PRESS ON

"Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ,

 having a perfect brightness of hope, 

and a love of God and of all men. 

Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, 

feasting upon the word of Christ, 

and endure to the end, 

behold, thus saith the Father: 

Ye shall have eternal life."

- 2 Nephi 31:20

I had a disheartening conversation with a friend the other day who advised me she no longer attends Church. During the course of the conversation she revealed that her life has become such a burden to her that her only hope lies in sudden death. As my tears flowed and as I urged her to put herself in God's hands and to trust that He will make something better of her life, her reply was that God doesn't really care and when she was doing the right things it didn't make any difference. She said she had lost hope for a better life here and in eternity. Unfortunately this friend has zig zagged between obedience and disobedience all her life. Her lack of consistency has undermined her power of endurance and enhanced her expectation of lasting happiness and perfection in this life, which in reality is a futile pursuit. In expecting fulfillment here and now she has totally overlooked the fact that this life is not only 'a growing season' but also our testing ground.

The design of mortality is such that it should motivate us to look forward to perfection in the next, not to wile away our days in frustration blaming God that we are not lying on a bed of roses or cursing Him because we cannot 'take happiness in our sins' (Mormon 2:13). This friend and some others who have crossed my path have expressed to me that they wonder if they had ever really chosen godhood as their eternal destination. They feel that they were somehow forced to choose it because the alternative would not have been such an attractive outcome. They whine about the unfairness of having to choose between godhood and damnation and ask why they were not allowed to stay where they were, sitting on a fence, not choosing either. All of a sudden godhood has become a price too high to pay and they rationalize that they never really wanted it anyway. But the funny part is that they did, as all of us did, way back in our "beginning". We were never ever forced into anything.

To better understand the exercise of our agency in relation to this life we need to know the true meaning of 'the beginning': "After revealing to Abraham that there are infinite, uncreated intelligences, God showed him that some of the intelligences 'were organized before the world was' (Abraham 3:22). If our individual intelligences have agency it must have been our choice to be organized into our first estate.....Our 'beginning' was the moment we chose to have our intelligences 'added upon' by being born into the spirit world......our spirit bodies were conceived by our Heavenly Parents to house our uncreated intelligences. We are gods in embryo, with the full potential to mature and to become like our Celestial Parents.....The gospel is the 'everlasting gospel', not only because its effects are everlasting, but because it has always been in place, from eternity....It is the 'hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began' (Titus 1:2)" (B. Grant Bishop, M.D., The LDS Gospel of Light, pp108-111). I venture to say that there might have been some intelligences who did not choose to be 'added upon' and chose to remain as they were.

This is not taught as gospel doctrine but it makes sense to me that we chose godhood "in the beginning", when we were yet only intelligences, and with it the process of being born first spiritually and then physically. The alternative would have been lack of free agency. The plan for godhood had to be in place prior to the spirit world so the innate agency of our intelligences would be respected. It could not have been a random act for Heavenly Father to have created numerous amounts of spirit children and then had to decide what to do with them! Godhood was not a drummed up plan that gave us 'something to do' but rather a plan that has always existed, based on free agency. If Heavenly Father was once a mortal like we are now, then His purpose was always to gain exaltation, have eternal increase and provide the way for His children to gain the same. That is certainly the plan for us also as has been revealed through modern-day revelation and scripture. As Lorenzo Snow once put it: "As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may become" (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow, 2011, Chapter 5: The Grand Destiny of the Faithful). The understanding that we decided in the very beginning that we wanted godhood should be enough for us to press on, however, 'the greatest gift of God' does not seem to mean much to some of us who focus too intently on happiness here and now. The seeming ease of telestial life is simply too hard for some of us to resist so we keep looking down instead of up for pursuit of lasting joy and fulfillment.

