Answering intellectual critics

    I would like to share a faith-promoting story with you from the experiences of Richard Bushman, eminent historical scholar, author of the pre-eminent biography of Joseph Smith, faithful Latter-day Saint, that you might find interesting and useful.  Brother Bushman was educated at Harvard a number of years ago, where he experienced almost universal anti-religious attitudes and pressure.  As an undergraduate he struggled somewhat with his own faith, but particularly with how to respond to the anti-religious pressures and questions from other students and also from faculty members.
    Eventually he decided it was not his own faith that was lacking but that he lacked the words to communicate his faith in this academic setting.  Then an answer came to his mind.  The next time someone badgered him about his faith, and asked him how he could possibly believe in Joseph Smith, he answered, “I find that when I live the Mormon way, I am the man I want to be.”  This response totally and permanently quieted the questioner.
    It seems to me that this response which seems to emphasize one’s faith helping to advance them toward or to achieve one’s own potential for good, might even change the conversation to a point of testimony.  If the questioner wants to pursue the conversation further, the points of discussion that would seem to follow would be details of how one’s faith or religion accomplishes these ends, for example, positive personal relationships, strong marriage and family, healthful living, giving service, feelings of peace and comfort, etc.  Then might come the golden missionary question, “How would you like to have these blessings in your life?”

Consecrated Discipleship

          Bruce and Marie Hafen have described a name for a higher level of devotion in the Church, that of being a consecrated disciple of Christ.  “We talk often about the difference between being “active” and “less active” in the Church.  Perhaps we should talk more about the additional distinction between being active in the Church and being a truly consecrated disciple.  Being active is of course a significant indicator of progress.  Yet it is only the emerging stage of our discipleship, the Aaronic Priesthood level, not yet the more mature Melchizedek Priesthood level of spiritual development.” (Bruce C. Hafen and Marie K. Hafen, The Contrite Spirit: How the Temple Helps Us Apply Christ’s Atonement, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2015) 216, also referencing the teachings of Neal A. Maxwell and D&C 84)
         What might be the meaning of this descriptive title, consecrated disciple?  First, the word disciple was often used in the New Testament to identify persons who became followers of the Savior and learners of his doctrines and instructions.  The word is derived from the Latin “discipulus” which means a learner or pupil.  It suggests an ancient educational model in which individuals attach themselves to another person who is an expert or master of a particular craft or field of study for the purpose of themselves mastering that area of expertise or discipline.  It resembles the master-apprentice relationship for learning such things as plumbing, or violin making, or ballet dancing.  In this case, the Savior is the Master and we are the apprentices learning to incorporate his celestial laws into our nature and being that will enable us ultimately to live with him and our loved ones in his celestial kingdom.
         The word consecrated identifies the greatest and perhaps most comprehensive of the celestial laws propounded in our temple ceremonies, “the law of consecration, which means dedicating their time, talents, and everything with which the Lord has blessed them to building up Jesus Christ’s Church on the earth.  (General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 27.2.0)  In some contexts, the word consecration refers to sharing material resources with the poor and needy.  But in general, the word consecrate means to dedicate, to make holy, or to set apart for righteous purposes.  Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said: “We tend to think of consecration only as yielding up, when divinely directed, our material possessions. But ultimate consecration is the yielding up of oneself to God.” (Neal A. Maxwell, “Consecrate Thy Performance,” Ensign, May 2002, 36.)  Consecration is the covenant God makes “with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33).

What is Fascism?

     While there is a concerted effort by some parties to use the term Fascist to negatively brand right-wingers, here is a brief summary drawn to some extent from a book called Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg which was interesting to me as it compared Marxism, Mussolini’s Italian Fascism, Nazism, with American liberalism/progressive thought as promoted in various ways by Teddy Roosevelt, Wilson, FDR, Kennedy, Johnson, the Clintons, Obama,, and even to some extent George Bush.  He argued that all of these political views had large similarities, and were generally left wing, socialist movements, except that the American versions were a lot milder and nicer.
    Some characteristics of these movements:
– Utopian, have a faith that the ideal society can be achieved.
– Very negative about currently existing circumstances and systems (blame “the system”, “the establishment”, “capitalists”, “the rich”, certain races, or other specific groups for society’s ills), and campaign for change.  (Right wingers can also have these attitudes, for example, the federal government "swamp" (Trump).
– Have a sort of elitist view of themselves as having the right answers to society’s problems/superior values, etc., entitling them to be in charge of the country.
– Belief that government, particularly federal, intervention of the right sort could bring about the ideal society (strongly in favor of planned economies, for example).
– Make the needs of individuals subservient to the common good (the state or government).
– Tend to put down religion as a threat to the common good and try to substitute in its place the elevation of the state as the object of some form of worship (may have their own “scriptures”, “saints”, icons, etc., require a sort of faith commitment), which might appear to be a sort of quasi or godless religion in its own right.
– Tend to promote/legislate eugenics (abortion is a manifestation), “good” health practices, racial preferences (the race may differ).  Most have been anti-Semitic.
– Distrust or ignore democratic institutions or constitutional constraints when they get in the way of desired outcomes.
– See immutable forces (evolutionary concepts applied to societies and government) at work that lead to (their definition of) societal progress.  Some examples: worker classes will inevitably rise up to throw of their capitalist masters (Marx), “the arc of history bends toward freedom” (Obama), when people have a choice they will inevitably choose a democratic government (Bush).

Our Study of the Book of Mormon

    In the 1986 General Conference, the prophet of the Church, Ezra Taft Benson, called upon these verses from a 1832  revelation to Joseph Smith and “reiterated his long standing belief that the Church was under condemnation for taking the Book of Mormon too lightly and announcing that the Lord had revealed the need to reemphasize the Book of Mormon” (citing Noel B. Reynolds, 1999,  “The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon in the Twentieth Century. BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol. 38, Issue 2, Article 2)
    “And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received—Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation.  And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all.  And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon...” (D&C 84: 54-57)
    I find it more than a little disconcerting that a problem that existed in the 2 year old church had not been fully corrected in the course of 152 years, although Brother Reynolds does point to significant recent changes occurring.  Reviewing his report, it appears that church members might have utilized the Book of Mormon in two significant ways.  First, the Book of Mormon serves as a token or object providing proof of the Restoration, as a source and focus of testimonies of the Church and the work of the prophet Joseph Smith.  Second is the use the Book in the study of Godly doctrines to support the faith and to perfect the lives of the Saints.  Apparently, the deficiency was largely in the second area.
    Here are several analyses or comparison studies regarding Book of Mormon usage and emphasis in the Church: (as given by Reynolds, and by Terryl L. Givens “By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture that Launched a New World Religion,” Oxford University Press, 2002, pp. 241-242; also Feeding the Flock, Oxford, 2017, pp. 267-269)  Until the 1960s,  BYU and the LDS institutes of religion only occasionally featured the Book of Mormon in their curricula.  Early (1832-38) Church publications such as the Evening and The Morning Star and the Messenger and Advocate the ratio of Bible references to Book of Mormon references averaged nineteen to one and in the Elder’s Journal the ratio was as high as forty to one.   A very low percentage of early LDS speeches and writings overtly encouraged the study or distribution of the book.  A study of scriptural references in general conference shows Book of Mormon citations hovering around 12 percent of total scripture citations until President Benson s 1986 challenge to the Church.  Book of Mormon citations jumped to 40 percent over the next year then leveled off at about the 25 percent mark– almost twice the earlier rate.   Early 20th century missionary teaching plans only briefly mentioned the Book of Mormon.  The Bible was the primary source for instruction on standard religious questions.
    Givens concludes:
    “As historian/sociologist Thomas O’Dea humorously– but accurately summarizes: “The Book of Mormon has not been universally considered by its critics as one of those books that must be read in order to have an opinion of it.”
    “But the same was true to some degree of its proponents.  On the one hand, the Book of Mormon set the stage for the entire revitalized program of covenant theology that Joseph Smith would lay out... At the same time, Joseph is not known to have given a single discourse on [this] scripture or any of its passages, and in writing an outline of church doctrine he quoted at great length from Luke, Acts, Isaiah, and Hebrew to teach the fundamentals of repentance, baptism, and the Gift of the Holy Ghost.”  (By the Hand of Mormon, p. 86)
    I had a couple of experiences as a very new missionary that reinforced in my mind problems in our usage of the Book of Mormon and our other modern scripture.  As an experienced companion was teaching the Plan of Salvation lesson, he apologized to the investigator for using P of GP Book of Abraham verses to teach the premortal existence, as if our modern scriptures were inferior to or inappropriate for use with non-members. 
    A second new missionary experience occurred as we met a Protestant man who asked sort of loaded question about what our Church believed about salvation by grace.  My experienced companion responded that we believed that we will all be resurrected through the grace of Christ but we have to earn our salvation.  Through this and other experiences I concluded that there was a time in the Church when ordinary members often had a shallow understanding of the work of Christ and of his atonement.  Sometimes this understanding seemed to based more on staking out a position different that beliefs of other churches as opposed to the real doctrines contained in our Latter-day scriptures.  For example, Robert Millet tells a story when as a teenager growing up in the Bible-belt South, he asked his father who was at the time a Latter-day Saint Branch President whether we believed in the grace of Christ.  His dad said “No.”  Brother Millet then ask asked “Why not?”  And the answer was “Because they do.”
    I conclude now that since the time of President Benson’s warning and challenge, we as members of Christ’s church have grown much in our understanding of Jesus Christ and his gospel and atonement through our increased study of the Book of Mormon.
    Regarding the two ways for the use of the Book of Mormon referenced above, in its frontpiece, the Book of Mormon states its purpose to show “...the covenants of the Lord...and to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God...”   According to many reviewers, the Book of Mormon has a very high Christology (the study of the nature of Jesus Christ and his work of salvation).  Givens (By the hand of Mormon, p. 199)  cites a review that concluded that the Book of Mormon contains “a reference to Christ every 1.7 verses, or once every two sentences,” much more frequently per verse than even the New Testament.  Our second mission president made an assignment to the young missionaries to read the entire Book of Mormon marking every reference to the Savior.  When completed, their conclusion was that there were very few pages out of the 540 lacking a mark, and thousands of references to the Savior. 
    Concerning his work of salvation, the most essential elements are clearly and strongly taught in the Book of Mormon, superior to any other scripture, and may be identified as:
1) The resurrection, overcoming physical death: Alma 11: 42-45, 40, Mosiah 15:20-24, 16:7-8.
2) Redeeming blessings, forgiveness or remission of our sins:  2 Nephi 31, Mosiah 4, Alma 42.
3) Strengthening blessings, as we cope with life’s afflictions, adversity, and unfairness:
Alma 7:11-12, 36:3, 2 Ne 2:2, 3 Ne 19:23, Jacob 6:5, Mos. 24:13, Ether 12:27
4) Perfecting blessings, to help us overcome our weaknesses and imperfections and endow us with holy and divine qualities prepared to live in the eternities with God and our families:  2 Ne: 1:15, 25:23, 31:20, Jacob 6:4, Alma 37:34, Hel 3:35, Moroni 7:48, 8:25-26, 10:32.
(see, Bruce and Marie Hafen, “The Contrite Spirit: How the Temple Helps Us Apply Christ’s Atonement”, Salt Lake, Deseret Book, 2015 chapters 3-5, Tad Callister, “The Atonement of Jesus Christ”, April 2019 conference address and “The Infinite Atonement, Salt Lake, Deseret Book, 2000, Dallin H.Oaks, “What Has Our Savior Done for Us?”, April 2021 conference address)

The Prophet Elijah and our Ward Temple and Family History Coordinating Committee

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    On Sunday, I was sustained in our ward to a new calling which they designated as “Family History Consultant.”  Our Bishopric is reworking the callings in our ward for our Family History Committee.  I looked up what was written in the new Church Handbook on the web and there were three pages of direction regarding what was designated as Temple and Family History efforts in a ward.  I assume this is what our bishopric is organizing (or reorganizing).  In this three pages of material, there are job description for a ward Temple and Family History leader and for Temple and Family History Consultants, and specific instructions for developing a ward temple and family history plan, and for membership in and the conducting of ward temple and family history coordination meetings.
    I made an immediate connection of this information about the ward organization with the content of an article in the Church News this week.  We were informed that there are three essential executive councils at the general church levels headed by apostles and reporting directly to the First Presidency, the Missionary Executive Council chaired by Elder Uchtdorf, the Priesthood and Family Executive Council chaired by Elder Cook, and the Temple and Family History Executive Council chaired by Elder Bednar.  The first council oversees the Church’s missionary work.  The second oversees our efforts to “perfect the saints” including the work of the Relief Society, Children and Youth programs, Sunday School, integrated curriculum and Come Follow Me efforts.  The third council is responsible for everything pertaining to temple and family history work.
    According to Elder Cook, each of these three councils derives their focus based on specific keys that were restored to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple on April 3, 1836.  
    “Moses conferred the keys of the gathering of Israel, Elias conferred the “keys of the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham,” and Elijah conferred the keys of sealing.”
    “Today... the Church is organized with three executive councils that are based on these three keys that were restored.”
    “The keys of the gathering of Israel operate within the purview of the Missionary Executive Council.  The keys “of the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham” – of fulfilling the Abrahamic covenant – function in the Priesthood and Family Executive Council.  And the sealing keys are found in the  Temple and Family History Executive Council.”  (Church News, Vol. 91, No. 30, July 24, 2021, pp. 5-7)
    It is exciting to think that the little ward Temple and Family History Coordinating Committee to which I will belong appears to be a perfect counterpart to Elder Bednar’s general church level council with keys that flow directly out of Elijah’s appearance in 1836 in the Kirtland Temple.

