MEEKNESS OF SPIRIT

 

I have always seen ‘power’ in the way Alma delivered himself and Amulek from prison. Consider the powerful expression of his faith in Jesus Christ by which a miracle of freedom was brought about: “O Lord, give us strength according to our faith which is in Christ….” (Alma 14:26). This year, however, I saw something else. I saw meekness.

In light of Elder Bednar’s definition of meekness which is ‘distinguished by righteous responsiveness, willing submissives, and strong self-restraint’ (Meek and Lowly of Heart, General Conference 2018), Alma possessed this attribute in fulness. Alma and Amulek were verbally abused for many days by many lawyers and judges and priests and teachers (Ala 14:18,22). It was not until ‘the power of God’ was upon them that ‘they rose and stood upon their feet’ (v25). This should have been a hint for them all to scatter….. Waiting upon the Lord to deliver them showed incredible submissiveness, righteous responsiveness and strong self-restraint.

A close friend of mine defines meekness as ‘strength turned tender’. I love that definition.  Meek is being powerful and knowing when that power should be used and how it should be used. It means exercising incredible self-restraint in your strength. Elder Bednar defines it well: Meekness is strong, not weak; active, not passive; courageous, not timid; restrained, not excessive; modest, not self-aggrandizing; and gracious, not brash. A meek person is not easily provoked, pretentious, or overbearing and readily acknowledges the accomplishment of others.”

Meekness is a Christlike attribute. This is the characteristic the Lord used to describe Himself above all others He possessed: “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:29). Imagine if the Saviour did not possess meekness. I think He would have wiped us off the face of the earth a long time ago…. Lucky for us, His self-restraint when it comes to our wickedness, stubbornness and human weakness, affords us time to repent and change the course of our lives before the day of destruction.

The promise is if we walk in the meekness of the Saviour’s spirit, we will have peace (D&C 19:23). Think what that means in relation to righteous responsiveness to others, willing submissiveness to God’s plan for your life; and strong self-restraint when it comes to disciplining the desires of the flesh. Would not all these things give us peace?

Now consider what great gift to us the Saviour’s meekness was when He exercised righteous responsiveness and willing submission as He confronted the agonies of humanity in Gethsemane. And imagine if there was no self-restraint in Him when, despite all His power, He allowed weak, mere mortals to scourge Him and crucify Him. Imagine if He walked off that cross before He could say: “It is finished” (John 19:30). Where would we be today? I think the Saviour was chosen to be our Redeemer on the basis of His meekness as opposed to Lucifer who could never have subjected himself to such an unjust death because of His pride.

Mormon identified meekness as the foundation of all spiritual capacities and gifts and accentuated that none of us are acceptable before God ‘save the meek and lowly in heart’ (Moroni 7:42-44). This is the character of Christ, our Redeemer, who can gift us this attribute by virtue of our discipleship, if we seek it with all our hearts and desire to be like Him.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Be Still My Soul by Mark  Missman)

IN TRIBULATION AND CAPTIVITY

 

The winter of 1838-39 would have been the crucible of Joseph Smith’s life. It was the coldest winter on record in the state of Missouri and Joseph and four other Church leaders found themselves in a hell hole of Liberty Jail ‘surrounded with demons….where they were compelled to hear nothing but blasphemous oaths, and witness a scene of blasphemy, and drunkenness and hypocrisy, and debaucheries of every description’ (History of the Church 3:290). In his letter to Emma on 21 March 1839, Joseph told her that “pen, or tongue, or angels” could not adequately describe “the malice of hell” that he suffered there (Personal Writings, 463, 464).

Liberty Jail was an inescapable prison with four feet thick walls.  It was a two-storey establishment with a rope and a bucket as the only link between the dungeon and the upper floor. It was in this dungeon of rough bare stones for a floor, covered by a bit of loose, dirty straw that Joseph and four others spent the cruelest winter of their lives. It was also through this depth of despair that the Lord gave us three of the most valuable sections of the Doctrine and Covenants: 121, 122, 123. Out of his extreme aloneness, when he felt the furthest away from heaven’s door, Joseph received glorious answers to his most heart-wrenching petition. Into the pit of hell known as Liberty Jail, where he knew not how long he would languish, came the most loving voice of God, addressing him in the most tender manner, as someone who knew the very depths of his soul: “My son, peace be unto thy soul…..” (D&C 121:7-8).

I wonder if Joseph ever reflected on another servant of God with a similar experience of tribulation in captivity, the man whose very experience he translated from the gold plates. Alma, and his convert and missionary companion, Amulek, found themselves in captivity in the most wicked city where they sat in a dungeon naked, suffering hunger, thirst, and physical abuse by their captors (Alma 14:18-23)….and having witnessed the catastrophe of Ammonihah in which the wives and children of the newly fresh converts were consumed by fire (Alma 14:8). Being constrained by the Spirit to prevent this tragedy was excruciating to Amulek who would have known these people of his city well (v 10,11). Amulek had many friends and kindreds in Ammonihah and was a rich man (Alma 10:4). He had an extensive household with wives and children (10:11). It is not clear from the record whether these children were young or grown and whether his family also perished in the fire. One thing we do know is that Amulek was left without family and possessions. Following their prison break-out, Mormon recorded that Alma took him back to Zarahemla to live with him and his family and ‘administered unto him in his tribulations, and strengthened him in the Lord’ (Alma 15:18). Amulek had undergone the most traumatic  change in his life. The painful effects of such on body and mind would have been extreme.

In the extremity of his captivity, Alma also, like Joseph, offered the most heart-wrenching petition to God when he asked: “How long shall we suffer these great afflictions, O Lord?” (Alma 14:26). One would wonder why the Lord would allow his most chosen servants to suffer so unjustly. The same for us who are striving so hard to be righteous and who inevitably come to face a crucible of our own lives. We often feel that we do not deserve it…..except there is an explanation. If we would be followers of Jesus Christ we must follow where He leads. Salvation and especially exaltation, comes at a price, and that price invariably leads to Gethsemane. If Christ himself did not suffer there, our trials and tribulations would be ever so much worse. He suffered the blow so that we wouldn’t but has given us a glorious promise through Joseph, our beloved prophet: “thy God shall be with you forever and ever” (D&C 122:4,9) and then the ultimate: “All thrones and dominions, principalities and powers, shall be revealed and set forth upon all who have endured valiantly for the gospel of Jesus Christ” (D&C 121:29).

-        CATHRYNE ALLEN

(I highly recommend the BYU talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland titled “Lessons from Liberty Jail” at speeches.byu.edu)

(ART: Replica of  Joseph Smith at Liberty Jail by Val Brinkerhoff)