On Gratitude

We have recently received counsel from God's prophet to cultivate a spirit of gratitude. President Monson said, "Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God's love. We have all experienced times when our focus is on what we lack rather than on our blessings. Regardless of our circumstances, each of us has much for which to be grateful if we will but pause and contemplate our blessings."

I think that this is something that I need to work on. While I see beautiful things all around me, I also have a tendency to notice the flaws. I remember a story I read years ago that was in the Church News. My mom sent it to me on my mission. It was part of an article called Look for Good (August 1998). It talked about a philosopher who would spend hours in the woods studying nature and then sharing what he learned with the people in his village. One day as he was getting ready to go, three of his friends stopped by. They each asked him to bring home something so that they could study those things that the philosopher had given lessons on. One asked for a hawthorne twig, one asked for a rose, and the third asked for a lily. When the philosopher returned that night he gave each of his friends the requested item. The first man complained that there was a dead leaf on his hawthorne twig. The second one was upset because there was a thorn on his rose, and the third man found dirt on the roots of the lily. The philosopher took each gift back and removed the offending items. Then he gave the dead leaf, the thorn, and the dirt to the three men. Then he said, "Now, each of you has what attracted you first. You looked for the dead leaf and found it. You looked for the thorn; it was there. You found the dirt on the roots of the lily. You may keep what attracted you first. I will keep the hawthorn twig, the rose and the lily for the beauty I see in them."

That story has stuck with me. It is easy to look at the world and see everything that is going wrong. It is easy for me as a teacher to notice the students that are not doing what they are supposed to do. Maybe it takes a little bit more of an effort (at least for me) to notice the good things. I don't think we need to ignore the bad. We can't help correct it if we just look the other way, but we should be making an effort to recognize the blessings that we have been given. Some people are very good at this already. I am blessed to have several such people in my life: family members, co-workers, and friends. How wonderful it is to have people around you that are optimistic and grateful. They are good examples for me.

I have been very blessed. I have a wonderful family. We all get along, and like to be together. I was watching some television show the other day and the character in the show was saying how much she hated Christmas because she had to spend time with people she didn't like (including family). I don't understand what it is like for some people to not get along with their family members. I love being with my family. When we have a chance to all be together we have a lot of fun. I have beautiful little nieces and nephews that are just a delight to be around. I am very grateful to have such a loving family and that all of us have testimonies of the Savior. I have also been blessed with health. I'm around sick children frequently as a teacher, but I haven't gotten sick very often (I hope I didn't just jinx myself). I have a good job, and fantastic people to work with. Financially I have been able to meet all of my needs and even have some of my wants. I am so very thankful for the gospel and for the Savior's love and forgiveness. I am thankful for the knowledge I have that He lives.

Sheep

I had intended to go to bed early tonight, but I can't sleep, so I thought I should work on this blog. A couple of months ago I went to the state fair. I was walking around and looking at the animals. One building housed the sheep and goats. One of the pens had four or five little goats. As I was walking by, a girl came in to check their water and feed and then she left. I watched those little goats try to follow her, and start bleating for her. It reminded my of the one year that I took a lamb to the fair. I had two little lambs, Elbert and Louise. All summer long I took care of them and got them ready for the fair. Sometimes, I would even just go sit with them or walk around with them. They would always follow me. They were sweet little companions for me. When fair week came I was really downhearted because I knew that I would have to sell my lambs at the end of the week. After the lambs were sold, they put them all together in one big pen. Someone had told me that they weren't going to feed or water the lambs that next day. Well, I didn't want my little lambs to go without food and water so I went to find them. I wasn't sure how I would find them. They were in a very large pen with a lot of sheep that all looked pretty much the same. As I was approaching the pen, two of the lambs moved toward me. They came running over to me and I recognized them as my little lambs.
Seeing those goats at the state fair reminded my of that experience and it made me think about a scripture. John 10:27 "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." Though I don't understand how He does it, the Savior knows each of us individually. Out of all of the billions of people on this earth, He knows my name. He knows and recognizes me, but do I always know and recognize Him? Have I spent sufficient time with Him to know His voice and trust Him enough to follow? I do want to come to know Him better. I want to gain a real relationship with Him. I have been thinking recently that this is something I need to spend more time on. There are a lot of things going on in my life right now, and I think they are all important, but I really feel that I need to build a better relationship with the Savior. Sheri Dew has said that in the days ahead a casual commitment to Christ will not be enough to see us through. I think that to gain that relationship with the Savior I need to spend more time with Him, and spend more time trying to follow Him. I want to be numbered among His sheep.

Life is Good

So the other day I was sitting on my balcony in my rocking chair, eating strawberries and enjoying a light breeze. It was a wonderful, peaceful moment. The night before I was on my balcony watching lightning dancing around in the clouds over the mountains. It was awesome! The Lord truly blesses us with so many wonderful beautiful things in life. I have been feeling really optimistic lately. There are things happening in our nation that are somewhat frightening. I want to do what I can to resist what I consider to be evil forces that are trying to destroy our Constitution and our nation as well as the family. But even with all of that going on, I feel a peaceful sense of optimism. The bad guys can't win. They may make things really uncomfortable and maybe even downright dangerous, for a while, but they can't win. If we turn to Heavenly Father and the Savior, even in uncertain times, we can be supported and sustained. And meanwhile, the Lord blesses us with beautiful sunsets, calming feelings, meaningful relationships with friends and family and so many other blessings. Even certain sounds for me are beautiful treasures. I love to listen to meadowlarks singing. That is one of my favorite sounds. It thrills me every time I hear it. Another great sound is the laughter of my nieces and nephews, or to hear their voice on the phone because they just wanted to call me to say "hi." Life is good, and I'm so thankful to Heavenly Father for making it so.

