Accountability

As I read in Ether recently, in the Book of Mormon, I noticed something I hadn't before. After Ether builds the barges that are "tight like unto a dish," he does something very responsible: "And it came to pass that the brother of Jared cried unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, I have performed the work which thou hast commanded me, and I have made the barges according as thou hast directed me" Ether 2:18. Now that is accountability. It made me wonder, do I account for the things I do that the Lord has commanded me to do? As I think about the scriptures, I realize that this is a principle many understand. Christ Himself, in His Intercessory prayer, reports back to the Father, "I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do" (John 17:4). It seems to indicate a reliance on the Father, that even though the assignment is accomplished, no time is wasted; it's right back to the Father for the next instructions. I realize that I should be "anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness" (see D&C 58:26-7), but since all good comes from God, whenever I do good, I should report that to the Lord, and then I'll be ready for more instructions, whenever they come.

The Love of a Black Hole

Black holes are really interesting. In my astronomy class, I learned about how they're really strong, keeping even light within its grasp--but only if you get too close. Now, I could make a spiritual application to this, and say that this means we should stay as far away from the edge as possible, and look for ways to be obedient, but I think there's something else there, too, that can be applied. A black hole is so strong, that it creates a bottomless pit out of the spacetime continuum. Essentially, it puts a whole in the fabric of space. Einstein's special theory of relativity describes this in great detail, but essentially, I see it as a scientific allegory of celestial love. True love. The love that God has for us, the love that parents have for their children, and even the love between spouses. Once a certain threshold has been passed, which is represented in black holes by the event horizon, the Holy Spirit of Promise seals, or calling and election are made sure, then love becomes infinite. Space and time are no longer barriers to it. Just imagine life without time. Just imagine life without space, or distance. Pretty tricky, right? Because that's infinite. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" John 15:13. That is the love Jesus Christ has. Maybe the analogy isn't perfect, but I am constantly amazed at how much the scientific community, within astronomy at least, accepts the idea of infinity. Science and religion really do meet, which can be a hard fact for some to escape.

Princes

In John 14:30, Jesus references the devil as the "prince of darkness." At this Christmas season, my mind was quickly turned to Isaiah 9:6, where Jesus is prophesied to be the "Prince of peace." What a contrast. Although the original words for "prince" may have been different, the Vulgate Latin word for both is "princeps", which, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is the origin of our modern word, "prince." The older, Latin sense carried the meaning "instigator, founder, person who is pre-eminent in a particular sphere, leader, chief, ruler." I like that better. Prince has ameliorated in meaning such that today, it seems like a good thing, whereas in the past, in may have been more neutral. I think it's interesting to think of the devil as the " 'instigator' of darkness," and Jesus as the " 'Founder' of peace." He, our Savior, is pre-eminent in our salvation, the true source of peace in our lives; He provides the peace we cannot do without. He will lead us to eternal peace. Christ is our Prince--even our King. If the devil is ruler of the darkness, those who follow him are being led through the dark, ruled by gloom, and chief among shadowy deceit. The next time I read "prince" in the scriptures, I will mentally try retranslating it as "chief" or "ruler" or "one who is pre-eminent" in the particular context, and hopefully, as in this case, it will make more sense to me.

Sheepness

The Savior was the greatest Example of consideration any of us could ever have. One of my favorite hymns has this line: "The very foes that slay thee Have access to thy grace" (Hymns, no. 197). John's Gospel quotes Jesus as saying, "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: And I lay down my life for my sheep" (John 10:14-15). Jesus had such a connection with people that He described Himself as the Shepherd of all of them. None was outside of His sphere of love. Some days I feel down, insignificant, and tired, but the things that help me feel better, I eventually realize, are those things the Savior was best at: service and charity. Service. Smiling in the face of adversity. That's following the Savior and being considerate. That's being protected, led, and guided by the Good Shepherd. That's optimism and faith. My philosophy is, if your socks are dirty because you forgot to do your laundry yet again, be grateful you have shoes, so no one can tell this is the third time you've worn this pair of socks since you've washed them.

