CFM - January 7 to 13

Reading: Matthew 1; Luke 1

First Impressions

Fear

People are subject to fear.  Fear of loss; fear of the unknown; fear of uncertainty; fear of pain.

The angels that visited Mary, Joseph and Zechariah told them not to fear.  This is a message we all ought to repeat to ourselves.  To me, the first Great Commandment means that we are content with our fate and lot in life.  And to truly embrace the First Great commandment, we ought to also love our fate and lot in life.  This set of circumstances; these turn of events were meant for us.  The quicker we accept that fate and lot, the better off we are and we show God we love what He has given us.

No word from God will ever fail / virgin birth

This is a fascinating subject and I think a proper analysis will help dispel myths and help people have a proper balance between reality and faith.

In the KJV version, Luke 1:37 reads, "With God, nothing shall be impossible."  While in the NIV version, it reads, "No word from God will ever fail."

If anything is proclaimed that seems amazing or miraculous, we ought to go to great lengths to ensure it came from God.  We all know that humans are subject to being deceived and can deceive others.  This is the reason for scientific analysis; to detect when people are telling the truth or not.  Now, with Mary and the virgin birth - this truly is an extraordinary claim.  But not out of the realm of impossibility.  It is known, in the animal kingdom, that some animals can reproduce asexually.  It has never been proven with humans, but at least according to this article about a study, about 1% of the population claims to have had a virgin birth.

And this puts observers in an interesting spot.  Someone makes an amazing claim and they say it comes from God - how are we supposed to take this?  How are we, as individuals, going to ensure that this claim came from God or from the imagination of this other person?

For me personally, I will reserve judgement for myself.  I've seen and heard too many outlandish claims, from Scientologists, to Muslims to radical Christians to turn over my judgement and agree with their claims.  So, where do I fall with the virgin birth?  No where.  I'm not sure it really matters.

I think we all ought to be careful in thinking that if we ask God with enough faith, that He will give us a blessing.  I think too many people put a lot of hope in this scripture when they try to apply it to themselves.  They desire "blessing X" and they think that "with God, nothing is impossible" and they pray for it, but they don't receive it.  They then begin to blame themselves for not being worthy, or not having enough faith.

To people with this mindset, I would recommend that they check their desires.  The only thing they really have control over is their attitude.  All else is out of their control; their health, wealth, weather they will have a child or be child-less ... all of that is out of their control.  And if they extend their desires to one or all of those things, and they fail to get it, they may blame God!  And what a sad place to be in!  Rather, with all these things, they ought not to extend a desire toward them, and if they do, they should have a reserve clause: if it is according to God's will.

Some Questions from the Manual

Why did the Savior need to be born of a mortal mother and an immortal Father?


President Russell M. Nelson explained that the Atonement of Jesus Christ “required a personal sacrifice by an immortal being not subject to death. Yet He must die and take up His own body again. The Savior was the only one who could accomplish this. From His mother He inherited power to die. From His Father He obtained power over death” (“Constancy amid Change,” Ensign, Nov. 1993, 34).

I will be very honest and open here; why does the Atonement require a sacrifice by an immortal being?  This is one of those things that seems to fall under the category of some great mystery; pointing to some law in the Universe that we are unaware of.  And we've just been told; that's the way it is.  And a follow-up "meta" question here.  Why are we humans OK with some assumptions as this one, but we deny other similar assumptions by other non-Christian religions?  Anyway, not sure this really matters anyway.

One final thought on this subject; the word "sacrifice" in President Nelson's quote.  To me, the word sacrifice means the one doing the sacrificing loses something in return for something greater.  I think some examples are in order.

In chess, if I sacrifice my queen for a knight or rook, but win the game with that sacrifice, then mission accomplished!  I don't want to lose my queen, but my goal of winning the game is bigger than my fear of losing the queen.

For the kids to love Harry Potter, we learn of the many sacrifices people make through the books.  One stands out in my mind, when Dumbledore and Harry seek out a horcrux at a cave.  To gain entrance to the cave, Dumbledore has to cut his hand in a form of self-sacrifice and self-harm.  Later in the cave, he drinks poisonous water that inhibits him, so that he can gain access to the horcrux.  They accomplish the mission, but as we later find out, the horcrux was a fake, so mission not accomplished.  And this brings another aspect of what a sacrifice is: uncertainty.  It's one thing to "make a sacrifice" when you are guaranteed an outcome (i.e. sacrificing queen for a win in a chess game), but it is quite another when the odds are less than 100% or even less than 50%.

In my career, if I sacrifice time with family, in order to earn more money, so that I can then have more time off work to spend with my family, then mission accomplished!  But sometimes these sacrifices can be long and the work might change and I may find myself away from my family.

If my child needs an organ transplant to live, and I supply that organ and in the process die, then the sacrifice was worth it if my child lives.  But there is the factor of uncertainly, that I may die or worse, my child dies.

All of these thoughts fall under the science of risk management.  People have studied this time and time again.  Life is full of decisions and trade-offs.  We are willing to take risks, so long as we are somewhat confident in the outcome.

Now, back to Christ's sacrifice.  If He knew with certainly he was the Son of God, and therefore immortal, then it would seem that His sacrifice is more analogous with a queen sacrifice in a chess game, for a certain win.  He was perfectly willing to suffer and die, because He knew he was going to live again just three days after dying.  And not only just live again, but be immortal.