Foundational Values, the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule

    In my thoughts and writings, I continue to explore my childhood relationships with Evangelical Protestantism, standing as I did and continue to do so as a committed Latter-Day Saint.  The teachings of the former have always occupied a sort of ambivalent, sometimes even a love-hate place in my life.  Lately however, I have developed an increased appreciation for the positive side of what I learned from my boyhood association with the little church at Glenwood, Washington.  
    I think that the emphasis there on believing and living the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule was significant in reinforcing for me a major value foundation in my life.  They were and are really important to me.  I have always accepted them as basic and unbending as to how I should conduct my life.  They define basic moral values and provide a standard for successful and caring interpersonal interactions.
    Let me repeat them:

 The Ten Commandments 

    1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
    2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
    3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
    4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
    5. Honor thy father and thy mother.
    6. Thou shalt not kill.
    7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
    8. Thou shalt not steal.
    9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
    10. Thou shalt not covet.     [Exodus 20]

The Golden rule

    "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them."
[Matthew 7:12]

 
    I am grateful for those in my youth who so strongly accentuated these basic virtues.

The Richard Barker Rule

 
    I quote from a passage in the book “When Harry Became Sally” which I appreciated and for which I had my own personal example.
    “A couple of recent news items illustrate how our culture has lost clarity on the realities of sex differences.  In March 2017, Karen Pence, the wife of the vice president, set off a minor scandal by telling the Washington Post that her husband had a policy of not eating dinner alone with other women or drinking alcohol as public events when his wife wasn’t with him.  Mike Pence was denounced in the media as a misogynist whose social practice rested on a stereotype of women as seducers.  His critics claimed that it resulted in holding back female employees in their career, depriving them of mentorship and opportunities, since all the important business of the nation’s capital (they said) happens over diner and drinks.  Thus, Pence was discriminating against women.  The prominent liberal website Vox ran an article titled “Vice-President Pence’s ‘never dine alone with a women’ rule isn’t honorable.  It’s probably illegal.”  The article was written by a law professor who teaches employment law.
    “Mike Pence follows a version of what is known as the Billy Graham Rule, after the evangelist’s practice of avoiding situations that might carry temptation or invite suspicion.  Regardless of whether any of us would adopt the rule, it is entirely reasonable, defensible, and admirable.  Pence, like Graham, takes the differences between the sexes seriously, and he strives to protect the goods that those differences make possible—marriage and family life—while avoiding the traps they can create.  Pence himself first mentioned this policy to a reporter in 2002, when he was a young congressman representing an Indiana district in Washington, D,C.  Sexual scandal had recently been swirling around many powerful men in politics, from President Bill Clinton and Senator Ted Kennedy to Speaker Newt Gingrich.  This failing was clearly bipartisan.  So it’s understandable why some men would follow the Graham Rule, and why some women would want their husbands to do so.  Such a rule can help protect husbands from infidelity by creating a barrier to romance and temptation; it can give wives peace of mind; it can guard reputations from media speculation and scandalmongering; and it lets female employees know their boss is committed to keeping relationships professional and avoiding any confusion about it.  This is one way for a culture to recognize and respect sex differences.
    “After the Post’s profile of Mike Pence had sparked a ritual denunciation of the vice president, a former staffer of his, Mary Vought, wrote a defense of him that ran on the Post’s website.  In response to the charge that he discriminated against women, she wrote: “Pence’s personal decision not to dine alone with female staffers was never a hindrance to my ability to do my job well, and never kept me from reaping the rewards of my work.  In fact, I excelled at my job because of the work environment created from the top down.”  After all, one can value the expertise and insights of female staffers without sharing dinner and drinks.  And there are many ways to advance in our career that don’t involve one-on-one dinners with the boss.  (Apparently, Pence has not made a practice of one-on-one dinners with male staffers either.)  Vought explained that Pence’s personal rule on dining and drinking was just one small part of a larger policy of taking marriage and family seriously.  For example, he would hurry home after his official duties to share dinner with his wife and children whenever he could.  In various ways, “he modeled for male and female staffers alike that it was possible to serve in a public role with excellence while being wholly dedicated to his family.”  Pence should be commended, said Vought, for his commitment to “work-life balance, the importance of family time, and respect in the workplace: values we can all get behind.”” (Ryan T. Anderson, “When Harry Became Sally”, pp. 146-147)
    I recall some similar instructions I received when I was a young Elders Quorum President in Taylorsville, that I want to call the Richard Barker Rule.  He was our Stake President and gave this instruction at a Stake Priesthood Leadership meeting.  He was working in downtown Salt Lake City in the executive office of one of Utah’s banking firms.  A women who lived nearby in Taylorsville was hired to work in that same office.  That previous week, as he was getting ready to leave for work one morning, the women called him on the telephone and asked a favor.  Her car wouldn’t start.  Could she get a ride into work with him.  He responded that he could not offer her a ride, but he would be happy to pay for a taxi.  He explained that it would be inappropriate for him to be seen alone in a car with a women other than his wife.
    His personal rule, which he also recommended to each of us, as husbands and priesthood holders and leaders, was as follows: To avoid temptation and also the appearance of evil, a married man should never be alone with a women other than his wife.

Arranging Our Pre-Arrangement

    A couple of weeks ago, Wendy and I were talking about future things, and she expressed some concern that if I preceded her to the other side there would be no one left who would have the interest or resources to provide for her burial.  “They would just throw me on the fire.”
    We thought that maybe it would be timely to create some “pre-arrangements.”  I have not been too impressed with local services (Walker in Spanish Fork, Berg in Provo), and thought, “I wonder if we should start by talking to McDougals.  I know them personally.  R. David was our home teacher.  I worked with Kirt in scouting. They did a good with Michael’s and JoAnn’s services.  
    So I put in a call to Taylorsville and began to work with Pam, who is a services planner for McDougals.  We spent two hours on Zoom with her and set up our plan.  This is something that is not too fun to think about, but we got it done.
    Wendy’s burial spot will be in the plot just south of Michael’s which we already own.  She picked out a reasonably priced casket, in her favorite color, light blue.  I select a matching box, color ivory.
    We decided to get the monument installed now, because the cost will probably be less now than later, and worked with Pam on the inscription.  We tried to make this somewhat of a match with the existing headstone for JoAnn and myself.

 

Houseplant History

 

    This plant has dominated a corner of our living room for many years.  It was presented to me at JoAnn’s passing in 2004, by Linda and Blaine Evans.  I still remember their generous good wishes.
    Once or twice a year it puts out a flower, a single large white blossom that stands out on a tall stem.  It actually has two blossoms at present, the most we have ever seen.

