Wow! Today was a crazy, busy day. Mike made crepes in the morning. We decorated Easter Eggs. Maysen loves to decorate eggs and we haven't done it for years! I always hated boiling the eggs. Well, now the Instant Pot makes it so easy. This is the last time Maysen will be home before Easter, so we decided to do it today. The kids had great fun. I'm glad we did this.
Maysen, Stockton, Jorja, Mike, Preston
Maysen, Stockton, Jorja
Finished!
My kids are so creative. I think these are all Stockton's.
I spent the morning preparing for my primary lesson. After we finished the eggs, I hurried to choir practice, we were singing in sacrament meeting. I also gave a talk today. I'm tired. Luckily Mike took Maysen back to Logan for me. I wasn't up to the drive, especially since I need to get up at 4:15 tomorrow and today was daylight savings! Anyway, my talk went really well. Afterwords the Bishop shook my hand and said, "Wonderful talk. Your delivery, the things you said, everything was great. I want you to know I agree with everything you said." He was shaking my hand this entire time, but for some reason I was a bit worried where he was leading. I said, "But?...." He laughed and said, "No 'but', it was great." Whew! I was a little nervous for a bit. I actually had my entire talk written, which I don't usually do. I read parts, like the story of the blind man my dad told at my Aunt Sue's funeral. I can't write like he does! When it came to the personal stories, I didn't use my notes, so it might not be word for word. I do wish I had copies of some of my other talks, especially the one on the sacrament. Our Bishop in Georgia was very big on giving talks without notes, so that is what I did back there. Anyway, I write my kids talks on here, so it is only fair I put this one here too. Who knows, I might want to look back and read it someday. The cool beggar story is word for word by my dad from my Aunt Sue's funeral. The Sabbath day traditions in Christ's time I got from The Mortal Messiah by Bruce R. McConkie. Anyway, here it is.....
There once was a beggar in one of the narrow streets of Jerusalem. He had been blind from his birth. As Jesus approached, he lifted up his cup in hopes of receiving a coin. Jesus knelt down beside him and the beggar again lifted his cup, waiting for the tinkle of the coin in his cup. Instead Jesus spits in the dirt. Over and over again he spit in the dirt until he has a handful of mud. He then takes the mud and rubs it in the beggar's eyes. I'm sure the beggar was startled. He asks for a coin and he gets mud in the eyes. Then he hears a gentle voice say: "Go, wash your eyes in the pool of Siloam." From all appearances, he had every right to be angry. Mud smeared in his eyes. Why should he have to go and wash it off? He didn't put it there. It took quite an effort for this beggar to leave his post and feel his way to the pool of Siloam. He could have refused. He could have cursed this stranger for this insult, for this abuse, for this slap in the face with a fist full of mud. But he didn't. Instead, the record says, he did as he was told, he was humbly obedient, and it says he came back seeing. (John 9:1-7) He asks for a coin, he receives his vision.
All of us are beggars with tin cups before the Lord. In our blindness, we pray for coins. If we can just hear the tinkle of the coin in our cups we'll be happy. But the Lord sometimes seemingly ignores our prayers and pleadings. Instead, the Lord spits on the ground and he rubs mud in our face. We are offended. We asked for a coin and is this any way to answer? Then the gentle voice, without apology, says: "Go, wash your eyes in the pool Siloam." But we don't want to. It takes a great effort to obey this command, and why should we, anyway, when we have been treated so unfairly? But, if we are humble, we will be obedient. And if we are obedient, we will come back seeing.
A person with mud in his face may say that he is through with God. "Look what I get for my efforts," he says. "I want coins, I get mud." And so, in his pride, he may ignore the simple commands of the Lord, and in so doing, remains forever blind.
I was blessed to be raised by a master teacher. One who was able to make the scriptures come alive and relatable to my own life. This story of the blind man is my favorite of all of my father's teachings. I think about it often. I think about it when I ask for my coins. I think about it when mud has been smeared in my eyes. But mostly, I think about how this story relates to the principle of obedience.
A few weeks ago I was asked to share my thoughts on the Sabbath day. Naturally I have been thinking a lot about different teachings from my father. When Christ was on the earth, Sabbath day observance was strictly enforced. With the punishment being death. The problem was the Sabbath day was no longer enforced by God's laws, but it was enforced using the laws of man.
For example:
- You could not set a broken bone because no healing was to be done. A plaster might be worn if it was to prevent the wound from getting worse, but not to heal it.
- You could not light a fire to cook with because that was too much like work.
- You could not put out a fire if it was burning down your house because again, work.
- You could eat an egg that was laid by your chicken if it was your only chicken and was not used for laying but for fattening. Then it would be like a pet dropped something. If you had ore than one chicken it would be like you were in the poultry business and all your eggs would need to be thrown away.
- You could not tie shoes because that takes two hands, but you could untie them because that takes only one.
- You could spit on the road or rocks, but you could not spit on dirt because that would be watering the ground and something might grow.
- You could not walk through a garden or field because seeds might fall to the ground and that would be planting.
- You could not visit a synagogue in a neighboring tow because you were only allowed to travel 2,000 cubits from your property. But, you could tie a rope between houses so all the houses would be considered part of your property. Or, on Friday you could put food for two meals 2,000 cubits away and declare that part of your dwelling, then you could go 2,000 cubits farther.
