AND JESUS SANG

 

Do This In Remembrance of Me by Mindi Oaten

I love words. I love them because they are an expression of one’s soul. Among all the words in the scriptures, Psalms is the book that offers such words; words of beauty, praise,  comfort, and faith…..to give peace for turbulence and a salve to the troubled heart. They also do something greater….they praise God. The most touching way Psalms were ever used for such a purpose was by Christ himself at the most soul crushing time of His life.

Imagine the Saviour travelling with His disciples to Jerusalem for the last time for the Passover   and explaining to them His forthcoming death and they…..”understood none of these things” (Luke 18:31-34). He knew that road to Jerusalem well, He had travelled it many times before but that day when He travelled it, it would have been the loneliest and most excruciating of all. He was alone in what He was about to face…and nobody understood.

How gracious and kind He was to His disciples for their lack of understanding even under strain of profound emotion.  The Sacrificial Lamb of God would for His last meal partake of the pascal lamb to commemorate His own death at the Last Supper. Imagine the irony of this also that escaped His disciples.

So oblivious were they of the Saviour’s anguish and advancing stress of the Atonement and so pre-occupied with selfish ambition that they fell into “muttering dispute among themselves over the matter of individual precedence, possibly as to the order in which they should take their places at table, over which triviality scribes and Pharisees as well as the Gentiles often quarrelled” (James E Talmage, Jesus the Christ, p 595) Luke 14:7-11; 22:24-30).

With sorrowful earnestness yet loving kindness, Jesus proceeded to teach them that the greatest among them is he that serves and so He washed their feet, even the feet of him who would betray him (John 13:1-20). The burden of this betrayal played on the Saviour’s heart so much that He quoted Psalms in fulfilment of this act: “He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.” (Psalm 41:9)

Yet as heavy hearted as He was at the end of the Last Supper, Jesus sang. Psalms were sung anciently at the Passover, in particular 116, 117 and 118. It goes without saying that the Saviour would have sung these particular Psalms with His disciples. Psalm 118 is a Messianic Psalm with a powerful theme of “His mercy endureth forever” which is repeated five times (vs 1, 2, 3, 4, 29). But that is not all. Upon closer reading, this Psalm testifies of the Saviour’s sacrifice. In verse 16 we read: ‘The right hand of the Lord is exalted.”

Imagine Jesus rising to His feet and singing this about himself and His ultimate sacrifice:

“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord: O lord I beseech thee, send now prosperity. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord: we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. God is the Lord, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee. O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.” (Psalms 118:24-29)

The latter part of verse 27 testifies of the Saviour’s Atonement further. The ‘horns of the altar’ in Moses’ tabernacle symbolised Jehovah’s might and power to save. When the officiating priest put sacrificial blood on the horns, it signified that forgiveness can only come through Him and His power.

Often a person accused of wrongdoing would flee to the tabernacle and hold onto the horns claiming asylum until he was tried and found guilty. The horns powerfully symbolised salvation. ‘Binding the sacrifice with cords’ can only mean the Saviour’s sacrifice was bound to the horns of the altar and did indeed symbolise that salvation comes only through Him. Likewise, the sacrificial lamb would have been bound with cords as it was being sacrificed upon the altar. Imagine the Saviour singing this Psalm about himself prior to going to His death as the sacrificial lamb of God.  It makes you want to weep…..

Matthew records the end of the Last Supper as such: “And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives” (Matthew 26:30). I wonder if the words of these Psalms rang in the Saviour’s mind as He proceeded to His death.

Those of us who have in the depths of our souls gratitude for His merciful sacrifice will shout from the rooftops this praise of His name: “O PRAISE THE LORD; all ye nations: PRAISE HIM, all ye people. For His merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever. PRAISE YE THE LORD.”  (Psalm 117)

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

THE MESSIANIC HOPE

 

Behold the Man by Simon Dewey 

The messianic hope is the expectation of an Anointed Deliverer that has its roots in pre-mortal life and that was prophesied about extensively in the scriptures (Abraham 3:27; Moses 4:1,2).

The English word Messiah comes from the Hebrew Meshiach, meaning ‘anointed’. The Greek equivalent is Christos. The Hebrew word Yeshua (Jesus in Greek) means ‘Saviour’ or ‘deliverer’. The two words combined denote one anointed of God to save or deliver His people.

