mormon

Sin acts as if God's original plan was for us to bootstrap ourselves into holiness by way of the law and then, when this didn't quite pan out, God offered his grace--but only the bare minimum--to make good the difference. This is exactly backwards. God's boundless grace comes first and sin is what follows.

Grace doesn't grease the wheels of the law. Grace isn't God's way of jury rigging a broken law. It's the other way around. The law is just one small cog in a world animated entirely--from top to bottom, from beginning to end--by grace.

The exaltation and happiness of any community, goes hand in hand with the knowledge possessed by the people, when applied to laudable ends; whereupon we can exclaim like the wise man; righteousness exalteth a nation; for righteousness embraces knowledge and knowledge is power.

If you are there for the Lord, He will be there for you. If you love Him and keep His commandments, you will have His Spirit to be with you and guide you.

The English word Atonement comes from the ancient Hebrew word kaphar, which means to cover. When Adam and Eve partook of the fruit and discovered their nakedness in the Garden of Eden, God sent Jesus to make coats of skins to cover them. Coats of skins don__ grow on trees. They had to be made from an animal, which meant an animal had to be killed. Perhaps that was the very first animal sacrifice. Because of that sacrifice, Adam and Eve were covered physically. In the same way, through Jesus_ sacrifice we are also covered emotionally and spiritually. When Adam and Eve left the garden, the only things they could take to remind them of Eden were the coats of skins. The one physical thing we take with us out of the temple to remind us of that heavenly place is a similar covering. The garment reminds us of our covenants, protects us, and even promotes modesty. However, it is also a powerful and personal symbol of the Atonement__ continuous reminder both night and day that because of Jesus_ sacrifice, we are covered. (I am indebted to Guinevere Woolstenhulme, a religion teacher at BYU, for insights about kaphar.)Jesus covers us (see Alma 7) when we feel worthless and inadequate. Christ referred to himself as __lpha and Omega_ (3 Nephi 9:18). Alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. Christ is surely the beginning and the end. Those who study statistics learn that the letter alpha is used to represent the level of significance in a research study. Jesus is also the one who gives value and significance to everything. Robert L. Millet writes, __n a world that offers flimsy and fleeting remedies for mortal despair, Jesus comes to us in our moments of need with a __ore excellent hope_ (Ether 12:32)_ (Grace Works, 62).Jesus covers us when we feel lost and discouraged. Christ referred to Himself as the __ight_ (3 Nephi 18:16). He doesn__ always clear the path, but He does illuminate it. Along with being the light, He also lightens our loads. __or my yoke is easy,_ He said, __nd my burden is light_ (Matthew 11:30). He doesn__ always take burdens away from us, but He strengthens us for the task of carrying them and promises they will be for our good.Jesus covers us when we feel abused and hurt. Joseph Smith taught that because Christ met the demands of justice, all injustices will be made right for the faithful in the eternal scheme of things (see Teachings, 296). Marie K. Hafen has said, __he gospel of Jesus Christ was not given us to prevent our pain. The gospel was given us to heal our pain_ (__ve Heard All These Things,_ 27).Jesus covers us when we feel defenseless and abandoned. Christ referred to Himself as our __dvocate_ (D&C 29:5): one who believes in us and stands up to defend us. We read, __he Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler_ (Psalm 18:2). A buckler is a shield used to divert blows. Jesus doesn__ always protect us from unpleasant consequences of illness or the choices of others, since they are all part of what we are here on earth to experience. However, He does shield us from fear in those dark times and delivers us from having to face those difficulties alone. _We__e already learned that the Hebrew word that is translated into English as Atonement means __o cover._ In Arabic or Aramaic, the verb meaning to atone is kafat, which means __o embrace._ Not only can we be covered, helped, and comforted by the Savior, but we can be __ncircled about eternally in the arms of his love_ (2 Nephi 1:15). We can be __lasped in the arms of Jesus_ (Mormon 5:11). In our day the Savior has said, __e faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and I will encircle thee in the arms of my love_ (D&C 6:20).(Brad Wilcox, The Continuous Atonement, pp. 47-49, 60).