     Wendy got this plant from her mother, Annette, when the latter left on a mission in 1979.  She mistakenly believed that it rarely bloomed, maybe once in 100 years or so.  But actually it blooms quite often, with lots of small wax-like pink blossoms.  The reason it seemed not to ever bloom when Annette possessed it was that the blossoms come on a long stringer without any leaves.  These are sort of ugly and we assume she kept trimming them off before any blossoms could be generated.
    There are no blossoms on the plant at present.

    Wendy acquired this Shamrock plant about 1980 or before.

    Wendy got the ancestor of this plant just after we were married from our neighbor Kris Leavitt.  It is out of control and needs to be divided and repotted, she says.  It sits on a bookcase top right behind my computer chair and seems a little threatening.  I don’t think it would eat me, however.

Just LIke the Family Proclamation

     A few weeks ago, while on the web I noticed a brief note reporting that Amazon, which sells 72% of all the books in this country at this time, had withdrawn (cancelled?) the selling of a a book called “When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment” by Ryan T. Anderson.  It was said that this book had argued against current transgender ideology.
    I experienced a rebellious moment with the thought “No one can tell me what I can or cannot read,” did a quick websearch where I found a small independent bookseller still selling this book and ordered a copy.  It came this week, and it had been a fascinating read.  The author is a young man with a Ph.D. in political philosophy from the University of Notre Dame.  I found the book to be carefully drawn and well-documented in a way that meets every scholarly standard of which I am aware.  It appealed to my professional background and training in ethical human counseling and child welfare.
    The author examines the current popular woke culture assumption that a person can change their gender identity to differ from their biological sex, the transgender phenomenon.  He challenges the Obama era (and proposed Biden) government-enforced assumption that such gender identity can be treated the same legally and culturally as biological sex.  He reports that in the last decade or so that at least 45 gender clinics have opened in our country that have the specialty of treating persons with “gender dysphoria,” using hormone therapy and surgery to alter primary and secondary sexual characteristics.
    Transgender advocates often use the argument that they are preventing suicides by providing such medical therapy, but Dr. Anderson reports that there is considerable evidence that people who subject themselves to such “transition” are no better off as a result.  The high suicide rate continues and many, many of these persons regret having subjected themselves to these drastic procedures and try to transition back to their biological gender.
    Especially troubling are cases in which minor children are identified by adults (parents, school counselors, etc.) as “gender dysphoric” and steered toward or receive transition treatment. There is also the troubling issue of antidiscrimination policies that allow biological males into women’s restrooms and into female sports competition.
    As I was reading a later chapter in the book on recommendations for healthy culture and families, I remarked to Wendy, “This reads just like the Church’s Proclamation on the Family.  It is nothing short of amazing that Amazon feels obligated to protect our society from even reading this.”

Shhh, Don’t Tell Spanish Fork City

 

 

    The varmints are back along the Spanish Fork River Trail.
    We spotted a large Rock Chuck (yellow-bellied marmot) yesterday as we hiked along the river trail about half a mile east of the new parking lot on what we used to call Tree Road.   See sample picture.  Wendy calls this area Rock Chuck Park.
    We also saw the stumps of a couple of young saplings that looked as if they had been felled by beavers real recently. 
    The city eradicated the previous marmot colony and beavers several years ago to our dismay.

Borrowed Hymns

 

     Older age is sometimes strange to experience and unpredictable.  For the past several years, I have been experiencing the remembering of tunes and songs from my past, generally from my youth or childhood.  Often these are popular songs from when my parents were young (from the Roaring 20s).  Or children’s songs my mother learned from her mother.  Almost every day I have a different one running through my mind.  I call this my “Song de Jour.”  Sometimes the song de jour crowds other things out and becomes a little obnoxious..  I have learned that when I sing it out loud to Wendy, it will go away.
     Recently, there has been a change of focus in my songs de jour.  A lot of them are old Protestant and evangelical hymns that I learned in my youth.  I reported in my Personal History, Part 1 (p. 91), that I tended at that time to have a little chip on my shoulder about singing hymns that taught doctrines not consistent with my understanding of correct, that is, Latter-day Saint, doctrine.  I would sit mute, for example, when the congregation was singing:
             Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty
             God in three persons, Blessed Trinity
     But thinking back, I could sing the majority of the hymns that were used.
     When Emma Smith was asked, by revelation recorded in D&C 25:11-12, to make a selection of sacred hymns for use in the newly restored Church, the compilation that was eventually published with help from W. W. Phelps in 1835 contained 90 hymns.  Thirty four of these hymns were composed by Latter-day Saints and 56 were borrowed from other Christians churches.  Even today in the current hymnbook, published in 1985, this split remains with perhaps nearly half of our hymns coming from sources outside our Church.  Here is a sampling of hymns composed and used by persons of other faiths, but well-beloved by Latter-day Saints: How Firm a Foundation, Sunshine in my Soul, Count Your Blessings, I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go.  We also have many wonderful hymns that celebrate specifically the Gospel restoration, but it seems to me that the hymns we have borrowed from other Christians of faith also exhibit spiritual truths and attest to the composers being under the influenced of the Christ’s Spirit.
     This suggests to me that the composers and authors of these hymns we have borrowed may fit into the category of  “holy men [and women] that ye know not of"(D&C 49:8), persons that might fit under a broadly defined “Church of the Lamb of God” (1 Nephi 14:10), who are kept from the fulness of God’s truth, only because “they know not where to find it”  (D&C 123:12).  

     I elaborated on the  this latter scripture in another recent blog entry "Two Churches, the Church of God and the Church of the Devil:

     https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4651333690279368927/5360892635621337056

All-Church Sports Tournaments

      In this week’s Church News I was interested in an article recalling the final All-Church basketball tournament in 1971.  This tournament was a Big Deal in the years before it was discontinued.  In the years while I was BYU student, the tournament was usually held on campus in the Smith Fieldhouse.  I recall finding my way down to the Fieldhouse and sitting in the stands watching these games for many hours.  
     I never belonged to a ward with enough basketball talent to play at All-Church, let alone win our Stake or a regional tournament.  However, during these years the Church also sponsored an All-Church Volleyball tournament, which I did experience in about 1960.  Our BYU ward included some California kids who were experienced and talented volleyball players.  I recall there being two Gabbitas brothers who were really good.  Our ward team won our stake competition and also a BYU tournament and the right to play in a Utah County regional tournament.  We won a couple or so games there and got to the finals, where we lost to a really good American Fork ward team led by Herschel Pederson, who was a very tall former BYU basketball center and great athlete.  Our second place finish still entitled us to attend All-Church which was held in the old Deseret Gym in Salt Lake.  We played a couple of games in that tournament before being eliminated.
     I never got to the point of being a good spiker.  I mostly covered a space of the floor and tried to be a good set-up person.  But it is fun to think back to this All-Church experience, and also fun to see the success that BYU college volleyball teams have had recently, both men and women, and how dynamic and powerful a game they play.

