Give Thanks, Flood the World with Gratitude

 

Yesterday President Russell M. Nelson offered his prescription for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping across the world and spiking here at home in Utah. His secret formula: 1) Flood the world with personal expressions of gratitude for the next seven days, and 2) offer up sincere and humble prayer daily.

That may sound too simplistic to some, but he explained in another news release that this idea hit him in the middle of the night and he followed through on the impression the next morning. He offered his own prayer for all the world to witness as he concluded his message.

So I will begin my personal "Thanksgiving Journal," Day 1: I #givethanks first and foremost to my beloved companion of over 50 years, Patsy. That's her, above (third from the left), in a four-generation picture on the snowy day of grand-daughter Ashley John's sealing at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. She has the faith of a pioneer woman. I've often teased her that she was born 200 years too late. It was her leadership in mustering the faith of everyone in our family and our ward to see me through the episode of my meningioma diagnosis and subsequent brain surgery. She would have been at the top of my list in any event, but this latest example merely burnishes her place in all our hearts, especially mine.

I #givethanks for the knowledge of my Father in Heaven and His Only Begotten Son, our Redeemer Jesus Christ. But for the Savior's atoning sacrifice and Joseph Smith's humble prayer, we would be without hope in this world for the world to come.

I am constantly pondering what my life would be like without the Prophet Joseph Smith. As he opened the last dispensation of the gospel of Jesus Christ in these last days his faithfulness and persistence were astounding by anyone's calculations. Even his enemies seem to have been silenced to some degree as the monumental publication of the Joseph Smith Papers puts to flight so many of the specious and scurrilous allegations that now seem frivolous. I #givethanks to Joseph in this 200th anniversary year of his First Vision of the Father and the Son in the grove of trees near Palmyra, New York on a spring morning in 1820.

I #givethanks to God for the organization of His church, the only true and living church on the face of the earth today - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its genius organizational design and flexibility for growth worldwide is expanding its reach day by day as we gather the house of Israel on both sides of the veil.

I #givethanks for a living and loving prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, who continues unabated to give guidance and loving counsel to all the world. His gentle "invitations" are just that - calculated to offer a welcoming hand of fellowship to all who will respond with obedience and sacrifice. He is absolutely a man to match the mountains that surround us in the tops of the mountains of Utah.

This Thanksgiving season will be different because we are living in a COVID-19 pandemic. I hope we can remember that it's not to be measured as successful based upon the number who normally would gather around our table for dinner. Rather, this year let us measure ourselves based upon the depths of our gratitude for all the blessings a loving Heavenly Father has showered upon us.

I am greatly blessed for the return of my brain this year. How grateful I am for the advances of medical science that made possible the intrusion into my skull to excise that meningioma tumor. I #givethanks not only for skilled physicians and a talented medical team to support them, but most of all for the Great Physician who has made the healing so complete and perfect.

I think I am ready to even #givethanks for the brain tumor, now removed, that has put me in remembrance as never before of all the blessings I have received.

Making the Sabbath a Delight

We live in an increasingly dark and dreary world, filled with sin and wickedness almost unimaginable and unspeakable even a few years ago. The latest news broke last week, secret videos exposing Planned Parenthood's selling of fetal tissue - and in some instances, complete bodies of fetuses - to buyers. It should be clear that "Planned Parenthood" is a complete misnomer, since they are in the abortion business and now we learn they are profiting in a black market that is blacker than black. A Senate vote is scheduled for Tuesday to defund the organization, and any moral person would have to conclude their activities must not be underwritten by taxpayer dollars.

Elder Kevin W. Pearson

It's hard to remain an optimist in such a world, but there is at least one way to do that. Elder Kevin Pearson of the Seventy was a speaker in his home ward last week. I got a report of his remarks from my father and sister who were there. He stated in years past when they have gathered at General Conference time in a four-hour training that a host of topics are covered, topics the senior Brethren would like them to take to the far-flung corners of the globe. This year, however, that training centered on one topic only - the Sabbath.

