw it burn. This is my evidence…..

The Book of Mormon is your book. It is a book you can recognise yourself in. It will prick your conscience when you need it; give you answers when you feel lost; give you understanding when you have none and equip you with knowledge to enable you to fight your every foe. You were before Mormon's eyes when he wrote it and before Moroni's when he preserved it. They knew you. They prayed for you. And they wished against all hope that you would read it. Their words are evidence enough….nothing more is needed.

The Book of Mormon was written for ‘the welfare of the ancient and long dispersed covenant people of the Lord’ of whom we are descendants (v 15). It was written for our gathering and for the adoption into the House of Israel of the honest and pure in heart.  

The greatest evidence of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon lies in this…..you will hear the Saviour’s voice and you will know that you are His sheep…..and because you will hear, you will follow Him…. (John 10:27).

Daily I stand in my holy place

As I feast upon Thy word,

Ever hopeful I will meet You there,

Thy Spirit to embrace

And the cares of this world to arrest.

I reach for You in darkness

And step up to heaven’s door;

I am bathed in light

And am granted entrance to Your heart.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: The Shepherd's Embrace by LDS Art)

O YE FAIR ONES

 

When Mormon stood on Cumorah’s hill, the carnage he saw took his breath away (Mormon 6:16).

To put the catastrophe of Nephite’s final battle into perspective, here’s some statistics of America’s warfare:

-        Revolutionary War (1775-1783) – 4,435 battle deaths in 8 years

-        Civil War (1861-1865) – 140,414 battle deaths in 4 years

-        World War I (1917-1918) – 53,402 battle deaths in 1 year

-        World War II (1941-1945) – 293,986 battle deaths in 4 years

On Cumorah’s hill, 230,000 Nephites were slain, in just one battle. Mormon did not specify how long it took to slaughter so many people but he called the deed ‘a battle’ and not a war (Mormon 6:2,3,8). Considering the ‘greatness of the number of Lamanites’ who fell upon their prey ‘with all manner of weapons of war’, I am guessing it took a matter of days (vs 8,9). And considering also that there existed continual bloodshed between the two parties for quite some time, I would imagine Lamanites’ warfare skills were very fine tuned and thus executed quickly (Mormon 4:11).

It is difficult to imagine how a people who once lived in unity and total harmony could come to a point of such hatred and overwhelming intent on destruction (4 Nephi 1:3,16,17). Mormon gives us some clues on how they arrived there.

• -        Their depravity: the Holy Ghost was entirely withheld from them (Mormon 1:14); they 'willfully rebelled against their God' (Mormon 1:16); in their extremities they 'cursed God and wished to die' (Mormon 2:14); they were consumed with revenge (Mormon 3:9-10); they forcibly deprived women of their virtue, killed them, and 'devoured their flesh like unto wild beasts' (Moroni 9:10);
• -        The fathers who raised their children to be godless had lost the light of Christ which is given to every man that is born (Mormon 5:16; President Harold B. Lee, in CR April 1956, 108). It is just about unthinkable that this could happen but such was their extreme wickedness;
• -        They denied God and put their trust in the arm of the flesh (Mormon 5:1).

All these things are bad enough but the main culprit was division among the people. Because they became a people led by Satan, they were driven to turn on each other (Mormon 5:18). Our destruction is his greatest victory.

And so it is happening in our day and age. Satan is using every tactic to divide us and make us turn on each other. A time will come when the whole world will be at war and when ‘every man, among all nations, that will not take his sword against his neighbour’ will have to flee to Zion, ‘the New Jerusalem, a city of refuge, a place of safety for the saints of the Most High God’ (D&C 45:64-71).

We will want to be among the righteous who shall be gathered ‘out from among all nations’ and come to Zion, ‘singing songs of everlasting joy’ for the ‘wicked will not come into it’ because ‘the terror of the Lord shall also be there’ (v 67).

Mormon in his sorrow and anguish lamented over the slain of his people: “Oh ye fair ones, how could ye have rejected that Jesus, who stood with open arms to receive you….I mourn your loss, but behold, ye are gone, and my sorrows cannot bring your return” (Mormon 6:17-20). 

