Baptism

Tomorrow night my niece Maddie will be baptized. She asked me to speak about that very subject at her baptism. I came across some words by Elder Hales on baptism that I found very profound. To paraphrase him, he said that by being baptized we are changed forever. I love that perspective. We are on a new path; part of his kingdom. We come out of those waters committed to that change; committed to following Christ and His teachings.
I am so excited for Maddie and everyone who has the opportunity to be baptized by the proper authority into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Confidence

let virtue garnish thy thoughts, then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God . . ."
Today was a little rough. For some reason I just found myself in a bit of a rut. I was very irritable and feeling overwhelmed. The worst part about these feelings is that I recognize that they are wrong immediately, but yet it is still difficult to free myself of them. A combination of my cheery, wonderful wife and some long hours of dedicated studying pulled me out of my hole, but at the end of the day I am still disappointed; upset w/ myself for not making the most of the day I was given. Why waste time, effort, and energy on such trivial things? If only I could have today back. I can only make sure not to repeat it tomorrow. As I conclude my day I read the above verse in D&C. These are words that I have thought a lot about over the years, particularly on my mission. I want to know these words better! I have had my fair share of moments where I could say my "confidence waxed strong", however, I want to sustain those moments. How can I maintain virtuous thoughts at all times (especially when 80% of my thoughts are consumed by membrane potential and all the latest heaps of material medical school is piling on me)?

I think the key word here is "garnish." When you garnish a meal or a food item, you place some frilly foliage of some sort on top--you know, give it some presentation--put the cherry on top. I can't believe that the Lord expects to be singing Hymns in our head 24/7. He knows we are busy; we may not be of the world, but we sure live in the world and the world is a busy place! Thoughts of all varieties consume our minds, but what I believe really counts is the garnish. It shows Him we are trying. I may have smooth endoplasmic reticulum on the brain, but I throw on a little man-I-love-my-wife-garnish every once in a while. My brain may be consumed w/ a whole lot of other mumbo jumbo, but every so often my soul chimes in his 2 cents.

Light

The scriptures frequently refer to light. They state that Christ is the Light of the world. They speak of the light of the gospel. I am conditioned to think light=good, darkness=bad. Is there nothing good about darkness? I love darkness when it comes to sleep, a good movie, or saving on my energy bill. What is really so bad about darkness? And what is so great about light?

The answers are likely obvious to many, but I think I rarely give this the thought that it deserves. Light is a source of power. Darkness lacks any power source. Light enables vision. Darkness disables vision. Light promotes safety and security. Darkness promotes fear and insecurity. Light conquers darkness, but darkness cannot conquer light. Light is discernible. Darkness is indiscernible.

In the physical world light and darkness have their place, but in the gospel we should only look for light. Greater light equals greater power, greater vision, more safety and security, and the ability to discern.

A perfect knowledge

When we exercise faith in something and receive that "swelling" in our breasts, as Alma speaks of it, we are receiving a witness or a testimony of that thing. Faith is no longer necessary in this thing; it is now a perfect knowledge made manifest to you by the Holy Ghost. Throughout most of my youth there were many parts of the gospel that I simply had faith that they were true. It was not until I received an actual witness from the Spirit that they were indeed true that I then 'knew' them to be true.

Alma 32

A couple of things I came away with tonight from just a few verses in this chapter. . .

The first is the simplicity of discerning between good and bad. Alma compares the word of God to a seed. If you give room for that seed to grow within you, you will quickly know whether it comes from God or some other source. If it is good it will grow and enlarge the soul and enlighten the mind. If it is bad it wont grow at all and will be of no worth.
This is where faith is really starting to take form; you recognize the good and are willing to do whatever it takes to hold on to that and build on it.

The second thing is how a seed only brings forth "unto its own likeness." Good, wholesome music, good books, good, kind language, and so forth . . . these things only lead to . . . well, good! The lead to things of their own "likeness." When we surround ourselves with good things, we can only expect good things to happen.