In John chapter 21:18-19, Jesus describes something that Peter was probably not ready to hear, nor fully understand. "Verily, verily I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst wither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me." Peter, the Rock, like so many others would later seal his testimony with his life, being killed in a most cruel manner, according to legend. The point that struck me is that Peter, although knowing the fate that awaited him, only grew stronger in his testimony and more bold in his ministry. With unflinching faith and perserverence he persued a course that would eventually lead to his brutal death, and the promise of everlasting life.
Jesus taught, "...he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." The scriptures and more modern examples are full of examples of people who lose their lives for the sake of the Lord. As members of the church we covenent with the Lord in the most sacred of places that we will give all we have, even our very lives if necessary for the establishment of Zion. Full-time missionaries pledge to give their lives for two years in the full-time service of building Zion across the world, but is this sacrifice enough? I think the Lord wants more than two years.
Each Sunday in Sacrament Meeting we hear the words, "...and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them...". The commandment clearly extends into the fibers of our character. Are we living to give away our lives to Christ? He wants our agency, but will never take it forcefully, and has promised that if we do so, we will end up finding ourselves and inherit all that he has.
Easter is a good time to reflect on how this blessing is made possible. Christ is not asking us to do anything he hasn't done already. He handed his agency over to his Father in the Garden of Gethsemane and suffered more intensely then is imaginable. He is the one man who knows what it really means to give one's life for the establishment of Zion.

Reading through John chapter 12 this week, I came across a scripture that I thought was very significant. Verses 35 and 36 read, "Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them."
This analogy of light and dark is often used in the church. Metaphorically, we have to walk in the darkness occasionally and put our trust in the Lord to guide us.
I remember going hiking on Mt. St. Helens when I was younger. The hike was beautiful, on the other side of the mountain from where the famous eruption occurred in 1980. On the way home we decided to take a little detour and hike through the caves that served as the passageway through which the explosion passed. The caves were massive and cold, cutting out all sources of light from above. The only light we had were the flashlights in our hands. At one point, our guide asked us to turn off our flashlights. As I sat there in the cold blackness an overwhelming fear came over me and I began to tremble. I had a dark and eery feeling that I had never felt before and I begged my dad to turn his light back on. I was starving for the light... for it's comfort and source of clarity and direction. Without it I felt empty and alone and desperate. On our way out I had the thought that no wonder we, in the church, call hell "Outer Darkness". The most terrifying thing I could imagine would be far from the light.
To be "children of light" as Christ mentions is to allow the atonement into our life, to seek it and let ourselves become his children because he is the way, the truth and the light. The light of Christ is in each person on this earth, and we are all therefore capable of becoming his children if we are willing to have his light penetrate the dark corners of our lives.

Oft-cited as the shortest scripture, John 11:35 simply reads, "Jesus wept." The next verse reads, "Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!" The him in this verse is referring to Lazarus, brother of Mary and Martha. As I mentioned in a previous post about John the Baptist, I find it fascinating to read about the accounts of Jesus' interactions and relationships with his disciples. So much is given on the places he went, the miracles he performed and the doctrine he preached, that little is given on the individuals that meant so much to him.
I don't know much about Lazarus or his relationship with the Savior, but I do know that Christ wept when he learned of his passing. Although earlier in the verse, Christ testifies that through him, all will be resurrected and have the possibility of eternal life, the passing of this man struck an emotional cord in Jesus. His life was so filled with turmoil and heartache that these close friends must have been an incredible blessing of comfort and support. Again, I don't know much about his personal relationship with Lazarus, but I do know that I have relied heavily on my friends throughout my life, and thinking about going through my trials without them would give me cause to weep. I wonder what kinds of people Christ kept as close friends. I like to think they were people from all different walks of life: rich and poor, educated and uneducated, young and old, men and women. We do know a few example of people that we spent a lot of time with: fishermen, women, the sick and afflicted, those who needed help and those who were genuinely and sincerely for answers in their life. He wasn't great friends with the powerful political leaders of the time, or the rabbis who oversaw the religious instruction of the people. He chose humble and sincere people who could support and love him. I think we can learn a lot about these "Christ-like" friends.
Through his divine power and authority Christ was able to bring Lazarus back, and I think this serves as a poignant reminder that we all can receive this incredible gift of resurrection as his friends. Last weekend, as I attended Stake Conference I heard many talks about faith in Jesus Christ and how we can better develop our relationship with him. Although he is not walking among us on earth at this time, we all have an opportunity to be close friends with the Lord. I think about the people who are alive today who have a very close, personal and friendly relationship with the Lord and they possess a lot of the same qualities shown by his friends during his mortal ministry. It is so important during this life to associate with these Christ-like people so that we can also become more humble, loving and sincere friends not only to those around us, but the Christ himself.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!