Let us never reject Him who stands with open arms to receive us but let us press on to Zion, the city of our God.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Mormon's Miraculous Book by Joseph Brickey)

P.S. Some have speculated that Mormon might have exaggerated the number of his army and that his numbers were simply military terms but I am going with what is recorded in the Book of Mormon.

POOR IN SPIRIT

 

“To be poor in spirit is to feel yourselves as the spiritually needy, even dependent upon the Lord for your clothes, your food, the air you breathe, your health, your life; realizing that no day should pass without fervent prayer of thanksgiving, for guidance and forgiveness and strength sufficient for each day’s need.

“It is indeed a sad thing for one, because of his wealth or learning or worldly position, to think himself independent of this spiritual need. Being spiritually dependent is the opposite of pride or self-conceit.

“Thus, if in your humility you sense your spiritual need, you are made ready for adoption into the ‘Church of the Firstborn’ and to become ‘the elect of God’.

-        President Harold B. Lee, Stand Ye In Holy Places, p 343-4

The greatest path in life to learning what it means to be poor in spirit seems to come through lack. This has certainly been the journey of my life. I have always felt a closeness to God and felt the need for spiritual nourishment which I sought and received through the Gospel, but when I experienced years of financial hardship as a single-mother I learnt what it means to be ‘poor in spirit’, in other words dependent upon the Lord.

I will recount three events in my life that taught me this. The first was when I was newly divorced and just beginning to understand what was ahead of me in the temporal sense. One particular week I needed money which I didn’t have, to fill my car with gas. I prayed one morning for $20 for this purpose. When lunch time came at work, my co-worker came to me and put $20 on my desk. When I asked why, he said he was coming back to work after lunch and saw $20 on his path. He picked up the bill and wondered what he should do with it and I came to his mind instantly.

The second time I needed help was when my household bills amounted to $1,000. Again, I prayed for help. The next day a friend and her business partner knocked on my door telling me that they had just reviewed their accounts for the month which showed a $1,000 surplus. They wanted to know if I could use that money.

The third time, when I was in need, taught me the greatest lesson in being reliant on God. I had to register my car and found myself $320 short. I felt embarrassed going to the Lord in prayer again asking for help so I opted to ask my friend and her husband for a loan. They too were having financial challenges but I felt strongly they were the only ones to ask.

When my friend came back to me after consulting with her husband, she told me that unbeknownst to her, he felt impressed some months prior to put aside all his loose change. He obeyed the impression and saved all his coins. When his wife approached him about my need, he immediately knew where the money for it was. Yes, the saved amount came to $320. They taught me a great lesson that day when they said I didn’t need to repay it because the money was from God and not from them.

I think of ‘the widow’s mite’ story when I think of being spiritually poor (Mark 12:41-44). This woman who had nothing gave all she had, and she knew who to give it to. Do you think she survived well?

How can I explain the lightness of my being,

When you lift me up on wings of faith?

My love for You knows no limits,

My honour, no bounds;

In need I reach for heaven's door,

To concede, in spirit, I am forever poor.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: The Window's Mite by James Christensen)

THE POWER OF CHOICE

 

 

I continue to be amazed by the tolerance and longsuffering of our God. How patiently He waits for us to turn ourselves around, to make the right choice, to forsake our path to destruction. How it must pain His merciful heart when that right choice that would lead us to our better end never eventuates!

Reflect on how the principle of the Saviour’s longsuffering played out in Nephites’ time. Their demise and unfortunate end did not happen in 400 A.D. but in 360 A.D. when they made the choice that guaranteed their end. Between 327-50 A.D. the Saviour suffered their wickedness and spared them three times granting them three victories over the Lamanites through which they could recognize His protection (Mormon 2:16,25,27). It did not work.

The second chance came by peace. According to the Mosaic observance of the Jubilee year which happened every 50 years, the land was allowed to rest and was restored to its original inherited line of ownership (see Leviticus 25). During the three hundred and forty ninth year, heading into the Jubilee year, a 10 year peace treaty was made between the Nephites and the Lamanites as the land of their inheritance was divided (Mormon 2:28,29).

During the ten years of peace Mormon was commanded by the Lord to call the people to repentance so they can be spared when the time of peace ended (Mormon 3:1,2). Mormon did so but the people did not recognize that ‘it was the Lord that had spared them, and granted unto them a chance for repentance’ (v 3). What could have been a quite time of contemplation and retrospection, turned into a comfort zone of negligence and pride.