- You could not write two letters because that might make a word. You could not write a letter on a corner of each wall or on two leaves of a writing tablet, because they might be read together. You could write in sand or dust because the writing wouldn't remain. You could write if your hand was turned upside down. You could write with your foot, or your mouth, or your elbow.
- If you threw an object in the air and caught it with the same hand that was a sin. If you caught it with the other hand, that was debatable. If you caught it in your mouth and ate it that was okay because the object no longer existed. ----On and on with these rules.
It is quite obvious to all of us in this room that these were man-made laws. Christ really irritated the Pharisees by breaking these laws. He walked through fields with his disciples and plucked corn. He healed on the Sabbath and even asked a man he healed to take up his bed. That was forbidden. You were not allowed to carry anything heavier than a fig. The blind man I talked about earlier was healed on the Sabbath. Not only that, but Christ spit in the dirt to make the clay to rub in the poor man's eyes. We need to be careful to not be like the Pharisees and have the Sabbath day ruled by lists of dos and don'ts.
I now struggle with my memory. It is quite maddening. When I think back to my time in Young Womens I have a few memories. I remember that I adored the Young Womens president. I remember that I was not liked by the girls in my ward, that was made abundantly clear on several occasions. I only remember one lesson. It was the Sunday before the AP tests and I had three AP classes. I was scared, stressed and overwhelmed. I brought flashcards to class and was quietly looking at them in the back of the classroom. The class was being substituted by the Young Women president's husband, who happened to be a member of the bishopric. He noticed what I was doing and called me out on it. Granted, I should to have been studying during class and i would be extremely annoyed with my girls if they did that to me. Luckily I have only taught angels, so I didn't have to worry about that. Anyway, this bishopric member announced to everyone that I was breaking the Sabbath. I was kind of confused because I thought he had every right to admonish me for studying in class,s but I thought breaking the Sabbath was a stretch. He then asked me questions about my date the night before until he found out I came home after midnight. Again, he announced to everyone that I had broken the Sabbath because I was out too late the night before. I don't remember everything he said to me, but I do remember that I left that classroom in tears and completely humiliated. How sad that this is my main memory of my class experience in Young Womens. At church our job is to teach and to guide, not to belittle and condemn.
Our family moved from Georgia several years ago. While we were there we talked a lot about keeping the Sabbath day holy. We were living in an area where we had different values than the people around us. It was common for birthday parties to be held on Sunday. Shortly after we moved here, Jorja invited Audrey to church with us. She must have been 8 or 9 years old at the time. As we were walking home that Sunday, Audrey asked if she could come over and play. I automatically responded with, "Oh sweetie, Sunday is our family day, but you are welcome to come over another day." Audrey just smiled and I watched her skip away. I stood there stunned. I thought, "This precious child just spent three hours of her free time at church with us. She has no brothers or sisters to play with at home and I told her she couldn't come over?" I felt like I was a Pharisee. I was following a to-do list for Sunday activities, to pausing to find out what Heavenly Father would want me to do. I decided then and there that as far as Audrey was concerned, she would be considered a part of our family on the Sabbath day.
My favorite story of keeping the Sabbath day holy was told to me by my dad's cousin, Chris. My dad was very close to his cousins growing up, despite them living in California and not being members of the church. Chris was extremely involved in competitive soccer. One year they had a really good team and Chris was sure they would win the championship. Their best player happened to be LDS. She did not play on Sunday. Christ was aware of our customs and allowed her to miss the Sunday games. When the brackets for the biggest tournament of the year were posted, Chris realized the play-in game for the championship was going to be on Sunday. Chris was 100% convinced they would lose without their star player. He was also 100% convinced they would win if she did play. Before this Sunday game Chris talked to her. He said, "I want you to ask your parents if you can play in Sundays game. If you are willing to do this for me, I will go to your church with you for three months." Chris laughed as he told this to me and said, "I don't know where those words came from, they just came out of my mouth!" The girl played. They won. They won the championship. Chris went to church every Sunday for three months, and even wore a tie.
I love the gospel. One of the things I love most about this gospel is everything is individualized. You take the sacrament as an individual, you get baptized as an individual. It makes sense that keeping the Sabbath day holy is an individual responsibility. What Heavenly Father requires of me might be different than what he requires of you. Not everything in this world is black and white. Steve Young, a well known football player, struggled with his decision to play football on Sunday. Much good has come with him as an ambassador for the church. I believe that Heavenly Father is pleased with physicians who give their time to care for the physically wounded, because illness and injury sure don't worry about the Sabbath day. I remember Brother Gordon Kimball saying to me once that the members of the church use Sabbath day observance and the principle of modesty more to judge other members than to show their devotion to Christ. We need to be kind. We need to be humble and prayerfully ponder and ask Heavenly Father what we can do to best show him our devotion, love and thankfulness on the Sabbath day; then have the courage to follow through with our inspiration.
I love this quote by Neal A. Maxwell.
The submission of one's will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God's altar. The many other things we "give" are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us. However, when you and I finally submit ourselves, by letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God's will, then we re really giving something to Him! It is the only possession which is truly ours to give.