Joseph Smith taught that "the fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it" [Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith (2007), 49]. So basically, the Saviour's death and resurrection should be the main focus of our religion. Why would that be? Because the Saviour's resurrection brings about immortality and immortality brings about a 'fulness of joy'. According to the following scripture we cannot have this fulness in this life: "For man is spirit, the elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy. And when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy" (D&C 93:33,34). Right now we are not inseparably connected, we are very much in that fragile state of being where death is imminent. Thus the principle of resurrection "gives us the strength and perspective to endure the mortal challenges faced by each of us and by those we love, such things as the physical, mental, or emotional deficiencies we bring with us at birth or acquire during mortal life" (Dallin H. Oaks, Resurrection - The Beginning of Immortality, Ensign March 2016, p 80)

When we are not staying on the 'strait and narrow path' with a goal to endure by 'passing the points of breaking without breaking' (Neal A. Maxwell), we are not valuing eternal life. Some of us are of the opinion that the price to pay for such a life is far too high but is the telestial life, without the sustaining power of Christ, easier to live than the life of obedience that the gospel demands of us? In short, the former exacts hardship while the latter asks for endurance, endurance that is made possible with Christ's sustaining power: "Enduring to the end means that we have planted our lives firmly on gospel soil, staying in the mainstream of the Church, humbly serving our fellowmen, living Christlike lives, and keeping our covenants. Those who endure are balanced, consistent, humble, constantly improving, and without guile. Their testimonies are not based on worldly reasons - they are based on truth, knowledge, experience, and the Spirit" (Joseph B. Wirthlin, in CR Oct 2004, p 107; or Ensign Nov 2004, p 101)

It is not enough for us to experiment living the gospel from time to time to see if we will be blessed for it. Pressing forward and enduring to the end requires consistent coming unto Christ through a life of obedience. It is only this consistent effort that brings us to the point of conviction that will see us to the end. This point of strength makes endurance possible and thins the veil to the point where we can develop a desire for what is on the other side of it. It is something one cannot obtain overnight. It is a reward for nourishing faith, foregoing self-gratification and standing firm on the testing ground. When my friend pointed out to me that I have basically nothing much to show for my years of endurance and adherence to the gospel, I reflected on what I do have and concluded that the way I have come to feel about the Saviour after 40 years of cultivating my seed of faith is the greatest treasure I could possibly own and one that I would not trade for all the riches of this life. I felt saddened that my friend was only looking at my temporal blessings as a measure of my personal success. Sometimes I fear that we are like spoilt children wanting to be rewarded for every little thing we do right when in reality God has already done more for us than we can ever repay. He owes us nothing. This earth was created for our sake and the Saviour atoned for our sake, all out of the goodness of His heart and His mercy. We cannot possibly expect more. The path to eternal life has been paved. It is up to us to tread it. But we are not alone. He is there, ever waiting, ever wanting, ever hoping that we will come to Him. His arm of mercy is extended. He is ever ready to encircle us in the arms of His love. In them there is safety, in them there is joy, in them there is life eternal. Press on.

Yes, my fretting, frowning child,

I could cross the room to you more easily,

But I've already learnt to walk so I make you come to me.

Let go now, there, you see!

Oh, remember this simple lesson child,

And when in later years you cry out with tight fists and tears,

Oh help me God please!

Just listen and you'll hear a silent voice,

I would child, I would, but it's you, not I, who needs to try

Godhood.

-  Carol Lynn Pearson

LOVE, MERCY AND THE OLIVE TREE

There was a prophet in Israel by the name of Zenos who was martyred for his testimony (Helaman 8:19) of whom the Bible does not speak. We know of this prophet because of the brass plates which were taken to the land of the Americas with Lehi and his colony in 600 B.C. Nephi used the prophecies of Zenos extensively in his ministry among his people because Zenos testified largely concerning this broken off branch of the tribe of Joseph 'who were a remnant of his seed', meaning Zenos was of the tribe of Joseph himself (3 Nephi 10:15,16). The significance of this prophet was expressed by Bruce R. McConkie: "I do not think I overstate the matter when I say that next to Isaiah himself - who is the prototype, pattern, and model for all the prophets - there was not a greater prophet in all Israel than Zenos. And our knowledge of his inspired writings is limited to the quotations and paraphrasing summaries found in the Book of Mormon".

So important did Nephi and his brother Jacob consider the prophecies of Zenos that Jacob painstakingly engraved Zenos' allegory of the olive tree onto the small plates of Nephi which Mormon included in the Book of Mormon. Why is this parable with its' complexities and intricacies which makes readers skip Jacob 5 so important? Because not only is it the greatest parable ever recorded, it, in and of itself stamps the Book of Mormon with authenticity and truth for no mortal man, without the inspiration of God, could have written it. It not only proves that Zenos was a prophet but it is clear proof that Joseph Smith was a prophet too and that he translated the Book of Mormon through the power given him of God. Once you study this parable you become convinced that Joseph Smith could never have written the Book of Mormon.

