THE POWER OF ANGELS

 

Angels are you near me

To catch me when I slip

Does your embrace break my fall;

Do you stand guard at the entrance of my heart

On God’s errand and sentinel’s call;

Do you pave the way

And steady my feet

And ensure my enemy’s defeat;

You are unsung heroes

Of every journey’s flight

You are phantoms of love

Concealed from mortal sight

In the ancient world there were men who held an important job. They were required to go ahead of a travelling party to clear the path of fallen trees, rocks, undesirable persons or any obstacles that would prevent the travelling party from finishing their journey. They prepared the way. They were called 'forerunners'.

The most famous 'forerunner' to whom this title was applied symbolically was John the Baptist. Not much is known of John's personal life besides the role he played in the accomplishment of Christ's mission. What we do know is that he was born to two elderly people according to God's promise to be 'the voice crying in the wilderness' to herald the arrival of one greater than he, as prophesied by Isaiah (40:3) and Malachi (3:1).; that he was saved from Herod's death decree by his parents and was raised in the wilderness. So apart from his miraculous birth and a rough upbringing what we know most from the scriptures is that John's life was solely focused on being the 'forerunner' of the long awaited Messiah. One might ask why the Son of God would need anyone to prepare the way before Him?

We know that first and foremost there needed to be a person with proper priesthood authority that could baptise Jesus, even though He needed no baptism. John had this priesthood power and authority. His father Zacharias would have been the high priest had that office not been corrupted earlier in Jews' history by making it a political appointment reserved primarily for those of wealth and prominence. Upon his death, John would have been the next reigning high priest. The leadership in Jerusalem, including the Pharisees, scribes, Sadducees and the Sanhedrin knew who John was and what his lineage was. Therefore, his teaching of the Saviour's coming, the gospel, the performing of miracles and baptising would have created a fertile environment for Jesus as He began his ministry. It also provided a nucleus of faithful baptised believers from whom he could call His apostles. These were men already converted and ready to serve, hence their ability to walk away from their professions and families the instant the Saviour called them. Such was the power of John the Baptist, a martyr, who valiantly testified, taught and prepared the way for the greatest man who ever lived and whom Jesus characterized as "a burning and a shining light" (John 5:35).

Here is the crux of this story. In my patriarchal blessing there is an interesting sentence that goes like this: "As you remain faithful to your trust, your guardian angels will never forsake you. They will go before you to 'prepare the way' and will be close to you and give you strength to resist evil." As I studied about John the Baptist my thoughts were cast upon this sentence and I realised I had 'forerunners' in my life. I wondered how much harder I would have struggled in my life had not an obstacle been removed from my path here and there, a temptation repressed , a hurtful incident prevented. I realised that I could very well have come this far more on the merits of my forerunners than on my own strength.

Angels come in all forms. Sometimes the Lord prepares us humans to be an angel to someone in need. It is easy to recognise angels in human form but not so easy to acknowledge and appreciate those who are our guardians behind the veil. These guardian angels perform miracles. If we are sincerely striving to accomplish our life's mission, they will ensure that obstacles of any kind will not keep us from accomplishing the purposes of our second estate. And one day when we look back on our lives we will plainly see just how much these guardian angels have helped us and we will be compelled to say as Elisha of old said to his servant who trembled at the sight of the approaching Syrians:

Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they

that be with them

And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee,

open his eyes, that he may see.

And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man;

and he saw:

and behold, the mountain was full of horses and

chariots of fire....."

2 Kings 6:16,17

- Cathryne Allen

(art by Annie Henrie Nader)

THE SCHOOL OF LIFE

 

I asked the school of life

What it could teach me best;

The teacher I was given

Never gave me rest.

She gave me many useful lessons

That helped me shun despair

And taught me how to master

The magic art of care.

But the greatest skill she gave me

Was the skill to banish fears

Which spared me untold moments

Drowned in helpless tears.

Right now the world is drowning in fear. This fear is mostly generated by the governments of the world. Whoever is at the top has the most power to dictate which way the tide will go. Not only is this fear debilitating mentally but it is turning us against each other and depriving us of family togetherness.