As evidence that the water has flowed into the final furrow on this topic, we heard our bishop address the topic in a recent sacrament meeting where our stake president presided, and then we received instruction from our stake presidency in a letter that was distributed throughout the stake, as follows:

Dear Brothers and Sisters of the Kamas Utah Stake, July 2015

We would like to communicate direction we have received from church leaders for each of us to strengthen faith in God by observing the Sabbath day with greater purpose.

Church leaders have felt the importance of encouraging families and individuals to rethink and refocus our efforts on what we do on the Sabbath day. We recently met with Bishoprics and Stake leaders, they in turn have met in Ward Councils to discuss what we can do within our Wards, Branches, families and as individuals to renew our personal and collective worship on the Lord's day. As a Presidency, we have prayed and pondered on this direction and would like to announce the following change to our meeting block order and invite all members of the stake to focus on the Sabbath in the following ways.

First, starting on Fast Sunday August 2nd, we will change, where possible, the order of our meeting schedules so that the Sacrament meeting is first. This is recommended by the leaders of Church so that the sacred sacrament ordinance and the sacrament meeting can begin our block of meetings. Your Bishop or Branch President will announce the specific meeting schedule for your Ward or Branch. Let us use this change as a catalyst to renew our commitment to the Sabbath, such as being on time to Sacrament meeting, increasing our reverence in the chapel, and pondering on the words and meaning of the Sacrament prayers.

Second, between now and August 2nd, we invite and encourage all members of the stake to hold a family council, or personal pondering based on family circumstances, regarding how we can elevate our observance of the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Consider such questions as "What changes can we make to improve our Sabbath observance?" and "What can we do to give the Sabbath back to the Savior?".

Third, on August 2nd, we invite all members of the stake to fast and pray with the unified purpose to improve our Sabbath worship and keep the Lord's day holy. As we fast, let us include a desire to receive an increase in the spirit individually and collectively, and receive the blessings that the Lord has in store for all those who honor Him and strive to keep His Sabbath day holy.

"If thou turn away...from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord...and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure...Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth." Isaiah 58:13-14.

Fourth, we encourage you to view between now and August 2nd, the communication and video from Church leaders on this topic. It is found at this website. Please view the video presentation and read the short overview. This will help set the tone for our fast.

We express our love for you. We testify that we have living prophets today, who lead and guide us, and communicate to us the Lord's will. We know that obedience brings forth the blessings of Heaven. We promise that as we increase our individual and collective observance of the Sabbath day, we will be richly blessed. (emphasis mine).

Sincerely,

Mark T. Durham
Howard N. Sorensen
Matthew L. Flinders

* * *

I continue to be grateful for inspired leaders in these last days, filled as those days will be with discouragement and distress on all sides. There seems to be so little peace. The observance and the full embrace of the Sabbath day can provide the nourishment and the refreshment we all need.

I've been reading several articles this morning about the Sabbath, and most come to one conclusion - it should and can be a day of rest and joy. Yes, observing the Sabbath day is the fourth commandment in the list of Ten, but when it is observed with a fullness of heart it should not be oppressive or onerous filled with "shalt nots". Rather than focusing on how our neighbor is or is not observing the Sabbath, let us decide for ourselves what will bring the greatest joy and satisfaction possible to us, and then do those things. I do not suggest a list here. That is for everyone to come to on their own.

When we cease "finding thine own pleasure" on the Sabbath, as Isaiah suggests, then we are free to "delight thyself in the Lord". I have always called the Sabbath "a delight" because it gives me a chance to think about and to do those things that focus on the Lord. It is more than coincidental that God "blessed" the seventh day of creation from the beginning. It was sanctified by Him and consecrated for us as a day in which to rest from our labors and to return our thanks to Him.

July has brought a full house of delightful chaos, as we have had visits from every child and their families. We have loved the noisy squeals of joy as they have played with each other, since so many of our empty nesting days are nothing but dead calm and silence. Now that our home is empty of little children requiring our constant guidance and instruction, we are finding it much easier to spend the day in quiet bliss and pondering on the blessings of the goodness of their lives.