One can get totally lost in Israel's captivating history and divine destiny studying the allegory of the olive tree in Jacob chapter 5. However, if studied carefully one cannot miss the central theme of this parable which is the Saviour's enduring mercy, long-suffering and loving care of His covenant people. Whilst it is not my wish to overshadow the importance of Israel's history contained within this allegory, it is my intention to focus on the Saviour and how he relates to us individually within this parable. Firstly, it is important to understand why Zenos used the olive tree as a powerful symbol of God's love and relationship with the house of Israel. The olive tree is an evergreen, meaning its' leaves do not seasonally fade or fall. They are continually rejuvenated through scorching heat or winter cold. This tree, however, needs constant cultivation or it becomes wild and unruly and easily corrupted. It requires long and patient cultivation for it to bear fruit, usually eight to ten years. It is however a sturdy tree which produces new shoots from apparently dead roots. Its' gnarled trunk gives an impression of travail, endurance and ancient life. Because of the unique quality of this tree Elder Jeffrey R. Holland affirmed that "no symbol could serve more powerfully and profoundly of God's expansive, constant, redeeming love - including especially the love represented in the gift of his Only Begotten Son- than does the olive tree." (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant, p 163-64)

In the allegory of the olive tree, the Saviour is represented as the Lord of the vineyard. Unlike the "householder, which planted a vineyard" and then "let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country" (Matt 21:33), He labours in His vineyard Himself. He does not sit back and watch others do the plucking, pruning, digging and grafting. He also grieves, preserves, laboures, watches and tends to the vineyard constantly. His frantic efforts to ensure the divine destiny of the House of Israel, as represented by the olive trees in His vineyard, can be seen through repetitious declarations of His love and long-suffering: His desire to preserve the vineyard is mentioned in the parable 11 times; at least 15 times the Lord expresses His desire to bring the vineyard and its' harvest 'unto my own self'; 8 times He says 'it grieveth me to lose the trees of my vineyard'; and 3 times He asks with anguish, weeping, 'what could I have done more for my vineyard?' After he recounts the allegory of the olive tree to his people, Jacob exclaims: "....how merciful is our God unto us, for he remembereth the house of Israel, both roots and branches; and he stretches forth his hands unto them all the day long...O then, my beloved brethren, repent ye, and enter in at the strait gate, and continue in the way which is narrow, until ye shall obtain eternal life, O be wise; what can I say more?" (Jacob 6:4,11,12). What indeed?

We, like the olive tree, need constant cultivating so that we do not become wild and unruly and easily corrupted. To yield good fruit, a tree must have good roots. When the roots are weak, the branches grow faster than the strength of the roots can sustain them and the tree eventually becomes too weak to keep standing  and dies (Jacob 5:47-48). This is cleverly expressed in the following poem:

The tree

At the church next door to me 

Turned up its roots and died

They had tried 

To brace its leaning,

But it lowered

And lowered,

And then there it lay -

Leaves in grass

And matted root in air,

Like a loafer on a summer day.

"Look there",

Said the gardener,

"Short roots - all the growth went up -

Big branches - short roots".

"How come" I asked.

"Too much water.

This tree had it too good.

it never had to hunt for drink."

Especially in thirsty times,

My memory steps outside

And looks at the tree

At the church next door to me

That turned up its roots and died.

- Carol Lynn Pearson

Sometimes we think we need a life of ease, as the tree in this poem had, and that this kind of life will in the end magically produce bountiful fruit. But this is not the design of mortality. In His efforts to ready us for final judgment and make us fit for eternal life the Lord will use His gardening skills on each one of us individually. He will prune and dig about and nourish and often times such treatment will be uncomfortable as is illustrated by the following:

"On my way to visit the Jameses the other evening, I saw a wheat field that appeared to be greener and taller than the others. Thinking about it for a while, I concluded that occasionally some loving farmer drives over the field with his tractor and dumps manure all over it. I thought, 'My, it's just like life. Here we are minding our own business, growing our little hearts out. We're really quite green, somewhat productive and very sincere. When out of the blue, life deals us a dirty one, and we're up to our eyebrows in manure. We, of course, conclude that life as we have known it has just ended and will never be the same again. But one day, when the smell and the shock are gone, we find ourselves greener and more productive than we have been'. Unfortunately, no matter how often we go through these growing experiences, we are never able to appreciate the sound of the tractor or the smell of the manure." (Harold W. Wood)

We can sometimes be like the tree that stood right next to a church and didn't go 'hunting' therein for what it needed to sustain and strengthen its roots. Some of us are not willing to work on our roots even though we want the fruit (eternal life): "It seems that some [Latter-day Saints] among us have this same problem; they want bountiful harvests - both spiritual and temporal - without developing the root system that will yield them. There are far too few who are willing to pay the price, in discipline and work, to cultivate hardy roots" (President Spencer W. Kimball, in CR Oct 1978, p 113 or Ensign, Nov. 1978, p 74-5). Grounding ourselves in the gospel of Jesus Christ by nourishing the seed of faith through the word of God is our part in our individual cultivation. This is our hunting ground. If we hunt here we can be assured of hardy roots which will enable us to endure the trials and afflictions of this life without abandoning the strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life. May of us feel that strengthening the roots is far too hard and we opt for the seeming ease of telestial life. This is however, not what God wants for us eternally and so He expends all his energy and effort to bring us back to Him over and over again. And anything less than eternal life is not what we wanted long ago when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy. We were among that happy throng and our voices were heard singing praises to Him who has all the love, all the mercy, all the long-suffering and all the power to one day bring us home.

A MODEL OF OBEDIENCE

Imagine having a son who never questions your wisdom and follows your counsel and guidance with exactness, never wavering. Imagine having a son who does not think your ideas are outdated and your dreams foolishness. A son who is willing to follow you to the ends of the earth and who respects your patriarchal leadership within the family. Imagine a son who never shirks from what you ask of him no matter how hard the task. One who has complete trust in God and never deviates from his commitment to Him. A son who knows his limitations and strengths yet never allows pride to lift him higher than his fellow beings. This was Nephi.

What a delight this man must have been to his parents. Lehi would never have succeeded in putting his foot on the promised land if it were not for his obedient son. Besides the physical requirements of such a journey which were beyond Lehi in his later years, such as obtaining the brass plates, hunting for food and building a ship, one other instance stands out to prove this theory. When Nephi broke his bow and the family were facing dire consequences from want of food, even his father began to murmur against God together with the rest of the family (1 Nephi 16:20). It must have looked to Nephi like the whole enterprise of this little colony was at peril of falling apart giving way to mutiny if his father lost focus so Nephi chose to be proactive and mend the situation. He made a bow of wood and proceeded to ask his father where he should go to hunt (1 Nephi 16:23). It would have been so easy for Nephi to step in right there and then and take over as the leader of his family. After all, he came up with the solution and he brought the relief. He was showing initiative as a leader. Nephi, however, knew that the journey to the promised land had to be under the leadership of him who first received the revelation and he also knew that all credit for guidance and deliverance had to be given to God (1 Nephi 16:29), so he asked his father where he should go to hunt. How useless Lehi would have felt had his son undermined him by taking matters into his own hands. Instead Nephi placed him back on the path of leadership and repentance before the Lord. So Nephi not only provided his father with physical support but a spiritual one also.

Perhaps in no other way was Nephi more Christ-like than in the principle of obedience. What enalbled Nephi to be so completely obedient to a god who did not spare him from hardships and perils of life? Nephi himself gives us the answer to this question: 'to follow God, one must want God'. Early in Nephi's record he states plainly that he sought to understand the mysteries of God and that this seeking alone bore such fruit that he had no desire to rebel against his father or against God (1 Nephi 2:16). Knowing God and having God in our lives therefore is the first step towards the ability to be obedient. The second most important thing that Nephi did was make God his partner in life. This he did by swearing with an oath when he had to accomplish difficult tasks, such as obtain the brass plates. On more than one occasion Nephi uttered the words "As the Lord liveth" cementing his determination to achieve the desired end. Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained the significance of this statement:

"This matter of swearing with an oath in ancient days was far more significant than many of us have realised. For instance: Nephi and his brethren were seeking to obtain the brass plates from Laban. Their lives were in peril. Yet Nephi swore this oath: 'As the Lord liveth, and as we live, we will not go down unto our father in the wilderness until we have accomplished the thing which the Lord hath commanded us' (1 Nephi 3:15). Thus Nephi made God his partner. If he failed to get the plates, it meant God had failed. And because God does not fail, it was incumbent upon Nephi to get the plates or lay down his life in the attempt." (Elder Bruce R. McConkie, C.R. April 1982, pp 49,50)

Hugh Nibley's explanation of the significance of the words of the oath helps us understand further Nephi's seriousness of this partnership:

"....the oath is the one thing that is most sacred and inviolable among the desert people: 'Hardly will an Arab break this oath, even if his life be in jeopardy,' for 'there is nothing stronger, and nothing more sacred than the oath among the nomads,' and even among the city Arabs, if it be exacted under special conditions. But not every oath will do: to be most binding and solemn an oath should be by the life of something, even if it be but a blade of grass; the only oath more awful than 'by my life' or (less commonly) 'by the life of my head,' is the wa hayat Allah, 'by the life of God,' or 'as the Lord liveth'....." (Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol. 5, Part 1, p 103-104)

Nephi was true to his word in making God his partner. He demonstrated this over and over again as he showed his dependence on Him: "..... no one on the trip was asked to do more than Nephi - he obtained the plates, made a bow, foraged for food, scrambled to mountaintops to pray, made plates and built a ship. Yet he intimately came to know that all he could do was not enough, for 'it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do' (2 Nephi 25:23). In the wilderness, when the righteous come face to face with their limitations, they see that God is there to take up the slack."  (Scot and Maurine Proctor, BOM Lesson 5 "Hearken to the Truth and Give Heed Unto It", Meridian Magazine, January 19, 2016). Part of being dependent on God means to have trust in Him and Nephi did just that. He was not spared or excused from any difficulties of the journey that were suffered by his brothers. On the contrary, he had more of them. What Nephi did learn through these difficulties was the Lord's power of deliverance (1 Nephi 1:20, 17:3, 18:16, 18:11). The examples throughout his life are endless and because of them he was able to exclaim: "O Lord, I have trusted in thee and I will trust in thee forever" (2 Nephi 4:34).

In his father's dream of the tree of life, Nephi partook of the fruit which symbolises the love of God. When Nephi enquired of the Lord the meaning of the tree of life an angel appeared to tutor him. He asked him if he knew what the tree represented. Nephi answered that it was 'the love of God which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men' (1 Nephi 11:22). Immediately following his answer Nephi saw a vision of the Son of God and his ministry among mortal men. From this we can conclude that God's greatest love for us is manifested through His Son Jesus Christ. Nephi understood this and was therefore able to say: "...the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love" (2 Nephi 1:15). To me there is a deeper meaning in this. Because of his willingness to follow Christ and his acceptance of the Atonement I believe that Nephi was endowed with the Saviour's ability to be obedient. This is true for all of us. How do we know this? Because Isaiah said so: "For he giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength" (Isaiah 40:29). With God as his partner Nephi could not fail in anything for "if God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31).

Because of Nephi's obedience he kept company with angels and saw the Saviour (1 Nephi 2:16, 2 Nephi 11:2) in fulfillment of His promise to the ends of the earth: "...If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (John 14:23). Nephi taught his people that the Saviour, needing no baptism, fulfilled all righteousness by being baptised to witness to the Father 'that he would be obedient unto him....' (2 Nephi 31:6,7). Elder Bruce R. McConkie once said that "righteousness is not simply the absence of evil or impropriety; it is the active seeking of the mind and will of the Father and compliance to that will". To the Saviour, doing the Father's will was everything. Luke tells us that as Jesus grew to manhood He 'increased in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and man' (Luke 2:52). Jesus found favour with God because of His obedience. Nephi knew the Saviour through close association and no doubt his life's quest was to follow in His footsteps. The more he followed, the more empowered he became to be like the Master himself. May we be like Nephi who at the end of his record, summed up the integrity of his character in three most profound words found in scripture:

'I must obey' 

 (2 Nephi 33:15).