Triptych Crucifixion

The Museum of Art here at BYU has some impressive pieces of religious art. I especially appreciated Bernard Sleigh's The Crucifixion: A Triptych. Originally commissioned for a prison in the UK in 1906, an employee saved it from destruction during a renovation and re-decorating of the prison. It then sat at her house for years until she passed away, someone inherited it, they sold it to a collector, and BYU bought it from the collector.
I love the symbolism. I'm grateful for the curator for pointing out some things. Those who are bowing to the Savior include a soldier, judge, king, and priest, emphasizing Christ's preeminence over armies, laws, governments, and the Church. The vine climbing the cross represents Christ's role as the True Vine. "INRI" is what the sign over His head says, standing for "Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum", or "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." But perhaps the element I most enjoy about this painting is the simple fact that the cross bridges the earth with the heavens. Truly, that is the essence of the Atonement. Jesus Christ suffered for sins and sufferings, so that we may be able to be redeemed, saved, atoned for, being brought back into the presence of the Father by way of the Son. At this Thanksgiving season, I share my thanks for the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and for art that teaches true doctrine.

The JST

I've always thought that the JST (Joseph Smith Translation) of the Bible was really interesting. It's actually not really a translation--more of just some inspired changes. I'd always thought that all of the changes were to reverse or correct errors made by designing and corrupt priests and incompetent and careless translators, but I just learned something new about it:
The classic opening of the Gospel of John: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1) is a favorite passage throughout Christianity. Joseph Smith changes the wording a great deal to read: "In the beginning was the gospel preached through the Son. And the gospel was the word, and the word was with the Son, and the Son was with God, and the Son was of God." (JST John 1:1). My purpose of mentioning this is not to get into the doctrinal and theological changes that Joseph Smith made to this and the verses that follow it, but to share with you what I've learned about the JST. Apparently, there was an ancient Christian hymn as follows:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was before God And the Word was God."
This is almost identical to the un-JST-changed KJV version. So why did Joseph Smith change it, if it was most likely a part that has not been corrupted? The JST must be more than just corrections. It's also prophetic commentary. As my professor said, sometimes the JST was explaining the mind of God, as God had revealed to the original prophets. Basically, the JST seems to also insert things that were in the mind of God, which even the original writers did not put down. I think this is amazing. It strengthens my testimony of the JST, and of the Bible. If God could inspire one man, He could inspire another, and since both are inspired by God, He makes it work.

Somewhere In Dreamland

Dreams are funny things. I've had a couple of interest recently:
Dream #1. I was walking down the sidewalk, minding my own business, and Mr. Palin (this was the week before Election Day), complete with goatee, asks me, "Are you Dallin Bailey?" "Yes," I answer. Enter Sarah Palin. "We just wanted to thank you for forwarding that letter up to us in Alaska for us. Our daughter really needed it." I suddenly (this is all part of the dream) remembered getting a letter in the mail that was not addressed to me, so I put it back in the mailbox and forwarded it on. The Palins then gave me a big hug, there on the street. I kind of wanted to get my picture taken with them, but I didn't want to embarrass them (obviously this was a dream--what kind of politician doesn't like their picture taken?). I felt warm and fuzzy.

Dream #2. Scene 1: I was driving around some obscure rural town as a missionary with my brother Douglas, I think. We were staying at this lady's house for free. We went driving somewhere, and saw a homeless-looking man with a white beard standing at an intersection. I pulled over and offered him a ride. He got in, we took him to the lady's house, and I told him he could stay there, too. Turns out he was one of those alternative medicine people, specializing in magnet therapy for sore joints. I happened to have really sore knuckles, so he got out his little magnet tool and started rubbing my knuckle really hard. Right then, the lady came in. "Why is he staying here?" she asked. The man says, "Yeah, this is awkward." Scene 2: As I stood outside the BYU library, I saw my friend, Joseph Boone, and told him about my dream. Yes, in my dream, I told my buddy about my dream.

Any interpretations? Anybody? Personally, I think it's interesting how my political views and willingness to offer things that aren't mine show up in my dreams. I've always been pretty skeptical of alternative medicine, too.

Ask, and it shall be given you

In my study of the Bible, and over my lifetime of going to church, I have heard many times the promise Christ makes , usually assumed to be about prayer: "And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened" (Luke 11:9-10). I think it's about prayer, too, because who else are we going to ask for something we need? If I want something, I'm a lot smarter to ask for it from someone who has it than to ask someone I know doesn't have it. God has all, and has promised all, and so if He and His Son make this promise, They can back it up. After reading this verse yet again, I decided to try it, pure and simple. Of course, I'm always praying for these, requesting safety, etc., but this time, I decided to just outright ask for what I needed. It was something good, and something I knew He could give me. And guess what? So far I've gotten it. After Joseph Smith got his answer, which came in a way he hadn't realized it would, he still had a lot of responsibility, as we all do when we ask for something from God, and the receive it. But the testimony gained from receiving something I didn't have before, just by asking for it, helps with the added responsibility.