One Year Covid-19 Shutdown Anniversary

 

      We were able to recognize a one-year anniversary of the Covid-19 shut-down by attending the Ogden temple with the Soderquists, as Aaron received his endowments on Friday, March 13th, prior to his leaving on a mission to New York Syracuse.  We thought deeply about what was happening just one year ago.  It was the week starting on March 9, 2020.  On Tuesday, March 10th, we attended the Payson temple and performed two endowments each.  We had quite a few family temple names pending.  On Wednesday we did another endowment session and I worked my shift at the Family History Center in the evening.  On Thursday, we did our usual day shift as temple workers at Payson.  People on the shift were speculating about what the Church’s response to the epidemic might be regarding temple work.  Wendy and I were feeling impelled to be in the temple and work on our backlog of names.  On Friday, March 13th, I did my usual morning shift at the History Center.  Then we went back to Payson temple and did two more endowments each.  In the evening, we participated in a sealing session with friends from our ward, the Whites and the Lyons.  We heard that the Bountiful Temple had been closed.  On Saturday March 14th, we hurried back to the Payson temple.  We did two sealing sessions, one in which Kimberly joined us.  Then we did an endowment session.  In the evening we came back for another sealing session.  The rumor that all temples were to be closed starting Monday was confirmed.  The Family History Center closed its doors at the same time.  We felt a big loss but also blessed to have ended this week with a rush of temple experiences.

No More Hayfield, Where the Deer Come to Play Each NIght

 

      Big things are happening in the hay field just below the hill where the houses start.  It looks like they are serious about filling the hay field with housing–see the big road being built.  To Wendy’s dissatisfaction,  most of Wendy’s siblings are of a mind to sell the cabin, and the consensus seems to be soon, before the housing development below gets fully active, maybe by summer or fall.  At the cabin scheduling meeting in November, we selected as many weeks as we could before next fall.  We hope to have as many of you as possible up there one more time.

Bird friends at the cabin

       Wendy and I spent the past week at the cabin.  We did some walking and found and found some of bird-friends.  The coot pair was at the little pond on the flat at the bottom of the hill.  We do not know whether they stayed the over the winter.  We didn’t see them in January.  They also may have a young one but we did not get a pic.

     Our other bird-friends, the sandhill crane family, were not visible, but we thought we heard their cackling from over in the houses west of the pond.

A Meaning of the Offering of the Sons of Levi in D&C 13

     I received a new and different, but seeming to me logical and powerful, interpretation of a scriptural passage we are currently considering in our current Come Follow Me studies, from a book on temple work by S. Michael Wilcox, “House of Glory.”   The passage is D&C 13, the words of John the Baptist as he conferred the Aaronic Priesthood upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery:
    “Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth, until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness.”  (D&C 13:1)
    I am particularly focused on the meaning of the statement that at some time in the future of this ordination, the sons of Levi will offer an offering unto the Lord in righteousness.  At some earlier time in my life I was given the interpretation that this might be that persons descending from of the Levite priests of the Old Testament would perform an animal sacrifice in the manner of their Hebrew ancestors as a part of the restitution of all things (all practices associated with any gospel dispensation) as predicted in by Peter in Acts 3:21, to occur in this dispensation or the millenium.  Thinking back, this interpretation might have come from as an Answer to Gospel Questions from Joseph Fielding Smith, but I am not sure.  Among other things I wondered at the meaning of the word “until.”  Did it suggest that once this offering was made, that the Aaronic Priesthood would be discontinued, or what?
    In his study, Brother Wilcox points out that John was quoting Malachi 3:3.  In that passage the word “that” is used instead of “until” (likewise in 3 Nephi 24:3), and in Oliver Cowdery’s description of his and Joseph’s ordination in the footnote on p. 59 of the Pearl of Great Price, he records that John the Baptist promised that “This priesthood and authority... shall remain upon the earth that the Sons of Levi may yet offer an offering unto the Lord in righteousness.”  Brother Wilcox then concludes that “the priesthood was restored “that” the offering could be made.  In other words, without it the offering could not be made.  It was also restored “until” the offering was made.  In other words, the priesthood would never be taken from the earth... As Moroni promised (when he told Joseph earlier that the priesthood would be “revealed), the priesthood was being revealed by being restored, and its purpose was also being revealed–an offering had to be made... In the Malachi 3 version, we also learn that the priesthood bearers must be “purged and purified” or be made clean in order to make the offering.” (pp. 111-112)
    He asks, “Who are the sons of Levi?  What offering will be made? Why is that offering so critical that the priesthood will not be taken from the earth?  Why is it important that the priesthood itself was restored to allow the offering to be accomplished?  What do purging and purifying have to do with the offering?” (p. 112)
    In Old Testament times, the sons of Levi were the holders of the priesthood in Israel and performed their service in the house of the Lord.  Regarding the identity of the sons of Lehi in our day, there was a great revelation given on September 22 and 23, the anniversary of Moroni’s visit, in which Malachi’s and John the Baptist’s prophecies were repeated, but with additions that amplified and clarified the necessary offering: “The sons of Moses and also the sons of Aaron shall offer an acceptable offering and sacrifice in the house of the Lord.”  (D&C 84:31)
    The sons of Moses and of Aaron (both of whom were of the tribe of Levi) were defined in this Section as holders of the Melchizedek and Aaronic Priesthoods.  Therefore, it might be concluded that John’s promise refers to both priesthoods.  We also learn that the predicted offering and sacrifice will be made in the temple, explaining why the sons of Levi must be purged and purified.  Note also the use of the word acceptable regarding their offering.
    In a later revelation, Joseph Smith described the “acceptable offering.”  Quoting Malachi’s prophecy once more concerning the sons of Levi, Joseph added this instruction, “Let us, therefore, as a church and a people, and as Latter-day Saints, offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness; and let us present in his holy temple, when it is finished, a book containing the records of our dead, which shall be worthy of all acceptation.” (D&C 128:24)
    Brother Wilcox concludes: “In summary, Moroni first quoted the Malachi prophecy and promised that the priesthood wold be revealed.  John the Baptist next came to begin its revelation and added that the priesthood would remain on earth until the sons of Levi made an offering in righteousness to the Lord.  In section 84, the sons of Levi were identified as all priesthood holders, and it was revealed that the offering would be made in the temple.  Finally in Nauvoo, Joseph Smith’s letter now recorded as Doctrine and Covenants 128 invites all the Saints to participate in the offering, and the offering was identified.  It would be a book containing all the records of the ordinance work for the dead.  Since that time, tremendous effort and resources have been expended to make the offering “acceptable” to the Lord by completing it.” (p. 116)

