THE WISH

 

I look back on my upbringing years in Croatia during the 60s with great fondness. A large part of my gratitude goes to the Catholic Church for giving me my foundation of faith in God. I cannot separate my memories of my country from my Catholic upbringing. It was so much a part of my youth. I was the one in my family that attended Church services and confessions. It was an entire culture of my upbringing and all I knew of life.

At the end of the street we lived in was the cemetery with our local church. That cemetery with the church was the focal point of our neighbourhood. We had to walk through it to get to three other streets. In one of those streets was my school so the cemetery and the Church became my daily visit. School was divided into two shifts, the morning shift and the afternoon shift. The afternoon shift didn’t end until 6 pm. In winter, when the sun went down early, it was an interesting walk home….

I never looked at the cemetery with morbid attitude. I am a poet and I feel deeply. I knew graves with poetic and heart rendering prose on the gravestones. I knew where children were buried and I knew which graves were visited often. All Saints Day was one of my favourite times of the year. The cemetery came alive with visitors coming and going all day and at night the place was alight with candles. It was magical.

The cemetery was also our playground with luscious grass to configure the clouds in our minds and to simply get together with friends and play. This is where we smelled the first sign of spring with the violets and new flowers born after the snow had melted. It also heralded one of my favourite times of the year – Easter. Easter Sunday found us at Church with our baskets of food for the priest to bless. Christmas was another. Buying presents was not the custom I was ever familiar with. What I looked forward to the most was the nativity scene in our Church. Christmas was all about Jesus.

When my family moved to Australia in my early teens, my world changed. As I saw beyond my little Croatian town, my thinking and wondering went into overdrive. By the time I was 16, I was asking serious questions like, ‘what is the purpose of life?’ and  ‘why am I here on this planet?’ I realized that the Catholic Church did not have a lot of answers.

I found the answer to my purpose in life when I was 17 years old, in the doctrine of a church I had heard about, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is called The Plan of Salvation. It blew me away with its simplicity and truthfulness. It taught me that I lived with God in pre-earth life as a spirit and that I was born into mortality to one day be resurrected to immortality and live with God again. And not just to live with Him but to become like Him, who is a resurrected, exalted God.

In this Church, I found Christ. He was no longer someone out of my reach that I believed died for me but a personal Saviour of my soul, with a kinship going back to the life I lived before. My association with Him deepened over the years. The more I learnt of Him, the more of an idol He became. I know I wanted to be like Him before I was even born because He was and is the path to my eternal existence.

I know who He is, He is ……the bread of life (John 6:31,51), the light of the world (8:12), the good shepherd (10:11,14), the resurrection and life (11:25), the way, the truth and the life (14:6). He is also the potter and we are the clay in His hands (Isaiah 64:8). He makes of us what we can never become on our own. He is the Master builder and the Master healer of our souls. He is our only hope of salvation and there is none else (Isaiah 43:10-11; 45:5,6,14,18,22; 46:9; Deut 4:35,39; 5:8; 1 Kings 8:60; D&C 76:1; 2 Nephi 25:20; 31:21; Moses 6:52)

I had a memory from my pre-earth life some time ago. I was sitting with the Saviour and He was saying to me: “I will save you and I will make up for everything.” When I cry my tears, it’s a memory to hold onto.

 

When in the realms of heaven

You asked me what in mortality

I wanted to be,

It was so easy, I said I wanted

To be like Thee.

 

You warned me of the suffering

That would have to equal in measure

To what you would suffer for me;

That my life would not be easy

But that You would

make up for everything.

 

Now I am here,

I fear the refiners’ fire of the kiln

When Your potter hands are moulding me

But I try to be the woman I was who said

She wanted to be like Thee.

 

Some days I want to change my wish

I am not worthy to bear my suffering,

But then I notice the chains

around my heart are broken,

and I remember:

You will make up for everything.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Spring of Life by Chris Brazelton)

Chris Brazelton - Official Website

RETURN TO HEAVEN

 

Will I be lost in crowds of heaven

When my mortal shell at last I leave,

And will this earthly life appear unreal

When my true home is to me revealed?