This week I was reading in the book of John chapter 9. In this chapter, Jesus heals a blind man by rubbing some clay on his eyes. The man had been blind since birth and the disciples asked the Lord, "Master, who did the sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be manifest in him." I think this scripture can be read on multiple levels, but when I first read it, I was reminded again of how quickly we evaluate and make judgments of things and people. In school we are bred to work quickly making evaluations of problems and fast judgments. To some extent I think this spills over into other aspects of our lives.
We may jump into a situation not weighing the circumstances, we may say something without thinking and later regret, but I think the most dangerous mistake we make, as illustrated here from the disciples, is to make judgments of people before we get to understand them. As part of common belief of the time, the disciples believed that this blindness was a curse from God for either the man's sins or the sins of his parents. As Jesus clarifies, neither the man nor the parents committed the sin, but the man suffers blindness in order for some purpose of God to be fulfilled.
I remember being in France when hurricane Katrina hit the southern United States and New Orleans was buried in water. I was teaching a devoutly religious family, when the mother said, "Those sinners in the south of the United States needed a wake up call! God was behind that hurricane." I remember thinking, well if that's what God does to all sinners, we're all in serious trouble.
I think that after a natural disaster, disease, accident, suicide, or war people want to find some meaning behind it, some manifestation from God that his hand was in it. Although I believe God can and does intervene in peoples' lives on a regular basis, He loves us enough to let us suffer through our own difficulties. If injustice (sometimes severe, sometimes less severe) is dealt, God will deal justly with that person or people, but he will rarely step in and prevent it. We need to make our own decisions here on earth, and sometimes those decisions can lead to seriously detrimental consequences for ourselves and others.
A common practice among members of the church that can be used for both good and bad is reproving. Judgments need to be made by those who are in authority to make them, but so often, judgments are made by those who have no authority or reason to make them. We are our brothers' keepers but we do not and cannot tell people how to live their lives. In love, we can tell someone that their actions are hurting us, or hurting them, but once we begin to exercise unrighteous dominion we are in danger. D&C 121:43 says that priesthood holders, or those who are in authority are allowed to "Reprove betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterward an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved..." (emphasis added).
Passing unfounded judgments upon others is one of the most detrimental practices we can do in the church and has led to thousands (maybe millions) of inactive members of the church. Again, as I've said before, Christ's mission was to the downtrodden, and those who were rejected by society. We ought to show them the same love and respect that Christ showed them.

There is constant debate and struggle within religious discussion about faith and miracles. We are commanded in several places not to be a "sign-seeking" people, but to have faith through impressions from the Holy Ghost. Korihor, the Anti-Christ spoken of in the Book of Mormon wanted a sign from God, and in return, he was smitten dumb. Today, many people say to themselves, if God would just show me a sign then I would believe.
A great number of people spoken of in the scriptures and in present-day life who do receive signs do not believe, however. Think of the hypocrites written of in the Gospels who criticized Jesus for telling a crippled many that his sins are forgiven. Christ turned to them and asked why they would have such feelings in their hearts. Then, to show them that the Son of Man has power to forgive sin, he healed the crippled man from his ailment, and the man "took up his bed" and walked. Did this change the hearts of the hypocrites? What about Nephi's brothers, Lamen and Lemuel. As the savagely beat Nephi and multiple occasions, the Lord intervened and rebuked the brothers for what they did, yet they had no faith.
Even the early apostles of the Lord had little faith after seeing so many miracles. After the death of Christ, Thomas, who had been with Jesus on multiple occasions, did not believe the words of his fellow apostles that Jesus had been resurrected. He wanted proof... hard evidence that Jesus had indeed fulfilled the commandments that he told them he would.
In John 2:23-25 it reads, "Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men,

and needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man." He knows our hearts and he knows the sincerity and source of our belief.
As a student of the physical sciences, I am often looking for physical proof of everything I do. I want to see immediate application of the principles I am learning, and demonstrations that prove that these scientific principles (some of them counter-intuitive) are indeed accurate. Faith has not always come easily or quickly for me, but my testimony has been founded on real and powerful experiences. Faith is the refreshing trust that I have that God is true and will keep His promises and that He knows and loves us more than we know and love ourselves.

This entry will be a little similar to the entry from last week, because this topic has been on my mind a lot in the last few weeks.
I have always been really intrigued by the parable of the Good Samaritan. The scripture is found in Luke 10:30-37. A man was traveling, and was robbed along the path. He was stripped and beaten and left to die along the path. Two men (a priest and a Levite) saw the wounded man, but passed by. At this point in the narrative, I wonder, what kind of cruel person would do that? Why would they just leave that man to die? Then I think to myself, how many times have I seen someone truly in need on a busy sidewalk and passed by. Or how many times have I had someone who just really needed to talk or be listened to and passed by, leaving them to struggle by the wayside. How many times have I let good friends make bad choices, and not said or done anything about it. I feel so often like I fit the mold of these men who passed by.
Sometimes, however, we are like the Good Samaritan. He was probably a busy man, traveling along the road for some purpose. He had places to go and things to take care of, but he noticed a man struggling on the side of the road. He was not repelled by the man's dismal state; rather, he was compelled to help. As the scripture says, "he bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him" (v. 34). What was compelling this man to chalk on an extra day onto his already long journey to help a stranger? What did he get in return? Did he ever see this man again to receive his thanks?
At this point in the story I say, well, things like that happen all the time. But then I think about the endless need versus the personal action. Everyone, no matter who we are or how well we're doing, needs a Good Samaritan on a daily basis. We all need a person to talk to, to cry with, to explain a difficult problem in our homework, to discuss spiritual matters, to give us a ride somewhere. Some of our problems are bigger. Sometimes we need money and don't know who to turn to. Sometimes we need groceries. Sometimes we need a place to stay for a night or two. A Good Samaritan understands the second great commandment, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
When I was in Ghana last semester I realized that the people there don't really hold the same time standards as we do in America. They base their days off of their interactions with people. They take time to greet everyone, even if it means being late. They will ask how their health is, how their family is doing. The majority of them realize that the well-being of their neighbor is priority. I saw daily examples of ordinary people lending their neighbor a significant amount of money when the neighbor was in need. They offer food, shelter and help to perfect strangers. Although in our world today, these kinds of things can be dangerous, I think with a change of attitude, theft would be almost non-existent.
I think about the priest in the story Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. The main character, Jean Valjean was caught stealing gold and silver from a kindly priest who offered him food and shelter. Instead of reacting in anger, the priest pretended like he had given the items to Jean Valjean so that the police would not throw Valjean back in prison. By this simple act of forgiveness and love, the priest inspired Valjean to change his life and dedicate himself to service.
The Savior, likewise, saw the best in people. He went among the lepers, the sick, the downtrodden. As is often said in my New Testament class, his mission was to the least, the last and the lost. I am grateful that he continues to look for me when I am one of the least, the last and the lost.