The Old Testament prophets prophesied of the Messiah in incredible detail. The prophecies tell of him being born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14); that He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2); that He would be raised a  prophet like unto Moses (Deut 18:15); that  He would be of the lineage of David (Genesis 49:10; Jeremiah 23:5-6) and that He would have the government upon his shoulder (Isaiah 9:6,7).

The New Testament prophecies revealed the life and mission of the Messiah in detail. The writers of the four Gospels especially pointed out how Jesus Christ fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies that referred to the coming Messiah, the references of which are too extensive to record here.

The most well known messianic prophecy belongs to Isaiah who spoke of Him dualistically. Isaiah 53 describes the role of Christ as a ‘suffering servant’, ‘a man of sorrows’, one who stands ‘as a sheep before her shearers’, one who takes our transgressions upon Himself. The other picture of the Messiah is that of the “King of Glory” contained in Isaiah 9, which paints a picture of deliverance, political power, and the destruction of the enemies of Israel. They speak of two time periods which the Jewish population of Christ’s time either did not understand or they chose to ignore. The ‘suffering servant’ was a reference to Messiah’s first advent when  He would deliver His people spiritually and the King of Glory who would be sitting on the throne of David and have the government upon His shoulder refers to the Millenial reign.

The Jews of Christ’s first advent recognized that Jesus was from the lineage of David  but when He refused to take up the sword against Rome and take upon himself the government of their nation, His crucifixion was seen by the majority as a proof that He could not have been the promised deliverer. Remember the mocking: “He saved others, himself he cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him.” ( Mark 15:31, 32).

This is where the Jewish nation went wrong in their expectation of the Messiah:

From the time of the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. until the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70….the Palestinian remnant of Israel was subjected to the rule of many great powers: the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, the Ptolemies, the Seleucids, and finally the Romans.

During this great period of bondage to different powers, the Jewish people came to see the Messiah not as one who would provide Atonement for their sins but one who would deliver them from their enemies by physical force. They wanted freedom from people who ruled them.

And so the Jews looked beyond the mark which was Christ (Jacob 4:14) and crucified their God. When He did not come in a manner that they anticipated, they looked beyond Him for another who should come…..and they wait still.

Oh that I were an angel and could have the wish of mine heart!!!! I would shout from the rooftops to unbelieving Israel: your King will come!!!!

“Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle….then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations….and his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives…and one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.” (Zechariah 13:6; 14:1-4)

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

ODE TO HUMANITY

 

There is a famous passage quoted by Nelson Mandela in his 1994 inaugural speech, written by Marianne Williamson in her book “A Return to Love”, which argues that we fear our own light and potential more than our darkness, afraid that if we let our light shine it will make others feel insecure. The author’s intention was, however, to encourage us to embrace our own greatness in order to liberate others. It goes like this:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure….it is our light, not our darkness, which most frightens us. You may ask yourself, “Who am I to be brilliant, talented and fabulous?”. Actually, who are you NOT to be? You were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within you. It is not just some of us…..it is all of us. And as we let our light shine, we un unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As you become liberated from your own fear, your presence automatically liberates others.” (Marianne Williamson, “A Return to Love – Reflections On the Principles of A Course in Miracles”)

A bit of history honouring parenthood…..The modern Mother’s Day was first celebrated on May 10, 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial service for her mother at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia. Following her campaign, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson officially declared the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day in 1914. The first Father’s Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910, in Spokane, Washington, spearheaded by Sonora Smart Dodd to honour her father, a Civil War veteran who raised six children as a single parent. A recognition of her valiant father by a grateful daughter, and well earned. Being a single parent is not for faint hearted.

I first understood how equally important men and women are when I was a single mother. I noticed how crucial is the balance that fathers bring into the family. Mothers tend to be subjective and self-sacrificing while fathers are pragmatic and objective not allowing their feelings to cloud their judgment and course of action. I was a typical self-sacrificing single mother intent on sparing my children any pain and discomfort. I realized my mistake when I saw my daughters ill equipped to deal with harshness of life. The balance that each gender brings to a child is crucial, therefore we are all equally important in the grand scheme of things. We compliment each other in every way.