Two Churches, the Church of God and the Church of the Devil

     Over the years, in my study of the Book of Mormon, I have sensed that an inconsistency exists between two passages.  But just recently I have found a resolution that is important to me.  The possible inconsistency was between a particular teachings of Nephi and that of Alma the Younger.  At one point Nephi taught that “there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth.” (1 Nephi 14:10)  In my earlier life, I had heard this taught as pointing to the contrast between our church and all other churches, or in one case, specifically our church as opposed to the Catholic church.  I had even heard people teach the notion that the devil would teach ten truths to get a person to believe one falsehood, with all still a characteristic of the kingdom of the devil.
    Some years later, Alma the younger taught what I thought seemed to be a differing doctrine, that “the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should have; therefore we see that the Lord doth counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true.” (Alma 19:8)  To me this seemed to imply that God would supply some persons with something less that than the fulness of the Gospel, a lesser or more limited set of truths, according to their capacity to receive and obey his words, but still at God’s discretion and direction.
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    Given & Givens find Latter-Day Saint scriptural confirmation of this latter principle in that the Lord identifies that prior to the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1830, persons exist who are “his people” or “his church” who need to be found and gathered into his future Church, which will contain the fulness of the gospel and light.
    “....The unprecedented innovation of Christianity was the lived experience of entering into an extended family.
    “That this family began in the unparalleled bonding and “loving-kindness” manifest in the intimacy of congregational units did not mean, as Turtullian expressed, that a more general body of Christ was not to be sought out, recognized, and cherished.  The earliest Eucharistic prayer from the first century captures this yearning: “Even as this broken bread was scattered over the hills, and was gathered together and became one, so let Thy Church be gathered from the ends of the earth into Thy Kingdom.(quoting from Roberts and Donaldson)”  Joseph [Smith], in fact, saw the Restoration as the gathering together just such a capacious church.  The idea of a spiritual church that exists alongside, to encompass and enventually transcend the institutional church, was persistently reaffirmed to Joseph in modern scripture.  As just on such example, section 10 of the Doctrine and Covenants contains a rather remarkable reassurance.  The date [for this revelation] is April 1929, a year before the Church was restored.  In this revelation, the Lord refers consistently to his Church as something that already exists.  The Restoration, he says, will not “destroy that which [my people] have [already] received.”  Therefore,” he continues, “whosoever belongeth to my church [in 1829] need not fear, for such shall inherit the kingdom of heaven.”  Those who belong to his Church, he tells us, will receive more light.  In his words, a “part of my gospel” will be theirs.  But this will not, he repeats reassuringly, “destroy my church, but I say this to build up my church.”(D&C 10:52-55)  As Saints, we are called to collaborate in the building of Zion with all those who love God and their neighbor, including so many at present unknown to us, and whom the Lord identifies as “holy men [and women] that ye know not of.”(D&C 49:8) until “all who are suffering torment, whether temporal or ‘eternal’ ... are freed, God’s Kingdom cannot come.”(quoting from Berdyaev)”  (Givens & Givens, The Christ Who Heals, pp. 78-79)

    Elder Dallin H. Oaks in a recent BYU-I devotional provides definitions of Nephi’s two churches consistent with this latter understanding.  The church of the lamb of God consists of all persons “who believe in God and seek to serve him.”  The great and abominable church is “any philosophy or organization that opposes belief in God.”
    “Book of Mormon prophecies describe the "great and abominable church of all the earth, whose founder is the devil" (1 Nephi 14:17).  This "church" is prophesied to have "dominion over all the earth, among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people" (1 Nephi 14:11).  Called "most abominable above all other churches," this church is also said to act "for the praise of the world" to bring the saints of God "down into captivity" (1 Nephi 13:5, 9).  Since no religious denomination--Christian or non-Christian--has ever had "dominion" over all nations of the earth or the potential to bring all the saints of God down into "captivity," this great and abominable church must be something far more pervasive and widespread than a single "church" as we understand that term today.  It must be any philosophy or organization that opposes belief in God.  And the "captivity" into which this "church" seeks to bring the saints will not be so much physical confinement as the captivity of false ideas.
    “In modern usage and in many scriptural passages the word church usually identifies (1) a house of worship or (2) a particular Christian denomination, including the true church of God.  But if we apply either of those meanings to the scriptures describing the "great and abominable church of all the earth" (1 Nephi 14:17), we miss the intended meaning.  For example, Nephi was told by revelation that there were only "two churches" (1 Nephi 14:10), "the church of the Lamb of God" and "the church of the devil" (1 Nephi 14:17; also see 1 Nephi 13:4-6).  This description suggests the contrast between those who believe in God and seek to serve Him according to their best understanding and those who reject the existence of God (see 1 Nephi 14:10).
    “Other teachings in the Book of Mormon also use the word church to signify belief or non-belief in God.  The final chapters of Second Nephi prophesy that in the last days the Gentiles will build up "many churches" that will "put down the power and miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning, that they may get gain" (2 Nephi 26:20).  They tell of "churches which are built up, and not unto the Lord" (2 Nephi 28:3), which will "teach with their learning" and "deny the power of God" (2 Nephi 28:4-5).  They will "say unto the people:  Hearken unto us, and hear ye our precept, for behold there is no God today" (2 Nephi 28:5).  In the Savior's ministry among the Nephites, He warned against a "church" that "be not built upon my gospel, and is built upon the works of men, or upon the works of the devil" (3 Nephi 27:11).  These warnings are not limited to religious organizations.  In the circumstances of our day they include a multitude of secular philosophies and activities.  (“Witnesses of God” President Dallin H. Oaks, BYU-I devotional address, February 25, 2014)

    These latter insights eliminates my concern for any inconsistency between Nephi and Alma the Younger.  It also allows me to credit faith and righteousness wherever it may be found on this earth.