I met a lady last year who told me her sister had died of Covid. I said to her: "Oh that's terrible! How are you coping?" She answered: "We're ok. People die. People die of all sorts of things, every day. My sister died of Covid." And never a greater truth has been spoken. People die just walking out of their house. My father-in-law did. He was hit but a car crossing the road and died instantly. Consider all the deaths that happen that we rarely anticipate and fear: wars, natural disasters, crime, sickness that comes and goes, traffic accidents....just too name a few.

The thing is, we often fear things that never come to pass so a lot of distress is experienced unnecessarily. A lot of times though, we attract what we fear. Energy is a real thing. The law of attraction works both ways, it attracts the negative as much as it attracts the positive. I am reminded of a little story I read years ago that goes something like this: A man was walking on a road one day when he met Plague and Fear. They told him they were on their way to a neighbouring town where they were going to kill 2,000 people. The man said to the Plague: "I guess you have your work cut out for you" but the Plague replied: "Oh no, I am only going to kill 200, Fear is going to do the rest".

This life is a life of opposites. We cannot expect joy, happiness and wellness without experiencing sadness, grief and sickness. Otherwise, what would be the point of us being here? God knew we would experience all the bad with the good so He gave us the gift of resilience, power and faith. Fear is inverted faith. With each situation in life we are choosing either one or the other. May we greet each day of this precarious life with the echo of these words of wisdom and decide which way our day will go:

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7)

• Cathryne Allen
  (ART: The Doors by Markus)

GREAT ARE THE WORDS OF ISAIAH

 

How much You must love

Those who serve Thee to the end

Who speak the words of truth

And proclaim Thy holy name;

These are Thy prophets

Your everlasting friends

The strong, the noble

The devoted who hear and obey;

These are Thine angels who herald

Thy gospel and Thy name;

To the ends of the earth they speak

And their words forever remain

Who can ever discount the tenacity of Jeremiah who could not refrain from testifying despite his sufferings; the loneliness of John the Beloved who penned the greatest revelation whilst exiled on Patmos; the sorrowing for their people of Alma and Mormon; the sacrifices of the living prophets who serve in the Church full time and carry the responsibility of the world wide membership? These are the greats....and I admire them all but nothing renders my heart with tenderness and the Spirit like the world of Isaiah. Imagine being a writer. Now imagine being so good at it that the Saviour himself says 'great are your words' and that everyone should study them.

Not only was Isaiah a statesman, an amazing orator and an even greater poetic writer, he was a prophet of God who received inspiration and revelation for the things he wroter and testified of. Whether in his interaction with the kings of Judah he was the advisor to, or his prophecies, the spirit of revelation comes through. This morning I studied chapter 42 and was overcome with the understanding that came to me about the character of the Saviour; his power and humility intertwined in such a glorious personality that has until now been beyond my comprehension. It reduced me to tears. I could not only understand Him this morning but I could SEE Him through my heart. I testify of His glory and His greatness. And I thank Isaiah for being one of the greats.....

• Cathryne Allen

TO BE WORTHY OF HIM

 

The persecution of the Saints in July 1833 reached its peak when five hundred men rushed into Independence waving a red flag and brandishing guns, dirks, whips, and clubs. Their goal was to rid Jackson county of the ‘Mormons’. They vowed to whip and kill the men; destroy their children, and ravish their women. To save the saints, Edward Partridge, William Phelps, Isaac Morley, A. Sidney Gilbert, John Whitmer, and John Corrill offered themselves as a ransom to be scourged or put to death. Their offered sacrifice was not accepted as the mob proceeded to wreak havoc with their proclamation of “leave the county or die”. (Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual p 231)

We are all familiar intellectually with the persecution of the early Church but none of us know it experientially. I for one cannot fathom enduring the stress of such persecution and fearing for the lives of my children. My most stressful situation in life has been year 2020. I feel the oppressing effects of the latest lockdown as I drive my car in peace to the nearest supermarket to buy from the well-stocked bulging shelves. I really lack nothing but am still finding it difficult to cope with lack of the freedom I am accustomed to. My stress levels would be minimal to that of the early saints but nevertheless it is valid considering I am a product of my time. No difficult situation is insignificant. What is significant is this: in the midst of that severe persecution in 1833, the Lord gave an incredibly surprising revelation to the saints in which He said: “Fear not, rejoice evermore and in everything give thanks” (D&C 98:1). Not what you would expect, is it? I wonder how many saints balked at that instruction and I wonder if I would have been one of them. I imagine some of them would have wondered if the Lord really knew what was going on and what on earth they had to be grateful for.

