THE WISH

 

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 be 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: Clay Full by Ron diCianni)

CREATING ZION

 

“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)

PERFECT FAITH

 

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) 

PREPARING FOR ZION

 

I was working at the Church Office in Sydney when Elder Bruce C. Hafen was the Area President here in Australia. He was generous enough to share some knowledge with me which I valued highly. He told me that the directive of the Church at the time given to the leaders was to prepare the members for Zion. That was some 25 years ago.

This made me see how important the Church is as an organisation because of its leaders who are implementing this preparation. We are told certain conditions need to be met before Zion can be established as ‘the bridge between the world as it is and the world as God designed it and meant it to be’ (Hugh Nibley, “Approaching Zion” p 4).

Section 105 of the Doctrine and Covenants speaks in detail of the needed preparation of the saints before the Lord can ‘redeem Zion’ but the very first requirement is relative to the elders of the Church which are to be endowed with power from on high so that we, the members, might be taught more perfectly what God requires of us (D&C 105:10,11). The structure of the Church is based on leadership. The leaders are to be taught and trained as much as the members below them. The leaders are meant to learn to lead and we are meant to learn to follow.

There are some who believe they can be inactive in the Church and in the end show up at New Jerusalem’s gate expecting to live a Zion life. Imagine arriving to Zion without any experience behind you that would have taught you to be obedient to the leaders’ instructions and to be united with other members of the Church community. I have wondered how they could become obedient to the leaders overnight when they didn’t value their leadership beforehand. I know some wonderful and good members of the Church who are inactive and are highly critical of the leaders. There are some who do not support the general authorities of the Church and tend to believe they are ‘nice old men’ but not prophets, seers and revelators.

The leaders might not be perfect but the Lord values their leadership of His saints. This is how important it is to honour the administration of the Church in preparation for the Second Coming:

“The coming of the Son of Man never will be – never can be till the judgments spoken of for this hour are poured out: which judgments are commenced. Paul says, “Ye are the children of the light, and not of the darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief in the night.” It is not the design of the Almighty to come upon the earth and crush it and grind it to powder, BUT HE WILL REVEAL IT TO HIS SERVANTS THE PROPHETS (Amos 3:7)” (Teachings of Joseph Smith, p 286)

The leaders of the Church might not know the exact day and the hour but the proximity of it will be very real to the Church because of the preparation that the leaders will have put into place for the readiness of the Kingdom. The New Jerusalem for one will have to be ready and peopled to receive our King.

We, the children of light, have more information regarding the Second Coming than the rest of the world. The signs of the times are clear in modern day revelation as contained in Doctrine and Covenants. We know the sequence of events that are to take place. We are not dumb sheep without knowledge and without untrained shepherds. The Lord has not left us unawares and clueless. He wants His people to be ready and He wants us all in Zion to welcome Him.

There will be no excuse if we are not there on that auspicious day….

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Second Coming by Ron DiCianni)

SELF-WILL

 

I pleaded with you on bended knee

My fears to dissolve.

You sat in silence

Hoping I would give You

what You yearned the most to own,

My self-will,

My hesitance to relinquish control.

In the end I gave it up

And found solace to my soul.

 

Yes, You said,

Now you understand.

I paved the way

In Gethsemane long ago.

                          

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Thy Will Be Done by Jay Bryant Ward)

 

TO SERVE GOD 2

 

Whereas ancient Israel’s conquest was a physical one, ours is a spiritual one. Israel’s charge was to conquer land for the temporal and eternal possession, our charge is to create a Zion society of God’s chosen people. Both responsibilities rested on one commandment, to serve God but in two different ways.

Ancient Israel was to serve God through obedience to His commandments and worship through the law of Moses, we are to serve God by our obedience to His commandments and to serve one another to prepare us for Zion. Consider these two commandments that came long after the conquest of Canaan:

-          Matt 25:40: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me……and: Matt 25:45 – when we don’t do it for “the least of these”, we don’t do it for Him;

-          Mosiah 2:17: “….when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.”

Our societal structure is more different from the ancient one which depended so much on possession of land and as a result was more used to physical warfare. We, however, fight a spiritual battle with the prince of darkness who seeks to destroy us spiritually in diving us to the point where our hearts have turned cold one towards another (D&C 45:26,27). This is not to overlook the increase of wars and rumours of wars in these latter-days as prophesied (Mark 13:7)

This is why the spiritual battle is more devastating to God’s people today. Zion can only be built in preparation for the Saviour’s return ‘according to the union required by the law of the celestial kingdom’ (D&C 105:3-5). It is this union that enables men to obey the law of consecration whereby they impart of their ‘substance, as becometh saints, to the poor and the afflicted’ (v 3). This was the success of the city of Enoch. Because they were of one heart and one mind they willingly met each other’s needs so there was no poor among them (Moses 7:18).

If God’s goal for the human family is unity, you can be assured that Satan’s is division. Right now the world is divided into left and right and contention and disunity is rife. The Church leaders are constantly warning us against this because our destiny as the Church of Jesus Christ is great.

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

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

I knelt before the throne of God

And asked of Him today:

Lord, when will I become like Thee?

To my feeble self He answered:

When you start to walk with me.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Come Follow Me by Gabriel Heaton)

MY GUIDING STEPS

 

When I am tempest tossed on turbulent seas

I look to find Thee walking on waves

To rescue me.

I hear Your call, I see Your light,

A beacon of hope,

Your unconquerable might.

I know You will gather me amidst

The storm that seeks to swallow me;

And take me home

When the waves no longer frighten me.

You are my guiding light, the footsteps I clearly see.

I don't stumble but follow into Your arms for eternity. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Footprints of Faith by Ivan Guaderrama)