Saint Patrick and the Miracle of Forgiveness.

What do you think of when you hear the words “Saint Patrick’s Day?”  Ireland?  Clovers?  Green and orange?  Parades and drinking?  Dying the river in downtown Chicago green?  It is amazing to me that such a great man a his message could degenerate into chaos rivaling that of Mardi Gras.  The most common associations with Saint Patrick are the clover and driving the snakes out of Ireland.  Did you know that the snake legend never happened?  If you look at Saint Patrick, you will see that the greatest miracle in his life never made it into the history books–forgiveness.

Saint Patrick was born in Scotland to a Roman family of high rank in the year 387.  Already, his heritage seems at odds with his Irish associations, but we will get to that.  In his sixteenth year, he was kidnapped and made to be a slave for an Irish chieftain named Milchu who was a druidical high priest and a very cruel master.  After six years, he escaped to Britain where he had friends.  He attributed his escape to an angel of God and devoted his life to God and the church.  Saint Patrick studied and worked hard and recieved callings higher and higher in the church as the years went on but always he wanted to return to Ireland.

Eventually, he was allowed to go and preach to the Irish.  Because of his time as a slave, he had a perfect knowledge of the Celtic tongue and a thorough understanding of Druidism.  While he met with much resistance from the Druidic priests, these tools helped him to convert many to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He performed many miracles in Ireland (none of them having anything to do with snakes).  There is one fantastic account of a contest between Saint Patrick and the Druids that is remeniscent of Elijah and the priests of Baal in First Kings (1 Kings 18:17-39).  This contest, however, delt with getting a large, dark storm cloud to disappear.  The story of the three-leaf clover is also true, however, I will deal with that more thoroughly in another post.  He lived in Ireland with the people he loved until his death in 493.

The main point here is that Saint Patrick, after having six years of his life stolen from him and being treated most cruelly by a members of a race that were generally at odds with his own anyway, wanted nothing more out of life than to bring the joy of the gospel to that very people.  He loved the Irish people.  There are numerous accounts of his prayers and all are concerning the welfare of the Irish people.  He dedicated his life to those people.  What a great example of forgiveness.  I am sure it was not easy to forgive the people who caused him such anguish early on in his life.  Perhaps he knew of the scripture in Matthew, where the Saviour taught, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).  Perhaps, like for so many of us, it was difficult for him to ‘mean it’ at first but, with the help of the Saviour, he was finally able to truly forgive.  Perhaps he remembered the Saviour’s own forgiveness, freely offered.  We cannot know.  What we do know is that because of his willingness to follow the Saviour’s admontion to forgive others, an entire county was brought into the light of Christ.

Saint Nicholas: A Symbol of Unselfishness & Charity

During this holiday season, I find myself pondering the two men who have become icons of December 25th: Santa Claus and Jesus Christ.   When I think of Santa Claus, I instantly picture Santa’s Village in the local mall, with lines of tired, cranky children dragged around by tired, cranky mothers.  When the child finally gets to the front of the line and is plopped on Santa’s lap, he screams.  I remember the year that Santa came early to our house.  I was in kindergarten or first grade and I remember the bells jingling and being allowed to answer the door.  I was thrilled to see Old Saint Nick on the other side.  My little sister, on the other hand, screamed and ran away.  Children have to be taught not to fear Santa.  Once they have learned this lesson, they also learn to send him endless lists of the expensive presents they want.

In her book, On the Banks of Plum Creek, Laura Ingalls Wilder remembers a lesson her mother taught her about Santa Claus: “‘The older you are, the more you know about Santa Claus,’ [Ma] said.  ‘…He is in the Big Woods, and in Indian Territory, and far away in York State, and here.  He comes down all the chimneys at the same time…’  Then Ma told them something else about Santa Claus.  He was everywhere, and besides that, he was all the time.  Whenever anyone was unselfish, that was Santa Claus.  Christmas Eve was the time when everybody was unselfish.  On that one night, Santa Claus was everywhere, because everybody, all together, stopped being selfish and wanted other people to be happy.  And in the morning you saw what that had done” (pp86-7).