Winning the Vaccine Sweepstakes

 

     I feel today as if we just won the lottery or Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes.  Against long odds Wendy and I had our initial Covid 19 vaccinations on Friday, January 29th. We are so very relieved.
    Once Covid 19 vaccines began to be available, Wendy and I decided to emphasize getting vaccinated as soon as possible.  While we had been quite careful, I had a sense that our luck might run out in avoiding the infection.  The possibility of running into someone who was infected but symptom-free, or just coming down with the disease seemed too high for comfort.  Also a new strain that was more highly infectious was being mentioned on the news.  Vaccine started to be available for some high priority persons, like medical personnel and first responders, and, in the news, for persons over 75.  We were glad when our new governor extended the definition of vulnerable elderly to 70 and over, which meant that Wendy and I could get the shots together.  We were also grateful to be in Utah, because some other states seemed to be setting other priorities, like minorities or prison inmates.
    The county health departments in Utah were giving the shots.  Several weeks ago, Matthew and Kimberly had become aware that some over-70 people in their ward had gotten appointments to be vaccinated and advised us of the process, which involved finding out the date and time when a new appointments could be set up, then getting on the county health website to make an appointment.  The competition for appointments was pretty fierce.  Matthew helped us locate the Utah County Health Department website, and register our phone to get text messages when more appointments could be made for vaccinations.  Then the message came that the county had some more of the vaccine and new appointments would be made at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, January 19th.  Wendy and I each got on our cell phones and Matthew and Brianna on their computers at that time.  There were so many persons on at that time that the county scheduler system crashed and no appointments made at all according to the feedback we had.  The next day I got a message saying that the county would be making some system fixes and we could contact them on Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. to make appointments through a phone number they supplied.  Wendy and I tried but kept getting a busy signal.  After 30 minutes, I gave up.  Wendy kept trying and after 53 minutes, got a message instructing her to go to the appointment website.  But when she followed this direction, the only information was that she found was all appointments were filled.
    On Thursday, January 21, we got the notice that more slots would be available that evening at 7 p.m., on the appointment website, and these would be in Spanish Fork at the old Shopko building.  We tried both the Web and the smart phone routes.  After about 10 minutes, Wendy got access, but there was only one single appointment that seemed to remain.  Wendy tried to schedule that for me, but someone filled it before she could claim it.
    We were discouraged.  A day or two later Wendy learned that one of her lady friends who lives in Highland in the north part of county was able to make an appointment for the Spanish Fork site, no less.  We decided to try to get more information to become more competitive.  Wendy called her friend back for details.  Her daughter had actually made the appointment.  She signed on to the appointment website three or four minutes prior to 7 p.m. and then kept hitting the refresh/reload button (near circle with an arrow head) every few seconds.  We decided to follow this practice when the next sign up date and time occurred.  We also felt it was advantage to have multiple persons trying to access the site for us.  Using a computer also seemed to have advantages of faster manipulation than a smart phone.
    The next appointment setting time came to us on Wednesday afternoon the 27th, for that evening at 7 p.m.  We were at the cabin.  We wanted to have multiple devices accessing the appointment site including computers.  We had my laptop with us, so not have internet access there.  In the late afternoon we drove around various places, like the Homestead to see if they had unsecured wifi, but no luck.  We then called Matthew and he agreed to help, even to the point of delaying attendance at a meeting.
    Implementing our plan: Just before 7 pm our team had Matthew at home on computer, Erin at Matthew’s on a second computer, Wendy on her smart phone at the cabin, and I on the phone with Matthew to coordinate all this.  The three accessing people were all logged onto the Utah County Health Covid appointment site by 6:55. And in a moment each began to tap the reload button every few seconds.  At about 7:01 Matthew informed us that he was in to the appointment page so he took the lead in completing the scheduling of our two vaccinations, for Friday Jan 29th at 10:10 a.m., at the Spanish Fork Shopko site.
    We drove home Thursday from Midway where an e-mail awaited us with forms to complete and other instructions.  We got to the Shopko building at about 9:50 am this morning, and started to follow the written instructions that we got in the email to not be early but sit in the car and wait.  A nice man who had just finished his vaccination and was leaving, knocked on our car window and said that there was a long line and the staff are not worrying about your official time, so go on in and get started.  We did this, and got in line to go to various tables in preparation for the shots.  We got the shots at 10:57, so had been in line and visiting tables for just about an hour.  After the shots we were sent to a waiting area for 20 minutes, to se if we had any after effects.  We had none.  Then we were able to schedule our second shots for February 19th.
    The shots affected us similarly to our annual flu shots.  We were instructed to rotate our arm around a bunch, and to do a little rubbing on the site of the shot.  I wasn’t affected further.  After 24 hours had passed, I did not notice any after-effects, other than that the injection spot was a little tender.  Wendy still feels some soreness in her shoulder muscle, but is functioning.

“By Natural Means”

    Just recently, I have found strong support on a religious issue those arose in my youth as a point of contention with an evangelical preacher:
    “I recall one experience at the Glenwood church.  My parents, especially my mother, must have tried to answer my questions or teach me something about how they believed the Lord worked, typically through the laws of nature, in order to develop his creations.  I was probably about 12 or 13 at the time.  One evening we were at the church to hear an evangelist from Portland give a sermon.  We got there early and I was with a small of young people at the front of the chapel.  The preacher came up to the pulpit and began to ask our little group some religious questions.  I, being one of the older kids in the group and probably one of the more knowledgeable about religion, was giving most of the answers.  Finally, came this question, “How did God make the earth?”
    “I pondered this for a moment, then raised my hand, and answered, “By natural means.”
    “The preacher paused for a moment, and then it appeared that there was a flush or redness that started below his short collar and rose up to envelop his entire head.  Then he said in a loud voice, “NO! God said “Let there be the earth.” (Snapping his fingers) And there it was.”
    “That ended the youth discussion.
    “I was taken back by the confrontiveness of his response.  As we were traveling home in our car, I asked my parents, “I was right, wasn’t I?”  (p. 90, “Robert Eugene Lewis, Personal History, Part 1")

    Here is some discussion regarding God’s creative strategies by Melinda Brown, based on thoughts presented by President Russell M. Nelson:
    “Heavenly Father is a God of law, working within such frameworks as the basics of cause and effect, as well as the complexities of divine design and eternal purpose. President Nelson has taught, "Whether in the predictability of the tides, the phases of the moon, or the location of stars in the sky ... law and order undergird all creation." Organizing the elements was, is, and will continue to be accomplished in a highly structured fashion, based on natural laws designed, implemented, and adhered to by God.
    As Alma testified to Korihor, "All things denote there is a God," whether or not we fully understand the natural principles and systems governing His creations. Even a lepidopterist who spends his entire professional career studying butterflies has more to learn. Still, noticing and appreciating the divinity of the natural world doesn't require an advanced degree. Nature's patterns are everywhere, and each is a manifestation and reminder of the underlying order in God's creations.
    Consider the concentric growth rings visible in a felled tree or the predictable five-petal motif on every sand dollar. More "advanced" patterns, like the helix of a giant sunflower or a chambered nautilus, impress even the most apathetic student of nature. And the self-similar symmetry of fractals is awesome. Found in such diverse and wide-ranging natural applications as mountain ranges, cottonwood trees, and broccoli florets, fractals demonstrate spectacular scaling, reminding the observer that, even in nature, the steady repetition and expansion of small and simple things eventually grows greatness. Indeed, "all things bear record of [Him]."
    Learning to maneuver within the parameters of natural law is a crucial part of the mortal experience because it allows for relatively predictable outcomes as we exercise agency. Much of the fun of spending time with a toddler lies in watching him or her figure out how the world works, experimenting with the orderliness of physical laws and their consequences. For example, gravity provides seemingly endless entertainment for baby, dropping her toy to the ground and watching Dad or Mom retrieve it repeatedly. The fun turns to frustration, though, when Mom and Dad quit playing and the toy is out of reach. At that point, the lack of intervention promotes powerful learning, and baby decides to hold on to the toy. The sooner her parents step back and let nature take its course, the more quickly she learns. Natural consequences are some of the most efficient and effective teachers, thanks to their predictability and consistency. When a child sees everyone, including her or his parents, living with the same rules and the same results, fighting fades to acceptance and acceptance fosters ingenuity. What a brilliant system!  (Melinda Wheelwright Brown “Eve and Adam,” 46-47, Deseret Book, 2020)

