"Things As They Really Are"

The last eight weeks of being in Glasgow has been a huge learning curve as I have come to be familiar with the workings of a small town.  Used to large cities, it is quite the adjustment (and a little odd) to have everybody wave at you and mean it in a nice way.  Its a bit strange actually, but I'm not complaining.  Its been a rather nice change, one that I don't mind getting used too.  Going along with those small town customs however, does not excuse the chances of weird things happening.  In fact, it probably increases them, especially for a town like Glasgow.

Not too long ago, as my companion and I were out and about on the streets of Glasgow one afternoon, we came across what is pictured on the left.  Luckily enough for us, we came across this thing while buckled safely in the comfort of our truck - I can't imagine what it would have been like if we were out walking at the time when this came upon us.  Just driving back from an appointment on the Northeast end of town, we saw a very large, loud, black creature running towards us, seeming as if he was going to ram the truck.  With my companion's window down, we hurriedly made sure it was shut.  Of course, being the very curious person that I am, I decided to stop and investigate it more; Plus, I needed a picture of this beast.  We couldn't believe what we were seeing - a black bear, right in the middle of the residential side of Glasgow!

While the chances of seeing a bear out on the streets may be considerably higher in Montana then anywhere else that I have ever lived, I still would think that such a sight would be more plausible if I were, say, in Yellowstone Park.  To see something like we did that day, however, sure has altered my thinking ever since.  And from it, I also learned a key principle that day about how the Holy Ghost, also known at the Still Small Voice, the Comforter, the Testifier, or Spirit of the Lord, can work in our life's to teach and let us see "things as they really are".

No, we did not see a black bear that day on the streets of Glasgow and the residents of it no longer need be afraid.  While that did not happen, we definitely did see something that appeared to be like one.  Though having the bark of a dog and with a very peculiar build, its face looked like that of a bear.  Good fortune was with us again when we realized that this beast was hooked to a chain.  Funny enough, while we were in awe at the sight of this bear-dog and while taking in pictures of it, its owner came out and called for the thing to stop barking.  After snapping my picture we drove off and haven't seen it since then.  I wonder if warmer weather will bring it out more - I sure hope not!

So maybe I was a little misleading in the beginning but that's just the key - this is where the teaching comes into play.  Sometimes things may not appear as they actually are -  it might even seem as if a bear was out on the loose, roaming the local neighborhood streets.  Misconceptions and blurred events, if not cleared up, will linger and affect our choices for as long as we have the power to choose - which is forever.  While truth and reality may seem distorted, we can find hope in the blessed mission of the Holy Ghost.

Its mission is to "guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come" (John 16:13).  As the third member of the godhead, "the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit.  Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us" (D&C 130:22).  Its purpose is to testify of the truth and reality of Jesus Christ and God, our Eternal Father, by telling us in our minds and in our hearts (D&C 8:2).  Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the light by which salvation cometh.  Because that it so, how much more important and vital is the mission of the Holy Ghost to make sure that he, when desired, will let you know the truthfulness of Him and His commandments!

Speaking of the Holy Ghost, Jesus Christ said:

"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you" (John 14:16-17).

Judas (not Iscariot), questioned Christ's saying that those who love him, will also be loved of the Father, and because of that, he will show his love for us by manifesting himself unto us.  Asking Jesus, Judas said, "Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?" (John 14:22).  Answering him, he recounts upon his teachings and sayings and notes that all this has he done while being present with them.  He continues, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" when I am gone (John 14:26).  It is through this Comforter and Spirit by which all confusion and misconception is cleared up.

"The Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not.  Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls" (Jacob 4:13).  The Holy Ghost sets the record straight for all men to know the truth of anything when their hearts, eyes, and ears are turned toward the Savior.  So when things are misleading, and you have me trying to convince you that I saw a bear out here in Glasgow, what great news do we have of the Holy Ghost who's wonderful mission is to be the bearer of all truth, in all things.

Open your ears, your eyes, and your heart to its promptings.  It is a choice to listen.  Are you?

Making Decisions

Our prime function in this life is the wonderful ability to make choices.  Our agency has always been the main focus of our Heavenly Father's plan.  It was through the agency of Jesus Christ that he offered himself up as a sacrifice, it was through the agency of our spirit that we choose to accept that plan and come to earth, and it is through the agency that has always been afforded us that we can still choose to follow him or not in these days.

The second chapter from the second Book of Nephi teaches us plainly that there must be a choice in all things given by God, for if not, it "must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God." ((2 Nephi 2:12)

"For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.  Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation." (2 Nephi 2:11-12)

Gordon B. Hinckley, former President of the Church, offers his thoughts on the impact of our decisions:

"In my quiet moments, I think of the future with all of its wonderful possibilities and with all of its terrible temptations. I wonder what will happen to you in the next 10 years. Where will you be? What will you be doing? That will depend on the choices you make, some of which may seem unimportant at the time but which will have tremendous consequences.

"Someone has said, 'It may make a difference to all eternity whether we do right or wrong today' (James Freeman Clarke)

"You have the potential to become anything to which you set your mind. You have a mind and a body and a spirit. With these three working together, you can walk the high road that leads to achievement and happiness. But this will require effort and sacrifice and faith."

"Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself." (2 Nephi 2:27)

Just Get Out of the Boat!

Last night, during our dinner conversation with a couple and their friends, the subject of flooding in Glasgow came up.  The couple, who live just outside of town, are not within the dyke that surrounds most of the town.  Luckily, at least where we are located, based on the 1939 flood that hit Glasgow, our residence should be fine - that is, I guess, if the waters do not breach the dyke.  If that occurs, well then we are going to be trading in our 2010 Chevy Colorado for a boat.  The predictions for flooding are not so much pointing towards if its going to happen, but more of when and to what degree.  The photo above is flooding in Glasgow back in 1952.

