Of Heroes and Princesses

It seems that in every culture, including our own, we raise our young on tales of heroes and princesses: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin, Superman, and the like, are stories that are ingrained into our cultural lore.  The themes of heroes and princesses drive the entertainment industry today, arguably, one of the most powerful influences of our time.  Indeed, the stories we tell of ourselves, and the heroes and heroines that we aspire to emulate, become part of our perceptual identity and become ingrained into the roles we attempt to play in our lives.

Have you ever wondered where these themes came from and why they resonate so powerfully with each of us?  What little girl doesn't want to be a princess in disguise?  What young boy doesn't yearn to secretly be an all powerful hero and to defeat an evil villain?  Have you ever wondered why we have these recurring themes among mankind's storytelling, and do you wonder if these tales build us up with seemingly unattainable aspirations?

Holding these stories up to my own life experiences, I believe that we possess innately, a belief of greatness within us.  What young child does not esteem themselves to be of great worth?  We come into this world and are treated as such as infants and young children.  Mothers and fathers, grandparents and siblings, put us at the center of their worlds.  We learn to expect to inspire love and devotion, and to expect to win respect and admiration from our world, because we are literally, at the center of it.  Our cultural tales reinforce and reflect these views.  We build our lives, and our relationships, around the attainment of these positions.   To my husband, I must be the long sought for princess; to me, my husband must fill the role of hero, and protect and  defend me and my children from harm or evil.

Are these views realistic? For, I believe, they are real.  Emotionally, I believe, that these roles demand to be filled, and that they spin off many interesting results as we see examples of both successes and failures in peoples' attempts to achieve such idealism.

Theologically, the parallels between gospel concepts and cultural tales are striking. If we believe, as taught by scripture, that God, our Father, is the all powerful king and creator of all that is; then it is not so far fetched to believe that we are each princesses and heroes.  We would, in fact, expect to gain our happily ever after ending through demonstration of goodness and worthiness, and in doing so, will in fact expect to defeat overwhelming forces of evil by weilding previously unseen and unknown powers.  Is this not the story embedded in the theology that we espouse?

Here's to amazing endings. . .

The Band Perry--All Your Life

Would you walk to the edge of the ocean
Just to fill my jar with sand
Just in case I get the notion
To let it run through my hand
Let it run through my hand



Well, I don't want the whole world
The sun and moon and all their light
I just want to be the only girl, You love all your life
You love all your life



Would you catch a couple thousand fireflies, yeah
put them in a lamp to light my world
All dressed up in tux and bow tie hand delivered to a lonely girl, to a lonely,
lonely girl


Well, I don't want the whole world
The sun and moon and all their light
I just want to be the only girl, You love all your life
You love all your life

Spiritual Witnesses

There are spiritual witnesses that we receive which cannot be explained succinctly in words alone. They are feelings, impressions, and confirmations. I have been receiving them with frequency recently, in various settings: at my leadership meeting, at the temple, while I have studied the scriptures in my home, and as I have visited sacred places. Over and over the message has been the same, and the confirmation is like being enveloped in peace and love. The message is, that God is mindful of me, personally; he knows me; he loves me; he walks with me; he enables me; he has helped me overcome many things; he will help me overcome all things.

I was looking for some scriptures to encapsulate what I am learning. These work pretty well. . .]

D&C 11:12 And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good—yea, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit.
13 Verily, verily, I say unto you, I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy;
14 And then shall ye know, or by this shall you know, all things whatsoever you desire of me, which are pertaining unto things of righteousness, in faith believing in me that you shall receive.
30 But verily, verily, I say unto you, that as many as receive me, to them will I give power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on my name. . . .
 D&C 6--13 If thou wilt do good, yea, and hold out faithful to the end, thou shalt be saved in the kingdom of God, which is the greatest of all the gifts of God; for there is no gift greater than the gift of salvation.
14 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, blessed art thou for what thou hast done; for thou hast inquired of me, and behold, as often as thou hast inquired thou hast received instruction of my Spirit. If it had not been so, thou wouldst not have come to the place where thou art at this time.
15 Behold, thou knowest that thou hast inquired of me and I did enlighten thy mind; and now I tell thee these things that thou mayest know that thou hast been enlightened by the Spirit of truth.
20. . . . Be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and I will encircle thee in the arms of my love.
23 Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?
24 And now, behold, you have received a witness; for if I have told you things which no man knoweth have you not received a witness?