Recognising the power within us is recognizing the origin of that power. We are made in the image of God in every way. An exalted God is not without a wife. Creation would have to have been a dual process, spiritually and physically. We will know this process when the Saviour comes and reveals all things (D&C 101:23-35). Until then, may we appreciate each other whether it is Mother’s Day or Father’s Day….here’s a shout out to all humanity!!!

Among valiant sons of God

Who were chosen rulers to be

Stood the daughters so fair

They echoed through eternity.

 - CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: First Blossom by Annie Henrie Nader)

WALK WITH ME

 

In the 12 months of my illness and solitude, I have learnt how very important the Church is. I have suffered much isolation as I have been confined to my home. I didn’t expect the members of my ward to grace my doors every week but in this day and age when technology makes it so easy, I was not prepared for lack of contact I experienced, even from my Ward leaders.

I didn’t want to feel forgotten.  On days when I felt that even God had forsaken me, it would have mattered so much to be told that I was still remembered.

I get it, everyone is busy and dealing with their own stressful lives so thinking about others is difficult but there never has been a time of this earth where people did not live under duress of some sort and yet the call to become a Zion people has always been there.

This is my conclusion. We will never, never, never become a Zion people if we continue on this path of self-absorption and neglect of one another. Most people in the Church think the Saviour has not come because the world is not wicked enough. In reality, He will not come until we are a Zion people (see D&C 105:9-12 on how long the Lord will wait to redeem Zion and Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual commentary for these scriptures)

When the Saviour said to Enoch, “walk with Me”, He said it for this very purpose (Moses 6:34). And Enoch walked with God (v 39) and he established the city called Zion (v 18). Note, however, that this happened amidst the greatest distress for Enoch and his people as ‘from that time forth there were wars and bloodshed among the people’ and their enemies and giants of the land came to battle against them (Moses 7:13,15,16). Even so, the people of Enoch survived and still managed to establish Zion because ‘the Lord came and dwelt with them’ (v 16).

There is another who was told ‘walk with me’, with the promise that if he did, he would be perfect, and that was Abraham (Genesis 17:1). From the time he was called out of Haran, Abraham was in pursuit of the city of Zion (Hebrews 11:8-10).

“But how could he seek it if it was gone from the earth? Latter-day scripture also describes an order of priesthood available in Abraham’s day that could actually give mortals access to that translated city. According to Joseph Smith Translation of Genesis….”the order of the covenant which God made with Enoch”….for men having this faith, coming up to this order of God, .were translated and taken up into heaven (JST Gen. 14:27,32).” (E. Douglas Clark, “The Blessings of Abraham – Becoming a Zion People, p 92)

Abraham did walk with God and he became the protector, the teacher and servant of all the people he associated with. There is an endearing story in Midrash, a Jewish interpretation of biblical texts, that tells of Abraham’s concern and care of his fellowmen. It tells of Abraham sitting outside his tent one day in the heat of the day on the plains of Mamre with the breath of hell whirling the heat and the dust and the sand. He was worried thinking that there was some stranger out there lost in that dust storm so he sent his servant Eleazer out to look in all directions but Eleazer came back and said he couldn’t find anyone.

Abraham was still worried so he went out into that hell himself though he was very sick following his circumcision at such an old age (Genesis 17:24) but he found no one. Upon his return there were three strangers at his tent. It was the Lord with two others. Abraham threw himself down on his face in obeisance and it was then that he was given the promise of Isaac…..as a reward for what he had done. Abraham found someone more significant in that dust storm than he had ever imagined….he found his son Isaac.  (see Genesis 18 and “The Faith of an Observer – Conversations with Hugh Nibley, pp 28-29)

“….Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.” (James 2:23). A friend is someone who walks and talks and keeps company with you. May we all do so and become not only a friend to God but to each other. Until then we will not love one another as He had loved us.....

- CATHRYNE ALLEN  

ETERNAL PROTOTYPE

 

“As with many other truths of the gospel, our present knowledge about a Mother in Heaven is limited. Nevertheless, we have been given sufficient knowledge to appreciate the sacredness of this doctrine and to comprehend the divine pattern established for us as children of heavenly parents. Latter-day Saints believe that this pattern is reflected in Paul’s statement that “neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.

