Being Accepted of the Lord

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Sunday afternoon session of the April 2013 General Conference.

We have lived in our new location for five months now, although it seems like a whole lot longer. My husband was called to the Elders Quorum presidency in January. The President travels for his job most of the time and needed counselors who would be here and available to serve. The new first counselor immediately had to leave for a job assignment in Arizona and my husband promptly had a massive heart attack and was in the hospital for a month and recovering at home for a few more weeks, and still not able to contribute much to his calling. We wondered at the ways of the Lord to call men to service whose circumstances turned out to be not so conducive to serving.

Now for my sour grapes whine. I haven't been called to serve. I don't understand why and my feelings are tender all the time as I wonder why I'm not acceptable to the Lord for use in His service. I have knowledge, experience, and time to offer. But no calling. I drove home from church Sunday in tears because I feel such longing for acceptance and a calling to use my talents (or build new ones!).

Elder Erich W. Kopischke, who will end his time as a general authority on August 1, gave a talk that must have resonated with me at the time he gave it because my copy of the Ensign is all marked up! It speaks to me again this time around. Does that mean I haven't changed? Or what?

I will share a simple pattern which, if applied, can help everyone of us find ultimate acceptance. . . . This pattern consists of three simple steps. 1. Know that our hearts are honest and broken. 2. Know that our spirits are contrite. 3. Be willing to observe our covenants by sacrifice, as commanded by the Lord.

 

As we sincerely and prayerfully ponder the extent to which our hearts are honest and broken, we will be taught by the Holy Ghost. We will receive a sweet confirmation or gentle conviction, inviting us to act.

A contrite spirit is manifest by our willingness and determination to act. We are willing to humble ourselves before God, willing to repent, willing to learn, and willing to change. We are willing to pray, "Not my will, but thine, be done."

Too often we think that the word sacrifice refers to something big or hard for us to do. . . but mostly it refers to living day-to-day as a true disciple of Christ. . . . Sometimes observing our covenants means nothing more than standing firmly and faithfully when the storms of life are raging all around us.

 Elder Kopischke's advice is good. His invitation and promised blessings are what touched my heart the most.

With all my heart I invite you to seek the Lord's acceptance and enjoy His promised blessings. As we follow the simple pattern the lord has laid out, we will come to know that we are accepted of Him, regardless of our position, status, or mortal limitations. His loving acceptance will motivate us, increase our faith, and help us deal with everything we face in life. Despite our challenges, we will be successful, prosper, and feel at peace.

It looks like there is some more refining work to be done in my life.  

 

 

 

Holy Place, Sacred Space

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Sunday morning session of the April 2003 conference.

For years I've been saying that I want to write a book about teaching children reverence. In 2012 I wrote a blog post on that subject. I feel like the need for parental instruction has only gotten more acute as the years go by, and fewer parents understand how to teach their children to be and feel reverent. Well, I'll get to writing that book someday soon. In the meantime, I enjoyed the counsel from Elder Dennis B. Neuenschwander. "Our ability to seek, recognize, and reverence the holy above the profane, and the sacred above the secular, defines our spirituality."

Learning reverence for things holy and sacred begins in the home during the spiritual times such as prayer, Family Home Evening, visits from ministering brethren (I miss the Home Teaching visits), visits from missionaries, watching General Conference, and such. Whatever behavior is tolerated at home during these times will be displayed at church during similar activities.

Elder Neuenschwander reminds us:

Holy places have always been essential to the proper worship of God. For Latter-day Saints, such holy places include venues of historic significance, our homes, sacrament meetings, and temples. Much of what we reverence, and what we teach our children to reverence as holy and sacred, is reflected in these places. The faith and reverence associated with them and the respect we have for what transpires or has transpired in them make them holy. The importance of holy places and sacred space in our worship can hardly be overestimated.

When I talk to parents of young children I remind them that reverence is best learned at home with lots and lots of practice so that the behaviors become automatic when in serious, sacred and holy places and times. (Weddings, funerals, flag ceremonies, sacrament meetings, concerts, ballet performances, or other serious events.) Feeling the Spirit takes practice, and lots of it. Children learn by having sacred experiences at home, first learning the behaviors that invite the spirit and then the good feelings that come from receiving the spirit.

The words sacred and sacrifice come from the same root. One may not have the sacred without first sacrificing something for it. There can be no sacredness without personal sacrifice. Sacrifice sanctifies the sacred. . . . The establishment of our homes as holy places reflects the depths of sacrifice we are willing to make for them.

This talk was given a year and a half after the 9/11 attacks, during the war on terror when the world was in turmoil and people were fearful. There were many talks (always, it seems) that mentioned the perilous times. Elder Neuenschwander ended with this wonderful invitation:

In holy places and in sacred spaces we find spiritual refuge, renewal, hope, and peace. Are these not worth every necessary personal sacrifice? My brethren and sisters, may each of us revere and respect the holy and sacred in our lives. May we teach our children likewise. Let us all stand in holy and sacred places of spiritual peace. 

 

 

 

 

 

Sacrifice

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Priesthood session of the October 2001 conference.

President James E. Faust quoted a friend of his, James S. Jardine, from a book titled Consecration and Learning, On becoming a Disciple-Scholar,

When we sacrifice our talents or our earthly or academic honors or our increasingly limited time on the alter to God, the act of sacrifice binds our hearts to Him, and we feel our love for Him increase.

When we render any service in the kingdom--be it teaching a . . . lesson or dry pack canning at Welfare Square--it will be of much less value to us if we only see it as a 'To Do' item . . . But if we visualize ourselves laying on the altar to God our talents or our time commitment, such as in attending an inconvenient church meeting, then our sacrifice becomes personal and devotional to Him. 

Most of the time I remember this and do fairly well at putting God first. But in those times when it is hardest I know that I'm missing out on blessings and inspiration by not sacrificing my time, talents, and feelings to serve. This is one of those quotes I can make a small poster of and hang up to remind me. 

 

 

Sacrifice Brings Forth the Blessings of Heaven

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Sunday afternoon session of the April 2000 conference.

In our most recent Relief Society meeting an announcement was made about an upcoming Family Search Open House. On the invitation there were three dates at three different buildings in the stake. Everyone wanted to know which was closest and there was some talk about not wanting to drive very far to get there. Which is fairly common in our branch. Few are willing to drive to stake functions because the stake center is about two hours away. Not to toot my own horn, but I have found that there are many blessings awaiting those who go the distance and physically attend stake meetings, rather than just watching the broadcast in the branch building.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland spoke of not forgetting the Lord in our abundance. He recounted many of the early saints and their sacrifices toward building the Kingdom of God. As I listened to the stories I thought of the sisters in Relief Society and wondered if they realized the great blessings they are depriving themselves and their families of by complaining about distances and then not attending meetings or even the temple which is two to three hours away (depending on where you live in the branch boundaries). I know I have had many tender mercies and grand blessings from sacrificing the time and money to travel to meetings held in far off stake centers. 

Elder Holland told the touching story of Brother John R. Moyle walking 22 miles from Alpine to Salt Lake City to work on the temple, including chiseling the declaration "Holiness to the Lord".  A film was made of his story called Only A Stonecutter. 

He concluded, May we do as much with the blessings we have been given as they did out of the deprivations so many of them faced. In such abundance many we never "forget the Lord" nor "go after other gods," but always be "an holy people unto the Lord." If we do so, those that hunger and thirst for the word of the Lord will continue to come "as doves to [our] windows." They will come seeking peace and growth and salvation. I we live our religion they will find all of that and more.