LIFE

 

“’Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect’ (Matt 5:48). Now, that is an attainable goal. We will not be exalted, we shall not reach our destination, unless we are perfect, and now is the best time in the world to start toward that perfection. I have little patience with people who say, ‘Oh, nobody is perfect’, the implication being: ‘so why try? Of course no one is wholly perfect, but we find some who are a long way up the ladder.”

-          President Spencer W. Kimball, “Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball” p 165

I have been very introspective on this the last leg of my earthly journey. I think illness has a great way of forcing us to confront our mortality. Recognizing that life is a sum of one’s choices, I have been re-hashing my life to discover if there is something I should have done better: did I follow all the teachings of the Gospel as I should, did I rely on God enough to follow my life’s plan, did I allow my fears to control me, did  my decisions make my life better or worse, did I suffer more than I should have, did I try hard enough to be Christ-like?

So much of what comes upon us is self-inflicted. Even Job admitted that what he feared had come upon him (Job 3:25).  I discovered a person can easily run the risk of spending their entire old age beating themselves up over the past. Seeing clearly you are not perfect can be a terrible blow to the ego….

I have looked back on the lessons I have learnt during my life and have reasoned they are wasted if they are not acted upon but some things cannot be re-visited. Somehow I think nothing gained here was ever meant to be wasted. There is another life to be lived….a better life….the real life….the never ending life…..because the spirit of man lives on and ‘becoming’ is a process.

One day we will see the beauty in all our earthly experiences and all our learning as we kneel before the King of Kings and acknowledge His priceless part in our eternal journey. One day I know, when I am sanctified, He will consecrate ‘the sum of me’.

The lessons of my life flowed like a river

Winding through days, months and years;

I rescued a few but missed so many

From the currents as I saw them passing;

They drowned in a daze of my ignorance,

Unwanted and ignored but yet abiding.

I fish them now from the pool of my memory

And give them life everlasting.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Jesus Prince of Peace by Danny Hahlbohm)

BE SANCTIFIED

 

“It is the right of all members of the house of Israel to see their King and enjoy His presence. This is a specific promise to those who will sanctify themselves (D&C 50:45-46; 67:10; 93:1). Since the scriptures teach that no unclean thing can dwell in His presence (see Moses 6:57), it is clear that the Saints who are caught up to meet Him must be sanctified.”  (Doctrine & Covenants Student Manual, p 336)

Sanctification is the second step in our preparation for the Second Coming as per D&C 133:4. The purpose of sanctification is to have our minds become single to God, through our repentance, so that we can be purified by the power of the Holy Ghost (D&C 88:68). Without sanctification we cannot be in Christ’s presence or the presence of the Father.

The Book of Mormon states that we can be ‘sanctified in Christ by the grace of God’ and that sanctification comes as a result of yielding our hearts to God through prayer, fasting and humility (see Helaman 3:35 and Moroni 10:33). However, repentance plays a major part in this  process because it leads to forgiveness which leads to sanctification. But not just any repentance:

“To every forgiveness there is a condition. The plaster must be as wide as the sore. The fasting, the prayers, the humility must be equal to or greater than the sin. There must be a broken heart and a contrite spirit. There must be ‘sackcloth and ashes’. There must be tears and genuine change of heart. There must be conviction of the sin, abandonment of the evil, confession of the error to properly constituted authorities of the Lord. There must be restitution and a confirmed, determined change of pace, direction and destination.”  (Spencer W. Kimball, “The Miracle of Forgiveness”, p 353)

A broken heart and a contrite spirit means ‘godly sorrow’ and not just abandonment of sin. It is going through godly sorrow that we lose the inclination to sin (see Alma 13:12 and 2 Nephi 4:31). Not that temptation no longer exists, because that is the nature of this fallen world, but we no longer seek it or are attracted by it (D&C 20:33-34). Because our hearts have been changed we have ‘no more disposition to do evil’ (Mosiah 5:2)

Imagine living in your finest outfit for a long time without changing. Imagine the collected dirt. Even though you realise where you’ve gone wrong and have made that outfit dirty, and you now try all you can to avoid adding more dirt, you are still dirty. The outfit needs to be washed to match your new life-style. This is what sanctification does. It washes you clean so you can be the new you.

Grant me the strength dear Saviour

To embrace the grandeur of my eternal goal,

That I might sin less and obey more.