 

Will I come to see Thy face

I so often sought on bended knee,

And forget all the lonely moments

I suffered with merciful help from Thee?

 

My heart will rend within my chest

When I kneel before Thy throne;

I will weep with grateful heart

For cherished truths that I have known.

 

-       CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Christ by David Beraru)

THE GLORY OF YOUR SPIRIT

 

The more I study the Plan of Salvation, the more amazed I am at what a system of precision and intricate planning it took for us to evolve into a peopled planet with a view of eternal destination, the success of which we very much owe to two people.

There were two things in the Garden of Eden that hung in balance and could have arrested the Plan of Salvation and they were in the form of two trees.

Not partaking of the tree of knowledge of good and evil would have been devastating to the Plan as Adam and Eve could not have had children and thus could not bring about the human family. Partaking of that fruit planted seeds of mortality within them and thus it brought about The Fall. That was the right choice we all expected but partaking the fruit of the second tree, the tree of life, would have been such a dangerous act that God the Father positioned a cherubim with a flaming sword to prevent that from happening (Moses 4:28-31).

Had Adam and Eve partaken of the fruit of the second tree, they would have been doomed forever by becoming immortal prematurely. Had this happened this too would have annihilated the whole Plan of Salvation. Had it happened there would have been no repentance, no redemption, no advancement, no probation, no children, no exaltation. They would have become immortal in their fallen state and been forever miserable (Alma 12:26)

And one other very important thing – no death.

And this is why death is important. Death purifies the physical body, which is a temporal mass of atoms, in preparation for the resurrection (President Joseph Fielding Smith, “Answers to Gospel Questions”, 5 vols [1957-66], 4:185).  The spirit, however, is an eternal matter made of light that goes through refinement, improvement and progress which adds to its glory (B. Grant Bishop, M.D., “The LDS Gospel of Light”, p 106). The spirit is the pilot, the body is the vehicle .

“When the spirit leaves the body and passes into the spirit world, it is entering a kingdom specifically organized to prepare each spirit for the resurrection. Alma had a revelation concerning it and said: “now there must needs be a space betwixt the time of death and the time of resurrection” (Alma 40:6).

“This space of time is used for the cleansing, redemption and education of the spirit. The spirit is prepared for as high a degree of glory as it is capable of receiving. How the individual conducted himself during mortality determines, to a very large extent, what that degree of glory shall be.” (Clean Skousen, “The First Two Thousand Years” p 70).

Without death there is no resurrection and without resurrection there is no immortality and eternal life. And this is resurrection: “They who are of a celestial SPIRIT shall receive the same body which was a natural body….and YOUR glory (the glory of one’s spirit) shall be the GLORY by which your bodies are quickened.” (D&C 88:28)

A personal view. The most enlightened prayers I have had in my life have been the ones where I had asked for the Holy Ghost to give me the words of my prayer. Some years ago I was given to say that I will “rise to be the glorious being I was before the earth began”. Never before then have I ever entertained the idea that my spirit possessed any glory in any degree. If we could all see ourselves without this body of clay, we would see ourselves in a very different light indeed.

In the end, the real success of our story belongs to only one person, The Saviour Jesus Christ….the Creation, the Redemption, the Resurrection, the Exaltation……all glory be to His holy name!!!

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Soul's Surrender by Greg Collins)

THREE PILLARS OF ETERNITY: THE CREATION

 

“The most important events that ever have or will occur in all eternity…are the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement……..the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement are inseparably woven together to form one plan of salvation….No one of them stands alone, each of them ties into the other two; and without a knowledge of all of them, it is not possible to know the truth about any of them….(Bruce R. McConkie, “Christ and the Creation”, Ensign, June 1982, p 9)

Elder McConkie called these three eternal verities, “Three Pillars of Eternity”. Without them we cannot progress to godhood. Here is the purpose of the Creation of this planet which is the basis and foundation of the other two:

1.      To obtain a temporal body which will one day become immortal.

2.      To obtain a fulness of joy through resurrection and immortality.

3.      The power of procreation, which is the primary blessing of godhood.

4.      For the second stage of testing. During the first stage, in our first estate when we were spirits (Abraham 3:25,26), one third of us chose to forsake the struggle and the tutoring. This alone proves that godhood is not for the faint hearted.