“Men and women cannot be exalted without each other. Just as we have a Father in Heaven, we have a Mother in Heaven. As President Dallin H. Oaks has said, “Our theology begins with heavenly parents. Our highest aspiration is to be like them.

“Indeed, as Elder Rudger Clawson wrote, “We honour woman when we acknowledge Godhood in her eternal Prototype.”

-          Mother in Heaven, Gospel Topics Essays, lds.org

 

ODE TO HEAVENLY MOTHER

You nurtured me so lovingly

And placed me on the godly path;

You bid me follow in Your footsteps,

To bring honour to Your noble heart.

 

I long to bring You my earthly memories

And tell You of them, one by one;

I hope to bring You endless joy

When home at last I come.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: In Her Image by Joyfully Artful)

A BABY OF PROMISE

 

“Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: Come on, let us deal wisely with them: lest they multiply, and it come to pass that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and get them out of the land. 

Therefore, they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens…..But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel…… and they made their lives bitter with hard bondage….. (Exodus 1:8-14)

“We fancy that God can only manage His world by big battalions….when all the while He is doing it by beautiful babies….When a wrong needs righting, or a truth wants preaching, or a continent wants opening, God sends a baby into the world to do it.”  (F.W. Boreham)

And it was a doomed baby, a beautiful baby, that was meant to be saved when a great wrong needed righting, a truth needed preaching, and people needed saving….and his name was Moses (Acts 7:20)

You mothers who have experienced the euphoria after giving birth, imagine the government of your land had decreed that the baby you were holding in your arms had to die. It doesn’t bear thinking does it? Think of Mary, Elizabeth and the mother of Moses…..

Imagine having to place that baby in a basket and set it on a river hoping someone would find it and look after it because you cannot bear to see its life extinguished. Then imagine a woman in pre-mortal life saying: send me to the Egyptian royal court and I will save that Hebrew baby that would one day float down the river…… this was the beginning of a man who was to become the greatest prototype of the Messiah.

And here is the full story. A Levite by the name of Amram, who was afraid for his whole nation and the baby his wife, Jochebed  was carrying, prayed to God one night begging Him for deliverance from the miseries his people were enduring at the hands of the Egyptian masters  who had proclaimed a death penalty on all the newborn.

God of Israel heard that prayer and ‘stood by him in his sleep’ and exhorted him not to despair for the child his wife was carrying for that very child shall deliver the Hebrew nation from the distress they were under. What’s more, “he shall be concealed from those who watch to destroy him….that his memory shall be famous while the world lasts; and this not only among the Hebrews, but foreigners also….”  (Josephus, “Jewish Antiquities” p 97)

And this answers how Moses’ preservation came about through the involvement of Him who makes all things possible and who fulfils all His promises. Amram and his wife concealed the baby boy in their home for three months after which Amram decided to trust the baby’s safety and care to God rather than to depend on his own uncertain ways of protection: “He believed that God would in some way procure the safety of the child in order to secure the truth of His own predictions”. (ibid p 98)

Hence the cradle made out of bulrushes and the infant left to God’s preservation floating down the river. Imagine the faith of that father and the longing of that mother to hold that baby against her breast….imagine the lesson learnt that when you put your trust in God, He comes up with a perfect plan because He did send that willing woman to the Egyptian court to save that baby of promise….. whom the Egyptians themselves raised to break the bands of their inflicted bondage of God’s favoured people.  

Oh the irony of the perfect plan of the perfect God whose work for the salvation of men cannot be frustrated!

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Artist Unknown)

 

THE DEMISE OF LOT

 

There is a very valuable lesson one can learn from the downfall of Abraham’s nephew Lot and it goes like this…..Following their sojourn in Egypt, Abraham and Lot were blessed so abundantly that the land could not contain them and it became apparent they would have to go their separate ways in the land of Canaan (Genesis 13:7).  

 

Abraham, being the man that he was, offered Lot his choice of the land first.  Lot who was not as generous and mindful of others, chose the fertile plain along the Jordan River and left Abram the rocks of upper Canaan. There was only one problem. Lot’s land had a majestic view….of Sodom (Genesis 13:12). And so Lot began his demise by pitching his tent toward the city of wickedness while Abraham and his household found refuge and distance from it by the rocks which obscured their view (v 18).