Thou who art the deliverer of my soul,

May glory be Thine forever more.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)

A TEMPLE APPEARING

 

I was very familiar with scriptures in Malachi which say that the Saviour will come suddenly to his temple and He shall purify the sons of Levi to offer an offering unto the Lord in righteousness (Malachi 3:1-3). This is obviously a reference to the temple in Jerusalem. I was not aware however, that this prophecy had a dual meaning.

Section 133 of the Doctrine and Covenants mentions again that the Lord will suddenly come to His temple before He pours out judgment upon the wicked (v 2) but no mention of the sons of Levi. This apparently is a reference to one of the latter-day temples. This prediction was partly fulfilled when the Saviour appeared in the Kirtland Temple in 1836 but there is apparently a broader meaning to this: “….the Lord shall come, without a doubt, to His Temple, where He will sit as ‘a refiner and purifier of silver’, purging the house of Israel and ministering to His people. This coming will be for the blessing and benefit of the most faithful of His saints. (Smith and Sjodahl, “Commentary”, p 840 and Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual p 335-6)

There is a parable of a woman who wanted to understand the process of refining silver in relation to Malachi’s prophecy. She visited a silversmith and watched the process of refining silver.

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered “Yes”, and explained that he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be damaged.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, “How do you know when the silver is fully refined?” He smiled at her and answered, “Oh, that’s easy. When I see my image in it.”

If it is true that the Saviour will meet His most faithful in His temple, the purification will be one of sanctification by the Holy Ghost. The symbolism of fire is only ever used for the purging effect of this member of the Godhead. What this suggests is that all those in Christ’s presence when He comes to His Temple will be so purified they will have Christ’s image in their countenance.

This holy occasion for the most privileged of Christ’s Church makes this prophecy by Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone a reality, which he spoke during the centennial of the Manti Temple dedication in April of 1987:

 

"Before the Saviour comes the world will darken. There will come a period of time when even the elect will lose hope if they do not come to the temples. The world will be so filled with evil that the righteous will only feel secure within these walls. When the Saviour comes He will honour His people. Those who are spared and prepared will be a temple-loving people. They will know Him.

 

“Our children will bow down at His feet and worship Him as the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings. They will bathe His feet with their tears and He will weep, and bless them for having suffered through the greatest trials known to man.”

 

When the Saviour comes, we will want to be in possession of a temple recommend….

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

Artist Unknown

WHISPERS FROM HOME

 

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that as a boy, Jesus Christ possessed superior intelligence to all mortals: “When still a boy He had all the intelligence necessary to enable Him to rule and govern the kingdom of the Jews, and could reason with the wisest and most profound doctors of law and divinity, and make their theories and practice to appear like folly compared with the wisdom He possessed.” (in History of the Church, 6:608)

And here is the key: “In his study, and in the learning process, He was guided from on high in a way that none other has ever been. Being without sin – being clean and pure and spotless – he was entitled to the constant companionship of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit that will not dwell in an unclean tabernacle, the Spirit that, conversely, always and everlastingly dwells with the righteous…..He enjoyed, at all times, the fulness of that light and guidance and power which comes by the power of the Holy Ghost to the faithful.

“He laboured and studied and struggled; he treasured up words of light and truth; he pondered the scriptures – all under the influence of the Holy Spirit of God, which came to him without measure and without limit, because He was clean and pure and upright.”

-        Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah Book 1, 369-371

It is evident that by the age of 12 the Saviour knew who He was. When He was found in the temple teaching the doctors of the law who ‘were hearing Him and asking Him questions’ (JST Luke 2:46), He confirmed as much telling Joseph and Mary that He was about His ‘Father’s business’ (Luke 2:49). He knew, because He was taught from on high.  

Even though the Saviour had a special mission to perform, the light and knowledge He was receiving in mortality was not limited to only Him. If we will sanctify ourselves by purging ourselves of all iniquity (D&C 43:11), the Holy Ghost will be our constant companion and He will speak the truths of eternity to our hearts and our minds and we will, like Christ, know who we truly are and who we have always been. And more than that, we will understand more fully out eternal destiny.

Our awareness of our eternal selves will outweigh and outshine every doubt and negative feeling we have about ourselves. We will then come forward to be a house set on a hill. We will be an ensign to the world of the truth we bear in our hearts and the testimonies we have of the Son of God who bears the scepter of salvation, the salvation which can be ours if we but make ourselves worthy of His sacrifice.