    Here is more discussion on the topic by President Nelson, from the book by Sheri Dew (Insights from a Prophets Life, Deseret Book, 2019)
    "It always works, because divine law is irrefutable."
    During Russell's internship and residency, his appreciation for the predictability and power of natural law increased exponentially. Even with the finest skills a medical school could teach, surgeons have no healing power themselves. They must depend upon law to help the body heal.
    In the early stages of pioneering work in open-heart surgery, Russell was drawn to three verses in the Doctrine and Covenants that seemed to have particular application for his work: "All kingdoms have a law given; And there are many kingdoms; for there is no space in the which there is no kingdom; and there is no kingdom in which there is no space, either a greater or a lesser kingdom. And unto every kingdom is given a law; and unto every law there are certain bounds also and conditions" (Doctrine and Covenants 88:36-38). These verses combined with another clear scriptural promise from the Doctrine and Covenants inspired him-that "when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated" (Doctrine and Covenants 130:20).
    Surely, he reasoned, there were laws that governed the beating heart, laws that, if understood and obeyed, would result in blessings-and in the case of his responsibility for patients, the blessing of being able to cure and heal their damaged hearts.
    In his early experiments, he found that the heart didn't mind being held and would keep beating because doing so did not violate a law. Then he and others discovered that if they simply altered the sodium/potassium ratio in the blood that flows into the coronary arteries to nourish the heart, the heart would stop instantly. At that point, it looked like a piece of salmon, flaccid and limp.
    By the same token, they learned that when they washed the potassium chloride out with normal blood, the heart would spring back to life again because they had restored the normal ratio. "This process is what surgeons use today to turn the heartbeat off and do their surgical repairs," Russell explained. "You have to have the heart still. You can't splice spaghetti in motion."
    Russell Nelson learned about the incontrovertibility of divine law in the operating room, and he learned to respect the power and blessings that result from obeying law.
"In other words," he later explained, "whenever a blessing is received, it's because a law has been obeyed. And that means certain procedures will always work-not just most of the time, not just some of the time, but every single time without exception. That takes the pressure off an individual who is willing to study the laws that govern the physical body and be obedient to them. Otherwise we'd be crazy to take these patients down to death and back every day"
    Decades later, Dr. Vivian Lee, then dean of the University of Utah Medical School, invited Elder Nelson to speak to the current class of medical students. After he described the process they'd gone through to learn how to turn the heartbeat on and off based upon the law it operated on, Dean Lee, as moderator, asked: "What if it doesn't work?"
    "It always works," Elder Nelson responded, "because divine law is irrefutable."    On another occasion, he added that it's similar to the principles that allow an airplane to fly. "You'd never climb into an airplane if you didn't have confidence that there are laws that, when obeyed, give an airplane lift and allow it to take off. An airplane will always work if the pilots obey the law that governs lift correctly, because air is buoyant and will support weight. Likewise, everything a doctor does is predicated upon the fact that if the laws are obeyed, the results are certain." As he told a group of university students, "It was through the understanding of the scriptures and 'likening' them to this area of interest that the great field of heart surgery as we know it today was facilitated for me" (quoting Nelson, "Begin with the End in Mind").
    On one occasion a medical colleague chastised Dr. Nelson for failing to separate his professional knowledge from his religious convictions. "That startled me," he admitted, "because I did not feel that truth should be fractionalized. Truth is indivisible" (quoting Hafen, Disciple's Life, 165).
    Blessings depend on truth and obedience to law. Said Elder Nelson years later, "You can pray all you want, you can hope all you want, but until the law is fulfilled upon which that blessing is predicated, it won't happen."   (Insights, pp. 48-50)

    "Thank you for the blessing.  Now you may do whatever you need to do to make that blessing a reality." – President Spencer W. Kimball
    In May 1981, President Spencer W. Kimball had another issue with his heart, this one requiring a pacemaker. Once again, he turned to Dr. Nelson, who performed the procedure. The outcome was as they had hoped, and in fact, President Kimball left ten days later for Chile, where he broke ground for a temple in Santiago. But just a few weeks later, on a Saturday morning, Russell received a call from Dr. Ernest Wilkinson, President Kimball's primary-care physician, indicating that the pacemaker wasn't working. "That was a call I did not want to receive," Dr. Nelson admitted. "I told him to bring President Kimball to the hospital and I'd see him immediately."
    Dr. Nelson had just completed a procedure and was still in his scrubs. Sure enough, he confirmed, President Kimball's pacemaker wasn't functioning and another procedure was necessary, which they should perform immediately. President Kimball agreed and then said to his surgeon, "Brother Nelson, give me a blessing."
    Before scrubbing for this new procedure, Dr. Nelson pronounced a blessing in which he told the prophet that the pacemaker would work and that he would be able to resume his duties. Afterward, President Kimball said to Russell: "Thank you for the blessing. Now you may do whatever you need to do to make that blessing a reality."
    During the procedure, Dr. Nelson found that, while the pacemaker itself looked good, there was blood under the plastic insulation of the wire that went from the pulse generator to the heart. He instantly knew there was a break in the insulation, replaced the defective wire, and reconnected it to the pacemaker. It worked perfectly.
    "This episode was a great lesson to me," Dr. Nelson reflected. "I was reminded yet again that blessings are predicated on obedience law. The patient can pray, the families can pray, I can pray, but if l make a mistake, all the prayers in the world won't compensate for an error. Because the law has to be fulfilled. You have to have a perfect repair, otherwise you'll have a poor outcome. So I learned absolute obedience to the laws of God. My students and those army surgical teams used to wonder why I was so particular about every step of the operation, but I learned that every step has to be perfect if the result is going to be perfect. There is a best way of doing every little maneuver in a complicated operation."
    The practice of surgery taught Dr. Nelson that there can never a blessing without "obedience to that law upon which it is predicated (Doctrine and Covenants 130:21). Even for a prophet of God, he would not break the law that governs electrical fields and insulation.  (Insights, pp. 151-152)

    I was pleased to learn that our prophet agreed with my mother.