This week I read the conference address titled, "Slow To Anger" by Gordon B. Hinckley from September 2007. It was the last Priesthood session address he ever gave, and I believe one of his greatest and most applicable talks.
In the address he quotes the hymn, "School Thy Feelings," a hymn that I have not often heard sung in church meetings, but who's meaning is significant. One of the lines that really struck me was this, "School thy feelings; there is powerIn the cool, collected mind. Passion shatters reason’s tower, Makes the clearest vision blind. . . ." ("School Thy Feelings", Hymns No. 336). This is one of the hardest principles that most people deal with during mortal life. I wrote earlier about weakness and temptation, and noted that we learn that even Christ was tempted.
I remember times on my mission where it was incredibly hard to "school my feelings" because of anger that I felt. There were times where my deepest and most sacred convictions were mocked and ridiculed, and I had to learn to deal with those experiences while maintaining the spirit. It was really difficult, and required constant and specific prayers.
Having these thoughts in mind, it is interesting to read about the account of the oft-cited example of the interaction of Jesus with the moneychangers in the temple. In Matthew 21:12-13 it reads, "And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves." It's surprising to see why he reacted the way that he did, because he is known as the Prince of Peace. He was the one who taught that instead of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" we should turn the other cheek. Why did he lash out as he did? Maybe there are certain times when, in order for righteous purposes to be accomplished, anger is the only resort to make people change. These moneychangers may have been so stubborn, and their actions so grievous, that acting in anger was the only way for Christ to get the point across.
Soon after this experience in the temple, however, Christ was on the Mount of Olives, having just taken upon him the suffering, pains and sins of all humanity. He knew every individual better than they knew themselves. When he was taken captive by the Roman guards soon thereafter, Peter reacted in anger, and cut off the man's ear with his sword. Christ, knowing what awaited him and knowing the pain that would be inflicted upon him at the hands of these men reacted in love and reached out to heal the man's ear.
Incredible examples of tolerance, love and overcoming the temptation of anger are evident throughout history, but I'm grateful for the ultimate example, Jesus Christ.

Yesterday I sat in the testing center staring at my physics test racking my brain, trying to figure out how far a car would skid after slamming on its brakes if it had an initial velocity of 54 m/s. I really didn't care how far it slid. How is this really going to improve my life? Why was I spending nearly 5 hours on a physics test? This kind of question has come to my mind over an over again in the last few weeks. Why do I care about what a Lewis Dot Structure of a Nitrate ion looks like? Why do I care what the electron probability of a d-type orbital looks like? These tedious tasks seem like endless hurdles on my way to medical school. I find myself getting very bogged down by these things and lose sight of my real end goal.
This Sunday these thoughts were still in my mind as I was in church. The Stake President was visiting our ward this Sunday and opened the last 10 minutes of Priesthood Meeting to questions. Someone asked a question about how they could better organize their life. He mentioned several things, but one thing in particular he mentioned was that we could serve more. Thinking about the opportunities I've had to serve in my life so far, I realize that the times my life is the most organized, meaningful, exciting and happy have been when I've been able to serve in some way.
In my reading of the New Testament this week I read the passage in Matthew 25:35-45 where Christ is talking about how important service is and how we can show our commitment to him through our service to others. "For I was an hungered and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger and ye took me in: Naked and ye clothed me: I was sick and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me..." I tend to get really into what I'm doing and don't think a lot about others nearly as much as I should.
Last night, I found my friend JJ in the library studying. When I got there he had already made friends with the girl across from him. He knows how to make friends fast, and not only can he make friends, but his friends know that he genuinely cares about them and that he wants to see them happy. As we went to eat some dinner and through the course of our conversations, I wondered how he does it. I think he is just trying to follow Christ's example and notice those who are a little downtrodden. He takes time to get to know people and gets to know what makes them happy. I know several people in my life that do this, and I think they embody this scripture very well.