ODE TO THE HOLY GHOST:

You are the flaming fire

That burns with sacred might;

I surrender my sins

And grant you entrance

To my heart.

 

You enlighten my path

To the knowledge I have always known

Forgotten and hidden

But whispers from home.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Outpouring of the Spirit by Danny Hahlbohm)

HEAVEN'S GIFT

 

I love this painting of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Not only because it is aesthetically pleasing but because of its’ title, “As One”. It tells me everything about the Plan of Salvation at a glance. Our rise to godhood could never happen without the combined efforts of these three holy personages: the Father’s Plan, the Son’s implementation of the Plan and the Holy Ghost’s refining process which enables our rise to the pinnacle of that Plan. Each are dependent on the other and without all three nothing would be possible. I am in awe of this process.

We know that without faith, repentance and baptism, exaltation is not possible (2 Nephi 31:17,18). A crucial component of this process is the fourth element being the Holy Ghost through whom comes  remission of our sins, by fire (v 17). This is how important the Holy Ghost is: “You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half – that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost” (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 5:499)

Elder David A. Bednar pointed out something significant to this end: “Following our baptism, each of us had hands placed upon our head by those with priesthood authority and was confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and the Holy Ghost was conferred upon us (see D&C 49:14). The statement ‘receive the Holy Ghost’ in our confirmation was a directive to strive for the baptism of the Spirit…..We were baptized by immersion in water for the remission of sins. We must also be baptized by and immersed in the Spirit of the Lord, ‘and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost’ (2 Nephi 31:17)’ (in CR April 2006, 29; or Ensign May 2006, 29). Receiving the Holy Ghost is not a passive gift, it is a striving for its cleansing power.

Elder Lynn A. Mickelsen of the Seventy confirmed this theory and explained how it is dependent on the Atonement of Jesus Christ: “Through the Atonement, the Saviour, giving Himself as the ransom for our sins, authorizes the Holy Ghost to cleanse us in a baptism of fire. As the Holy Ghost dwells in us, His purifying presence burns out the filthiness of sin. As soon as the commitment is made, the cleansing process begins” (in CR Oct 2003, 11; or Ensign Nov 2003, p 12). This is suggestive of the gradual process of sanctification just as repentance is sometimes not instantaneous but gradual. The important part of sanctification is the commitment of repentance when we partake of the sacrament. After that, our striving for the companionship of the Holy Ghost should be our daily pursuit.

Father’s Plan cannot come to fruition without the Atonement and neither can sanctification that comes through the mercies of the Atonement by the Holy Ghost. Sanctification cannot happen without the Atonement and the Atonement is not complete without the sanctification. Both the Atonement and sanctification, however, are the necessary components of Father’s Plan. This is the Godhead, As One.

My understanding of and gratitude for the Holy Ghost has increased over the years. I yearn to know this personage once again as I knew Him before. I have wept on many occasions when I have felt Him close; when He has enlightened my mind to understand the truths of eternity; when He has encircled me in the arms of my Father’s love. I am deeply grateful for His administration to me and His sanctifying power as I strive to walk in paths of righteousness.

 

You are the flaming fire

That burns with sacred might;

I surrender my sins

And grant you entrance

To the caverns of my heart.

CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: As One by Danny Hahlbohm)

A CALL TO RISE

 

Many of us are wondering how much more wicked does the world have to become before the Saviour makes His appearance. The thing is, it's not the state of the world that will determine that but the state of us, His people. Not until Zion can be established among us will the Saviour be able to come. And since the Lord works through us and He honours our free agency, our wickedness or righteousness can impede or accelerate His work (Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual, p 258).

Section 105 of Doctrine and Covenants tells us that the early Saints failed to establish Zion and were driven from their inheritances in Missouri because they failed to comply with the order of consecration. In other words, their hearts were not right to live the principles of the Celestial Kingdom. Since Zion is THE PURE IN HEART, there is no Zion where there is no purity of heart. What does being pure in heart mean? Elder McConkie taught that living by the principles of the Celestial Kingdom means living by the law of the gospel because through it men are sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, thus becoming clean, pure, and spotless (Mormon Doctrine, p 117). But there is more....being pure in heart means having the pure love of Christ within you.