34 Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail.
35 Behold, I do not condemn you; go your ways and sin no more; perform with soberness the work which I have commanded you.
36 Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.
37 Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. Amen.

Wisdom

I was thinking this morning about wisdom. I was wondering what the differences are between knowledge and wisdom. In church on Sunday it was suggested that wisdom is learned through experience and knowledge through study. I found this distinction intriguing, but I wondered if I could find out more about it. I looked wisdom up on wikipedia and found that generally wisdom included good judgement and acting in accordance with what one knows to be true, while knowledge was more information gathering. I looked up wisdom on lds.org and found this article by Marion G Romney that was interesting. The numbered items here summarize the main points. I have included some quotes from the article that I like and the link to the article. It seems that prayer, inspiration, and reverence for God are the foundation principles of wisdom as described here.

1. Mankind’s troubles are in large measure due not so much to a lack of facts as to a want of wisdom. What we desperately need is to recognize and acquire that quality which converts knowledge into wisdom.

2. Until mankind comes to a knowledge of God, we will continue in our distraction, regardless of how much other knowledge we acquire.

3. The development of the capacity to convert knowledge into wisdom is one of the blessings that comes from receiving the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

4. Profound reverence for the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

5. In soundly judging—which is a function of wisdom—the inspiration of the Lord can and often does compensate for unknown facts—that is, for lack of knowledge. Inspiration from God is an expression of total wisdom.

Our fatal weakness is, as already indicated, the inability to put to beneficial use knowledge which relates to our own personal conduct and to our dealings one with another

As I think about mankind’s great learning, our progress in material things, our unsolved problems, and our declining morality, I come to the conclusion that our troubles are in large measure due not so much to a lack of facts as to a want of wisdom. What we desperately need is to recognize and acquire that quality which converts knowledge into wisdom.

In soundly judging—which is a function of wisdom—the inspiration of the Lord can and often does compensate for unknown facts—that is, for lack of knowledge. For example, if a stranger at the crossroads, not knowing which way to turn, can receive inspiration from God, his decision will be as wise as if he had known all the facts. Why? Because God “knoweth all things.” Inspiration from him is an expression of total wisdom.

Not only does such inspiration compensate for want of facts; it also induces men, by self-discipline, to conform in their personal conduct and in their dealings one with another to the highest standards that they know. In other words, it gives men the capacity which distinguishes wisdom from knowledge.

Converting Knowledge into Wisdom - Ensign July 1983 - ensign

http://lds.org/ensign/1983/07/converting-knowledge-into-wisdom?cid=email-shared&lang=eng

28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

The great test of life is obedience to God.

The great task of life is to learn the will of the Lord and then do it.

The great commandment of life is, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” (Mark 12:30).

Training

http://lds.org/general-conference/2000/10/sanctify-yourselves?lang=eng&query=sanctify+yourselves

http://lds.org/pages/mormon-messages-gallery?lang=eng&cid=facebook-shared#sanctify-yourselves

These two links are to the talk and video referred to in this entry.

Last Thursday, I went to a regional training for Young Woman's Leaders.  It was given by the General Board of the Young Women, led by Sister Elaine Dalton.  We also had a member of the 70 as a presiding priesthood leader.  It was broadcast from Bountiful to various chapels.  I attended with my presidency in Roy.  It was an amazing experience.