But what if He didn't know for sure he was the Son of God?  What if there were some degree of uncertainly on His part?  We certainly get this vibe when we analyze the temptations of Christ in the wilderness.  If He were uncertain about his mortality, then that makes this a higher-risk sacrifice.

God’s blessings come in His own time

Indeed they do!  It is we humans who put too much desire in things out of our control.  If we are anxious about getting a blessing, we are putting ourselves at risk of violating the First Great commandment.  Better to be in a position to love your fate from God, than to extend your desire for something out of your control.  If you love your fate, then you will love what God sends your way on His timetable, and you will never be anxious.

We see lots of anxiety in Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth and Zechariah.

The faithful willingly submit to God’s will

The CFM manual says, "Like Mary, we sometimes find that God’s plans for our life are quite different from what we had planned."

Speaking from experience, I've learned that God's plan for me is very different from many others in my family and community.  For some, it is to remain a faithful member of one congregation or church, while for me, God has lead me on a different path.  I submit my will to God and I try to accept His will for me every single day.  I used to have lots of anxiety, thinking I could plan and control my fate and plan.  But I've learned, painfully sometimes, that I can't control it.  I have to accept God's will for me.  Accepting God's will is at the heart of the First Great commandment.

January Week 5 - Becoming a Disciple of Christ

The Yoke of Christ

- read Matthew 11:28-30
- what is a yoke?
- designed to carry burdens
- weight distributed between two animals
- more work done; efficiency
- can be custom fitted
- "you don't have to face life's burdens alone"

who would you rather be yoked with?  a big strong, battle-tested person or someone who lacks experience and who may flee at the thought of difficulties?

read and discuss the following:

D&C 76:107 - trod the wine press along, faced fierceness of God
Alma 7:11-12 - faced and overcame pain, afflictions and temptations of every kind

All that Jesus asks is that we learn of him; take upon us His name; keep his commandments.

This is ultimately the process we must pursue to become "perfected in him" (Moroni 10:32) and become his disciple.

Becoming a Disciple of Christ = Expanding our Capacity
- what is the definition of capacity?
(1) 'the maximum amount that something can contain'
(2) 'the ability or power to do, experience, or understand something'
(3) 'a specified role or position'

When Christ laid down his law - his commandments - for us to follow and then asked us to follow him, he did so with a love and charity that seeks to truly make us better than what we currently are.

C.S. Lewis said in Mere Christianity, “Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

every week we learn; but are we translating that into action?
the true path of discipleship is in the doing.

Neal Maxwell said, "One mistake we can make during this mortal experience is to value knowledge apart from the other qualities to be developed in submissive discipleship. Knowledge—discovery, its preservation, its perpetuation—is very important. Yet, being knowledgeable while leaving undeveloped the virtues of love, mercy, meekness, and patience is not enough for full discipleship. Mere intellectual assent to a truth deprives us of the relevant, personal experiences that come from applying what we profess to believe. There were probably orientation briefings in the premortal world about how this mortal life would unfold for us, but the real experience is another thing!

Thus, while knowledge is clearly very important, standing alone it cannot save us. I worry sometimes that we get so busy discussing the doctrines in various Church classes that talking about them almost becomes a substitute for applying them. One cannot improve upon the sobering words of King Benjamin, who said, “Now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them” (Mosiah 4:10). Such is still the test. Deeds, not words—and becoming, not describing—are dominant in true discipleship." (Becoming a Disciple Ensign June 1996)

Discipleship is a daily battle
... requiring us to pick up the cross daily, and carrying it all day, at all times in all places.  It is no easy task.

At all sides, we have temptations and the tugs and pulls of friends and family and school and fame and ease and rest and pleasure.

Often we see people praise Jesus on Sunday, but will not worship him with their actions.  These too, we must forgive and have no ill-will toward.

Discipleship requires daily introspection.  Have I done any good in the world today?  Have I helped others?  Have I raised the hands that hang low?  Have I encouraged others?  Have I been temperate?  Have I been courageous?  Have I been just in my dealings with others?  Have I been wise in my actions?

Discipleship requires mindfulness; awareness; openness to correction; humility, understanding, charity, work, pain.

Discipleship requires the development of all the virtues, ensuring we are not swayed to either side (see Virtue Continuum).  I like this perspective because it fits so well with the "straight and narrow" path.  As Maxwell states, "The ravines on both sides of that narrow path are deep and dangerous. Moreover, until put off, the shifting, heavy, unsettling burden of the natural man tilts us and sways us. It is dangerous."

Suggestions and Conclusions
- do you know the commandments of Christ?
- when you know them, do you follow them?
- do you have a list of virtues to follow?
Integrity, Discernment, Love, Respect, Humility, Diligence, Temperance, Courage
- do you set aside time each day to review your progress?
- do you welcome feedback from others?

use a journal to track your progress.  my daily journal consists of writing about something for which i'm grateful, describing how my day would be great; an affirmation to help me focus on a virtue.  and then at the end of the day, i review my attitude and recognize what things I did well and where I could have done better.  I don't "criticize" myself, rather I provide counsel and advice for improvement.

Gospel Topics and Essays
none