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Saturday, October 29, 2011

An Old, (Not In Age {That's Debatable}) Gratefully, Un-Wise Soul. Let Me Explain. I Know, I Always Have To.

 
When I first started writing The Kimmy Files, I can't be sure, but I think I mostly made it clear that I was writing this for whoever could or could not care less about this blog including my own beloved children and dearest husband.  I believe I mentioned I belonged to.... drum roll please....The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Whew, long one, but that is the church's official name.  The nick name, we are more commonly known by is the Mormons.  Yes I belong to that mysterious cult.  (That was sarcastic.)  We aren't a cult.  I don't know Warren Jeffs personally.  (Also sarcastic.)  We don't practice polygamy.  I have, however, met Robin, the newest of the "Sister Wives", a popular reality show on TLC portraying a more mainstream version of polygamy.  She is a delight.  I met her in a local Wal-Mart while they still lived in Lehi, Utah.  I wanted to assure her that while I did not practice her faith, I thought what she and her family were doing was brave and I respected their right to practice their faith freely and disagreed with the city of Lehi Utah's desire to bring legal action against them (As no laws seem to have been broken{Not a lawyer.}).    I also mention this, because I want the general public to be sure that in no way shape or form do they participate in, or condone the horrible, abusive and criminal community that hide behind the facade of religion the men who follow Warren Jeffs participate in.  ...and, a big yes, I have gotten off track.  Big surprise!

(Props to Robin and the rest of the family.  Good luck in Vegas.  I hope everyone is treating you well.  You deserve it.  You are doing a very difficult thing.)

Back to topic.  What was it?  Oh, yes.  Grateful I'm not wise, etc., etc., blah, blah, blah,.

The reason I mention I am Mormon again, is that a wonderful woman, Adriana Tueller, who I admire very much, was able to get a lovely scripture from the Book of Mormon through my head when she taught the women in Relief Society last Sunday.  The Scripture she recited to us was Alma 37:6-7.   I had obviously heard and read the scripture before.  (Okay, possibly only heard, but very possibly read.)  Since obviously, unwise as I am, as simple as it was, simple minded me, just didn't get "It".

Alma 37:6-7 

6:  Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. 

7:  And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.

To say I get "It" now could be, how should I put it, unwise?  But, perhaps I do.  This is after all only my opinion.  Being admittedly, and ever gratefully, unwise, one must undoubtedly form one’s own.  If we were to cross reference this Book of Mormon scripture with a New Testament scripture, (Alright already, I didn't come up with the scripture on my own.  Get over it!) 1 Corinthians 2:14 we may see that the Lord wants us to continue to be teachable.



1 Corinthians 2:14

14:  For the natural man received not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

As that cool DJ what’s His Name in Yo Gabba Gabba might say, "Let's break it down."  What? What?  Sorry, too much Nick Jr. with my granddaughter Zu Zu.

Back on track, I just can't be serious for too long.  It isn't in me.  I apologize for any sacrilege, apparently not enough to edit.

In the scriptures from Alma, I have highlighted phrases including the words:  small and simple, things, means, confounds, wise, brings to pass, salvation, many, and souls.  In the scripture from 1 Corinthians I have highlighted phrases including the words:  natural man, spirit of God, and spiritually discerned.

As I go back and look at these together it becomes very profound to me.  All joking aside, these three seemingly insignificant little verses, in a very real way, define the meaning of life to me, my meaning of life, anyway.  It is truly very, very simple.  We none of us have to be "wise"  "all knowing".  We don't have to be Buddha, Gandhi, or Mother Theresa.  We do need to be kind.  We must be kind.  That is really all I have taught, well what I think is the most important thing I have taught my children anyway.

 My sister-in-law Cindy used to tease me a little.  I think she thought all she ever heard me say to my kids was, "Be nice."  At times, I thought I may have been teaching them to be weak.  Maybe I thought I wasn't teaching them to stand up for themselves.  They are grown now, for the most part.  As I look back, I don't regret it.  It is the single, most important thing I taught them.  We must be kind.  It is simple. Very simple.  So perhaps, in this regard, we should be a little bit Mother Theresa.  Be kind.  That is my meaning of life.  Don't bother asking me how I got that out of the verses I quoted.  I just did.  I didn't say it made sense I get “be kind” out of everything.

Let's go on shall we?  Off track a little, you really aren't surprised are you, especially after the first paragraph?  Come on now!  The rest makes more sense, maybe.  Decide for yourself.  You should know me by now.  No sympathy from me.  You chose to read it.  No one held a gun to your head.

Let me try to explain the truth as I see it, my testimony.    You must find out for yourself.

The natural man as we read in Corinthians is us on our own; without God.   As the natural man we use wisdom we fabricate by ourselves.  That is why perhaps some of the wise men of science don't understand that God is the greatest scientist of all.  I hope, as mankind, we don't really believe we are smarter than the universe, than God.  It is unfathomable to me that in the short amount of time that written history has existed, that we believe we have even scratched the surface of the science of the creator.  May I suggest God is logic, science, if you will; he is all that we have not learned and therefore he certainly does not exclude science.  He is Science.

I am sure our very learned and, I hope, teachable scientists, who by their own admissions are in the infant stages of understanding our vast universe, are surely humble enough to include God in science.   It seems to me, the gratefully unwise, a simple conclusion, that we simply won't understand the simple logic of his science until we meet him.  While we are here on earth we have to rely on God for spiritual truth, discerning.  We have to trust him, have faith in him.  We can't, we mustn't, rely on the natural man.  We simply don't know enough.  We are infants ourselves.  We must rely on God.

Life was not meant to be fair or just.  We don't know why bad things happen to good people.  That is why Christ came.  He didn't just atone for sins, he atoned for pain, suffering, heartache, dying, everything hard. Everything.  If we try to understand, to comprehend, “why me, why them, why that child, why that family, why that race, why that religion, they were so good?”  Why?  Why?  Why?  We cannot and must not spend all our time wondering;  it is too much.  It is just too much.  We could not do what we are sent here to do.  That is to learn, to love, to be kind, to become better; to try, as futile as it may be, to become more like him.  That is why it is simple.  We trust.  We have faith.  We hope.  We pray.  We are kind.  That is why simple is hard.  That is why I am grateful I am not wise.   We will understand when we meet him. 

If we open ourselves to hope with the desire to desire help or hope from our Heavenly Father, he is there to give it.  It does not matter what peril we have put ourselves in.  You can start with faith much, much smaller than a mustard seed.  For that matter, faith isn't even necessary.  Hope is enough.  Remember, the Lord said faith the size of a mustard seed moves mountains.  I don't personally know a single soul with that kind of faith.  The first sentence of this paragraph was a little strange perhaps, “the desire to desire.”   A person may not know if they even want help or religion, whatever you want to call it.  Maybe they don't know if there is a god, a savior, whatever.  What if a person doesn't even know if they want to know?   ...A desire to desire to desire to know if they want to know, it can be infinite.  That is enough.  The answers will come.  Don't just be open minded, be openhearted. 

…about prayer.   I heard something wonderful once, “There have only been two prayers ever offered.  One was thanks, the other was help."  Enough said.

This is my testimony, many things I have written here are opinion, what I write now is not.  What I write now I know, whether you believe it or not is up to you.  Jesus is The Christ, he atoned for the world, there is a living prophet, there is prophecy on the earth today, faith, hope and charity are key, families are forever and for that, I am eternally grateful.  We must be kind.  This is all that matters.

If this seems self-indulgent, I make no apology, as I said before this is for my children and my husband mostly.   ...and maybe for myself.

Until next time....

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