men's hearts failing them for fear

this last week, a phrase from my patriarchal blessing has been rattling around in my head and i've been thinking about it a lot.

the phrase says, "you will also see wickedness run rampant and hearts that will fail."  the concept of failing hearts is what i've been so focused on this week.

i've tried to deconstruct it and wrap my head around this concept.

the concept of failing hearts stems from a verse in the new testament.  christ tells his disciples of the signs of his second coming.  luke 21:26 reads, "men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken."

there is also a video entitled "men's hearts shall fail them", in which russell nelson describes a harrowing flight he was on, where the plane briefly caught fire.  some passengers were in total panic, while he was perfectly calm and he was ready to "meet his maker."  he then reads luke 21:26 and discusses how many today live in fear "because they forget their identity and their purpose."  when he says "identity", i believe he is referring to our relationship with god - that we are his children. he then lists several life-challenging circumstances which causes fear or anxiety in people's hearts.

thinking a bit more about both luke 21:26 and the nelson video, i asked myself, "why do people's hearts fail them in those difficult circumstances?"  two answers came to my mind, because they put their trust and happiness in something that is out of their control; and, because, for guidance in this life, they relied on their heart rather than reason.

how many people have taken for granted their life's situation - and have thought that they are the author of their privileged circumstances.  in reality, we fail to truly appreciate how many things in life are out of our control.  and when something unwanted happens (i.e. it is out of our control), we feel fear and anxiety - and our hearts fail us.

examples of these types of circumstances out of our control would be:
- loss of a loved one (to death)
- financial ruin
- degrading health
- natural events
- accidents

truly, we cannot control these types of events.  so why do we let our fear and anxiety grip us?  why do we let our hearts fail us?

how do we combat this?  how can we prevent our hearts from failing us?

the answer lies in not allowing our lives to be lead by our hearts.  rather we should should use reason to constantly ask the question whether something is in our control or not.  if it is not in our control, then we need to accept our fate, as it were, and try to learn from what life has dealt us.

if we do this, our hearts will not fail us.  they will keep on beating.  and our minds will be content with what we can do and accomplish.  if anything is out of our control, we will accept and even love our fate and exercise our control to understand what it is we must learn from it.

quotes and misc items from the back of my missionary scripture set

i've recently decided to focus on transferring my "highlights" from my missionary scripture set to my lds 'notes and journal' which is on-line.  i've already completed my 'book of mormon inspection' via blog, but now i'm going back and transferring all my highlights and sidebar comments from my physical set of scriptures to my digital set.

as i've been doing this, i've found lots of little inserts and other quotes either sitting in the set or written in.  i figured i could transfer these to a single post and have them placed here on this blog.  each "item" is detailed below between the asterisks.

***
taken from elder loren c dunn's article in the june 1995 ensign: elder marion g romney said, "a testimony comes when the holy ghost gives the earnest seek a witness of the truth.  a moving testimony vitalizes faith; that is, it induces repentance and obedience to the commandments.  conversion, on the other hand, is the fruit of, or the reward for, repentance and obedience.  (of course ones testimony continues to increase as he is converted)“Conversion is effected by divine forgiveness, which remits sins. The sequence is something like this. An honest seeker hears the message. He asks the Lord in prayer if it is true. The Holy Spirit gives him a witness. This is a testimony. If one’s testimony is strong enough, he repents and obeys the commandments. By such obedience he receives divine forgiveness which remits sin. Thus he is converted to a newness of life. His spirit is healed.” (see conference report october 1963)

***

 i did have one non-quote item in my scriptures that i kept from december 1996 ... back then, we had to actually use pens and pencils and paper to write letters.  we then had to fold the paper and put it in an envelop and mail it off which required postage.  from guatemala, we would send our letters to the mission office who would put all the letters in a pouch which got delivered to salt lake city.  the contents of the pouch were then dumped in the u.s. postal service system.  so my letters to my family in the u.s. only cost me $.32 (compared to $.49 today).  my family would send me books of stamps so i could write them back.  i kept one stamp from december 1996.  why did i keep it?  not exactly sure, but whenever i look at this stamp, i get these warm nostalgic feelings - a reminder of home, i guess.