A Cup of Sugar

As I've been reading the Gospel of Luke, I have had new insights on scriptures I've read many times before. This one is pretty straightforward, but for some reason, I'd never noticed it before.
Luke 6:38 (Jesus speaking to his disciples) "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."
I'd always just skipped to the end of the verse, thinking it to be another verse that said how you treat others is how you will be treated. But there's more to it, and that more part is really interesting. "Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over." That is what we receive, so what we should give. In my cooking experiences over my life, I have had many occasions to measure different materials. Some, like white sugar, are fairly easy to measure, and would be hard to mess up. But others, like brown sugar or butter, could be messed up, because they don't always fall into the measuring cup as easily. To get a proper measurement, some recipes specifically require that the brown sugar be packed down. I am sure in ancient times, as Jesus was living in, there were those who were very sloppy with their measurements in trading, buying, and selling. It would be easy to just pour in some flour haphazardly, and call it a full measurement, but a good man, a generous man, a Christlike man, would pack it down in, making sure there aren't any pockets of air, fill it to the very top, like as kids we all liked to do in filling up a cup of water (it's fun seeing the surface tension make the water dome over the top). My feeling on this verse is that Christ has already given us a full measure of blessings, even overflowing. Thus, we need to be generous (see previous post on generosity) and charitable, not just being honest in our dealings with our fellow men, but generous in our dealings with our fellow men, because Christ was generous to us first. Think of this next time you measure out a cup of sugar in your next milkshake.

Generosity

A lot of my mission companions and roommates have taught me about generosity. Many of them showed by their actions that material things really aren't quite as important as day-to-day life tends to get me thinking. This has always been something I've thought about for a long while, so it's interesting to see what Jesus says about it in the New Testament. In Luke, Christ delivers some of the same Sermon on the Mount material, quite trademark: "And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again." (Luke 6:29-30).
So, give more than you're asked for, give willingly, and always be willing to possibly never see again things that you lend out. All of that is good--but what I really enjoy is what Joseph Smith says about it, in his translation, replacing an important tidbit:
"And unto him who smiteth thee on the cheek, offer also the other; or in other words, it is better to offer the other, than to revile again. And him who taketh away thy cloak, forbid not to take thy coat also. For it is better that thou suffer thine enemy to take these things, than to contend with him. Verily I say unto you, Your heavenly Father who seeth in secret, shall bring that wicked one into judgment." (JST Luke 6:29-30). I like this rendering because it includes Christ's analysis of what the regular KJV says: "it is better that thou suffer thine enemy to take these things, than to contend with him." So, I gather that God looks on contention, and my part in it, more than if I am currently being treated justly. Justice, sure He will take care of it, but eventually. I need to ask myself, am I being contentious because I feel taken advantage of? Because if so, I'm forgetting God's ultimate, though often delayed, justice. Whether or not someone really deserves something is not up to me to judge: I should give freely and willingly. I am grateful for those who have been examples of this in my life.

Thanks for Remembering

So, maybe this is a bit random, but the other day as I was crossing the street between the JKB and the Tanner Building, a guy walking one direction said hello to one of his classmates crossing the other direction. The other classmate stopped, and said, "You're Jeff, right?" So far, this is not any different than the ordinary exchange between two people who barely know each other. But Jeff's response made me think. With a smile, he said, "Hey, thanks for remembering." All at once, I remembered that people really do appreciate being remembered, especially with specifics like names. Just last week I heard somewhere that using people's names when you talk to them or are teaching them helps them to feel more involved, apparently helping them to learn more and remember more, and all around have a more effective and enjoyable exchange. It's a technique we talked about in the mission field, how significant and powerful it was that God called Joseph Smith by name when appearing to him, and how using the names of the people we were teaching made them feel more involved. It also helped us to personalize our teaching of the gospel to them. It was difficult remember people's names, since I met so many each day, but for those names I did remember, more times than not it pleased them. It's as though forgetting a person's name erases the connections made in the last dialogue, but remembering that person's name, even if a lengthy time has passed, enables progress to continue from those connections made at the time of meeting. Sometimes on campus, I see someone I recognize by face, but not by name. Sometimes they call me by name. If I don't know their name when they call me by name, I feel bad (because I'm not famous yet), so when I remember someone's name, and they don't remember mine, I know how they feel. Names are important, and the first step to beginning a successful friendship, in my opinion. I'm grateful for Jeff, who reminded me how grateful I am when people remember my name, and how I should make a conscious effort to remember people's names better.