This is the pure love of Christ: It means having no motive for self-advancement. Think for a moment of the Saviour and what He volunteered to do. There was no self-advancement in His sacrifice, He didn't need it, He was already a God. We were the only ones who received advancement through His sacrifice. Until we come to the point where we can be selfless like He is and care about others as much as we care about ourselves, we will not be fit enough to live a Zion life in the Millenium. Zion cannot be redeemed, meaning we cannot expect to live there, until such a time as this and until this can happen, the Saviour cannot come. So you see it is up to us to make this happen.

It is time for us to stop worrying about the state of the world and start focusing on our state of being and on our worthiness. Now is the time for us, the House of Israel, to walk the path the Saviour has paved; to become as He is; to seek the purity of heart that He has; to become a Zion people. It is time for us to RISE.

I gave you my all;

My heart, my body, my soul,

Your salvation to ensure.

I paved the way and opened the gate,

Come and take my hand;

Eat and do not hunger,

Drink and do not thirst.

I am in your midst;

I am the only,

I am the last,

And I am the first.

• Cathryne Allen

(Art: Dr. Ashraf Fekry)

A TOKEN OF LOVE

"I spoke at my granddaughter's baptism in July. My assigned topic was the Holy Ghost. I told her that I have a picture of her with her sister on my computer wallpaper. 'Every time I turn on the computer, she is there with you', I said. 'If she could be with you all the time in your life, would she help you choose the right?' This 8 year old was pretty sure she would. I asked the same questions about her mom and dad. She thought that if one or both of them could be with her all the time, she would be able to make pretty good decisions because someone would always be there who knew more than she did to help her. I even asked about President Hinckley. This little girl thought that he would help her with her decisions too. But she agreed with me that he might be too busy to follow her around 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 'But if he could, you would always know the best thing to do, wouldn't you?', I asked. She was pretty sure that was true. Then I asked her what it would be like to have a member of the Godhead with her all the time. We then read 2 Nephi 32:5: 

'For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do' (2 Nephi 32:5)

I am amazed at this - that God would give all of his covenanting children continuous access to a being who knows everything..........."         (Ted L. Gibbons, NT Lesson 32, "Live in the Spirit")


The gift of the Holy Ghost is second to the Atonement as a token of God's great love for us. It is also one of the blessings most often taken for granted. Very few of us reflect daily or even occasionally on the gift of love that this third member of the Godhead is. When the Father sent us out into the world to find ourselves, He did so making sure we didn't go without a connection to home. There are several things that make Christ's Church stand apart from other religions but none as powerful and useful to us in our daily lives as the gift of the Holy Ghost. Having this gift can be akin to walking with and talking to God face to face on daily basis. There are three major benefits of having the gift of the Holy Ghost that are worthy of mention:

1. At the time of baptism, the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost makes us clean from any sin that we had up to then committed. This sanctifying power can be renewed every time we partake of the sacrament with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. If we live worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost on a continual basis and 'walk in the spirit' as Apostle Paul taught, we will have the power to subdue 'the natural man' (Galatians 5:16). Not subduing the natural man means living after the manner of the flesh, the fruits of which are 'adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings and such like' (Galatians 5:19-21). However, the fruits of living after the manner of the Spirit are 'love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance' (Galatians 5:22-25). We need the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost if we are to ultimately qualify for God's presence for 'no unclean thing can enter into His kingdom' (3 Nephi 27:19). This sanctification is available to all who accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour and make covenants to live His Gospel. Where His Atonement absolves us from sin, the Holy Ghost purifies us from it.

2. One of the main roles of the Holy Ghost is to endow members of the Church with spiritual gifts. Every member of the Church receives them following baptism. In the early Church they were immediately manifest mainly through speaking in tongues and prophesying (Acts 19:5,6). Spiritual gifts are often called 'fruits of the Spirit' and they are one of the greatest tools we have for developing traits we lack and need to have, not only for our benefit but most importantly for the benefit of the Church for it is for this purpose they are given. Joseph Smith said on one occasion that the Church would be dead without the gifts of the spirit. He compared it to being invited to a feast [Church] and sitting at the table not partaking of the foods laden before you. The gifts of the spirit are many and varied. It is our responsibility to seek them and develop them. They are, however, not only to be used for the building of the Kingdom but for our individual journey to perfection. It is through possession of these gifts that we can overcome weaknesses and imperfections and thus progress to a more Christlike character (on more information regarding this please refer to my blog post entitled "On Spiritual Gifts and Weaknesses", October 2013).

3. Paul taught the Galatian saints to 'stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage' (Galatians 5:1). The yoke of bondage that Paul referred to was the ritualism inherent in the law of Moses which had become a way of life for the Jews and which caused 'spirituality to wither almost to death in the hearts of the people. When a member of the Church is given to ritualism, or even living the gospel by habit or tradition, the purity of intent that is required to live the gospel at its highest is most often lost. Such ceremonialism had become a yoke of bondage for the Jews'.........When habit or tradition governs the behaviour of a member of the Church, he or she has lost the liberty of living the gospel with pure intent. The gospel becomes a burden to be carried rather than a means of liberating the soul. In such a person, the fire of the Holy Ghost has little place. Without that fire, the natural man begins to take over what it has lost when the recipient was first converted to the gospel' (Bruce Satterfield, NT Lesson 32 'Live In the Spirit', Meridian Magazine). Living by the Spirit ensures that our motives for Church activity and Gospel living are strong and pure and not habitual and bereft of real intent.

With so much unrest, fear, doubt and insecurity in our world today, we cannot afford to live without the guidance and influence of the Holy Ghost. It is the daily connection we have with the powers of heaven, a connection we sorely need. Several years after the Prophet Joseph Smith was martyred, he appeared to President Brigham Young and shared this timeless counsel: "Tell the people to be humble and faithful and [be] sure to keep the spirit of the Lord and it will lead them right. Be careful and not turn away the small, still voice; it will teach [you what] to do and where to go; it will yield the fruits of the kingdom. Tell the brethren to keep their hearts open to conviction so that when the Holy Ghost comes to them; their hearts will be ready to receive it. They can tell the spirit of the Lord from all other spirits. It will whisper peace and joy to their souls, and it will take malice, hatred, envying, strife, and all evil from their hearts; and their whole desire will be to do good, bring forth righteousness, and build up the kingdom of God. Tell the brethren if they will follow the Spirit of the Lord they will go right" (Joseph Smith, Teachings:Joseph Smith, p 98)

We not only need the Holy Ghost for guidance but also for personal edification of our body, spirit and intellect: "The Holy Ghost.....quickens all the intellectual faculties, increases, enlarges, expands and purifies all the natural passions and affections, and adepts them by the gift of wisdom to their lawful use. It inspires virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness and charity. It develops beauty of person, form and features. It tends to health, vigor, animation, and social feeling. It develops and invigorates all the faculties of the physical and intellectual mind. It strengthens, invigorates and gives tone to the nerves. In short, it is, as it were, marrow to the bone, joy to the heart, light to the eyes, music to the ears, and life to the whole being" (Parley P. Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, 9th ed. [1965] p. 101). Indeed we can say that the Holy Ghost is a life force we cannot live without. It therefore behooves us to live so that we would be worthy of its' companionship constantly. Keeping ourselves unspotted from the world and hungering after righteousness ensures that we form a partnership with this member of the Godhead who has been relegated to be our lifeline in mortality. 

When Jesus told His apostles that He would shortly be crucified for the sins of the world, they sorrowed because He would no longer be with them but He in return offered immense hope: "It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you" (John 16:7). With this statement, the Saviour was saying "you will have me with you always". For us, nearly 2,000 years after the fact, this should have more meaning than to the apostles of old. They had known Him personally, walked and talked with Him every day, heard His words, felt His touch, were no doubt embraced by His arms and kissed with a holy kiss. We of the 21st century, have experienced none of these personal moments with the Savior in our mortality. There is one, however, whom the Saviour has sent in His stead so that we too can feel His personal love, feel the power of His spirit and be convinced of the reality of His existence; the one who has the power to remind us of our heavenly home, to keep us on the strait and narrow, to let us know that we are not forgotten. He will comfort us in times of sorrow, teach us what we need to know and strengthen us with Atonement's power. He is the conduit through which all heavenly connection comes. All this so we can return to inherit eternal life in the realms above. Such is the power and might of the member of the Godhood we call The Holy Ghost, The Comforter, The Spirit of Truth, the token of our Father's love.