The part that I wanted to try to record, happened at the end of the meeting, when the presiding priesthood holder, Elder Summerhaze, spoke for just a few moments.  He introduced himself as a happy nobody who was holding borrowed keys.  He explained that when he was ordained as a 70 he was given apostolic keys.  That he, for a time, was assigned to assist the 12 apostles and was given the same keys.  So, he explained, it was with these "borrowed" apostolic keys that he wished to give us a blessing.  The blessing that he gave us was, "That everything would be alright."  We had just watched the video with Elder Holland where a boy is healed after being struck by lightning.  An 18 year old newly ordained Elder in this video gives a blessing to a 12 year old deacon on a football practice field after the boy was struck by lightning and went into cardiac arrest. So while two of his coaches were giving him CPR, this young elder held the boy's head and gave him a blessing, promising the boy that he would "be ok".  Immediately following this blessing the boy began breathing again, on his own.  As as an echo of the blessing we had just seen in the video, Elder Summerhaze also blessed us.  He said that as leaders in our callings that we were doing the Lord's work, and that because we were doing the best we could, everything in our lives would be alright.  He told us we were "good girls" He affirmed Sister Dalton's testimony that despite our feelings of inadequacy that the Lord would enable us; that He knew us; that he would  bless us and our families because we were trying to do his work. The quote I wrote down was:

"Everything will be alright.
He will be with you."

During this blessing I felt the spirit so strongly.  It felt as if hands were on my head and I was literally receiving a priesthood blessing.

Other quotes I jotted down include:

"Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among us."

"Serve the Lord, He will enable you."

"Create an atmosphere in your home where the spirit can dwell.  That atmosphere will be reflected in all that you do."

"This is a gospel of joy and happiness.  Fill your soul with joy."

"I knew they loved me." (YW's "take away" from 6 years of attending YWs)

"You cannot lead unless you are out in front."

"How can we build unshakable faith in Jesus Christ?"

Things to do everyday:
Pray--at least twice
Read scriptures--at least 5 minutes
Smile
Obey commandments

Do the things we are asking them to do

This was the musical number from the meeting, it was sung by a chorus of YW from Roy
.http://lds.org/media-library/video/strength-of-youth-media?lang=eng&query=guardians+virtue#2010-12-15-guardians-of-virtue

http://lds.org/media-library/video/general-conference-april-2011?lang=eng&query=guardians+virtue#2011-03-0002-guardians-of-virtue

Closing Song: How Firm a Foundation.  The verse that stood out to me was verse two.  It struck me that I had been involved in each of these conditions, and that I had been succored in each condition according to the demands of that time.  The spirit then bore witness to me that God was mindful of me, and as we sang verse 7 I knew that as long as I leaned on the Savior, He would never forsake me.  Again, I don't recall ever feeling a more powerful witness of the spirit during a meeting than I felt during this one.

1. How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in his excellent word!
What more can he say than to you he hath said,
Who unto the Savior, who unto the Savior,
Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?

2. In ev’ry condition–in sickness, in health,
In poverty’s vale or abounding in wealth,
At home or abroad, on the land or the sea–
As thy days may demand, as thy days may demand,
As thy days may demand, so thy succor shall be.

3. Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by my righteous, upheld by my righteous,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

4. When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not thee o’erflow,
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee, and sanctify to thee,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

5. When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply.
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, thy dross to consume,
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

6. E’en down to old age, all my people shall prove
My sov’reign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And then, when gray hair shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs shall they still, like lambs shall they still,
Like lambs shall they still in my bosom be borne.

7. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, I’ll never, no never,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!

Insights gained from my glimpse of the past

Woman Praying

Woman and Her Talents

partnership and milestones

play

Raising sons

and daughters

Passing on traditions and heritage

A witness sealed with blood

Sacrifice and dedication 

Light emitting from darkness-- Joseph recording revelations received at Liberty Jail

And everywhere the beauty of God's good earth and the evidence of his love.