Even though they were granted three more victories over the Lamanites, they still refused to repent ‘boasting in their own strength’ (Mormon 3:13).  From there their thirst for killing headed them into the direction of death as they ‘delighted in the shedding of blood continually’ (v 8,10; 4:11).

And so in 360 A.D. the Lord declared that the Nephites ‘shall be cut off from the face of the earth’ (Mormon 3:15). It was not that they had exhausted the Saviour’s abundance of mercy but that they had made a choice from which there was no return. When we make a choice and intently pursue it to the end, we eventually reap its reward.

As it happened with the Nephites, very often we don’t recognize our opportunities and chances for repentance. And very often we don’t realise that there is such a thing as a point of no return. Mormon realized 40 years before the end that ‘the day of grace was passed’ with his people and the story was finished (Mormon 2:15). Nephites had learnt the worst lesson of all: that it is possible for time to run out as the Spirit of God will not always strive with man (D&C 1:33).

This is the lesson we can take away from this sad part of history, the day of repentance can pass: “…..sin is intensely habit-forming and sometimes moves men to the tragic point of no return…As the transgressor moves deeper and deeper in his sin, and the error is entrenched more deeply and the will to change is weakened, it becomes increasingly near-hopeless, and he skids down and down until either he does not want to climb back or he has lost the power to do so” (President Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, [1969], p 117)

Did Your heart break

As on the cross You hung

Knowing many lambs will go astray?

Did you know they will reject

Your blood and all You had to pay?

 

And still You hoped

And still You sorrowed

Over godly well-known fears

For all they’ll have to suffer

To pay the ransom for

Your sacred tears.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Gentle Saviour by Greg Collins)

THE SACRED MARRIAGE

 

Have you ever wondered why the Saviour chose the marriage metaphor for His covenant relationship with us, His Church? I think it is because there is no holier union of any individuals than that of marriage. A marriage union is one of love, sacrifice, unity and endurance. Or so it is meant to be.

Marriage in this life is a great teaching opportunity. It can help us reflect on our ‘marriage’ union with the Saviour himself. Let me explain.

We are told that if we want to get to celestial kingdom, we need to start living by its principles now. The same goes for a celestial marriage. Marriage will not make itself celestial overnight or by the wave of a magic wand when we walk through the pearly gates. A celestial marriage starts in this life and not only through the temple ceremony but through every day sacrifices, mindfulness and love.

I remember one prophet saying years ago that if each person put their marriage partner before themselves, both would win, and that marriage would be successful. If each partner is in pursuit of the other’s happiness, there would be no divorce.

However, the very opposite is unfortunately true. Often we allow our personal issues to navigate our response to our marriage partner disregarding their feelings or the effects that response would have on them. Likewise, when we are in the moment of self-gratification, we seldom think of how we are affecting God.

The same principles of a successful marriage apply to our relationship with the Saviour. He is the husband and we are the bride. We know that His pursuit is our ultimate happiness: “For behold, this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39).

Has he not ensured that already as He taught us, covenanted with us, hung on the cross for us? Is He still not ensuring that by the inexhaustible gift of forgiveness through our repentance?

I have reflected a lot this week on what I could do to make the Saviour happy. The more I thought of this marriage metaphor, the more I could see how giving up anything unworthy of my relationship with Him would not only ensure His happiness but would in turn benefit me and ensure mine too. I saw the things of this world that I was clinging to as amazingly insignificant compared to this principle.

We know when we are not in alignment with God, we are not really happy. When we are in alignment with the world or the natural man, the pay off we get from it never lasts and lack of self-respect, depression, anxiety and dissatisfaction is sure to follow.

If we suffer any of this on continual basis, we are not happy, and we are not making the Saviour happy either. He has suffered all these things for all so that we need not suffer (D&C 19:16). This is an act of a true loving husband. So what then should be the act of a true loving wife?

The wedding is at hand. Are we ready to be arrayed in a wedding garment of ‘fine linen, clean and white’? (Rev. 19:8). Are we ready to forsake spiritual Babylon and prepare ourselves to “go forth to meet the Bridegroom”??? (D&C 133:5,7,10,14). Are we worthy to be called His bride???