Long forgotten are the hard times, the tears of remorse some shed, the contention and the bickering that too often marred the peace of the Sabbath in years gone by. Now we have nothing but deafening silence to greet us on the dawns of our Sabbaths. Now they are the ones who are giving instruction and guidance to their children, and in every case they are doing much better than we ever did. For that we are constantly grateful, and we express that each time we pray to our Heavenly Father. There is no greater joy than the blessing of a posterity who are trying to do good.

Going to Church on Sunday is only the least part of observing the Sabbath day. I have found much solace in writing my feelings, as I do constantly on this page on a Sunday. As you will note above, our meeting schedule has changed. We might be the last stake on earth that wasn't holding sacrament meeting first in the three-hour block. We're also meeting in the afternoon while the roof on our stake center is replaced and we are lovingly compelled to share our building with another ward that took our morning slot.

All of these structural changes in the Sunday routine call for flexibility and accommodation, but they are all possible because of our abiding faith in the underlying and overarching principles of the purposes of the Sabbath day.

Many years ago I was chairman of the boundary committee in our stake, and we were grappling with some contentious and difficult recommendations about pending changes that involved new boundaries and creating new wards. In the middle of one of those meetings, I reminded the members of the committee, "It doesn't really matter what we do. Faithful saints will show up to worship on top of a mountain at dawn in a tent if that's what the recommendation might be." I was expressing the point of view so many of us know to be true. It is not when and where we worship, so much as it is HOW and WHO we worship. Section 59 of the Doctrine and Covenants provides the counsel needed to explain the Sabbath spirit of worship.

Joseph Smith

On this Sabbath day when there will be many "firsts" in our stake, it is my prayer we may all focus on the object of our worship - our Father in Heaven. We worship Him in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Ghost. The Godhead comprise three separate and distinct beings, two corporeal resurrected and glorified beings and a third who is a body of spirit. (See D&C 130:22-23). To them we owe our existence and our happiness because in these last days they have made themselves known to us through modern revelation to a living boy prophet, Joseph Smith. At fourteen years of age he saw them, spoke with them, and his testament stands. The evidence of his divine calling is The Book of Mormon.

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work;
But the seventh day, the sabbath of the Lord thy God, thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates;
For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all in them is; wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (Mosiah 13:16-19).

Without Joseph Smith

This afternoon I was searching in my e-mail history for something else, and I stumbled over an e-mail I sent to a dear friend summarizing my appreciation for the Prophet Joseph Smith. It's worth sharing again:

Joseph Smith (1805 - 1844)

April 16, 2005

Tomorrow, I’m speaking in Francis 1st Ward.   The topic they assigned me was the Prophet Joseph Smith.   The bishop had heard me speak in the stake fireside in January to kick off the year of celebration [2005 was the 200th anniversary of Joseph's birth in 1805] and wanted me to reprise what I had done before.   While it's impossible to do that, because it all came by the Spirit while I was on my feet, my mind took me in this direction.

I thought about, “What would my life be like without Joseph Smith?”   It reduces to truth, defined by the Lord as "knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come."   (D&C 93:24)   It's the knowledge from God through Joseph that I can't live without.

Without Joseph, we would never understand the true nature of the Godhead.   The concept of God would be a nebulous spirit essence whose center is nowhere and whose circumference is everywhere.   Just read the Nicean Creed sometime for an example of what man, left to his own wisdom, comes up with when trying to describe God.   With Joseph, however, we have this simple declaration:   “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. . .”   (D&C 130:22).   Either Joseph saw them and spoke with them, or he didn’t.   Everything this Church teaches and represents stands on that simple declaration based upon an early Spring morning’s encounter with Diety in 1820.   I would never know, without Joseph, that my Father in Heaven once lived on an earth like I do, and that I may someday become just like him.   (See King Follett funeral address, TPJS, 342).   Read it again to remind yourself just how stunning his knowledge at the pinnacle of his life really was.