I received some insight into what it means to be me, and into what the work is, that is being done through the establishment of The Church of Jesus Christ on the earth, as a result of my trip to Missouri and Illinois this past August.  One of the missionaries in Nauvoo mentioned, at one point, that each time the Saints completed a temple in an area, that mob violence increased against the church at that place, to the point that the members of the church had to move on.  Thinking back about the locations we had visited up to that point, I recalled how at each location where the Saints had established a settlement, that the cornerstones of a temple were immediately set, and that the city was established around it.  Not all of those temple sites became actual temples, but on the other hand, they each remain, to this day, dedicated land, with nothing on it but temple cornerstones.  Even in the case of the Nauvoo Temple, which was built and then defiled by mobs and fire and finished off by lightning, the land upon which it stood was considered sacred by another church, and nothing was built thereon until The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was able to return and re-build the Nauvoo temple on that spot, as it was intended to stand.  Even after the Saints had left the boundries of the United States and had settled in the Salt Lake Valley, they were threatened by an army at one point, and had to bury the temple foundation.  Satan, I concluded, was very determined to destroy this small body of Saints before they could establish themselves, and especially before they could establish a temple.

Why, I asked myself,  is the existence of temples so upsetting to Satan?  The answer is, of course, that they have the power to undo all, or at least much, of his devilry.  They are the key to Christ's plan to save mankind.  They hold within them the power to unlock the gates of the spirit prison and set free the souls of mankind through Christ's atonement and the ordinances that are attached to it--saving ordinances and sealing ordinances.

It is easy to underestimate the importance of who you are, and of your place in the world, when you grow up in a small town.  It is doubly so when your entire state is seen by many as a place that is backward and odd by the rest of the society in which you live, including, at times members of your own faith.  However, while visiting church history sights, I pondered upon the type of people that made up the early founders of this church.  They were sometimes educated, sometimes not.  They were often poor, but sometimes not.  They had one thing in common however, they were willing to submit in all things to the will of the Lord, as revealed to them by a prophet, and confirmed to them by the spirit of the Holy Ghost which they received.  They were determined, united by a common cause, and tested through trial.  The heritage which they earned and handed down to us, their posterity, was not based on great worldly prestige, or wealth, or honor.  Instead, they gave up what they had acquired of these things.  What they had of worldly wealth, they dedicated, to the building up of the Church and Kingdom of God on the earth.  They passed to us, their posterity, instead of riches and worldly aclaim, the mission of building up a kingdom of God on the earth that could be received by Christ upon His return.  This was their great desire--Their great obsession. They learned obedience and faith in God's mercy through the things that they suffered.  They did not welcome Christ to the earth, as they may have expected to do, but instead, they established for their posterity a place of sanctuary, a place where a people could become established; where a theology could become ingrained; where precious temples could be built; and where prophets could live to advanced years beloved by their people, and accomplish great things.  This church was not destined to be a small rock in a desert place apart from the world.  It was meant to fill the earth.  Through my growing understanding of these things, I  began to realize and to become much more keenly aware of the importance of my place in the world, and of the value of my inheritance as a member of Christ's church, and a descendant of these valiant pioneers who fulfilled their earthly missions with honor, and passed to us the blessings of the gospel, and the saving ordinances of the temple.

keys and callings

Looking forward in faith

We are as the armies of Helaman.  We have been taught in our youth.  And we will be the Lord's missionaries, to bring the world his truth.

Steve Perry's, Oh, Sherrie

Kirby says these lyrics are "apropo"
He may have a point there. . . . :D

You should've been gone knowing how I made you feel.
And I should've been gone after all your words of steel.
Oh I must've been a dreamer
and I must've been someone else,
And we should've been over.
Oh,Sherrie,
our love holds on, holds on.
Oh, Sherrie,
our love holds on, holds on.

But I want to let go you'll go on hurtin' me.
You'd be better off alone if I'm not who you thought I'd be.
But you know that there's a fever,
oh, that you'll never find nowhere else.
Can't you feel it burnin' - on and on?
Oh, Sherrie,
our love holds on, holds on. . . .
But I should've been gone
long ago, far away.
And you should've been gone-- now I know just why you stay.
Oh, Sherrie,
our love holds on, holds on. . ..
Oh, Sherrie,
our love holds on, holds on. . . .