Mormon Musings

"Jacob, in 2 Nephi 9:41, in speaking of the straight and narrow, reminds us that 'the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel' and that Jesus 'employeth no servant there.' The emphasis rightly is on the fact that Jesus 'cannot be deceived.' There is another dimension of reassurance, too: not only will the ultimate judgment not be delegated in order to serve the purposes of divine justice, but also divine mercy can best be applied by Him who knows these things, what only He can know--the quiet moments of courage in the lives of His flock, the un-noticed acts of Christian service, the unspoken thoughts which can be 'credited' in no other way, except through perfect judgment." (Elder Neal A. Maxwell, "For the Power Is in Them." [1970], 37)

Let me share a personal story to illustrate this point. During my time in law school at Duke University, I attended a class in the Duke Divinity School from James Charlesworth. He was a very prominent Dead Sea Scrolls scholar working at that time on a translation of Jewish and Christian texts from around the time of Christ that had never been translated and published in English. In this class, we were charged with reading a certain text. Charlesworth presented it as one of the most puzzling texts he had ever run across. His question was: Is it Christian or Jewish? He had no idea where it might have originated, because it was quite unlike anything else that he had ever seen. He explained to this seminar that it tells a story about a man named Zosimus who leaves Jerusalem. He goes out into the desert, wanders and gets lost in a big mist of darkness. He then arrives at the banks of a big ocean or river. He cannot move. He is afraid because he wants to know the way to a life of righte...

"It is well to know that prayer is not compounded of words, words that may fail to express what one desires to say, words that so often cloak inconsistencies, words that may have no deeper source than the physical organs of speech, words that may be spoken to impress mortal ears. The dumb may pray, and that too with the eloquence that prevails in heaven. Prayer is made up of heart throbs and the righteous yearnings of the soul, of supplication based on the realization of need, of contrition and pure desire. If there lives a man who has never really prayed, that man is a being apart from the order of the divine in human nature, a stranger in the family of God’s children. Prayer is for the uplifting of the suppliant. God without our prayers would be God; but we without prayer cannot be admitted to the kingdom of God. So did Christ instruct: “your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.” James E. Talmage, Jesus The Christ

“We are accustomed to saying that the Atonement took place in Gethsemane and on Calvary. In a literal sense, this is true, since it was in the last hours of his life that Christ took upon himself the full burden and weight of the sins of the world. But the trial of Jesus in Gethsemane and on the cross would not have been possible and could not have occurred had it not been preceded by a lifetime of sinless virtue, accomplished in the face of the most vehement spiritual opposition. From his temptation in the wilderness to his rejection in Nazareth to the illegal trial before the Sanhedrin, Christ paid the price of a perfect life, walking in holy sinlessness despite adversity, physical suffering, deep sorrows, and the snares of ruthless and determined adversaries, both seen and unseen. “He suffered temptations but gave no heed unto them” (D& C 20: 22). All this he did with the knowledge that one misstep would mean creation’s doom! For had he sinned even in the smallest poin...

“Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.” “We must lay before him what is in us; not what ought to be in us.” “A concentrated mind and a sitting body make for better prayer than a kneeling body and a mind half asleep.” “For prayer is request. The essence of request, as distinct from compulsion, is that it may or may not be granted.” “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” “A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.”

“Every person who lives in this world wields an influence, whether for good or for evil. It is not what he says alone; it is not alone what he does. It is what he is. ...Every person radiates what he or she really is. ...It is what we are and what we radiate that effects the people around us.”  ~President David O. McKay

Following baptism into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there comes a second ordinance: “Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Articles of Faith 1:4). That sweet, quiet voice of inspiration comes more as a feeling than it does as a sound. Pure intelligence can be spoken into the mind. The Holy Ghost communicates with our spirits through the mind more than through the physical senses. This guidance comes as thoughts, as feelings through promptings and impressions. We may feel the words of spiritual communication more than hear them and see with spiritual rather than with mortal eyes. Prayer and Promptings Elder Boyd K. Packer, October 2009 General Conference https://www.lds.org/study/ general-conference/2009/10/ prayer-and-promptings?id=p13- p14#p13