Reading through the scriptures I like to notice the peculiar and special relationships of certain figures. The relationships between Moses and Aaron, Abraham and Issac, Jacob and Joseph, Peter, James and John, Nephi and Sam, Mormon and Moroni, Joseph and Hyrum Smith and many others show the human interactions of prophets with particular people, often a family member. I often wonder what the relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus Christ was like. In Luke chapter 1 we see an interesting account of the first "earthly" interaction of these remarkable cousins. When Mary comes to visit her cousin Elisabeth both women were pregnant. As Mary saluted Elisabeth the account reads, "...that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost." John knew who Jesus was before even entering the world, and he was filled with joy that the Savior was coming.
Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, later prophesied at the birth of John concerning the newborn's ministry and mission. "And thou child [speaking of John], shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unt his people by the remission of their sins...To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." And then, the last verse of chapter 1 reads, "And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel."
I wonder if Jesus and John ever met before the account of Jesus' baptism. John knew what his mission in life was to be, and from what we have in the account, dedicated his entire life to the preparing of the way for the Lord. He had a testimony that his cousin, someone who was relatively close to his own age, was the literal Son of God and Savior of the world.
In Luke 3:10-18 John teaches principles that I believe were very different from what people were used to. He was preparing the ground for the radical changes that Jesus was to shortly bring about.
Unfortunately, none of the accounts give much detail on the interactions between Jesus and John the Baptist, except for the brief account of Jesus' baptism in the river Jordan. Although not selected as an Apostle, and although he was shut up in prison for an extended period of time until his execution, John was never envious or bitter about his circumstances. Of John, Jesus remarked, "But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea I say unto you, and more than a prophet...Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist" (Matthew 11:9-11). The two must have been remarkably close and it is certain that the bond they shared was special, different than any other relationship Christ had with anyone.

I've been thinking all week about something meaningful to contribute to this blog, and hadn't come up with something that seemed to fit all week. Tonight, however, I had the opportunity to listen to a fireside that was very well done. The speaker outlined for us the difference between sin and weakness. The booklet "True To The Faith" defines sin as willful disobedience against God's will. You know that you're doing something wrong, yet you do it anyway. Every person who has come to this earth (with one exception) has committed sin.
For a member of The Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints, worshiping in the holy temple is one of the most sacred experiences on this earth. To ensure that one is ready for the experience, an interview is conducted with a member of both the Bishopric and the Stake Presidency. In the interview one of the questions asked is if you feel that you are doing everything you can to be worthy to enter into the temple. Many members feel a little uncomfortable answering this question because we are intimately aware our many shortcomings and weaknesses. Perhaps we had been a little too short-tempered and had said unkind things about another. Perhaps we had a thought pop into our mind that is not conducive to promptings from the Spirit. Although we try everyday to remember and keep our covenants, we fall short on a regular basis. As mortals we all make plenty of mistakes. In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Moroni teaches us that God gives men weaknesses that we may be humble, and if we humble ourselves before Him and have faith in Him, that He can make weak things strong for us (Ether 12:27). It's an interesting thought that our loving Father in Heaven gives us weaknesses. Why? Does He want us to sin?
First, it's important to understand the difference between sin and weakness. The definition for sin has been given already. Weaknesses, in my opinion, are the inherent predispositions that we are all born with. There are many weaknesses that we all deal with and all are unique to the individual. Some may be born with a short fuse and are quick to anger, others have a genetic predisposition to alcohol abuse or drug addiction. Whatever the case may be, we all have things that the adversary will use to tempt us and try us throughout our lives. We learn that even Christ was not born with all knowledge, and that he was tempted as we all are. In Luke 2:52 we read, "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." Although sinless, is it possible that the Son of God was born with mortal weaknesses and predispositions? To me this doctrine is beautiful. In the book of Alma (in the Book of Mormon) chapter 7 versus 11-12, we read, "And he shall go forth suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people...and he will take upon him their infirmaties, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know, according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmaties."
We all have weaknesses, and we will have those weaknesses for the rest of our lives. We will struggle and wrestle with opposition throughout our mortal existance. These weaknesses don't have to be our stumbling block, though. We need to recognize our weaknesses with humility and try to avoid temptation, but we also need to realize that there is a difference between weakness and sin. We need to exercise our faith and hope in the Redeemer and understand that he has the power to blot out our sins (Alma 7:13) and that through our faith and his grace, he will enable us to have power over our weaknesses. I find it liberating that we don't have to be bogged down by our human frailties, but we can, with confidence move forward and leave mistakes in the past.

New Testament

I am taking a New Testament class this semester at Brigham Young University and as part of the course requirements, we are asked to keep a weekly journal in a blog format. So for the next few months, this blog will serve that purpose. Please feel free to post any comments, insights or anything you want.