UNDERSTANDING OUR WEAKNESS

I don't know of anyone who sees weakness as a positive thing. None of us want to be weak. We don't want to be seen as weak and we don't want to feel that we are weak. The world tells us we need to be super achievers and excel in all we do and that it is up to us to make ourselves successful.  For this reason we persist in making goals and tackling that which is beyond our capacity to overcome, relying solely on our motivation and willpower.  Both motivation and willpower are incredibly difficult to maintain and so we beat ourselves up when we fall short. And in the process we allow our weaknesses to define us.

Consider alcoholism. The weakness of drinking has now become the weakness of disease. I consider the mental aspect of alcoholism to be the most dangerous one. I do not agree with Alcoholics Anonymous who define people as 'alcoholics'. What's worse is that they tell people they are alcoholics for life. I get it, they want people to be vigilant but what happens when you label yourself? You act and behave according to that label. If you think you are an alcoholic you will always struggle with the temptation to drink. Even some who abstain from drink for years fall off the wagon because in the end what does an alcoholic do? An alcoholic drinks.

The danger comes in saying 'I am'. I AM is highly declarative. Once declared, it becomes a reality you live by. The Saviour declared himself to be The Bread of Life, The Fountain of Living Water, Alpha and Omega, The Great I AM, because that's who He is. It is important that we recognise that what we do is not who we are. In my opinion, It is better to say, "I am dealing with the issue of alcoholism" than to say "I am an alcoholic". This gives one hope that he or she can become free from the weakness of drinking. The world, however, does not offer this hope.

This is where it becomes important to understand 'weakness'. According to the Bible Dictionary, weakness is the primary condition of mortality and a state of being in this fallen world. It is unavoidable because mortality means weakness. Weakness means being human. The weakness of mortality is manifest in individual weaknesses and frailties that each person has.  In Ether 12:27, Christ told Moroni: "If men come unto me I will show unto them their 'weakness'. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble...."  Notice the word of 'weakness' is singular here. This is the condition of being weak. What the Saviour is referring to here is the weakness of mortality, not our individual weaknesses, of which He speaks in the latter part of the scripture when He says: "...for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them". The weak things He speaks of are in reference to 'weaknesses'.

The latter part of this scripture is where the hope of freedom lies. This is where Alcoholics Anonymous get it partly right. They acknowledge their powerlessness and turn their will over to their 'higher power'. This is where their success comes from, not from drumming into people that they are alcoholics. Herein lies the importance of recognising our weak condition of mortality and thereby acknowledging that we cannot rise above it without the divine power. This is the conviction which propelled us to accept Christ as our Saviour in the beginning. The weakness of mortality was given to us to bring us to the source of all power, that source being Christ. Discovering this truth in mortality is like stepping back in time behind the veil.

Unless we understand on a deeper level that we need the Saviour to enlarge our capacity, we will not be able to overcome our mortal shortcomings and navigate our mortal journey successfully long term. What is in reality this deeper level of understanding? It is a consistent appeal to Christ, in faith, to endow us with His atoning power so we can permanently overcome the weaknesses of this life and become free.

The Saviour 'descended below all things' for a purpose, so that He might comprehend all things (D&C 88:6), meaning all our sins and our weaknesses. In the words of Elder Tad Callister: "....you cannot sink farther than the light and sweeping intelligence of Jesus Christ can reach.....as long as there is one spark of the will to repent and to reach, He is there....." (The Atonement of Jesus Christ, April 2019). 

- Cathryne Allen, Did Not Our Hearts Burn When He Opened To Us The Scriptures?

published 2021 by amazon.com

A BETTER WORLD

"Every one of us has times when we need to know things will get better. Moroni spoke of it in the Book of Mormon as "hope for a better world". For emotional health and spiritual stamina, everyone needs to be able to look forward to some respite, to something pleasant and renewing and hopeful, whether that blessing be near at hand or still some distance ahead. It is enough just to know we can get there, that however measured or far away, there is the promise of 'good things to come'. My declaration is that this is precisely what the gospel of Jesus Christ offers us, especially in times of need. There is help. There is happiness. There really is light at the end of the tunnel. It is the Light of the World, the Bright and Morning Star, the 'light that is endless, that can never be darkened'. It is the very Son of God Himself."
- Holland, Jeffrey R., "An High Priest of Good Things to Come", October 1999

Imagine if this world was perfect. If there were no calamities, wickedness or turmoil....Imagine if this telestial life was an easy ride; one of constant happiness and devoid of strife. Would we, as disciples of Christ, be yearning for our Celestial home which is our ultimate destination? Would we be yearning for Christ to come back to make resurrection and eternal life possible? Some say that there have been bad times on this earth since year one and what we are experiencing now is not new. That is true but never before have calamities and scourges come with such intensity, frequency and speed. There will soon come a time when there will not be a period of respite; when we will long for peace, rest and freedom from oppression of every kind; when we will know beyond a shadow of doubt that He is our only hope, our Deliverer, our God. It will be a time when we will say, in the words of John the Beloved: Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Revelation 22:20)

- Cathryne Allen, Did Not Our Hearts Burn When He Opened To Us The Scriptures?

published 2021 by amazon.com

THE COMPASSIONATE CHRIST

If you feel that nobody understands the anguish of your heart, I am here to tell you that there is one person who does. I have been struggling of late with certain long held debilitating fears and for which I had sought healing through prayer. My petition was in these exact words: "Please heal all that is broken in me". Following my prayer, as is my custom, I opened my scriptures randomly to a page in Ezekiel from which stood out one marked sentence: "Thou shalt know that I am the Lord". Whilst studying and pondering 3 Nephi the following day, I had an exquisite experience where I was taken into the Saviour's presence in my mind's eye and was granted the healing I sought at His hand, which was outstretched to me in beckoning repose. The words which He spoke to me validated me as a person and validated the pain I had experienced in my life. This was the single most significant vision I have ever had because it afforded me personal understanding of the compassion of Christ. 

This year as I studied 3 Nephi, I came to truly understand Nephites' experience with Christ during the three days of His ministry among them. I know now why they bathed His feet with their tears (3 Nephi 17:10) because I was given the privilege of bathing His outstretched hand with mine. The Book of Mormon account tells us that the Saviour ministered amongst these ancient people with compassion (3 Nephi 17:6). The same is true of His ministry amongst the Jews prior to His death. The New Testament mentions Christ having compassion towards the people on many occasions (Matt 9:36, 20:34; Mark 1:41; Luke 7:13), especially at Lazarus' grave which was directed towards those who were grieving (John 11:35).  However, I imagine His compassion reached a new level post Atonement. Fresh from the cross of Calvary, trailing the memory of the Garden, where He experienced every agony known to man, the Saviour's compassion was intensified to the point of tears when He ministered among the Nephites (3 Nephi 17:21,22). 

Why is this scriptural account of Christ's compassion important for us to have and to understand? Because He who has suffered it all, understands it all. He understands the diminished self worth that comes through the sufferings of mortality. He understands our human inability to rise above certain scars that we bear with exhausting endurance. He understands the fears that we cling to and count on for protection from perceived pain. He understands it all because He has felt it all. And because He understands the scars of each heart, He knows the path of healing we individually need. Should we not seek such and bathe with our tears His outstretched hand? 

In the words of beloved Isaiah: "Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no fathoming to his understanding....He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength....Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40:28-31)

- Cathryne Allen, Did Not Our Hearts Burn When He Opened To Us The Scriptures?

published 2021 by amazon.com