Saint Nicholas lived in the late 300’s A.D.  He was a Bishop and was remembered as giving liberally to the poor.  Many legends grew up around him concerning secret gift giving, all meaning to point to him as an example of unselfishness (as Laura’s Ma put it) or Charity.  He is an example of Charity.  In this way, he is a type (or symbol) of Christ.

Jesus Christ was born in a manger.  I remember the reverence with which my little sister and I would place the Baby Jesus figure from our Nativity scene in the manger on Christmas Eve.  Little children seem to have an instinctive reverence and love for the Savior.  They don’t have to be taught not to fear Him.  The centuries have not altered His example from one of charity and unselfishness to one of fear and greed as they did to poor Saint Nicholas.

As in everything, man’s example of Charity is good, God’s is better.  To recieve is good, to give is better.  Santa is good.  Jesus is better.

What Does It Mean To Have A Hope In Christ?

The first key to understanding this oft used phrase in the New Testament is understanding that language has changed over the last few centuries.  I remember my sister trying to figure out what was meant by “faith, hope, and charity.”  “You should have faith in God,” she said, “love your fellow men…and hope that you’re right!”  In general usage, hope seems to mean want, desire, or longing.  I hope that you have a nice day.   I hope I can go on this vacation.  I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow.  If you look up the definition of hope (for simplicity’s sake, I used www.dictionary.com), you will find that hope is not just something that you want to come to pass, to hope for something is to expect it to come to pass.  When you hope, you have confidence that what you believe in is true.

Based on this, to have a hope in Christ is not just to want the gospel to be true with a hint of uncertainty.  Peter said, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).  We can confidently expect the blessings of immortality and eternal life.  This confidence is born of the atonement and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ.  When He gave us hope, He didn’t just show us that Resurrection was a remote possibility, He showed us what we can expect if we accept Him and do our best to follow Him.

In a recent address entitled “The Infinate Power of Hope,” Dieter F. Uchtdorf defined hope as “the abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promise to us.”   Speaking to those who are discouraged, worried, or lonely, he said, “Hope is one leg of a three-legged stool, together with faith and charity. These three stabilize our lives regardless of the rough or uneven surfaces we might encounter at the time.”  I took many classes on the subject growing up and I love taking pictures.  Some pictures were of the “point and shoot” variety which take a very small fraction of a second and rarely come out blurred.  Others, especially in nature or low light conditions, required the shutter to be open for longer and if the camera was moved even in the slightest, they would come out blurry.  If I wanted to take a picture like that, I couldn’t just trust my hands to hold still long enough, I had to put my camera on a tripod (which, as the name implies, has three feet, or legs) to stabilize it.  On smooth surfaces (like a kitchen floor) this was easy, but it took some precision to make each leg the right height and the picture leveled on uneven ground outside.  If even one leg was slightly askew, the picture would (at minimum) be off-balance or the whole contraption could fall over!

Sometimes, when we are discouraged, worried, or lonely, we start to lose hope that things will ever change.  Even if our love for our fellow men and our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ remains unaltered, our loss of hope can cause the big picture of life to be distorted.  It could seem as if our world were toppling to the ground.Hope is not knowledge, but confidence—confidence that our prayers will be answered.  It brings joy, happiness, and patience.  Hold tightly to the hope that things will turn out.  Uchtdorf quoted Albert Camus, who said, “In the midst of winter, we find within ourselves an invincible summer.”  I know this is true.  He closed in saying, “And to all who suffer—to all who feel discouraged, worried, or lonely—I say with love and deep concern for you, never give in.  Never surrender.  Never allow despair to overcome your spirit.  Embrace and rely upon the Hope of Israel, for the love of the Son of God pierces all darkness, softens all sorrow, and gladdens every heart.”

Cleaning House

I was recently reading in the Gospel of Luke, when I came across an interesting passage.  Jesus is explaining to a crowd that his power to cast out evil spirits comes not from the devil, but from God.    Then he tells the following story:

“When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, it walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, it saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.  And when it cometh, it findeth the house swept and garnished. Then goeth the evil spirit, and taketh seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first” (Luke 11:24-26, JST).

At first I was confused, thinking that the man from whom the unclean spirit went out cleaned his house and the evil spirit needed some help getting back in.  After some pondering, I realized that the house that is mentioned is the man.  The unclean spirit returned to his home (the man) and found it garnished, or prepared for him, so he went and got some friends to join the party.