***
one quote is in spanish and is attributed to "dr. cristian barnard", but when i found the quote on-line, it is actually attributed to walter wintle.  regardless, i like the quote.
If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you like to win, but you think you can’t,
It is almost certain you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost,
For out in the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow’s will.
It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are,
You’ve got to think high to rise,
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man.
But soon or late the man who wins,
Is the man who thinks he can.

***
i had a clipping from a church news article (August 31, 1996) that summarized the various reasons people serve.  this was from a talk given by elder dallin h oaks from the october 1984 general conference.  here is the link to the whole talk: why do we serve?

***
some hand-written notes ... not sure where they came from ... maybe from a talk given at a zone conference.
at the top is the thought: there must be law or government from a supreme being for happiness to exist.

below that thought i have the word LAW circled.  below is a line to two columns:
disobey - action - obey
punishment - consequence - blessing
misery - feelings - happiness

other notes
through diligent study, faith & prayer we gain knowledge.
knowledge allows us to decide wisely - to choose consequences.
we must decide what we want to receive.
who or what makes us act?  we must be given choices and then choose
satan - enticement/agency - god

***
another couple of quotes; i got these from the church news as well.
the english writer william thackeray put it this way: to endure is greater than to dare; to tire out hostile fortune; to be daunted by no difficulty, to keep heart when all have lost it; to go through intrigue spotless, to forego even ambition when the end is gained - who can say this is not greatness? (the virginians)

henry wadsworth longfellow wrote a few lines that are frequently quoted:
the heights by great men reached and kept
were not attained by sudden flight,
but they, while their companions slept
were toiling upward in the night
(the ladder of st. augustine)

***

another non-quote item ... this is from my parents who were serving in the prague czech republic mission at the same time.  they were on a church education mission, helping set up institutes and seminaries in central europe.  my mom wanted to show me they were trying to memorize section 4 in the czech language.

Enduring to the End

Endure is an interesting word.  It has been on my mind the last couple of weeks.  I continue to mull over it.

Thus far, I've learned two things that are certain:

1) Enduring is about expanding our capacity ... our capacity to deal with adversity, life's challenges, stress, day to day minutiae - everything.  It deals with how much we can handle.

2) Enduring is about strengthening - being hardened - holding ground on the battle's we've already won.  It deals with how we can hold on to the gains we've made.

Combining these two thoughts, I liken enduring to battle.  We must fight the battles before us ... we must take ground (capacity) and then hold it (strength).  The cycle then continues - we move on to the next battle - confront the next challenge, deal with it, learn from it and hold on to it.  This cycle continues all through our life.

Here are the articles I've been reading, annotating and re-reading again.

Neal A. Maxwell, "“Endure It Well”", Ensign, May 1990, 33
Neal A. Maxwell, "Enduring Well", Ensign, Apr. 1997, 7
Russell M. Nelson, "Endure and Be Lifted Up", Ensign, May 1997, 70
Robert D. Hales, "“Behold, We Count Them Happy Which Endure”", Ensign, May 1998, 75
Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Press On", Ensign, Nov. 2004, 101–4
Emma Petty Addams, "Enduring Well", Ensign, Mar. 2010, 34–37

I've several more articles that I'm reading now too.  Although these deal more specifically with adversity.  But I think the lessons from enduring well and dealing with adversity are the same.

Burdens and Strengths

I've been thinking a lot about burdens and strengths lately. It is not a new principle and I'm sure many can testify to the truthfulness of it.

Here are a couple of scriptures to consider.

Mosiah 24:14-15
14 And I will also ease the aburdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their cafflictions.
15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

Ether 12:27
27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

Personally speaking, I recall going back to school in 2004 to earn an MBA degree while working full time. The first semester was quite rough and I was even placed on academic probation after I pretty muched bombed an Economics final. I wondered if I had bitten off more than I could chew. But I prayed and worked hard. Soon my burdens were eased and I even started to do well in my classes. By the time I entered the final semester, I was even enjoying it and craving the new knowledge.

