A new heart.

Today as I was reading in Joseph Smith's history he relates the experience of Moroni's visit during the night. Moroni quoted the eleventh chapter of Isaiah and not being immediately able to recall it's content I diverted from Joseph's account and looked it up.

It talks of the second coming of Christ, describing the state of the earth at His coming.  I continued to read and then was stopped cold at the end of verse seven. "...and the lion shall eat straw like the ox." I pondered that for a minute and I realized that when the Lord, the Creator, came, He would change the very nature of the lion. We know everyone and everything will acknowledge Christ the Lord when He comes again. And every knee will bow, every tongue confess, He is the Lord. So as the lion gives his heart to the Lord, the Lord changes it!  No longer the carnivore- the lion now eats straw. No longer the predator- the lion no longer hunts and kills and eats his prey. The lion is harmless towards all others. I find that remarkable!  The Lord has the power to change the very nature of His creations. He can also change my nature, if I give Him my heart.

If I am willing to acknowledge Him as Master of my soul, and humbly give Him my heart, no matter it's condition, He will heal it, and make it new again. He will meet me wherever I am in my journey of life, and lift me to a better place by changing my nature, giving me a new heart. A heart that loves all people, a heart that knows and acts upon good, a heart that shuns evil in every form. A heart eager to learn more of Him and His restored gospel. A heart that is quick to forgive, deserving or not. A heart, through my own journey of pain, that can now lift and help others. A heart that can be an example of faith-filled endurance. A heart that can be filled with gifts of the Spirit. A heart that allows the Holy Ghost a place to dwell. Oh that I had such a heart! 

As this new year begins I marvel at the similarity of emotions we are surrounded with in our world today. As I read Joseph's description of the emotions surrounding him as a 14 year old boy, it is achingly familiar. The discord. The fiery conversations. The dividing of beliefs. And I already know the lengths others went to shut Joseph up. To extinguish the truths he shared. To halt the work of God. I draw courage and strength from knowing the results, to this day, of those efforts of the young Joseph Smith. Millions world-wide faithfully follow that obscure farm-boy's example in seeking Jesus Christ. In this season of unrest we are in, of voices calling 'truth here' and 'truth there' it can be very confusing to one such as I who is ignorant of the sciences, and other worldly knowledge- trying to know who is right. I learned at the beginning of the Pandemic the only places to confidently know I am hearing truth is from the Lord and His anointed apostles and Prophets. They know the truth and as long as my words and actions are in sync with them, then I have peace. 

And so I step forward into 2021 and work daily to give my heart to the Lord, to receive back my new, changed heart. I follow the counsel of our Church leaders on every level to the best of my ability. And I give gratitude to the Lord for the peace in my heart. It's the only way I can live. 

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  John 14:27

The warm peace in Christ.

A new year. 2021 has finally arrived. And, while we would all be delighted if all the chaos of 2020 disappeared as easily as turning the calendar to this new year, month and day...we also know that will not be the case. I for one actually feel a bit better prepared for this new year than I expected to feel. Great have been the blessings I have received in 2020. 

As is the custom the first Sunday of each month, we have the opportunity for any member of our congregation to stand before us and testify of our truths in the gospel. Today however my sweet friend Elizabeth, started to make her way towards the front when the meeting was called to a close. She sat quietly in a row where she was. The spirit whispered to me, "You need to ask her to share her testimony with you." After the meeting concluded I made my way to her and we sat quietly in the back as she shared her testimony, her truths, tears and love. She told me her very frail father had covid. This I knew. One morning her sister asked if she had seen the text from their brother, she said no. And suddenly felt a cold chill sweep through her whole body. She decided to talk to Heavenly Father first. So she knelt down and poured out her heart to Him. Almost immediately she felt the warm peace of Christ fill her whole body. She knew her Dad was going to be ok. And he is. She said I realized how powerful the peace Christ gives us is even amidst the chaos of our world. 

Two thoughts immediately came to my mind. First, I had never consciously given thought to the two polar opposites of cold and warm in the context of the Spirit. Then the thought popped into my mind, "But I have never felt cold peace."  That made me think of other times and people that have seemed cold to me, maybe they were without the warmth of Christ's peace! 

Then I thought just like my mission in London nearly forty years ago, there were lessons I learned there that I still draw upon today. Some have referred the mission to a mini-life of sorts.

Maybe this Pandemic is a little bit like that. Ever since President Nelson was sustained and set apart as President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, without us even realizing it, he has been preparing us for this chaotic time. He made changes to the way we did things. The home centered, church supported curriculum. Subtle changes to Temple procedures. He and the other Apostles taught us boldly and purposefully that we needed to immediately prepare ourselves both temporally & spiritually for the coming days. There seemed to be a real sense of urgency behind their powerful instructions. Now in retrospect, nearly three years later, I see again he was divinely inspired.

Those who chose to follow the Prophets counsel, have been blessed, and have felt their spiritual confidence grow. I am one who has felt the warm Peace in Christ while much of the world is in utter chaos. So now I am wondering, if this Pandemic, in part, is to wake us up out of our complacency, both spiritually & temporally. I think my perspective has changed. I knew from the beginning this Pandemic would prove challenging to all. I just don't think I realized the depth of the lessons to be learned during this Pandemic. 

As I was getting ready for church today, I pulled out my notebook, and immediately felt impressed to grab a different notebook, which I did. When I opened it before the meeting began I was stunned at some of the things I had written nearly seven years ago.

Joseph Smith was prepared to act on his answer before he ever entered the Sacred Grove. Am I prepared to act upon my answers to prayer with the same level of faith & commitment?

Another nugget, Joseph Smith, though he didn't realize it at the time, during the first vision-saw the fulfillment of the Plan of Salvation in the resurrected and perfect and glorified bodies of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

The Witness Trees in the Sacred Grove, some are 350 years old so they were present when Joseph had the vision there (200 years ago) However there is an underground brook there, which meant the roots didn't have to go very deep for the life-giving water they needed to grow with-so when a windstorm came through many of them fell. Just like these Witness Trees, if our spiritual roots aren't deep, then we are in danger when the winds and trials come our way.

So as I contemplate my personal goals for 2021 I am reminded that I need to focus less about the outcome and more about the journey I am on. (Thanks Gary Little) and I need to look at trials as if they are gold mines (Thanks Jake Hoyt) sometimes we have to go through a lot of stuff to find the blessings/treasures/gifts from God. 

So maybe this 2021 will be one of my best years ever! I'm going to hold hope in that. And hopefully I will make the choices that bring the warm Peace in Christ into my life more often. May each of us look upwards, realize who we really are, and act the part of choice sons and daughters of God. And may we remember to treat everyone we meet as if they are also sons and daughters of God, because they are too!  Let the chaos rage around us, but within I choose the warm peace of Christ. Happy New Year.