How can I tell you
What my mortal lips
cannot say?
How can I show you
What my mortal heart
cannot hold?
All that I feel
And all that I am
I owe to you.
I give you my all
Because a heart can give
no more.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: I Am The Way by Danny Hahlbohm)
Before
Joshua died he entered the children of Israel into a covenant to serve God who
brought them out of the ‘house of bondage’. The last chapter of the book of
Joshua records the people promising four times that they would not abandon
their God, that they would serve Him and obey His voice (Joshua 24:16,18,21,22,23).
The covenant came with three warnings as they
were about to enter the promised land of the Canaanites: 1. Beware of social
intercourse with them (Joshua 23:7; 2. Refrain from worshipping their false
gods (vv 7-11); and 3. Avoid intermarriage with hem (v 12). Yet this is exactly
what happened.
It only
took one act of disobedience to lead the
whole nation into centuries of spiritual decline, and this was it: Israel failed to drive out all the heathen
inhabitants of their promised land. Numerous unconquered cities remained
(Judges 1:27-36). The tribe of Judah blamed the Philistines which introduced
chariots of iron (Judges 1:19) but the real reason was that they had lost the
power of the Lord through their lack of faith and their disobedience.
The people
wept when an angel of the Lord came to them and confronted them about their
failure to obey. He told them the Lord will not drive these inhabitants out for them but that they shall be as ‘thorns in their sides and their
gods shall be a snare unto them’ as punishment (Judges 2:3,4; 21-23). It brings
to remembrance the Lamanites whom the Lord said to Nephi would be ‘a scourge’
to his people to ‘stir them up in remembrance of Him’ and if they will not
remember Him, they shall be the means to their destruction (2 Nephi 5:25).
When Joshua
and the leaders of Israel who served under him died, the national spirit of
Israel also died. There arose another generation after them which knew not the
Lord, nor what He had done for them (Judges 2:10,12). The covenant was soon
broken and the vicious cycle of apostasy and repentance was born. How could
Israel forget within one generation the God whom they worshipped? This is the
period of time in ancient history where the inexhaustible mercy of Jehovah
begins to show in earnest.
As the new
generation intermarried and turned to idolatry of the Canaanites, ‘the hand of
the Lord was against them for evil as He had sworn He would do’ (Judges 2:11-15;
3:6,7) but nevertheless, there was always mercy in the hope that they would
return to Him. As they fell into the hands of the oppressors, the Lord would
raise up judges to deliver them but once delivered, they would return to their
former ways and corrupted themselves even more than before (v 16-19). It makes
you want to weep…..
And this is the interesting part. They did not cry to the false gods they worshipped to deliver them but they cried to Jehovah (Judges 3:9). They knew full well who the real God was. So aggrieved was the Saviour about their backsliding and idolatry that He referred to their worship of false gods as ‘harlots with many lovers’ (Hosea 2:5; Jeremiah 3:1). This is heartbreaking as the Saviour always referred to His relationship with Israel as marriage.
He is the Bridegroom who is coming to take us as His bride in the everlasting covenant of love. May we always remember that and forsake the lovers of the world we hold onto today. We can do better than Israel of old.
As Israel, we have trodden worldly paths
That have left us battered, scarred,
And parched in search of love.
Our lovers were many but
Our hearts were empty.
At long last
We embrace the love that lasts,
We prepare for the wedding feast
And abandon our treacherous past.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Sending Forth the Bride by Danny Hahlbohm)
I CAME INTO THE WORLD:
To
give peace to the suffering
To
give hope to the down-trodden
To
strenghten the weak
To
lighten your burdens
To
lift the downtrodden
To
give sight to the blind
To
give power to the faint
To
give might to the weary
To
comfort those who mourn
To
bind up the broken-hearted
To
show mercy to the penitent
To
give you living water
To
free the captive
To
be a refuge from the storm
And
a shadow from the heat
To
give you rest from sorrow and fear
To
break the bands of bondage
To
empower the powerless
To
conquer the sting of death
To
be a light unto the world
To
establish truth
To
atone for you
To
love you
To
help you
To
save you.
I WILL RETURN:
To
conquer the enemy
To
destroy the wicked
To
govern in righteousness
To
unite the nations
To
gather my people Israel
To
establish peace
To
take away the sorrow
To
make all things known
To
flood the earth with truth
To
resurrect you
To
judge in righteousness
To
give mercy to the penitent
To
take you to the Father
To
give you eternal life
To
exalt you.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Jesus the Symbol of Hope by Ivan Guaderrama)
“They
(those in the great and spacious building of Lehi’s dream) look happy and free,
but don’t mistake telestial pleasure for celestial happiness and joy. Don’t
mistake lack of self-control for freedom. Complete freedom without appropriate
restraint makes us slaves to our appetites.
Don’t envy
a lesser and lower life….the people in that building have absolutely nothing to
offer except instant, short-term gratification inescapably connected to
long-term sorrow and suffering. The commandments you observe were not given by
a dis-passionate God to prevent you from having fun, but by a loving Father in
Heaven who wants you to be happy while you are living on this earth as well as
in the hereafter.”