Among other significant things the Lord mentioned relating to persecution, He took the meaning of it to another level when He said: “I will prove you in all things, whether you will abide in my covenant, even unto death…” (D&C 98:14). It has been my long held belief that we made certain covenants in pre-existence before we made them here. The most important covenant I believe we made was that we would accept and endure the difficulties of our times and remain valiant throughout. This meant physical persecution for early saints and a pandamic for us. Why? That we ‘may be found worthy…..of Him (98:14,15). Worthy of Him who offers us redemption, salvation, deliverance, glory, godhood…..May we place these un-surpassing gifts above all the treasures and trials of this world and believe in a brighter day.

Let me Lord

Sit by the furnace of affliction

To warm myself by Thy refiner’s fire;

Purge my sin and polish me as silver

That I might in the end receive my desire

To shine forth as a jewel in Thy crown

When thou wilt come

To gather Thine own

To receive us into Thy bosom

And carry us home

• Cathryne Allen

A BIRD IN A CAGE

 

Like Israel of old

I foolishly sought man's protection

And trusted in the shadow of the flesh

Until You showed me the strength

Of Your invincible arm

And how easy You can make

My journey's difficult path;

How foolish I was to trust in man's might

How foolish to seek mortal comfort

And settle for feeble sentries of the heart

In studying the history of the House of Israel, I am always amazed at man's propensity to place his trust in 'the arm of the flesh' rather than exercise faith in God. Ancient Israel was particularly prone to this futile habit. Over and over they made political alliances with heathen nations around them for their protection.....very often resorting to Egypt, the very nation they were rescued from. Even King Hezekiah in 705 B.C. who tried so desperately to turn the nation from idolatry to proper worship of Jehovah made a terrible mistake of seeking such an alliance. Because of it Assyrian king Sennacherib, the successor to Sargon, swept into the land of Judah and captured forty-six cities. This is how he described his siege of Hezekiah: "Himself I made a prisoner.....like a bird in a cage" (Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts, p. 288). This is exactly what happens when you put your trust in man...you always owe somebody something and it never quite satisfies and often you end up in a cage.

The nations of this earth have replaced God with governments. We have put our trust in the arm of the flesh....to lead us, to instruct us, to protect us. Individually, however, we can choose to place our ultimate trust in Him to whom trust truly belongs.

The Saviour, the Creator, our Sovereign and our God, puts no bird in a cage.....He who created us gave us freedom of choice, of thought, of speech. He is the protection from the storms of life and the guardian of our hearts. In this day of uncertainty, of calamities and threats of our freedom, He is the only choice we can make to keep us truly free.

- Cathryne Allen

(art by Liz Lemon Swindle, "The Creator")

THE POWER OF ONE

 

 

 

I saw a show recently in which a life of nobility and honour was sullied by misconception and wrongful judgment of a person’s character. This misconception affected a whole generation for many years and cost someone the right to a better life. Grant you, this was only a show but I was fascinated by the possible reality of such a story. I come from a European lineage where an incident of judgment and lack of forgiveness within family members can be a devastating reality that is passed on from one generation to another. Historically, such unresolved family situations have spread so far and wide that they have led to tribal and national wars. One instance that comes to mind is Laman and Lemuel who through their mis-judgment of their brother Nephi’s character (2 Nephi 5:3) morphed from a family division into a national one and affected the whole population of ancient America. Such misconceptions can be passed down and become actual family traditions. It was certainly the case in Lehi’s family where his errant sons’ posterity, the Lamanites, became ‘a wild, and ferocious, and a blood-thirsty people, believing in the tradition of their fathers….(Mosiah 10:12).  This wrongful tradition caused the Lamanites’ to be a ‘scourge’ to the Nephites that led to their destruction (2 Nephi 5:25).  