 

The demise of Lot proves that our daily focus manifests its reality in our lives because by the time the messengers from the Lord came to do a little inspection of Sodom, Lot was no longer living toward Sodom, he was living IN it (JST Genesis 19:1).

 

When the destruction of Sodom was imminent and the time came for Lot to leave, the sons-in-law who married his daughters refused to leave and mocked Lot for suggesting so (JST Genesis 19:19-22). Lot and his wife and two unmarried daughters had to be physically dragged out of the city (Genesis 19:16).  In the process of the flight Lot lost his wife too as she turned toward Sodom, no doubt longing for the daughters she left behind (v 26).

 

From there came more wickedness as Lot was left alone with his two daughters who didn’t think twice of securing children for themselves by their father (v 30-38). Where did they learn such behaviour?  In Sodom.  In reality Lot had lost his whole family to the wickedness of the world.  Sooner or later the world sucks you in if you are looking at it longingly enough.

 

Consider the opposite example in Abraham. Sometime after he and Lot first settled in Canaan, a confederation of kings attacked the cities of that valley. Lot didn't fare very well in that attack and was captured with his family and taken away together with all their possessions.  Abraham pursued the invading kings with his servants and conquered them bringing Lot and his family back. When he returned to his home he was met by the king of Sodom who offered Abraham all the booty he had captured in the war but Abraham refused to take anything from this king of wickedness for fear he would say that he, and not God, made Abraham rich (Genesis 14:8-24).

 

Not only did Abraham acknowledge the true source of his prosperity, he was careful not to be a partaker of anything that was unrighteous and unclean, that had the potential to make him a part of the world. It reminds me of Alma who said:”…come ye out from the wicked…..and touch not their unclean things…..(Alma 5:57). Because if you do, it will surely lead to destruction.

 

Our constant focus matters more than we think. If you are sitting in a tent looking longingly at the world, look the other way, change the paltry view to a majestic one…..it wears the crown of a King….the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords (Rev 19:16); The Rock of Heaven (Moses 7:53), The Rock of our Salvation (Deut 32:15)….Endless and Eternal is His name (D&C 19:10-12).

 

Who is a God like unto Thee,

Jehovah, our King?

Who protects the weak

And the broken hearted;

Who sorrows for the lost

Who paid the price of

The crucible cost. 

CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)

THE ANCIENT OF DAYS

 

There is a place in Daviess county, Missouri, which is called Spring Hill. This place “was named by the mouth of the Lord, Adam-Ondi-Ahman”, literal translation being “Where Adam-having taken-God” (Ahman being the name of God in pure language) (“History of the Church”, 3:34-35). This is the place where one of the most tender events occurred on the American continent, the knowledge of which we owe to modern-day revelation through the modern-day prophet Joseph Smith.

This is where Adam, the Ancient of Days, bestowed his last blessing upon the patriarchs and his righteous posterity three years prior to his death (D&C 107:53-56). When the Saviour appeared to this congregation, Adam’s posterity “rose up and blessed Adam, and called him Michael, the prince, the archangel”. The Lord then administered comfort unto Adam and said unto him: I have set thee to be at the head; a multitude of nations shall come of thee, and thou art a prince over them forever.” (D&C 107:54-55).

After the Lord administered to him, Adam stood up even though he was ‘bowed down with age, and being full of the Holy Ghost, predicted whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the latest generation’ (v 56). When Joseph Smith visited Spring Hill in 1876 he was privileged to see Adam, the Ancient of Days, in a vision of this momentous meeting (“Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith” p 158).

Adam lived 930 years according to Genesis 5:5 and Moses 6:12 but died in the ‘same day’ he partook of the fruit as the promise of death was spoken by God when the earth was still subject to the Lord’s time which was after the time of Kolob (Abraham 5:13). Imagine living and enduring that long…..

There will come a time when Adam will return to Adam-Ondi-Ahman: “He will call his children together and hold a council with them to prepare them for the coming of the Son of Man”…..The Son of Man will stand before him, and there will be given Him glory and dominion. Adam will deliver up his stewardship to Christ, who holds the keys of the universe, but will retain his standing as the head of the human family (“Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith” p 157).