-
Bishop Glen L. Pace, Ensign November 1987, p 39
Some years
ago I heard a mother in the Church say she just wanted her teenage son to come
out of the closet so he can be ‘happy’. That son eventually did come out of the
closet but to this day he is not happy. He is an alcoholic with a ruined liver
who was told by the medical profession he will not live a long life. It always
amazes me how intent some people are to be happy in this life.
The
greatest outline of mortal happiness can be found in 2 Nephi Chapter 5. This
was the early period of time in ancient
America when Nephi separated himself and his followers from his brothers who
sought to take away his life (v 4).
The story
begins with Nephi following the Lord’s warning to alienate themselves from
those seeking their destruction and thereafter following the path to spiritual
prosperity. Nephi begins his account of their new life on the American
continent with the most significant pattern for ‘mortal happiness’: “And we did
observe to keep the judgments, and the statues, and the commandments of the
Lord in all things….” (v 10).
Thereafter
the story unfolds with blessings of physical abundance of food (v 11); possession
of scriptures (v12); building of a temple (v 16); industry of the people ( v
17); and then comes: “And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of
happiness.” (v 27).
Happiness
in this life is a huge subject to tackle. I get it, this life is hard and it is
hard for everyone, even those in the Church who are being obedient. I guess the
importance lies in your definition of happiness and which happiness you want. Notice that Nephi said "manner" of happiness......insinuating it's not a permanent, complete and iron clad happiness. This kind of happiness can only be found in the eternal presence of God.
In this
life of lack of permanency, the only real 'sense' of happiness comes from being
close to God. Nephi accentuates this truth. Whereas Nephi and his people had
achieved that happiness, his brothers and their followers were cut off from the
presence of the Lord (v 20). Being cut off from God and His influence would
have to be the most detrimental and miserable state of being.
When I
think of living after ‘the manner of happiness’ I think of Zion. I think this
is why Nephi called it so because His people were one and united in obedience
and striving for the same outcome. Being in a community such as Zion alienates
you from worldly values of destruction and unites you with people who are on the
same path of righteousness, with the same goals and the love of God which binds
you together. I think this is what Nephi identified as happiness. This is what
should be our goal as we prepare ourselves for the return of our God.
He will
come and reveal Himself to those who love Him and then we will know what true
happiness is…..it is worth waiting for and striving for.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Love and Faithfulness by Chris Brazelton)
“Too many
of the people of the world have come to resemble the Babylon of old by walking
in their own ways and following a god ‘whose image is in the likeness of the
world’ (D&C 1:16).
“One of the
greatest challenges we will face is to be able to live in that world but
somehow not be of that world. We have to create Zion in the midst of Babylon….
“My
involvement with the building of the Manhattan Temple gave me the opportunity
to be in the temple quite often prior to the dedication. It was wonderful to
sit in the celestial room and be there in perfect silence, without a single
sound to be heard coming from the busy New York streets outside. How was it
possible that the temple could be so reverently silent when the hustle and
bustle of the metropolis was just a few yards away?
“The answer
was in the construction of the temple. The temple was built within the walls of
an existing building, and the inner walls of the temple were connected to the
outer walls at only a very few junction points. That is how the temple (Zion)
limited the effects of Babylon, or the world outside.
“There may
be a lesson here for us. We can create the real Zion among us by limiting the
extent to which Babylon will influence our lives…..
“Wherever
we are, whatever city we may live in, we can build our own Zion by the
principles of the celestial kingdom and ever seek to become the pure in heart….
“We do not
need to become as puppets in the hands of the culture of the place and time. We
can be courageous and can walk in the Lord’s paths and follow His footsteps.”
-
Elder David R. Stone, in CR April 2006, 94-97; or
Ensign May 2006, 90-93)
I remember
talking to one of the sisters in the Church years ago. She said she had gone to
the department store to buy some needed dinner plates and she encountered
beautiful expensive china there. She inspected it and her concluding thought
was: “This is so Babylon”. She decided against buying that china and settled
for something more serviceable and less valuable. I was a young and relatively
new member of the Church back then and I was in awe of her because she happened
to have the financial means to own anything I deemed expensive. I had never
forgotten that.
Now when I see some popular fashions and
expensive ware, I remember this sister and think to myself: “This is so
Babylon”….. This one thought has over the years taken away all my inclination
to follow world trends and seek after the things that are passing and of no
spiritual value.
It must be
my age but the older I get, the less appeal Babylon has for me. I cannot bear
swearing in movies so I have given up on watching them. The novels I used to
love getting lost in now speak nothing to me but the voices and values of the
world so I have stopped reading them. The shows I used to love watching on
streaming services lost their appeal too once I realized most of them centered
on crime and murder. I decided I could do without that energy in my life too. The
less influence of the world I have in my life, the greater my spirituality and
thirst for eternal life.
I want to
live in Zion and I want to live with the nobles of heaven one day. Babylon the
Great will fall. Nothing in it is permanent and lasting. The world will be done
away with but the kingdom of God will go on forever.
Remember,
there is no iron rod to the great and spacious building….
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Artist Unknown)
For now I walk unsteady steps
On this earthly soil beneath my feet
But one day I will come to You
With perfect faith in waves of deep.
And when in distance Your glory beckons,
When You come to take me home,
I will run into Your arms
And forever be Your own.
- Cathryne Allen
(Art: Serene Saviour by Ivan Guaderrama)