One crucial purpose of this particular planet was for the enactment of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This planet is home to the worst and the best of us. No other planet created and peopled by God would crucify their God (2 Nephi 10:3; Moses 7:36). Without the Atonement, the Plan of Salvation would have been arrested.

“In the theology of the restored Church of Jesus Christ, the purpose of mortal life is to prepare us to realise our destiny as sons and daughters of God – to become like Him….. The Bible describes mortals as ‘the children of God’ and as ‘heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:16-17)”. (President Dallin H. Oaks, “Apostasy and Restoration”, Ensign May 1995, 86-87)

 

I long to be where I once was,

A child in my eternal home.

I long to see the God of love

And with Him walk the heaven’s floor.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: He Lifts Me by Danny Hahlbohm)

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)

WHO YOU ARE

 

“An old rabbi once said that every man ought to carry two pieces of paper in his pocket.

“In times of self-satisfaction and complacency he should read the one that says: “I am dust and ashes”.

“When dejected and dispirited he should read the other that says: “For my sake was the world created”.

“And at all times he should remember: “I am made from the dust but it is in God’s image I am made”.

-        Author Unknown

When Moses encountered God on Mount Sinai, God revealed Himself to him and Moses saw the glory of God and every particle of this earth and all the children of men (Moses 1:8,27) that have ever been created.

The vision of God's power was overwhelming to a man who grew up in an Egyptian court believing that Pharoah was god and there was no one greater than him so he exclaimed that now he could see that man is nothing (Moses :10).

God, however, didn't want Moses to miss the point so He showed him the same vision again and concluded it with the most important message in the scriptures: "For behold this is my work and my glory - to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). The point that God didn't want Moses to miss is this: amongst all of God's creations, none are greater than man…..

Moses learnt something else of great importance on that occasion. God addressed Moses as, “my son” (Moses 1:7). Moses comprehended the significance of this straight away. When Satan appeared to him after the vision was given for the first time demanding that Moses worship him, he addressed him as “Moses, son of man”, emphasizing his mortality and thereby attempting to discredit his divine origin.

Moses’ rebuttal was perfect: “I am a son of God…..get thee hence, Satan, deceive me not…” (Moses 1:13).  

Satan’s crushing ideologies of the world seek to destroy our belief in our divine origin now more than ever but he can never alter the truth that the seeds of deity are implanted within each of us. Because we are the literal offspring of God the Father, the potential within us to rise to the greatest heights of our existence is unmistakable.

When the enemy comes to you in his clever disguise to discourage you and confuse you as to who you are, believe him not.

When the Saviour came to earth, He repeatedly affirmed He was the Son of God. He knew who He was and He behaved as such and fulfilled His mission as such. We might not be as great as Him but in the words of Moses: “…I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten….” (Moses 1:13)

Let the everlasting hills and mountains

Hear Thy exalted voice;

That the ends of the earth

Might proclaim Thy eternal fame.

May all who hear, walk in Thy holy name

And seek Thy mercy and Thy grace;

And may those found worthy

Be endowed with Thy image

In the countenance of their face.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Gentle Christ by Del Parson)

THE PATH TO PERFECTION

 

“Whoever said that sin was not fun? Whoever claimed that Lucifer was not handsome, persuasive, easy, friendly? Sin is attractive and desirable…..Sin is easy and has a big company of pleasant companions. It promises immunity from restrictions and offers temporary freedoms. It can momentarily satisfy hunger, thirst, desire, urges, passions, wants, without immediately paying the price. But, it begins and grows to monumental proportions – drop by drop, inch by inch.” (Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, p 229)

I recently saw a superb video by a Christian man that supports this statement perfectly. He claimed that Satan always offers us something good to distract us from something great that God can give us. It is only after our acceptance of the good that in time we come to see what we have chosen is bad, because nothing good comes of the adversary. Satan is the master of counterfeit blessings which only discernment and wisdom of good choices can counteract. He is the king of deception. He is a thief, here to kill, steal and destroy, therefore, whatever he offers cannot possibly have a good ending (John 10:10). He does not only want your life but your soul.