Without Joseph, we would never have received the true priesthood.   It came to him from those ancient prophet worthies who held the power and authority they held during their mortal lives, namely John the Baptist and Peter, James and John.   Authority came from heaven itself in the form of resurrected beings.   Recently, Pope John Paul II was laid to rest, they claim, only feet away from the “first Pope,” Peter the ancient Apostle.   Imagine this most recent Pope’s surprise upon entering the spirit world to be greeted by a resurrected Peter whose body long ago arose from the earthly tomb that held it bound.   I wonder how long it will take the last Pope to accept the fullness of the gospel from the "first Pope" upon hearing it for the first time.  Imagine the conversation when Peter explains his bones were never buried under St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, Rome.

Without Joseph, we would have no knowledge of the organization of the only true Church authorized by our Father in Heaven and named for his Son Jesus Christ.   Imagine an organization revealed from heaven to living prophets that is able to accommodate rapid growth and constant change without missing a beat.   It is a constant source of amazement to me that changes in leadership every week across the world happen seamlessly without conflict or rebellion.   Its ability to expand its leadership infinitely as needed is equally amazing.   Beginning in 1975, the 1st Quorum of the Seventy was established, followed soon thereafter by the 2nd Quorum.   Members of these two quorums were designated as full-time General Authorities.   In April 1997, there came part-time Area Authority Seventies comprising the 3rd, 4th and 5th Quorums of Seventy.   In July 2004, the 6th Quorum was established.   All this is in fulfillment of a stunning pronouncement by Joseph in 1835:   “If the first Seventy are all employed, and there is a call for more laborers, it will be the duty of the seven presidents of the first Seventy to call and ordain other Seventy and send them forth to labor in the vineyard, until, if needs be, they set apart seven times seventy, and even until there are one hundred and forty-four thousand thus set apart for the ministry.”   (TPJS, 75).   Read about the 144,000 high priests (all today’s Seventies are ordained high priests) in Revelation 6-7, and D&C 77:11, then ask yourself how Joseph knew so much about organizing a worldwide Church when all the ordained priesthood brethren in Kirtland could fit in a little room.   Reported by Wilford Woodruff who was there, Joseph said:   “You know no more concerning the destinies of this Church and kingdom than a babe upon its mother’s lap.   You don’t comprehend it. . . It is only a little handfull [sic] of Priesthood you see here tonight, but this Church will fill North and South America –  it will fill the world” (as quoted by Wilford Woodruff, in Conference Report, April 1898, 57).

Without Joseph, we would know nothing about the establishment of Zion, pointing to the day when the earthly priesthood would unite with the heavenly priesthood.   Joseph taught that those who make their calling and election sure have the privilege of communing with "an innumerable company of angels." (HC 1:283).   He observed that "Paul [the Apostle] speaks of the Church coming to an innumerable company of angels."   (HC 3:388; 4:51; Hebrews 12:23).   The Prophet also explained: The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed.   The mustard seed is small, but brings forth a large tree, and the fowls lodge in the branches.   The fowls are the angels. . .   We may come to an innumerable company of angels, have communion with and receive instruction from them. . .   Paul had these things, and we may have the fowls of heaven lodge in the branches, etc.   (HC 3:389).   All that describes a condition of the heart, and is expanded in Joseph’s revelation and subsequent teachings about the church of the Firstborn (D&C 76:50-70).   But the thing that always amazes me is that the Lord revealed to Joseph that Independence, Missouri, was the geographical center of the United States in 1831, and the exact location of the New Jerusalem that would come down out of heaven to be joined to the earthly Zion.   He called it the “center place” and the “center stake of Zion.”   (D&C 57:1-5; 84:1-5; and this stunning promise in 101:16-18).   We know all of that because of Joseph.   I seem to use that word "stunning" a lot when I speak of Joseph.

Without Joseph, what hope do we have for salvation, meaning exaltation in the highest degree of celestial glory?   Through Joseph came the marvelous flood of light that shines brightly on the Father’s plan of happiness for his children.   We, who have suffered the loss of loved ones through death, have the hope of a glorious reunion with them.   We know we will be resurrected with them.   We know we may be exalted if we are faithful.   We know the sting of death is temporary, only swallowed up in the eternal life that awaits the sanctified.

