Conference on Chiasmus
The Conference on Chiasmus originally scheduled for May 15th has been continued to September. There will be a further announcement on date, time and location once things have been finally arranged.
Belief becomes knowledge
The idea that a person would do something which they regard as “wrong” or to be “evil” is typified in the experience of Abraham (Gen. 22: 2) and Nephi (1 Ne. 4: 10.). This is what the Lecture is talking about when it says:
The process is everything – the answer is nothing
Faith in God is necessary for us to develop. God extends His kingdom by His faith. Therefore, as we develop faith we are developing a characteristic that is godlike in its form and function. He knows we are unable to have faith in ourselves right now. Therefore, it is required for us to have faith in Him. Indeed at this stage of development it is necessary for us to concentrate all faith in Him because this whole creation belongs to Him. We are not self-existent yet. Our organization and continuation is dependent upon Him. (See Mosiah 2: 20-25.)
The rules of Celestial glory are the rules of the Temple. Obedience, sacrifice, Gospel, chastity and consecration are all the hallmarks of citizenship there. This is why peace, order, kindness and love prevail in that society. There is nothing to harm, threaten or break up families.
That does not mean that you must read what I’ve written to understand the Gospel. There are many ways to obtain that understanding, the primary one being to study the scriptures. In my opinion the quality of what we teach now is so diluted, so basic and simplistic. It leaves by the wayside so much of what the Prophet Joseph Smith taught that you either have to read early church materials or else read what I’ve gathered (based primarily on the scriptures and secondarily on what Joseph Smith taught). If you have been a Latter-day Saint for longer than about 4 years, today’s curriculum, in my view, is not adequate to inform you about the obligations devolving upon you as a disciple of Christ.
I labor to teach process. I want you independent of me and every other teacher, able to get answers for yourself directly from heaven itself. I want to avoid today what Joseph cautioned us against in Nauvoo: “[I]f the people departed from the Lord, they must fall – that they were depending on the Prophet, hence were darkened in their minds, in consequence of neglecting the duties devolving on themselves[.]” (TPJS p. 237.) Joseph did NOT want you dependent upon him for answers. He wanted to teach you correct principles and let you govern yourself.
The process is everything – the answer is nothing
Faith in God is necessary for us to develop. God extends His kingdom by His faith. Therefore, as we develop faith we are developing a characteristic that is godlike in its form and function. He knows we are unable to have faith in ourselves right now. Therefore, it is required for us to have faith in Him. Indeed at this stage of development it is necessary for us to concentrate all faith in Him because this whole creation belongs to Him. We are not self-existent yet. Our organization and continuation is dependent upon Him. (See Mosiah 2: 20-25.)
The rules of Celestial glory are the rules of the Temple. Obedience, sacrifice, Gospel, chastity and consecration are all the hallmarks of citizenship there. This is why peace, order, kindness and love prevail in that society. There is nothing to harm, threaten or break up families.
That does not mean that you must read what I’ve written to understand the Gospel. There are many ways to obtain that understanding, the primary one being to study the scriptures. In my opinion the quality of what we teach now is so diluted, so basic and simplistic. It leaves by the wayside so much of what the Prophet Joseph Smith taught that you either have to read early church materials or else read what I’ve gathered (based primarily on the scriptures and secondarily on what Joseph Smith taught). If you have been a Latter-day Saint for longer than about 4 years, today’s curriculum, in my view, is not adequate to inform you about the obligations devolving upon you as a disciple of Christ.
I labor to teach process. I want you independent of me and every other teacher, able to get answers for yourself directly from heaven itself. I want to avoid today what Joseph cautioned us against in Nauvoo: “[I]f the people departed from the Lord, they must fall – that they were depending on the Prophet, hence were darkened in their minds, in consequence of neglecting the duties devolving on themselves[.]” (TPJS p. 237.) Joseph did NOT want you dependent upon him for answers. He wanted to teach you correct principles and let you govern yourself.
I am a fool
Is it your hope to be a part of Zion?
I don’t think there is anything wrong with owning firearms, hunting, or self-defense. But I do think we are too quick to presume we are authorized to take life. Therefore, I am reluctant to encourage that kind of thinking. I encourage a non-violent, non-confrontational way to solve a problem first, and violent action as a last resort. When violence or self-defense is used as the final option, then it is rarely needed. When it is viewed as justified and approved, it gets employed with the kind of recklessness that will condemn a person.
This is a separate subject from the creation of Zion. Currently, as a people, we don’t possess enough basic understanding of doctrine to begin to organize Zion. Our current models would be warmed over Babylon with new names associated with it. Rather like the Historic Christian movement adopted “Christmas” to celebrate “Sol Invictus.” Or the fertility rites of Spring renamed “Easter.”
Our “Zion” would be a commercial enterprise, with private ownership and capitalist competition to form an economic basis from which to build a strictly regimented and highly controlled people. Something so foreign to what Zion was meant to be that I rather think it would draw tornadoes in a proportion greater than trailer parks currently do in Mississippi.