How does this effect us in our lives?  Each of us, at some point, will encounter severe temptations and perhaps we will even fall prey to them.  We may have desires or habits that are sinful.  This is like the unclean spirit in the man.  Just like Christ and his disciples cast out devils during their mortal ministries, we can pray to our Heavenly Father for help, that He will cast those desires out of us, and He will respond.  The man in the story, after the evil spirit left his body, did not change his life in such a way to prevent that spirit from returning.  In fact, he continued in his sinful habits so that his life would be prepared for the evil spirit’s return.  When the spirit returned, the man’s situation was “worse than the first.”  When the Lord gives us the great gift of His Atonement and we use it to be cleansed of sin, our spirits are clean, all the unclean spirits are cast out; however, we must clean house, we must change our lives so that we do not return to our sins.  We must stand in holy places and, in effect, put out the “unwelcome” mat for those evil spirits that want to enter our lives.  If we do this, and keep our houses clean–make choices that keep our bodies clean and our minds pure–then will we be free of these habits and desires and free to welcome the Holy Spirit into our lives.

Question Box

This post is a place where readers can put any religious or scriptural questions they might have.  I will address each question honestly and to the best of my understanding.

John’s Dragon: The Choice in Heaven

In the Book of Revelation, chapter 12, John sees a dragon whose tail draws away a third of the stars in heaven.  This dragon also fights (and looses) a war with Michael.  This dragon is finally identified as Satan.  (Rev 12:3-4, 7-9).

Through modern revelation, we learn that before the world was created, Heavenly Father presented a plan to all of His spirit children that would enable them to become like Him.  For part of His plan, he needed a Savior to come down and atone for the sins of the world.  Jesus Christ volunteered to be that Savior.  Satan came up with a different plan–he would take away choice and then no one would make any mistakes so there wouldn’t be any need for an atonement. (Moses 4:1-3).

When the dragon’s tail drew away a third of the stars, Satan convinced one third of Heavenly Father’s Spirit children that his plan was better than the Father’s plan.  Joseph Smith explained, “The contention in heaven was–Jesus said there would be certain souls that would not be saved; and the devil said he would save them all…So the devil rose up in rebellion against God, and was cast down, with all who put up their heads for him” (History of the Church, 6:314).

My point is this: the choice was never between Satan’s plan and God’s plan.  Satan’s plan removed the act of choice.  God’s plan was already initiated; the choice was whether or not to accept His plan.  Likewise, we do not choose whether or not the Atonement is performed on our behalf.  It has already happened; we wimply choose whether or not to accept its effects.

What do I have to give?

In Ancient times, the Lord’s covenant people were commanded to sacrifice animals.  Some debate whether or not it was understood that this sacrifice–the sacrifice of a lamb, was a symbol of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the lamb of God.  In either case, after Christ made that great and last sacrifice of blood, men were no longer commanded to make animal sacrifices, but to sacrifice a broken heart and a contrite spirit (3 Ne 9:19-20).  This means that, like the Savior in Gethsemane and throughout all of his life, we must be humble and submit our will to that of the Father.

Joseph Smith wrote, in his Lectures on Faith, “Only through sacrifice can we become worthy to live in the presence of God. Only through sacrifice can we enjoy eternal life. Many who have lived before us have sacrificed all they had.”  Throughout the history of Christianity, people have given up livelihood, home, family, and even life for the Savior and His gospel.  Comparatively, the ’sacrifice’ asked of me seems a pittance.  Sure, I may give a few hours of service and sacrifice a bit of entertainment or I may abstain from a person, place, or thing; but my efforts are nearly always rewarded in such a way that I realize that I have not sacrificed anything at all.  Should I just turn down employment, get rid of all my money, or take foolish risks?

No!  We only need to sacrifice those things the Lord asks of us.  Looking back at the earlier quote from Joseph Smith, one might ask does this make me less worthy to live in the presence of God? Let us examine that question by first looking at a few verses of scripture.

In the book of Mosiah, King Benjamin discusses charity and helping the poor.  After encouraging those who have to give of their substance, he addresses the poor.  To them he says, “…I would that ye say in your hearts that: I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give.  And now, if ye say this in your hearts ye remain guiltless…” (4:25-26)

Later, Alma teaches the humble poor.  He explains to them that their situation (which has come upon them through no fault of their own) has humbled them and made them more open to the gospel.  Then he clarifies, “For I do not mean that ye all of you have been compelled to be humble yourselves; for I verily believe that there are some among you who would humble themselves, let them be in whatsoever circumstances they might” (Alma 32:25).

Of those who are compelled to be humble, Heavenly Father knows who would be humble on their own.  Of those who do not have anything to give to help the poor, according to His commandment, He knows who would give if they but had something to give.  Of those of us whom He does not ask huge, life-changing (or -ending) sacrifices, He knows who would sacrifice whatsoever He asked of them.  This then, is how we can be worthy to live in the presence of God.  We decide now that any sacrifice He asks of us, we will give.  We live ready to do anything that is asked of us.

Charity for the One

I can’t claim these all of these ideas as my own. I was recently at a church camp for girls, heard someone speak on this topic, and used some of her content for this post.

In Matthew 22, the Savior identifies the two greatest commandments. The first is to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (v.37). The second is to “love thy neighbor as thyself” (v.39). He then explains that by keeping these two commandments, you follow all the law and the prophets. In Luke, Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan to demonstrate that all of mankind is our neighbor and is worthy of our kindness, or charity (‘charity’ being the Love of Christ that Christians should have for all men).

This second commandment is amazing, because the word “as” makes it a two-way statement. It becomes an equation were “as” is the equals sign and the phrases on either side must be equal. We are to love our neighbor equal to the amount that we love ourselves. Therefore, we must also love ourselves equal to the amount that we are taught to love our neighbors.

There is a well known block of scripture in 1 Corinthians in which we are taught how to treat our neighbors. In the thirteenth chapter, verses four through seven, it says: “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”

It is surprising how well these verses can apply both to others as well as ourselves. I will not list them all out, but just use a few for examples.  Let’s start with long suffering. To be long suffering is to be patient. How often have we been patient with others as they strive to overcome weaknesses or are simply unaware of a shortcoming and yet grow frustrated with ourselves and our weaknesses? We need to be patient with ourselves.  We all make mistakes.  If you are striving to do something or change something about yourself and fall short, don’t beat yourself up over it.  Forgive yourself and try again.

This leads into the next characteristic of charity: kindness.  We try so hard to be kind to people in our thoughts and actions.  In trying to be kind, we would never put others down or call them names, yet how many times have you heard someone call themselves stupid or ugly?  How many times have you called yourself a name?  Remind yourself: “I am handsome/beautiful.  I am intelligent.  I am capable of great things.”  This is not pride.  This is recognition of the great gifts that God has given you and reinforcement of your self worth.

Again, we are brought right to the next point: charity for (or love of) self does not envy.  When we focus too much on what others have, we fall right back into the pit of listing what we don’t have.  Focus instead on what you do have.  Be careful not to be prideful; however.  Remember that all that you have and are comes from God and show your gratitude to Him by using your gifts for others.

Charity doesn’t behave unseemly, or inappropriately.  How does this apply to loving yourself?  There are times when we might be tempted to lower our standards or behave in a way that we know is wrong just because we are surrounded by others who do the same.  If we give in to these temptations, then we will look back regretfully on this moment.  It will take away from our self worth that we have worked so hard to build up.  If you have done something you regret, just remember the first qualities of charity that I discussed: patience and forgiveness.  Don’t hold in your guilt and frustration with yourself–forgive yourself and renew your efforts to do what your know to be right.

Again, think no evil about yourself.  Be kind to yourself and understanding.  Rejoice in the truth that you are a child of God and that He loves you always and forever, no matter what you do or where you go.  Believe “that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God” (Romans 8:38-39).  It is the truth.  As you come to love yourself, you will find yourself more able to love others.  This great commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself, is truly an equation in that as your ability to love yourself increases, your ability to love others increases proportionately.

Is the Apocrypha true?

There are two answers to this question.  This first answer is “Yes.”  The second answer is “No.”  Unlike modern non-fiction and like so many writings and artifacts ancient of date, we do not have the authors’ ’sources’ for the Apocrypha.  Because of this, we each have to answer this question for ourselves.

Understanding the history of the Apocrypha will aid in your decision.  When the great library at Alexandria was being assembled, the current ruler of the ‘known’ world heard of an ancient book that the Jews had and felt it deserved a place in his library.  Unfortunately, his library was in Greek and the Jews’ book was in Hebrew.  He assembled 72 scholars (supposedly six from each of the twelve tribes) to translate this book and the result is what is known as the Septuagint.  Several hundred years after the death of Christ, the Jews felt they needed to create a cannon of scripture and what it contained is what is in our current Old Testament.  The Apocrypha is a collection of the fifteen books that were not included in the Hebrew Cannon, but which were included in the Septuagint.  In Europe, when Protestantism began to take hold, various churches made their own decisions as to the Apocrypha’s validity and whether or not they would teach it.

In the LDS church, Joseph Smith received the following revelation on the Apocrypha:

“Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you concerning the Apocrypha—There are many things contained therein that are true, and it is mostly translated correctly; There are many things contained therein that are not true, which are interpolations by the hands of men…  Therefore, whoso readeth it, let him understand, for the Spirit manifesteth truth; And whoso is enlightened by the Spirit shall obtain benefit therefrom.” (D&C 91:1-2, 4-5)

There is much in the Apocrypha that is useful.  For example, have you ever read from some of the prophets of the Old Testament and not really understood what was going on?  Some of this is explained in the historical books, such as First and Second Kings and Second Chronicles; however, Ezra, Malachi, Haggai, Nehemiah, and Zechariah have no corresponding history in the Old Testament.  The Book of First Esdras in the Apocrypha explains well the time period or Nehemiah and Ezra and deepens understanding of these prophets.

One must continue to read with care–recall that not everything in the Apocrypha is true.  I suggest that you read with the Spirit so that you may decide for yourself that which seems right in this interesting work.

Fasting: Feeding the Hunger

To fast is to abstain from food and drink for a period of time.  In some churches, people fast prior to taking communion or sacrament.  You can fast from particular things, such as in Lent.  Some fast by eating small meals and not eating in between meals or abstaining from particular types of food, such as meat.  The fast that I am discussing is to abstain from all food and drink for 24 hours.

Fasting was a common practice in Biblical times.  There are many references to fasting in both the Old and New Testament.  Christ instructed people how to fast in His Sermon on the Mount.  He said, “Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.  But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.” (Matthew 6:16-18)  We see here an image of those that want the world to see how righteous they are.  Christ explains that if worldly recognition is the purpose of your fast, you will get it.  If you want something else, then keep your fast to yourself.

Here we encounter a second important idea.  To fast without purpose is merely to go hungry.  (Isaiah 58:4-5 “Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.  Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul?”)  When we fast, we ignore our physical hunger and feed that which is spiritual.  We have a deep longing for something.  David fasted for his sick child (2 Samuel 12:16).  Jehoshaphat fasted for protection from his enemies (2 Chronicles 20:3).  King Darius fasted for Daniel’s safety (Daniel 6:18).  Esther and her people fasted for guidance and a favorable outcome to what seemed an impossible situation (Esther 4:16).

Through fasting, we too can find answers (Exra 8:21-23; Psalms 109:24; Alma 5:46; 3 Nephi 27:1-3), improve missionary efforts (Alma 6:6), receive revelation and the Holy Ghost (Alma 17:3, 9), have increased faith, humility, and closeness to God (Nehamiah 9:1-3; Helman 3:35), and increase the power of our prayers (Mark 9:29; Acts 10:30).  When His disciples asked why He could accomplish something they could not, did not Christ say, “this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” (Matthew 17:21)?

We fast, not only for our desires, but also to express gratitude (Alma 45:1) and sorrow (Ezra 10:6; Nehamiah 1:4; Daniel 9:3; Alma 10:7; Alma 28:6).  We are told to care for the poor and the hungry.  What better way to do so and show our gratitude for what we have by giving what we would otherwise have eaten (or an equal or greater amount of money) to alleviate such suffering.

I began this post because I didn’t understand why we are asked to fast.  I recognized the blessings and the procedure, but I didn’t understand the cause and effect.  How does going without food grant me all these blessings?  I still don’t understand it completely, but God has made promises and He keeps them.  I know this to be true and so I continue to fast so that I can be spiritually full.