 

I am always amazed when I hear someone say that they no longer speak to their parents or that they are estranged from some member of their family. Their stubbornness and hardness of heart does not allow for any mercy or empathy that might resolve the situation. I have seen this in my own family between my mother and my grandmother. Their relationship differences became a family animosity that lasted for years. In the end nobody could remember what exactly started it but people clung onto it and my grandmother died not having spoken to her daughter for decades even though they lived across the road from each other. The same stubbornness existed between my father and my grandfather who hardly spoke to one another for years. When I visited Croatia in my 20s I was astounded that my father lived so close to my elderly grandfather and hardly ever visited him. How could you not speak to or care for your elderly parents? I could have passed this hideous ‘tradition’ on to my children but I didn’t and one thing made a difference. I became a follower of Jesus Christ in my youth and became a believer in the importance of family relationships. Later on in my life I learnt the importance of forgiveness and that made all the difference. 

 

Now here is something interesting to be learnt from the story of Nephites and Lamanites who were at each other’s throats for generations. When Alma spoke to the people of Ammonihah, he told them that the Lamanites’ incorrect traditions had caused them to remain in their state of ignorance and because of it the Lord would be merciful to them and that ‘at some period of time they will be brought to believe in his word, and to know of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers; and many of them will be saved…’ (Alma 9:16,17). This indicates that innocent people get caught in false beliefs somewhere down the line which is not their fault until the Great Deliverer steps in and through His great mercy delivers them from their ignorance. So you see not all is lost because there is someone greater than us who can lift us out of our human frailties and save us from ourselves. 

 

If you want to see evidence of what one person’s influence can do, read the two book of Kings in the Old Testament. After King Solomon, who turned to worshipping other gods in his later life, the history of Israel went south. One king after another either led the people into idolatry or true worship of Jehovah. Their influence was astounding. One such king stands out to me who is true proof of the power of one. His name was Jeroboam. Because Solomon turned away from the worship of Jehovah, the nation of Israel was divided into northern and southern kingdoms. The northern kingdom consisted of ten tribes who were given into Jeroboam’s hands. This king was chosen and destined for something good and noble (1 Kings 11:26-38). Because of his insecurity, however, he led the 10 tribes into idolatry (1 Kings 12:26-33) from which they never recovered and which eventuated in their scattering. For generations after him, whenever it was recorded that Israel was in apostasy, reference was made to ‘Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin’. This reference became ‘an indelible stigma’ in the history of Israel. I became so transfixed by the influence of this one man that I counted this repeated reference 14 times in the books of Kings (1 Kings 14:16; 15:30, 22:52; 16:26; 2 Kings 15;9,24,28; 13:2; 14:24; 3:3; 10:29; 23:15; 10:29; 17:21). Imagine being known as someone who led a whole nation of people astray and led them to their demise and destruction. Here too, the Saviour’s mercy comes into play as evidenced in all the prophecies of Israel’s scattering and gathering in the latter-days, the beginning of which was started with the restoration of Christ’s Church. 

 

The more I learn about the Saviour, the more I become amazed at how well He manages to understand and save us from so many conditions of life. I spoke to my daughter  yesterday who is trying to un-revel her mental health issues. I asked her if she might consider the possibility that God could heal her. She replied that she needs to own her own journey to health because only she knows herself and which paths she needs to take to bring about her health. I sorrowed to hear her say this because there is one person who actually does know what it is like to be her. I could have argued that point because I had come to know of the Saviour’s healing power myself but she was not open to hear this at this point in her life. I hope that one day the Lord will open her eyes to her own ignorance and that she will seek His healing. It is her life journey and I need to allow her to own it. My parents didn’t allow me my journey when I was a teen and wanted to join the Church. It resulted in a lot of pain for all three of us which estranged me from my family but luckily it didn’t last beyond one year and our family relationship mended. I learnt a lot from that experience. 

 

Wherever you are and whatever difficulties you have experienced within your family, may you realise that forgiveness, love, empathy and mercy begins with you. If these traits are beyond you, then believe that there is someone who can grant you the power to this path. This power is in Him whom we worship and follow; in Him who knows all things and is capable of all things. By the virtue of our discipleship we have the right of access to His perfection of character if only we believe and seek it. May we have the faith to approach the merciful heart of Christ to make of us who we should be so we can be the force of righteousness and light in our families for generations to come. May we allow Him to be the lamp unto our feet now and forever.