The Lord needs us. He needs us to be knowledgeable, dependable, and competent disciples. We need to know not only that the gospel is true but we need to know the gospel, better than we do right now. We need to be in the right place at the right time. We will thereby become the right person.

Was I sorry that I chose to come by hand cart? No. Neither then nor any minute of my life since. The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay and I am thankful that I was privileged to come in the Martin Hand Cart Company.

Common sense is no match for the voice of God.

No sex?" He looked at me in disbelief. "Well if you can't have ze sex, what can you do?"For the sake of simplicity I took my left arm and lined it up just under my collarbones. "Nothing below here," I said. I took my right arm and lined it up to my knees. "Nothing above here.""What about your armpit?" he asked. "Can your boyfriend do anything he wants to your armpit?"I thought about it. Armpits seemed pretty harmless. "Yeah," I said optimistically. "My boyfriend can do anything he wants to my armpit.""This is good," the Frenchman said. "He can stick his penis in and out of your armpit, and if you grow hair there it is almost like vagine."Is it too late to change my answer? I wondered, pulling a cardigan over my bare shoulders and covering any hint of an invitation.

We should gather all the good and true principles in the world and treasure them up, or we shall not come out true Mormons.

The most important doctrine I can declare, and the most powerful testimony I can bear, is of the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. His atonement is the most transcendent event that ever has or ever will occur from Creation__ dawn through all the ages of a never-ending eternity.

The laughter of the world is merely loneliness pathetically trying to reassure itself.

Maybe I__ strange and perverse, but I__e always thought there was something sexy about a compelling argument.

I suggest that the representation of women deserves a much higher consideration in our religious discourse. When words are presented as if they come directly from God, they can have monumental impact on our psyches, our spirits, our hearts, and our relationships. Women are given, in story at least, first place in the lifeboats, but often in more common circumstances we are consigned to the back of the bus.

Neither Emma's tears nor her rage were enough to make Joseph monogamous, however; nor were the prevailing mores of the day. He kept falling rapturously in love with women not his wife. And because that rapture was so wholly consuming, and felt so good, it struck him as impossible that God might possibly frown on such a thing.

Mormons invented themselves just as other religious and ethnic groups invented themselves. But Mormons did so in such a singularly impressive way that we will probably always remain baffled as to how exactly it happened.

There are conversations going on about the Church constantly. Those conversations will continue whether or not we choose to participate in them. But we cannot stand on the sidelines while others, including our critics, attempt to define what our Church teaches... We are living in a world saturated with all kinds of voices. Perhaps now, more than ever, we have a major responsibility as Latter-day Saints to define ourselves, instead of letting others define us.

To those who in their turn selectively handle Mormon history and discourage our probing it in a number of areas, one needs to say (or at least to ask): Haven__ we been, if anything, overly cautious, overly mistrustful, overly condescending to a membership and a public who are far more perceptive and discerning than we often give them credit for? Haven__ we, in our care not to offend a soul or cause anyone the least misunderstanding, too much deprived such individuals of needful occasions for personal growth and more in-depth life-probing experience? In our neurotic cautiousness, our fear of venturing, haven__ we often settled for an all-too-shallow and confining common denominator that insults the very Intelligence we presume to glorify and is also dishonest because, deep down, we all know better (to the extent that we do)? Isn__ our intervention often too arbitrary, reflecting the hasty, uninformed reaction of only one or a couple of influential objectors? Don__ we in the process too severely and needlessly test the loyalty and respect of and lose credibility with many more than we imagine? Isn__ there a tendency among us, bred by the fear of displeasing, to avoid healthy self-disclosure__ublic or private__nd to pretend about ourselves to ourselves and others? Doesn__ this in turn breed loneliness and make us, more than it should, strangers to each other? And when we are too calculating, too self-conscious, too mistrustful, too prescriptive, and too regimental about our roots and about one another__ aesthetic, intellectual, and spiritual life, aren__ we self-defeating?