The possibility of flooding here appears to be a normal occurrence every other decade, so its not totally uncommon.  The town seems to be watching and waiting for how the weather will turn out, ultimately that will predict the amount of flooding that will be experienced.  To slow down the effects it the weather would need to warm up in the day and reach below freezing at night, thus slowly inching away at the 100 inches of snow that Glasgow and the surrounding areas have received, rather then just having it melt all at once, leading to flooding.  There seems to be a slight stir around town about it and rightfully so - its better to be over prepared rather then under prepared. 

As our dinner went on, it came time for us to share our message from the scriptures and I decided that now would be a good time recount to them the lesson we learn from Matthew 14:22-33, when Christ's disciples were out in the midst of a raging sea.

"And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid."

Christ's disciples were afraid, for they recognized not the source of who was coming unto them.  Peter, wanting to confirm that it was indeed the Master's voice of whom had spoken unto him called out, "Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water." 

Christ, answering, "said,'Come'. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.  Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God".

The issue of flooding and the ability to walk on water seems right not to be a very desirable trait.  A comment made last night to the gentleman we were eating with by his friend was, "Well, it looks like we're are both going to have to get a lot of faith, and get it quick!".  The comment gave us all a good laugh and, more importantly, it tied into a deeper lesson of how we obtain that faith.  Though Peter may have doubted when he asked "if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water" and then, while on the water, had his faith falter when he began to sink, there is more to that experience then just learning of Peter's doubt.  Of all the other disciples in the boat who else, aside from Peter, dared to get out?  The most cautious of them all decided to take the biggest risk and leave the boat that offered protection and safety from the sea and place himself amongst the raging sea and winds.

If he doubted so much, why did he get out of the boat?  The Savior clearly spoke unto them saying "be of good cheer; it is I".  Even after hearing the Messiah's voice, one who had just previously performed a miracle as he fed the 5,000 from five loaves and two fishes, he wanted further proof to know that it was Him, his Lord and Redeemer.  Through it all for Peter to know that it was indeed Jesus Christ walking on the water to meet them, he had to first get out of the boat.  Likewise, for us to know that He will save us when we fall and know with a surety that He is the Son of God, we have to get out of our own boat, to go and meet Him.  The cargo contained within our boat are often crates of doubt, confusion, unwillingness, and complacency that lure us into a thinking that all is well, we do not need to leave our place of comfort for He will surely come to us because of His love. 

When this thinking enters into our minds, we must also recall the Savior's words in the which he declared, "if you love me, keep my commandments".  Expressing our love for Jesus Christ cannot be completed through just a passive phrase, it requires action.  Should we sit idly by, waiting for him to come unto us as we sit in our boats, I think we will find that our wait will last an eternity.  And, I think we will find that He already had come unto us but we received Him not because we knew Him not. 

Hear his call today and get out of the boat and know that He lives!

(Unless your town is about to be flooded, then you should wait a little bit).

A Very Blustery Day...

Not too long ago, we had some very strong winds blow through all across the state of Montana.  Up here in Glasgow, the winds topped at about 55 mph but in other places, it got up to around 78 mph.  It was a Sunday morning and during Church services the power turned off every now and then, but wasn't off for long.  All throughout the service the wind blowed and pounded against the Church; it made us inside feel very lucky to all be safe and warm inside the building.  You would, however, eventually have to venture outside from the safety of the building to make it to your car, and that proved to be quite an adventure.  The winds subsided at about 3pm in the afternoon.

Just recently I heard of another quite windy, and odd, day back home in California as a funnel cloud developed over the Mather Airfield, just a couple miles from home.  Thinking of these windy, "blustery days" reminded me of a "little hum" that Winnie the Pooh sang in "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day".

"Hum dum dum ditty dum
Hum dum dum
Oh the wind is lashing lustily
And the trees are thrashing thrustily
And the leaves are rustling gustily
So it's rather safe to say
That it seems that it may turn out to be
It feels that it will undoubtedly
It looks like a rather blustery day, today"

Pooh's words couldn't describe our day's any better - they were indeed very blustery days.  Aside from battling the winds, I also made a  interesting connection though between that and when the Savior and his disciples where in the midst of a raging sea, with His disciples fearing for their lives.

"And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.  And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!" (Mat. 8:23-27)

Admist the windy day that we had in Glasgow, the most notable part of it was when the winds had completely stopped (or at least subsided a bit!).  It was very noticeable, especially since you were no longer having to lean forward into the wind to get anywhere.  There was a calm all around, the winds had ceased.  Recognizing that difference made me recall the thoughts of the Apostles in the boat, when they marvelled at His power, saying, "What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!".  How great it must have been to witness such a miracle, when the winds and the sea seemed as if to overcome them, to have Jesus Christ stand amongst them, calmly and with authority, rebuke the raging sea and surging winds.

That same power and love can be felt in our lives, too, when the winds of adversity blow against us from every direction.  Sometimes we might even cry out in despair, like the Apostles, and say to our Master, Lord, and King, "carest thou not that we perish?".  Through it all we must retain our hope and faith that just as He rebuked the tempest in the sea, Christ too can rebuke the winds of adversity and instill "a calm all around" us.  "And to all who suffer—to all who feel discouraged, worried, or lonely—I say with love and deep concern for you, never give in.  Never surrender.  Never allow despair to overcome your spirit.

Embrace and rely upon the Hope of Israel, for the love of the Son of God pierces all darkness, softens all sorrow, and gladdens every heart" - for the day will come when He will rebuke your own, personal tempest in the sea (Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf)