Walk with Trust Letters from the Highlands-November 2009 By Anne Perry I am just back home again after nearly a month away. I am still waking up in the middle of the night and wondering where I am, and if it is the time I think it is. Usually right about where – and wrong about the time. But I enjoyed myself enormously, met a lot of friends, and also new, interesting people, and I think I accomplished a lot of work, creating possible projects for the future. Now I am back to – so far – a very mild winter, sunshine and very little wind. Although from the weather forecasts, it is very wild and wet in the south. I dare say we will get it eventually, but for now I am looking out at blue sky and sea, and knowing from the fading light that it is not so very far from the shortest day in the year. It is Sunday, and I was able to go to church for the first time since I returned home. We are in our own building! At last! It is not a church built as such, it is a bank turned into a meeting place for us – but it is ours to use. It is dedicated, and available to no one else, so we can have events there any time we want – branch meetings and services, anything we would like. And it is so much warmer than the old hall where we met, only a month ago. The chairs are all comfortable and we have sufficient rooms to have Relief Society, Priesthood, Young Men and Primary all separately. (We have no Young Women in the branch at present). We have waited decades for this – and it is total luxury. The Sunday School lesson was an interesting mix of practical and spiritual counsel on preparedness. The practical we have fairly regularly: getting rid of debt, store cupboard etc., although perhaps taking better care of health would be good! The spiritual emphasis was a little different. How prepared are we to stand on our own testimonies, should we need to, without the support of others? That is rather harder to judge. It seems to be natural to share our feelings, both the positive and the negative – when we are hurt, afraid, grieving or full of self doubt; it is instinctive to most of us to seek guidance, or simply comfort from someone else whom we know shares our beliefs. We all have better times and worse ones. We seek to ‘bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light’. But how much do we share? Sometimes not enough, not allowing someone else to see our weaknesses, or being too proud to admit we need anybody else. But regrettably, we can allow our testimony to rest on someone else’s faith. If they waver, then we do too. If they let us down we feel betrayed, and can slip away from the Church. How many people fall away because a parent does, or a husband or wife, or even a bishop? How many leave in anger because a leader turns out to be less than perfect? Perhaps far less than we believed of them – setting them a higher standard than our own. But our covenant is with God, not with the bishop or stake president, or even the prophet. Our faith is in the laws and promises of God, not the virtue of human beings. The restored gospel is the good news, the revelation in which we hope, not the people here and there of the Church. If someone lets us down, is less far along the road than we had supposed, that is not a reason to turn and retrace our own steps into anger and disbelief. And it seems to be that if we once leave, in retaliation against some kind of hurt or disappointment, it gets harder and harder to return. Excuses arise, embarrassment takes over, more and more is lost. Difficulties will come, and can be surmounted. Each one overcome will create a new strength, a new resource of the spirit, not only for ourselves, but to share with someone else who may be temporarily in the shadow. In Sacrament the talks were given by different members of one family, and all based on the subject of revelation. As so often happens, they tied in perfectly. There are different types of revelation: for the world, for a particular group, and for the individual. We are all entitled to the last of these, if we make ourselves so. Very seldom indeed does God force us to listen to him. The instances we know of are extraordinary, and no one would wish to earn that distinction of being so far out of line, in a time of desperate importance, that angels will bar the way, or strike us down. Balaam – Laman and Lemuel – or perhaps even Saul on his way to Damascus, although that turned out well quite quickly. For some, revelation can be dramatic, a sudden burning of certainty too intense, too wonderful to be questioned – a great light where there had been darkness, even, on rare occasions, a voice – a still, very small, very clear one which speaks unforgettable, undeniable truth. Most often it is just a strong feeling of being right, or an urge to do something, speak to someone, be in a certain place. If we listen to that and obey it, afterwards we see why it was so. Someone needed us, a danger was avoided, a mystery was solved and it all made sense. I believe that if we ignore those promptings, then gradually they will fade away and be harder to recognize. On the other hand, if we obey them they will become stronger and more frequent. We will learn to trust them and act with confidence. We were not placed here and left alone without a lifeline to help, comfort, enlightenment beyond that of our own ability or the deductions of our intelligence, great as they can be at times. In what may we seek help and expect to receive it? Almost anything: difficulties, like the endurance of pain or grief, temporary confusion, disappointment so deep it can be all but crippling. The Holy Ghost is not called the Comforter without reason. If we seek it, slowly understanding can come, and healing, the growing of trust. No one who has experienced such things says it is easy, but the knowledge, and I mean knowledge as a thing far more certain than a hope or trust, the awareness of a presence that will never leave us, can buoy us up no matter how deep the water, or how rough the storm. Then there is the seeking after knowledge. It will not be given to us simply because we ask. We have ample evidence for that, and even the message in the plainest of words, as told to Oliver Cowdery, when he thought he would translate the Book of Mormon simply by asking for the words to be given him. There is great wisdom in that. What we obtain without cost we may seldom value. If all we had to do is hold out our hands in order to be given, sacred knowledge could be possessed by anyone, taken lightly, misused to our condemnation. Earned step by step, sought for with prayer and study, received with reverence, it can carry us to that time and place where our understanding is sublime, our trust so great we cannot be kept out of the presence of God, as was the case with the brother of Jared, and we know not how many others. If we need the answer to a particular question, we can study it out in our own minds, read the appropriate scripture, or any others that come to mind, clear our hearts of anger, vanity, guilt, the desire to be superior to others, or to prove some point. We can then be prepared to listen. The answer may not be what we expect, or come in the way we foresee. It is even possible it may not come soon. Perhaps we need greater understanding of other things before we are able to know the answer we seek, even when we hear it. We need spiritual wisdom as well as intellectual. A wise parent will not give matches to a child who does not understand and respect the dangers of fire. One does not try to explain the theory of relativity to someone who has no basic idea of mathematics. Precept upon precept – grace by grace. Perhaps love is the greatest power in the universe, but wisdom is close behind, then courage and honour, patience – they will together be steadfast in faith. Each new understanding will strengthen what we have already – little bits of light all growing towards a perfect day. Pray, think deeply and with humility, study, ask – and listen. As each answer comes, accept it and do as it directs, and the next one will be more powerful. If in any doubt as to the source of the knowledge, test it against what we know of Christ. Is it born of love? Does it uplift or tear down? Is it of light or of darkness? Is there anger in it, vengeance – or mercy consistent with honour? Does it build or destroy? Does it carry you closer to God, or farther from Him? You will know the answer – you will know your Father’s voice. In the meantime, walk with trust. No Comments | Post or read comments |