This life is not for the faint hearted. Resisting short term happiness and the ease of this life and choosing the refining fire of God that will in the end cast us in His image shows the integrity of heart some of us have brought with us. Those who have this integrity have long ago chosen Christ’s path to everlasting greatness of immortality. What Christ offers is perfection as opposed to Satan’s destruction. Consider Apostle Paul’s take on this (1 Corinthians 15:42-44):

We were born into:         We are raised to:             Immortality makes us:

Corruption                       Incorruption                    Indestructible

Dishonour                       Glory                               Glorified

Weakness                         Power                              Powerful

The Atonement and Resurrection of Christ brings about perfection of the righteous which is ‘the great gift’ that outstrips ‘the good gift’ that comes from the enemy of all righteousness. To this the Saviour testified when He said that He came so that we might have life, and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). I bow before His sacrifice that makes my path to perfection and eternal life possible. His is the honour and glory and eternal flame of righteousness that burns forever…..

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)

 

THIS IS MY WORK AND MY GLORY

When I read the scriptures I choke up when I come across sentences such as "I am Helaman, the son of Alma" (Alma 58:41) or "I am Mormon, and I am a disciple of Jesus Christ" (3 Nephi 5:12,13). I lap up the war chapters of The Book of Mormon where Moroni, Helaman, Teancum and Antipus distinguish themselves in war strategies and moments of battle, and I want to bow to Lehi, at the mention of whose name the Lamanites trembled because "they feared Lehi exceedingly" (Alma 49:17). I long to have the penmanship skills of Isaiah and unnerving passion of Jeremiah who could not refrain from preaching because "the word of God was as a burning fire shut up in his bones" (Jeremiah 20:9). I see people all through the scriptures and I see people everywhere in this rich tapestry of life we call mortality. I imagine if there were no mortal days of probation I might never have heard of a man called Abraham Lincoln in the vastness of the Universe or been moved by music written by Mozart or heard Renee Fleming sing Casta Diva. What an amazing gift it is to be a witness of someone's unique expression of self and of the mark they leave on this world. What an amazing assortment of humanity we are. I marvel at our uniqueness, our creativity, our intelligence, our very essence and all that we are and are yet to become.

When Moses encountered God on Mount Sinai, God revealed Himself to him and Moses saw the glory of God and every particle of this earth and all the children of men (Moses 1:8,27) that have ever been created. The vision of God's power was overwhelming to a man who grew up in an Egyptian court believing that Pharoah was god and there was no one greater than him so he exclaimed that now he could see that man is nothing (Moses :10). God, however, didn't want Moses to miss the point so He showed him the same vision again and concluded it with the most important message in the scriptures: "For behold this is my work and my glory - to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). The point that God didn't want Moses to miss is this: amongst all of God's creations, none are greater than man. Why? Because man constitutes Gods glory. All that we are and all that we become matters because it leads to our glory and adds to His.

Most of us will not earn a page in the annals of history. Most of us will never become another Abraham Lincoln or Mozart or Helaman or Isaiah. We can, however, fight a good fight, do much good, accomplish our purpose, become the best we can possibly be. In the words of Abraham Lincoln: "Whatever you are, be a good one". And in the process, share your uniqueness with the world because according to Dr. Seuss: "Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You". How true and how magnificant are you!

SEEKING THE KINGDOM

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto the, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." (Matthew 7:21-23)

When Jesus atoned for the sins of the world, he had an amazing insight into each person who will ever grace this earth; into their problems, capabilities, mental and emotional states and into their very heart. Because of this He knows what makes us tick, what makes us do what we do, He knows our desires, our thoughts and our motives. It is correct to say that He knows us better than we know ourselves because even we sometimes don't know things that are hidden in our subconscious that drive us to certain behaviours. When Joseph Smith was translating the Bible he made the most significant correction to the above verse of scripture which now reads "you never knew me" instead of "I never knew you". This gives us a much clearer understanding of our relationship to the Saviour of the world. Because of the Atonement, He knows us and He will always know us but we on the other hand can very easily misunderstand what it means to know Him and to eventually enter His kingdom. Clearly from the above scripture, only doing as Christ did will not get us there.