 

I have no life but this,

To know Thy approving glance;

To kneel at Thy feet,

To know there is a chance.

I have no life but this

To follow the path to Thy throne

To be greeted with a holy kiss,

And know the reality of such bliss.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Filling Her Lamp by Dan Burr)

THE PURPOSES OF OUR GOD

 

“The works, and the designs and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught” (D&C 3:1). Throughout history, when the forces of evil raged the worst, God has preserved the way for His purposes to be accomplished. And He has done it through humans.

Consider Mormon who was raised in the most evil society of ancient America. Consider a 10 year old boy before whom ‘a continual scene of wickedness and abominations was before his eyes since he was sufficient to behold the ways of man’ being the only person to be called upon to preserve the ancient record of his people (Mormon 2:2,3,18).

Until 321 A.D., the history of ancient people of America was preserved on golden plates from father to son or brother to brother, as in the case of Ammaron who inherited the plates from his brother Amos (4 Nephi 47). This suggests that Amos had nobody worthy in his immediate family to pass the records onto and neither did Ammaron.

The Book of Mormon does not mention any relation between Ammaron and Mormon. It means only one thing, the society was so evil that a 10 year old boy with no family relation was the only choice to inherit the responsibility of the plates.

It would seem that God puts His most valuable and righteous children in the midst of the most wicked, to create a balance and to preserve His purposes. Think of Noah who preached repentance for 120 years (Genesis 6:3; Moses 8:17).

How could not even one person repent in that time? And how amazing is it that his family remained righteous in the midst of such evil people who had to be destroyed? Imagine if there was no Noah or if his children became ripe for destruction too….but God knew Noah and He knew what period of earth’s history to put him into.

The world is in a bad shape. We are witnessing the spread of evil at such an alarming rate that we are becoming ripe for destruction. Besides the good people of the earth who create a balance, the Lord has preserved His covenant people who will stand at the forefront to establish His purposes.

We, members of the Church with the covenant upon us, need to be ready to take on the mantle of Zion when He comes. According to His foreknowledge, the Lord knew who He could trust to prepare the way, to establish and perpetuate the kingdom. Without Him we are nothing, but with Him we are everything. He accomplishes His work through us, His covenant people.

May we look forward to the day when ‘the righteous shall be gathered out from among all nations, and shall come to Zion, singing with songs of everlasting joy’ (D&C 45:71). Then we shall sing “the new song of Zion”:

“The Lord hath brought again Zion; The Lord hath redeemed his people, Israel….Glory, and honour, and power, and might, be ascribed to our God; for He is full of mercy, justice, grace, and truth, and peace, forever and ever…..”  (D&C 84:98-102).

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Second Coming by Jechoon Choi)

THE CRUCIBLE

 

I sobbed yesterday through Elder Hale’s conference talk entitled “Mortality Works”, not because of any new fresh perspective, but because of the sheer, raw admittance that this life is incredibly hard.

I cried reflecting on my own life and the many, many times I wished I could be free of it and I learnt that it is ok that I felt this way. Over the years I had come to believe that I am a weak person because I wished for the sweet escape of death and freedom from this world. Yesterday I realized I am in actuality a strong person because I am still here.

I cried for every person on this earth who has endured suffering, beyond my understanding for I know some people have had experiences far worse than I have had. Most certainly for those who suffered in silence the effects of abuse and had no escape and no clear understanding as to why God was allowing them to suffer at the hands of another.

Certainly Elder Hale’s experience proves that sometimes, our trials are not just for our own ultimate gain but also for others as we stand as testaments and witnesses of God’s eventual deliverance and power to grant freedom.

Such unfair experiences, as Elder Hale was subjected to, enlarge the caverns of our hearts to embrace compassion for others. Through them we gain invaluable Christ-like traits such as forgiveness, understanding and mercy towards sinners and oppressors who unjustly afflict us.  

I cried at Elder Hale’s recollection of his mother and her difficult life and even more so of the unfair end of her life, because this is the ending I fear for myself. It’s the ending that my own mother had. She too had a difficult life, suffered from dementia and died alone in a nursing facility.