Prophet

I'd heard Jesus be called a prophet before, in the hymn, "I Know that My Redeemer Lives":
"He lives, my Prophet, Priest, and King", but I'd never really thought before recently about Jesus being called a prophet. At His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, to start His final week, "the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee" (Matt. 21:11). My NT professor said that when John the Baptist died, part of what Jesus was feeling was that now He was the leader, now He was the prophet. In verse 46, the priests and the Pharisees don't seize Him at that time, because they fear the multitude, who see Him as a prophet. I don't think I'm covering all the senses of the title, but when He was on the earth, Jesus was the head of His Church, because He was the very Gospel, the very Way for us to return to live with His Father and Our Father. Jesus was the spiritual leader of the time on the earth, which, to me, today, seems like a very interesting situation, one that only occurred once in the history of the world.

The following is one of my favorite poems. It was written in 1872 by Josiah Gilbert Holland. It gives me hope as I think about what Christ teaches in the Sermon on the Mount, to become perfect as Father in Heaven is perfect.

Gradatim

Heaven is not gained at a single bound;
But we build the ladder by which we rise
From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies,
And we mount to its summit, round by round.

I count this thing to be grandly true:
That a noble deed is a step towards God,—
Lifting the soul from the common sod
To a purer air and a broader view.

We rise by the things that are 'neath our feet;
By what we have mastered of good and gain;
By the pride deposed and the passion slain,
And the vanquished ills that we hourly meet.

We hope, we aspire, we resolve, we trust,
When the morning calls us to life and light,
But our hearts grow weary, and, ere the night,
Our lives are trailing the sorid dust.

We hope, we resolve, we aspire, we pray,
And we think that we mount the air on wings
Beyond the recall of sensual things,
While our feet still cling to the heavy clay.

Wings for the angels, but feet for men!
We may borrow the wings to find the way—
We may hope, and resolve, and aspire, and pray;
But our feet must rise, or we fall again.

Only in dreams is a ladder thrown
From the weary earth to the sapphire walls;
But the dream departs, and the vision falls,
And the sleeper wakes on his pillow of stone.

Heaven is not reached at a single bound;
But we build the ladder by which we rise
From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies,
And we mount to its summit, round by round.

Josiah Gilbert Holland


As I read about Jesus Christ in the New Testament, I'm more and more amazed that, although He was perfect, in that He never sinned, there is evidence He was not omniscient, or complete, from birth. He went about doing good, and He stood up for the right. He was moved with compassion--Jesus really was a person, a human. The Son of God, a perfect human, but human. He felt pain, physical and emotional. I've read in the Doctrine and Covenants: "And I, John, saw that he received not of the ^afulness at the first, but received ^bgrace for grace" D&C 93:12.
By putting things " 'neath my feet" and "the pride deposed and the passion slain," I can build a ladder to get me to heaven. Jesus Christ built a perfect ladder and made it possible for me to build mine.

Back in the USA

After four semesters in Canada, away from BYU, I'm back. It's quite the adjustment. Life was good in Canada. I was serving a mission for the Church (of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Never have I experienced such joy and sorrow and trials and blessings. It was the hardest thing I've ever done, yet, I find myself longing to go back. It's not as though I feel I have unfinished business--I knocked on thousands of doors, talked to thousands of people, had conversations about Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith and the Bible with hundreds of people, all day, everyday, for the full two years. It's just that as a missionary, I constantly had an outlet to help me feel better: service. As I gave people the chance to learn more about God, or as I physically helped them around their house, I felt useful. I felt like what I was doing was important, even if it was just pulling weeds or moving boxes. Being a missionary feels so good.
Now I'm back to civilian life: working, socializing, and studying. It can be easy to go for awhile without doing any service. But I know that when I do something for someone, I feel so much better about being home again.
Soon I will be normal again. But hopefully, a new and improved normal.