Years ago, Jon Schmidt said the best way to write a song is to write the first note; the rest will follow. I have found that to be a truth.
Let’s hope it works with journaling my thoughts for my blog because I don’t know where I’m going today.
I studied Come Follow Me this morning and had some good thoughts, albeit fragmented. Mostly I was focused on Exodus 40 and Leviticus 1. When I first read through this week’s lesson, I must admit it didn’t really register like it should have. When I read it with the intent to find meaning in the individual items, then it was more meaningful.
Do you think the smell of incense would become a sweet memory, that when you smell them you think of a time that was sacred to you? I do. Smells are so important to me. There are some that will transport me back to a time that was one to remember forever. I love them. Frequently, it is the smell of a certain food. Bacon cooking takes me to a home where breakfast was always shared as a family. The kitchen was comfortably warm as we prepared for the first meal of the day. We would all kneel down around the kitchen table as Dad would give thanks for the blessings in our lives and pray over those in need and protection for his family.
Ah, there is another smell that transports me. It is the smell of coffee in the outdoors. Stay with me here. I'm not a coffee drinker, but that smell transports me to good times with my aunts, uncles and cousins as we would gather for annual family reunions in the woods in Colorado. Those were really good times. I think the key word in both of these examples is "Gather".
Just a thought, but isn't that a word Pres. Nelson has used to ask us to participate in as we prepare for our Savior's return? The GREAT REUNION so to speak. Where we will gather with those we love and have loved who have moved beyond the veil. I'm even more sensitive to that word as I've begun to do Family History in an effort to gather my ancestors.
I think the person getting the most out of making all these items of worship for the Tabernacle would have been Bezaleel. Can you imagine the hours it took to accomplish all these things? As he did so, where were his thoughts? Surely they would have been on the task at hand, but do you think he was thinking how they would be used? His mind was most likely free to go where it wanted, and I believe he was thinking on sacred things. In the process, he was becoming more holy as well. No doubt, he was being “beaten down” in the process as well and it had to be hot. It wasn’t in a “cooled” environment with air conditioning. I'm sure this isn't where the majority of thinkers go with this, but I tend to gravitate to more simple things.
As for the candlestick, just exactly what was the symbol? Light? It was of "beaten work", not ready to be used for the purpose in which it was created. It needed to be beaten down and made moldable. Aren't we like gold? The Lord has told us we are His work and His glory, but we know we are far from perfect. Are we being beaten into a beautiful work of art with the experiences we are having on this earth?
As for the six branches going out of the sides of the candlestick, I wonder. What are the numbers representing? What is the total? Six on each side? Would that be 12? Does it represent the twelve tribes of Israel? In v22 it says: ". . .all of it was one beaten work. . .". Again, beaten. I'm sure each tribe is, in its own way, being beaten and made to be the people the Lord will invite in His kingdom.
The incense altar of shittim wood - it was perfectly square and overlaid with gold. Why gold? What was its purpose? To burn incense. That requires fire and I would think the wood would go up in flames without the gold. Right? As the gold has been beaten down in order to mold around the wood to protect it, isn't that what is happening to us as we are beaten down? Are we becoming more moldable? Is that making us more resilient to the evils, dangers and trials that come our way and giving us the power to do the Lord’s work? Maybe that is the symbol. Notice I don't do a deep dive into the words that the scholars teach. It's more than I can wrap my brain around. These are simple thoughts—the kind of I have.
And that’s my thoughts for this day. Yes, somewhat fragmented, but that is a representation of who I am, I guess.
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