Feeling God's Love

I had an experience a few weeks ago in which I felt Heavenly Father's love. The details are rather too personal to share in this setting, but I did want to write something of what I felt. Sometimes I wonder if the things I'm doing with my life are the right things. Sometimes I wonder why certain blessings that I desire never occur. Sometimes I wonder if I have enough faith. So, what an amazing blessing it was to truly feel that Heavenly Father loves me. Maybe I don't always deserve His love, but He still gives it freely.

Beatitudes - Turning to Christ

I have recently been reading the beatitudes in Matthew 5 of the New Testament. I have been considering them, not just as characteristics that we should try to develop, but actually as instruction on turning to the Savior and partaking of the atonement. In verse three we are told that the "kingdom of heaven" belongs to the "poor in spirit." Utilizing the footnotes, we learn that poor in spirit means poor in pride, or humble in spirit. The Book of Mormon further clarifies this scripture by adding "the poor in spirit who come unto me." So it is not just people who are humble that will receive the kingdom of heaven, but those that turn to Christ. Only those who humble themselves, come to Christ and repent, thus accessing the power of the atonement, can gain celestial glory.
Verse 4: Blessed are they that mourn ( I think we could add here again "who turn to Christ". There are plenty of people who mourn that are never comforted because they don't know where to turn to receive comfort). I have considered this verse in a couple of different ways. First, blessed are they that mourn because of trials or adversity. If these people turn to Christ, they can be comforted by the Savior and the Holy Ghost. In John 14: 16 the Savior promises the first and second comforters. Christ is one of these comforters, and the other is the Holy Ghost. As we receive that comfort we will be blessed with increased faith and testimony. I have heard many people say that they are grateful for the trials they have had because of the blessings that can come as they turned to Christ in the midst of their trial. The second way I looked at this was regarding those who mourn because of sin they have committed. Again, they will only be blessed with comfort as they turn to Christ and repent. This fits in nicely with the first principles and ordinances of the gospel. First we must have faith in Christ, then we can repent and part of the repentance process involves a certain mourning. Then through the saving ordinances of baptism and confirmation, we can receive the Comforters into our lives.
Verse 5 seems to be a reiteration of verse 3. The meek are those that are humble and teachable. They will inherit the earth, which will become the Celestial Kingdom.
Verse 6: Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness. I think this describes people who desire, seek, and are teachable (that seems to be coming up a lot). These are not people with a temporary, passive desire, but rather people who truly want to learn and are willing to act on the knowledge gained. These people will be filled. Filled with what? The Book of Mormon comes to the rescue again. 3 Nephi 12: 6 "they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost."
Verse 7: Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. I don't have too many deep thoughts on this one. Just that we must forgive others to attain forgiveness ourselves. This is also taught in D&C 64:9 and 82:1. Again, this is part of what we must do to access the cleansing power of the atonement.
Verse 8: Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Something that is pure is something that has been cleansed, sanctified and made holy. Those who have been truly converted in their heart, can be cleansed through baptism, sanctified and made holy be the Spirit through the power of the atonement. These people will see God. They will be able to see God's hand in their life, but they will also one day be able to stand in His presence. Again, you can only become pure in heart as you turn to Christ and partake of the atonement.
Verse 9 seems to be a bit of a shift to me. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God. All of the previous beatitudes, at least to me, talk about accessing the atonement. Now in verse nine is where we start becoming like Christ, the Prince of Peace. Other scriptures tell us that we only receive the power to become sons and daughters of Christ after we have believed on Him and accepted His atonement in our lives. See Mosiah 15: 11-12, John 1:12, 3 Nephi 9:17. So this blessing again is contingent on our accepting the atonement. This is how we gain the power to become like the Savior.
Verses 10-12 talk about enduring persecutions and reviling. Once we have accepted the atonement, our lives are not going to be all lollipops and roses. We may be, and probably will be, called upon to endure persecution and reviling because of our beliefs. There are many other scriptures that teach that those that endure to the end will be lifted up and saved at the last day. See 1 Nephi 13:37, 1 Nephi 22:31, Matthew 10:22. It makes me think of Lehi’s vision of the tree of life in 1 Nephi 8. In verse 28 of that chapter, Lehi describes how some people fell away after they had partaken of the fruit. They became ashamed because others were mocking them. Once we have reached the tree and partaken of the fruits of the atonement, we must hold firm to that position, or we can fall away.
So, where am I in this process? I am not exactly sure. I am trying to do what I can to learn more about the atonement and increase my faith. I know that Heavenly Father will help us in those efforts. He is anxious to bless us.