I cried when I read about the dream that Elder Hale had of his mother who was beautiful beyond his ability to describe now that she is in the spirit world awaiting ‘a glorious resurrection’ because of the valiant endurance of her mortality. This reward is something I aspire to, as we all should.

I cried the most for the Saviour who was flung into the bottomless pit of human suffering during His mortality for the sake of my soul. The endurance of the unfairness of His life is beyond my comprehension.

I too have experienced His healing power and deliverance through the crucible of my life which would have been impossible for me had He not suffered through Gethsemane and had not accepted the bitter cup that was given Him. Yes, because of Him, mortality works.

In our darkest hour, our wish to escape is honoured by the God who is the most acquainted with grief . His compassion is ever affixed for us and His desire to lift us higher ever present. He understands and He suffers with us through it all.

My close friend who has been through a crucible of her own has penned this beautiful poem which resonates with me and I hope it does with you too.

TAKE ME TO ANOTHER PLACE by Desley Innis:

Take me to another place

And let me rest awhile,

Let me feel the gentle sway

Of a new, immortal tide.

May I leave this Earthly space

For a hundred, thousand hours,

To run through grassy meadows

And smell the cosmic flowers.

 

I could stay forever,

A millennial of years,

Help me to escape, for now,

This veil of constant tears.

I will seek a lowly spot

To lay my weary head,

And leave behind

This restive world,

For a finite time at least,

Help me to attain, again,

A quiet, inner peace.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Peace In His Embrace by Greg Collins)

STATE OF THE HEART

 

“And there were no envyings, nor strife, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness…..and they had all things common among them; therefore there were no rich and poor…. they were all made free…..and they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God….and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God” (4 Nephi 1:3,16,17).

This was a Zion society amongst the Nephites of old akin to the city of Enoch, but in just 200 years they went from that idyllic picture to this:

“And now, in this two hundred and first year there began to be among them those who were lifted up in pride…and from that time forth they did have their goods and their substance no more common among them (4 Nephi 1:25). This pride of the people led to division into classes which led to the buildings of may churches which led to denial of the true church of Christ (vs 24-27).

It has to do with the heart. During the two hundred years of peace and unity and no contention, the love of God dwelt in the hearts of the people (v 15). Mormon was clear on the reason: “…they did walk after the commandments which they had received from their Lord and their God, continuing in fasting and prayer, and in meeting together oft both to pray and to hear the word of the Lord” (v 12). So instead of contention, this formula produced miracles and the love of God (vs 13,15).

It took two hundred years for two generations post Christ’s visit to die out and for Satan to step in to get ‘hold upon their hearts’ (v 28). His success to make them weak was based on the inverted formula which once made them strong. First came Church inactivity (v 20), then pride (v 24) and then iniquity (v 28).

The people hardened their hearts to such an extent that they sought to kill the apostles despite the mighty miracles performed by them (v 31). And here is why: they ‘hardened their hearts because they were led by many priests and false prophets to build up many churches and to do all manner of iniquity” (v34). In other words, they listened to voices other than that of Christ.

Once many churches arose and they sold themselves into iniquity, there came about ‘a great division among the people’(v 35). This division led the Nephite civilization to destruction as Lamanites and all manner of ‘ites’ came back amongst the people together with the secret oaths of Gadiantons (vs 36-38, 42-46).

Fast forward to 2024 and the picture of our day: “And in that day shall be heard of wars and rumours of wars, and the whole earth shall be in commotion, and men’s hearts shall fail them….and the love of men shall wax cold, and iniquity shall abound” (D&C 45:26,27).

We, the members of Christ’s latter-day church should learn from the Nephites. We have a chance of survival and indeed a very bright future that awaits us in New Jerusalem if we take care of the state of our hearts. That chance starts with obeying the very first commandment: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Deuteronomy 6:5).

The more we love God, the more of His love will be planted in our hearts. That love can only be motivated, by both parties, through obedience to His commandments and His will.

Once we love God and He fills us with His love, the love for others follows and our hearts are knit as one. We are on our way to Zion.

You knock at the door of my heart

And I often forget to turn the key.

With sorrowing steps you retreat

Hoping that one day

I will remember Thee.

Of my undying love

I give Thee a token,

I will keep the door open.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Jesus Knocking Generated with AI by masterofmoments)