This is the great Council of which neither the Church members nor the world will know about which will take place prior to the Saviour’s Second appearing as a ‘thief in the night’ (D&C 106:4) (Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, “Way to Perfection” pp 290-91; also D&C Student Manual p 288)

There is no greater summation of the Plan of Salvation that is as emotionally touching as this.  Adam, the head of the human family, having fulfilled his role so righteously as the father of all living, delivers his stewardship to the Saviour, the executor of the Plan of Salvation, at the winding up scenes of this earth. Promises kept, mission completed, humanity reared and saved.

Whereas Adam is the prince over us ‘forever’, the Saviour is the King. If not for Him, we would not be. And if not for continuous revelation we would not have glimpses of momentous occasions like this which bring to life the truth of our existence and which light the fire of our testimonies.

Every time I read the Doctrine and Covenants, my testimony of Joseph as the revelator and prophet increases. There is not one verse in that book of scripture that can convince me that Joseph had the intelligence and seership to produce such of himself.

The Saviour lives and guides His Church through living prophets. May our testimonies be such that we will bear witness of this when one day we kneel at Jesus’ feet.

 - CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Joseph Smith at Saviour's Feet by Liz Lemon Swindle)

 

THE RECOMPENSE OF GOD

 

Our beginning on this earth through Adam and Eve is an incredible witness that God’s purposes cannot be frustrated and that His success is imminent and without fail.

Something wonderful happened to Adam and Eve after they buried their hopes and dreams and plans for their righteous son Abel. He it was that was groomed by his parents to be the heir of the Priesthood and thus become the presiding high priest over the kingdom of God on earth. He was to succeed his father and become the head of a whole new cultural pattern of righteous living that would take the humanity on a different path than what was up to that time established by Satan among the children of men (Moses 6:15).

Only those parents who have buried their children after an unjust death would understand the deep sorrow experienced by Adam and Eve when they lost Abel. These parents, I believe, will be compensated for their loss, just like our first parents were, sometime, somewhere, somehow.

Adam was 130 years old when Eve had another son. This was the golden boy that replaced Abel. He was tutored and taught the science of righteous living and gave his parents cause to have hope for the future. This was Seth who in every way resembled his father Adam. The Lord in modern revelation said this of him: “Seth was a perfect man, and his likeness was the express likeness of his father….and could not be distinguished from him only by his age.” (D&C 107:43)

This was the compensation, the recompense, the reward for all our first parents suffered because of their children: “Seth lived a total of 912 years (ibid v 46), and during his long ministry he saw the Church of God become a great organized power for good among the children of men………. Seth prophesied and preached repentance for 840 years. As a result, many who would have otherwise grown up in wickedness caught the vision of faith which his daily conduct and sermons portrayed (Moses 6:23). (W. Cleon Skousen, “The First Two Thousand Years” p 132)

Seth, the recompense and the beginning of the patriarchs.

Some years ago I had a memory from my pre-earth life. I was sitting with the Saviour and He was saying to me: “I will save you and make up for everything”. My life to this day does not resemble any ‘make-up’ but I still believe in the promise. If not in this life, then most assuredly in the next, and the next life is what truly matters to me. In the meantime, all glory be to His name for the greatest recompense He has given me…..the close association I now have with Him and our Father….and that to me is the greatest reward I could possibly have.

May you, who are in your sorrow, believe in Him who has the power to say: “I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten……… (Joel 2:25)

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Acquainted with Grief by Jenedy Paige)

REVERENCE

 

During Christmas I posted an endearing picture of baby Jesus by Jenedy Paige. According to Facebook, that post reached 14.7K people. Many people commented to me how incredibly touched they were by that post and I know why. In it I conveyed all the research that the artist had made concerning the holy birth but what I know touched the hearts of many was her explanation I quoted of what she felt whilst the painting was evolving. She said it made her weep as she reflected on the Father’s feelings during His Son’s birth which foreshadowed His death.

I adore good art. It is one talent I wish I had. I follow many artists and have an enormous amount of copies of their paintings saved in my computer that I use for my posts. I always give accreditation when I use them because I want everyone to know who possesses such talent and I hope it is good advertisement of their work.