Collectivist efforts are never going to work. FIRST, we must become individually the kind of people whom the Lord can visit. Then, after that, the gathering together of like-minded people will be a gathering of equals. It will not be an hierarchical gathering of “leadership” and drones. There won’t be a single drone in Zion. Everyone will be equal and no one will mind mowing the grass or taking out the garbage.
A man walks down the street early in the morning and notices that the bakery is unmanned. Its door is open, because there is no need for locks in Zion. So, on an impulse, he enters, looks about for the instructions left by someone, and begins to prepare bread. As the morning goes on, a few others join him. They make bread. Others come and take the bread to their homes. At the end of the day, the man goes home. This was his first time working in the bakery. He did it because he saw it needed to be done.
He returns to the bakery, because he enjoyed it. Day by day he works in the bakery for months, perhaps years. One day on his way, he notices that the grass needs to be cut and the mower has been carefully left beside a tree along the parkway. So he starts to cut the grass. He finds he likes it, and this is now what he does this day. And the next. And within a month he has cut all the grass needing cutting in his immediate neighborhood and starts over again where he began. He enjoys it.
He has no job. He is never without work. He asks for no pay, because some labor to feed others. He has no need for housing, because what is available is shared.
What about zoning laws and business licenses?
What about getting a building permit before commencing construction?
What quality control and food-handler’s permits exist which will guarantee the bread the man makes won’t make people sick?
Blessed are the peacemakers
There are too many willing to cry for revenge or justice in the world. Eventually the spirit of revenge and justice will be set free, and the earth will be filled with violence. As it was in the days of Noah – those days will return again. (Gen. 6: 11-13; Moses 8: 28-30.) Those who want to see justified and unjustified killing will have their fill.
Clarification
The same is required of all
All are asked to do something that they view as wrong, evil or inappropriate and will seem to be inconsistent with the Lord’s mercy, righteousness and perfection. The request will unmistakably come from Him. You cannot evade the request because you doubt He is asking. You will clearly know it is Him who asks, and that to all your understanding it will be wrong to do. You must do it anyway.
All are able to develop the faith to lay hold on eternal life only because they have been led by Him through this process. When they have the faith sufficient to lay hold on these things, the Lord will declare to them by His own voice, that they have been begotten of Him and have a place with Him in eternity.
Purpose of Teaching
Your development is your responsibility. I am trying to teach from my own experience how to grow. Some of you have demonstrated a remarkable capacity to grow, and have been directly benefited from my efforts. I view those people as such a triumph that I will always hold them dear. I look forward to eternal joy with these people. There are clearly others who have never realized what it means to be taught or how a true teacher is to proceed. I can help. But I cannot properly go beyond helping. I cannot be your guru, your answer-man, or your leader. Nor have I been called to preside. I teach. You must decide if you want to learn “how” to engage the Gospel of Jesus Christ and its associated blessings. You must avoid at all hazards becoming dependent upon me, or any man, as your guide. I am only here to help you in your own growth and development, and I am not here to tell you secrets, or amaze you with recitations of my personal experiences. That would be wrong for two reasons: First, it would do you no good, nor equip you with what you need. Second, it would be both prideful and arrogant, setting myself up as a light instead of pointing you to the True Light.
Questions that change the focus and which prevent me from teaching as a disciple of Jesus Christ cannot be answered. Therefore, if I cannot change the “question” into something I can use to teach, I will not answer the question.
Two ships pass in the night
HMS: “By that do you mean to suggest that the Printing Services Division of the Materials Management Department is somehow ‘true’ as you say?”
USS: “What?”
Eternal life and the covenant marriage
The Celestial Kingdom has three heavens or degrees within it. To attain the highest, which is the only one in which the marriage covenant exists and continues, a person must have entered into a marriage and been sealed by the holy spirit of promise. As D&C 131 explains:
This isn’t easy. Wasn’t meant to be. Do you really think any of us are worthy to be called “gods” without first descending below all things so as to be qualified to rise above all things? Christ is not merely our Savior, He is our example. We must “follow Him” if we want to be where He is.
Sacred things
It is not necessary for everyone to be stirred up by argument or persuasion to listen to something they do not want to hear. What is coming will stir up everyone who has not been already touched by the Spirit. Patience. We’re headed somewhere. The Lord remains in charge and has a plan to cause every knee to bow and every tongue to confess the truth of who He is, what He has done, and what He has been doing. We shouldn’t rush people forward.
Communication from the Lord
The final stage in development requires one to “see” the things that are being communicated. This happens when the “answer” to the inquiry is opened to view, but only inside the mind. You can actually “behold” something as if it were before you, without actually being there. Such a process is physically demanding, despite the fact it is so intangible a matter as to defy description. Seeing things by this process is not limited to time, place or location. A person exercising this gift, for example, may be able to behold Abraham as he receives the box containing the records from his father, who held the box in no particular regard because he could not open it.