Without Joseph, we would never know what we do about the atonement of Jesus Christ, and how to apply its purifying power to our lives.   Think what your life would be like to never have the knowledge that you could find peace in this life through the cleansing power of repentance.   Think what your life would be like without the knowledge that your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, if acted upon the way Joseph Smith outlines in the Restoration, could become the dominating force for good in your life.   Imagine not knowing that the old man of sin could be laid away in that watery grave of baptism, and rise renewed in the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost who will walk with us daily in our mortal journey.   Imagine not having the Articles of Faith to shed light on the atonement's power in our individual lives.   Said Joseph:   "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 [I take that to mean "programs of the Church," sorry just couldn't resist] which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it."   (TPJS, 121).   Joseph said, commenting upon this statement, "I published the foregoing answers to save myself the trouble of repeating the same a thousand times over and over again."

Without Joseph, we have no modern scripture to be added to the canon of the Bible.   Without Joseph, there is no Book of Mormon, no Pearl of Great Price, no Doctrine and Covenants, no Lectures on Faith, no Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith.   Without Joseph we are left to interpret and debate the meanings of doctrine endlessly with our Christian neighbors.   We are shrouded without Joseph in the darkness of uncertainty and doubt about the meaning of our existence here in mortality.

Without Joseph, we have no knowledge about the role of prophets, ancient and modern.   Chosen by the God of heaven, they are appointed in a completely foreign way to the ways of men –  God chooses them, rather than a body of believers who elect them to lead.   I was interested recently to hear Susan Easton Black recount the history of how the Reorganized Church approached Joseph Smith III repeatedly and begged him to assume what they determined to be his rightful position in succession to his father.   After many attempts and many years later, he finally relented to their persistent pleas.   He was never sure that he was called of God thereafter, and made no such claim.   Contrast that with revelation from God to living prophets who exercise sacred priesthood keys.

Without Joseph, we know nothing of how to prepare ourselves spiritually for the Second Coming of Christ.   The Book of Mormon supplies us with a handbook, written through the spirit of prophecy by prophets who witnessed our day in vision.   It is remarkable that the bulk of its pages centers on conditions immediately preceding the Savior’s ministry among the Nephites and the aftermath of his ministry.   Said President Ezra Taft Benson: “The record of the Nephite history just prior to the Savior's visit reveals many parallels to our own day as we anticipate the Savior's second coming.   The Nephite civilization had reached great heights.   They were prosperous and industrious.   They had built many cities with great highways connecting them.   They engaged in shipping and trade.   They built temples and palaces.   But, as so often happens, the people rejected the Lord.   Pride became commonplace.   Dishonesty and immorality were widespread.   Secret combinations flourished because, as Helaman tells us, the Gadianton robbers ‘had seduced the more part of the righteous until they had come down to believe in their works and partake of their spoils.’   (Helaman 6:38).   ‘The people began to be distinguished by ranks, according to their riches and their chances for learning.’   (3 Nephi 6:12).   And ‘Satan had great power, unto the stirring up of the people to do all manner of iniquity, and to the puffing them up with pride, tempting them to seek for power, and authority, and riches, and the vain things of the world,’ even as today.”   (3 Nephi 6:15).   (See Ensign, May 1987, 4).

Without Joseph, we know nothing about the purpose of temples.   We would never know about sealing families together forever, nothing of the ritual cleansing ordinances that symbolize spiritual realities for the pure in heart.   We would never know how to link our ancestors and our posterity together in an unbroken chain forged back to Father Adam and Mother Eve.   We would never have the 119 sanctuaries we do dotting the globe today, where the faithful may go to find peace in a chaotic world and may commune directly with their Father in Heaven.   Those temples with the words "Holiness to the Lord" written upon them only symbolize our temples.   God will put his seal upon our temple someday if we are faithful to our temple covenants.   In the temple we learn of the path to celestial life, and we must choose here and now to get on that path:   Obedience, sacrifice, gospel, chastity and consecration.   Five laws, five covenants, five stepping stones to eternal life.   Without Joseph, how would we ever know?

With Joseph, we have it all.   How grateful I am to him for his generosity of spirit!