This past week I came across this painting titled La Pieta by a young Italian artist called Fabio Cuffari. It nearly stopped my heart. The richness of this painting was so visually arresting for me, I could not stop looking at it. I reflected on the many paintings of Christ’s birth I used this Christmas and remembered all of Mary’s love for her baby  reflected in them. When I look at this painting I still see the baby in Mary’s arms. A mother’s heart always remembers those first days of birth, even at death and this painting portrays that for me.

I am talking about this because I do not believe that AI could ever portray the feelings of the spirit in any piece of art because it was not created by its influence. I have seen AI pictures of Jesus with smooth and handsome faces but with abnormal hands and feet. We have recently had a few leaders talk about our use of AI for spiritual purposes. This is something we should take notice of very seriously:

“My dear brothers and sisters, as sophisticated as modern technology has become, it simply cannot simulate the wonder, awe, and amazement found in the kind of reverence born from the influence of the Holy Ghost. As followers of Christ, we need to be careful not to weaken our connection with God and His Son by using AI-generated content and images inappropriately.

“We should remember that relying on a modern technological “arm of the flesh” is an inadequate and disrespectful substitute for the inspiration, edification, and witness that can be received only through the power of the Holy Ghost.” (Elder Ulisses Soares, “Reverence for Sacred Things” April 2025 General Conference)

I am a writer and I am passionate about Christ and His gospel. What propels me and motivates me to write is the connection I feel with the divine when I do so. Like Jenedy Paige, my writing feeds my soul….and if it feeds mine, then it must feed some others. Many of my poems were inspired by good works of art and I know that the artist's inspiration had fed my own. Artificial intelligence cannot simulate that.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: La Pieta by Fabio Cuffari)

REDEEMER

 

“The Eternal Father well understood the diverse natures and varied capacities of His spirit-offspring; and His infinite foreknowledge made plain to Him, even in the beginning, that in the school of life some of His children would succeed and others would fail; some would be faithful, others false; some would choose the good, others the evil; some would seek the way of life while others would elect to follow the road to destruction.

“He further foresaw that death would enter the world, and that the possession of bodies by His children would be of but brief individual duration. He saw that His commandments would be disobeyed and His law violated; and that men, shut out from His presence and left to themselves, would sink rather than rise, would retrograde rather than advance, and would be lost to the heavens.

“It was necessary that a means of redemption be provided, whereby erring man might make amends, and by compliance with established law achieve salvation and eventual exaltation in the eternal worlds…..It was not His design that the souls of mankind be lost; on the contrary it was and is His work and glory, “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39).

“The offer of the firstborn Son to establish through His own ministry among men the gospel of salvation, and to sacrifice Himself, through labour, humiliation and suffering even unto death, was accepted and made the foreordained plan of man’s redemption from death, of his eventual salvation from the effects of sin, and of his possible exaltation through righteous achievement.”

-          (James E. Talmage, “Jesus the Christ” p 18)

FATHER’S CHARGE:

Long ago,

When you lived in my arms

You wanted to fly

In the vast expanse of the skies.

I gifted you wings,

And promised I would

Teach you to fly.

Just remember, I am here, but

It is your turn now,

To rise.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: All Is Calm by Gabriel Heaton)

A GOD IN MORTALITY

 

“He came here to dwell as a mortal, subject to the testing experiences that are common lot of all mankind. He lived and breathed as all men do; he ate and drank as his needs required; he wielded the carpenter’s saw, toiled in the fields of grain, and slept on the barren Palestinian soil. His experiences were like those of his Israelite kinsmen. Upon him the rains fell; around him the snows swirled.

“He was hungry, cold, tired, sick, and afflicted, as all men are; and when he died, his eternal spirit left its tenement of clay, as is the case with all of Adam’s race. He was a man, a mortal man, a son of Adam, and God his Father saw fit to let him live as other men live, experience as they experience, sorrow and suffer as they do, and overcome as they must, if they are ever to return to the Divine Presence where joy and peace and eternal glory abound.”

-          Bruce R. McConkie, “The Mortal Messiah Book 1”  p 6

 

Every Christmas,

the mother in me

Longs to hold

the baby You became.

 

To hold all that You were,

To smell the babyhood on You.

Just one hug, just one embrace,

And to kiss Your sweet little face.

 

Were You a baby like all the rest?

Did You cry out in the night

Longing to hear the beating

Of Your mother’s heart?