By telling us what will not get us into the kingdom of heaven, He also told us what will: instead of laying up for ourselves treasures on this earth, He admonished us to lay up treasures in heaven (Matt 6:19-21). What are these treasures we can lay up in heaven whilst we are here in mortality? If it is not what we do, then it must be what we are: "Treasures in heaven are the character, perfections, and attributes which men acquire by obedience to law. Thus, those who gain such attributes of godliness as knowledge, faith, justice, judgment, mercy and truth, will find these same attributes restored to them again in immortality (Alma 41:13-15)" (McConkie, DNTC, 1:239-40, The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles, Student Manual, p. 58). Jesus confirmed this truth by giving us a further admonition to be 'perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect' (Matt 5:48). It has been our destiny from the beginning of time to become exalted to godhood, in other words, to become perfect and complete even as our Father is. Without this perfection we cannot enter His kingdom. In the words of Joseph Smith: "God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens and men have got to learn how to be Gods.....the same as all Gods have done before...." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp 345-46).  No man, however, can achieve this lofty ideal on his own merits. 

Because it is not in our power to attain perfection on our own, God in his mercy has provided a way for us to do so. During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus invited his disciples to enter in at the 'strait gate' and thereby follow the course to eternal life (Matt 7:13,14). The gate is 'strait' because it is narrow and restricted but the path is both 'strait' and 'straight'. Where 'straitness' has reference to width, 'straightness' has reference to direction, this direction being invariable and always the same for 'there are no crooked paths or tangents leading to the kingdom of God' (McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 769). It is at this gate that perfection has to have its beginning. It is here that it must begin and it is now, whilst in mortality. The supreme standard of the Lord's expectation for us to become perfect as our Father is, is rather daunting considering the reality of our imperfections and our mortal weaknesses. However, as the Saviour used our Father in Heaven who is perfect, complete and finished in his glorified state, as the example of perfection, He has by this suggested a broader perspective of this commandment. Joseph Smith taught that we will work out our salvation and exaltation beyond the grave. This gives us a clear indication that perfection in this life is not attainable. Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught: "We have to become perfect to be saved in the celestial kingdom. But nobody becomes perfect in this life. Only the Lord Jesus attained that state, and He had an advantage that none of us has. He was the Son of God, and He came into this life with a spiritual capacity and a talent and an inheritance that exceeded beyond all comprehension what any of the rest of us was born with.....We enter in at a gate, and the name of the gate is repentance and baptism. We thereby get on a path, and the name of the path is the straight and narrow path. And then if we endure to the end, meaning if we keep the commandments of God after baptism, we go up that straight and narrow path, and at its end is a reward that is named eternal life. All of this is available because of the atoning sacrifice of Christ" (Bruce R. McConkie as quoted in Bruce Satterfield, The Sermon On the Mount: A More Excellent Way, Meridian Magazine).

   

Indeed, because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and by virtue of our faith in Him, we can travel this road that leads to the Kingdom of God. The enabling power that makes this possible is called 'grace'. Once the strait gate is entered and sacred covenants made between God and man, we are then endowed with the saving grace which enables us to reach perfection as the Saviour and our Father did. President Harold B. Lee taught: "The 'saving grace' of the Lord's atoning power is extended to those who would receive the saving ordinances of the gospel". "Through the ordinance of baptism, we receive the divine grace of forgiveness that qualifies us to receive spiritual rebirth through the gift of the Holy Ghost. Now spiritually reborn, we must then grow up to godhood. This will require further enabling power through divine grace or mercy. This grace comes through the higher ordinances of the temple. Each ordinance and covenant made in the temple helps us to receive more grace that enables us to become like God ( (Bruce Satterfield, The Sermon On the Mount: A More Excellent Way, Meridian Magazine).

