Dried up Blossoms in the Wind - Our Children

I checked my website.  I’ve never felt to comment on any of my thoughts from 2 Nephi 15 before.  This is a good time. 

There is a lot of concern for the children of Israel in this chapter.  In the first half, it would seem there is an apostasy, aka dark ages (v1-6).  Verse 7 seems to verify that thought.  Verse 8 there is a concern for abuse of the land.  After all, we are stewards of our land.  How are we caring for it?  Certainly, the hills in Utah Valley are having homes built very close to each other. (v8 join house to house).  There are oil spills, pollutions.  As I sit here, the smog is so thick I cannot see the trees behind the house across the street.  Are we responsible for these pollutions!  No doubt about it.

My biggest thought though was on verses 24-25.  “Therefore, as the fire devoureth the stubble (symbol of wicked) and the flame consumeth the chaff (wicked), their root (parents, ancestors) shall be rottenness, and their blossoms (their children) shall go up as dust; because they have cast away the law of the Lord of Hosts, (gospel) and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

“Therefore, is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them; and the hills did tremble, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets.  For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.”  (His hand could be stretched out in love or anger.)

Why do you think this scripture jumped out at me this morning?  Well, I get a very up close and personal look at how turning away from gospel truths affects the “blossoms”, our children.  Interesting the word chosen was “dust”.  What happens to dust?  It is blown toward any direction the wind blows.  It is the children who suffer when their parents (the stubble) turn away from the gospel teachings.  I’ve heard of it in the children of my nieces and nephews, and I’m watching it in some of my grandchildren.  It is the children who suffer.  They have no anchor (my own metaphor) and any wind of doctrine will blow them in any direction.  There is nothing they’ve been taught to give them the tools to navigate troubled times, and we ALL know this life is filled with troubles currently.  The calamities spoken of in the scriptures of the last days are here.  We see earthquakes, war, famines, pestilence, and parents despising their children.  It is here folks! 

The only place I gain any comfort is in knowing our Savior’s hand is stretched out continually beckoning all His children to come unto him.  Our agency was critically important to us in the pre-existence.  Our Savior lived to set an example for us to follow.  He died so that we could choose to follow that example.  Doing so brings light into our lives so we can see the path of happiness in this life.  But we have to want that better life.  In order to want that life, we must be exposed to it.  My heart aches when I see a parent lead their children away from the gospel into a world of darkness where they are as dried up blossoms in the wind before the storm.    

Satan's Lies

I’m just a little troubled this morning.  I had a conversation with my daughter last night that was disturbing.  Her ex-husband pretended to be a righteous man.  Because she wasn’t any stronger in gospel doctrine than she is, he was able to fool her that he was good.  She knew she was doing the right thing because she married in the temple.  Well, that was when it ended.  I knew there was trouble early on in their marriage when she wanted to go back to the temple.  She had only been once before her marriage and again on the day they were married.  His reply was very concerning:  “The Lord doesn’t expect everyone to go to the temple every week.  There are different circumstances.  Some people are hundreds of miles from the temple.  Are they less blessed because they can only get there once?  Of course not!  We pray about it as a family and we go as the spirit directs.”  They were literally living in the shadow of the temple, yet he said the Spirit directed them that it wasn’t necessary to attend regularly – or at all.  If she’s been to the temple a half dozen times in ten years, that would be an exaggeration.  For whatever reason, his narcissistic behavior was determined to ruin her and he did a pretty good job. 

As we were talking last night, she said, “I don’t believe you have to be Mormon to be good.”  Well, this is a truth.  The world is populated with very good people who never even heard about the church.  However, this belief of hers is a lie that Satan promotes to do his evil upon the earth.  It matters not to Satan how bad we are.  A little is as good as a lot.  Keeping us out of God’s kingdom is his goal.  Having us have a miserable experience on this earth is his goal.

As I was reading scriptures this morning, I read 1 Nephi 13, a very sobering chapter indeed.  It speaks to us about the evil in the latter days (now) that have certainly come to pass, not the least of which is the disintegration of the family.  Also, the vanity of the women in the church is a sobering read (v16-23).  Interesting to me the wording in v23 of the tools women use to “hide” themselves such as their jewelry, fine clothing, glasses, etc.  It mentions “hoods and veils” will also be removed and leave those who are “hiding” exposed.  Interesting to me that her dominant clothing is mostly the two hoodies on top of each other and her hat.  She is hiding. 

I wasn’t particularly comforted from reading this chapter, and wanted to re-read 2 Nephi 28 which I’ve labeled as Satan’s “playbook”.  How blessed we are to know through the Book of Mormon how Satan works.  It’s not every day you can have such knowledge about your opponent.  It is this chapter that explains better what I was trying to tell my daughter last night.  In verse 22 it says “And behold, others he (Satan) flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none – and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance.”

This sweet daughter of mine has bought into Satan’s lies, i.e. There is no hell!  Heavenly Father loves all His children and why would he deny one over another?  Satan has whispered in her ear that her husband, who was (from the outside looking in) a righteous man, was in fact evil.  If righteous can be so evil, then she wants nothing to do with it.  Oh, why can’t I articulate this better?  It is so frustrating.  She says, “Why didn’t the bishop see his evil?  Why was it so easy for him to get a temple recommend when necessary when he was emotionally beating the very life out of her?”  To me, that is a very good question, but not one with which to base my standing with God.  People are human, and therefore they are fallible.  God is not!  If we want the blessings God has promised us, we must do all in our power to keep His commandments and the covenants we have made with Him.  Some blessings may not come in this life.  I’m convinced many women go to their grave never exposing the evil that goes on behind closed doors, yet remaining faithful to their covenants to a husband as well as the Lord. This is part of the imperfect world we are living in.  I feel God’s love and that is something that is withheld from no one who will reach out to Him, repent of evil doings and start replacing that evil with small but consistent good.  It comes.  It takes time.  I know this from experience.  My conversion is one of the most sacred experiences of my life.  I know these things are true and are within reach for everyone!