 

Were You glad to be here

Were Your angels still near?

Did You long for Your Father

And His mighty arm

And all those You left behind?

 

Did You remember who You were?

And did You know You would

One day make all things new?

Did You rejoice even then

In my salvation too?

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Babe in Bethlehem by Liz Lemon Swindle)

A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

 

“God sent His Son to overcome the world – the world of carnality and evil; the world of lust and lewdness and license; the world of hate and sin, of war and murder, of wickedness and ungodliness. The Son of Righteousness came to bring righteousness and peace. And when he came, the world had sunk into a lower abyss than at any time since all flesh, being corrupt and evil, save eight souls only, had been drowned in the waters of Noah.

“Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and all the kingdoms of the world had ruled by blood and the sword, by torture and death. But always there had been a leaven of righteousness, a kingdom devoted to goodness, a few people who loved the Lord and sought His face.

“But now, in the time set apart for our Lord’s coming, corruptions and evils were everywhere. A few righteous souls – a Zacharias here, an Elisabeth there – stayed, as it were, the plagues of destruction, but the wickedness of the world was everywhere and the stench of sin covered the earth.

“Even the covenant people, in the main, had gone astray. No longer were they a leaven to the worldly lump; subject to their priestcrafts, they would soon be in a state where they would crucify a God. Naught but a new day of righteousness and light, ushered in by one greater than the prophets could bring hope again to men.

“The advent of Christ was the breaking of the ‘dayspring from on high’ through a gloom that had been gathering for ages; a great light dawning on a world which lay in darkness, and in the shadow of death.”

-          Bruce R. McConkie, “The Mortal Messiah Book 1” p 289-292

The day You were born

You split the heavens apart

And angels descended

Trailing in their flight

Golden stars spilling over the night.

 

The moon hid in shame

As the angels spread Your godly light

And from their lips fell homage

To Your glory in the still of the night.

 

How I wish I too could fly

Spreading the message far and wide:

Our God and our King was born

On a Meridian night!

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Light of the World by Jay Bryant Ward)

THE TEST

 

The other day I wrote a post about compassion and I claimed that we are not here to ‘learn and to grow’ but rather to be tried and proven as per the scriptures (Abraham 3:25). One sister thankfully commented: “yet didn’t Christ learn by the things He suffered?”. I immediately recalled the scripture which had not up to now provided a proper understanding for me.

The scripture states: “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). I had read this scripture many times and always wondered what the Saviour had to learn when His obedience was perfect even before He came here and then all of a sudden it began to make sense for the first time.

Earthly suffering has the power to create animosity towards God and foster the attitude of disobedience (Job 2:4,5). Many people turn away from God because they cannot accept that He allows bad things to happen to good people.

Over the years I have learnt a lot about the Plan of Salvation but there was always a piece of the puzzle missing for me about suffering. I couldn’t understand why it was so necessary for our eventual rise to godhood. I felt the core reason for it was missing for me. Then two years ago I entered a stage of physical suffering that unbeknownst to me was trying to teach me what I wanted to know.

I still stand by my understanding that we came here to be tried and tested but this time I can see the connection between suffering and this test. The connection is obedience. The test is to prove we will be obedient when it is the hardest to be so. If we can be obedient in our extremities, we have arrived.

I think of that perfect baby in the manger. He who was perfect in His obedience before He was born yet He too had to prove Himself. I think of His earthly life and how that proving ground led Him to HIS extremity – His greatest suffering which forged the example of obedience for all mankind when He uttered: Thy will be done. That’s obedience.

And here is the greatest act of mercy on Father’s behalf. His ability to send us to temporary affliction shows His utmost trust in the process of the Atonement, knowing full well that because of it we would survive the test. Our trust in this most miraculous and supernal gift also would have been supreme when we voted for it. No sane person would accept a painful plan with risk of being lost, without a sure way of eventual escape. It would be like entering a tunnel knowing there is no exist at the end. But because of that babe in the manger there is an exit.

This Christmas I am reflecting not only on His birth but His life of suffering as I accept my  own. And I will give thanks for all He has to teach me…..

The baby in the stable

So innocent and sweet,

On the altar of sacrifice

Lay at Father’s feet.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Heavenly Peace by Eileen Whitehead)

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)