The steps to perfection come with the enabling power of Christ so none of us can claim that we cannot possibly achieve the lofty ideal of godhood and perfection. The way has been prepared and put in place for those of us who choose to follow the Redeemer of the world. When we make that choice we build our tabernacle of clay on 'the rock' of his teachings. Jesus said that anyone who hears his teachings and does not abide by them is like a foolish man who builds his house on the sand (Matt 7:26,27). He has no hope of surviving the spiritual battle of this life, let alone attaining perfection. And why would we want perfection? Because 'eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which god hath prepared for them that love him' (1 Cor 2:9). One day we will receive this reward because of our faithfulness and His undeniable grace. We will enter into His rest and His kingdom and then and there we will finally come to understand that 'Adam fell that men might be and men are that they might have joy' (2 Nephi 2:25). We will joy in our perfections and in our exalted glory, having overcome the world and having gained eternal life with our posterity and all the riches of eternity. It is our promise, it is our right, it is our sacred destiny.

TRAILING CLOUDS OF GLORY

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;

The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,

Hath had elsewhere its setting,

And cometh from afar:

Not in entire forgetfulness,

And not in utter nakedness,

But trailing clouds of glory do we come

From God, who is our home.

- William Wordsworth

There is presently showing a Ridley Scott movie entitled "Exodus, Gods and Kings". I was excited to see this movie as it has been many years since the last depiction of Moses' story which was "The Ten Commandments". Even though "Exodus, Gods and Kings" was a very well made movie I felt it was very much lacking in spirit. I do not know if Ridley Scott is a religious man or what his motivation was for making this movie which was dedicated to his late brother. The insight I gleaned from my observation of this movie is not in line with criticism of his work. My insight has to do with the depiction of Moses and his non-existent relationship with God. This Moses was portrayed as someone who knew not God and as a result doubted Him at every turn. As I contemplated this, I reflected upon Moses' encounter with God, the account of which we have in The Pearl of Great Price. This account offers us a much clearer picture of Moses' experience as opposed to the Bible. The Book of Moses in The Pearl of Great Price records that God who introduced Himself to Moses as 'the Lord God Almighty' (Moses 1:3) addressed Moses as 'my son' and proceeded to do so more than once inferring a paternal relationship. He then gave Moses the vision of all the worlds He has created, the purpose of this earth and the origin of man. This is followed by the most powerful statement God has ever made: "For behold, this is my work and my glory - to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). With all His power and all His might, able to create planets and galaxies without number, God proclaimed that His greatest work is His ability and intent to exalt His children who were created by Him and came from Him. The majestic I Am who created the earth that Moses stood on considered Moses and all who dwell on this earth His sons and His daughters, His greatest creations. To Him "man is the underlying and overriding purpose of all His work, man's success constitutes His glory, to Him man is everything" (Ted Gibbons, OT Lesson 1 "This Is My Work and My Glory").

I wondered if Ridley Scott's Moses would have been different in "Exodus, Gods and Kings" if he had read The Pearl of Great Price. As I pondered more about this, a familiar scripture came into my mind: "And because my words shall hiss forth - many of the Gentiles shall say: A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible" (2 Nephi 29:3). Would we know better of Moses and the origin of man if we despised revelation and rejected further words of God? Are we grateful for additional scripture that sits on our bookshelves? Are we studying with real intent the words of eternal life that are at our disposal? God said something else very significant to Moses: "And in a day when the children of men shall esteem my words as naught and take many of them from the book which thou shalt write, behold, I will raise up another like unto thee; and they shall be had again among the children of men - among as many as shall believe" (Moses 1:41). 'Another like unto thee' is of course Joseph Smith (2 Nephi 3:7-9) who gave us the Book of Moses as a result of revelation whilst translating the Bible in June 1830. And are we not 'as many as shall believe', his disciples who have taken upon us His Name and who have been blessed with the fullness of the gospel in this dispensation?

The Book of Moses is the most crucial book in all the scriptures because it tells us of our relationship to God, where we came from and why we are here. The whole purpose of humanity is contained within its words. How much the adversary had to gain by having this book lost from the Bible! And yet God's might and power are greater than anything he can do to thwart the work of God and in His mercy He had raised another prophet and seer to bring the lost words back so that we His children would know ourselves, who we are and the glory that lies dormant within us until such time that He, the Almighty God, the great I am, can exalt us on high and make us truly His own. Should we not rejoice at such a time as this? Should we not revere Him who has bought us with a price? Should we not exclaim 'all honour and glory be Thine for ever and ever'.