Also while going to school, we had our last two kids. Erick was born at the end of my first semester and Camille was born in my 2nd to last semester.

I grew considerably those two and a half years.

After MBA school, I felt I could pretty much handle any work assignment. Since school, I've been placed in more difficult assignments. A pattern has developed. I struggle, I endure and then I prosper.

My current work assignment has been no differnt. Only with this assignment, we had to move to Houston and adjust to a new city, a new and longer commute, a new school, a new ward, etc. It was very rough the first few months and especially during summer. The work has not gotten easier, but my ability to meet the challenges has increased significantly.

I guess if I were to sum up the lesson to be found in these two scriptures and my past experience, I'd say, "stick with it and things will get better."

Choices and Direction

Every day we make choices. Many of the choices we make have nothing to do with our spirituality - should we eat mashed potatoes or yams? Should I wear my black shoes or my brown shoes? It really makes no difference when it comes to our eternal salvation.

Other choices do make a difference, however. Should I watch the basketball game or go play outside with my kids? I'm so tired ... should I pray before going to bed or just go to bed and pray in the morning? These may seem small at the time, but they can have greater consequences.

So in all our decision making, we need to make sure our choices push us towards perfection ... towards the standard ... towards the Savior and our Heavenly Father.

Indeed we may miss an evening prayer or reading our scriptures for a day and we can rebound and say our prayers and read our scriptures the next day. But as soon as we become relaxed in the small things, we become more relaxed in the bigger things and we soon find ourselves on the slippery slope. Therefore, the more buffer we can put between ourselves and the edge of the slippery slope, the better off we are. And if at any time we find ourselves an inch closer than we ought to be, then we need to re-distance ourselves and redouble our vigilence.

I am reminded of a little story Elder Packer told several years ago.

"The story is told of a king who was choosing between two drivers for his coach. He ordered each of them to drive his coach down a steep, winding road cut into a high cliff.

"The first driver came down slowly, hugging the wall of the cliff. The second driver demonstrated great talent and ability. He raced down the mountain, with the coach so close at times that half the wheel was off the edge of the cliff.

"The king was very thoughtful, then wisely chose the first man to drive his coach. It is best to stay on the safe side of things." (Boyd K. Packer, “The Word of Wisdom: The Principle and the Promises,” Ensign, May 1996, 17)

So many in the world today "live on the edge" and are confident that they can veer so close yet not fall off. They seek to maximize how far they can "push it" to the edge and not fall off.

We too must maximize, but not to see how close we can come to the edge, but how far we can stay away from it. Interestingly enough, there is an edge or line on one side of the spiritual spectrum while on the opposite side lies a vast eternity of progression. So we really cannot maximize our length from the edge because there is no end. (see D&C 132:20)

Blow by Blow, Brick by Brick

When I was in the MTC, one of my teachers counseled us to strive to have a spritual experience every day. Sometimes the experiences would be big, but many times they would be regular experiences ... such as when we read the scriptures. But the point is to strive to have those spiritual experiences every day.

Later on in my mission, I came accross a quote by Og Mandino. I've kept this quote with me over the years and I've found that it has helped me a lot when trying to focus on a goal. I think the quote can apply to striving to have spiritual experiences every day.

Henceforth, I will consider each day's effort as but one blow of my blade against a mighty oak. The first blow may cause not a tremor in the wood, nor the second, nor the third. Each blow, of itself, may be trifling, and seem of no consequence. Yet from childish swipes the oak will eventually tumble. So it will be with my efforts of today.

I will be liken to the rain drop which washes away the mountain; the ant who devours a tiger; the star which brightens the earth; the slave who builds a pyramid. I will build my castle one brick at a time for I know that small attempts, repeated, will complete any undertaking.

Consistency is the key. If we strive to feel the Spirit every day, then the Spirit will eventually fill our lives and we will be guided more easily to do our Father in Heaven's will. And just as with anything else in life, if we don't practice (whatever we're trying to get better at), then we won't succeed.