Here’s some things that have been on my mind recently:

How imperative is revelation? Parley P. Pratt, in his Key to the Science of Theology” states:

The key to the science of theology is the key of divine revelation.  Without this key, no man, no assemblage of men, ever did or ever will know the Eternal Father or Jesus Christ.

That’s a bold statement.  Revelation, then, is the absolute, fundamental requirement to ascertain knowledge of God the Father and His Son.  And of what value is such knowledge?

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent” (John 17:3).

Here we find Apostolic witness and testimony that revelation – the key to knowledge of God and Jesus Christ – is the absolute, essential requirement for eternal life.  Without the key of revelation, the knowledge of God is lost (observe the creeds of Christendom to note the lost key of revelation and thus the lost knowledge of God).

If we – if I – am to obtain eternal life, then the only means by which that may occur is through revelation, for that is the only means by which I can come to know the Eternal Father, and Jesus Christ – the very definition of eternal life.

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Lachoneus, the Chief Governor and Prophet of the Nephite people, just before the government is entirely overthrown by the Gadianton robbers prior to Christ’s death, exhorts his people to faithfulness with much diligence insomuch that they do repent en masse:

As the Lord liveth, except ye repent of all your iniquities, and cry unto the Lord, ye will in nowise be delivered. . . And so great and marvelous were the words and prophecies of Lachoneus that . . . they did exert themselves in their might” (emphasis added, 3 Nephi 3:16).

Do we – or, rather, do I – exert myself in my might?  Or am I content to put forth only a half-hearted (or less, worse yet) attempt?  Faithful reader, search the Holy scriptures for “in their might” and consider well – do you serve the Lord in your might?  I know I have sore need of improvement.

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Even the Saints must needs be careful.  Near the demise of the Nephite nation, prior to the Lord’s death, Mormon records that it was the “High Priests” along with the lawyers principally responsible for murder and the government’s collapse (3 Nephi 6: 21, 27).  How so?  Because of the very antithesis of sacred Temple covenants as described in verse 28.  This was not some unknowing mistake – it was flagrant rebellion despite knowledge of truth (verse 18).  Lest we – nay, I – consider myself secure, I must needs be ever mindful and reliant on the Lord.

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How is it that the people “could [not] disbelieve” the words of Nephi, the Prophet (3 Nephi 7:18)?  The scripture indicates that so great was his faith on Christ, that even angels did minister unto him daily.  But how does his faith directly influence others inasmuch that they could not disbelieve?  The only conclusion I’ve drawn thus far is that of example.  Alma tells his son Corianton that because of his actions – his example – the Zoramites would not believe his words (Alma 39: 11).

How powerful is personal example!  Wicked example can lead to disbelief in Christ, irrespective of others’ faith and testimony.  Conversely, righteous example can lead to believe – yay, to the exclusion of disbelief! – in Christ.  Though, notably, individuals may nonetheless exercise agency contrary to such knowledge, example can be so powerful, so strong, and so convincing, that it “were not possible to disbelieve.”

I’m down at my folks house in Saratoga Springs. I’m not sure exactly how many munchkins there are running around, but I bet my grandparents feel every jostle, scream, and noise! Hehe. Dinner was nice. I’m not looking forward to the drive back home, though, given the near-whiteout conditions – maybe it will clear up some before we leave.

What I wanted to highlight, though, is the cotton candy machine my parents have. I’ve not used it since I was a kid, before my mission. I saw it in their cupboard today and just had to have one… so I did. I introduced Cinderalla to the wonders of cotton candy. Doodle didn’t want to try it – poor boy doesn’t know what he’s missing. Mrs. Smith, grandma, and others enjoyed it, though. As did I.

Remember when the Lord warned folks throughout the scriptures that if they chose iniquity they would be cursed such that their riches would become slippery – that they would not longer be able to hold onto them?

Are we there?  If we rephrased that from “slippery riches” to decimated savings accounts, wiped out pension plans, staggering foreclosures, depressed economy, destroyed Wall Street, or other similar terms – do we now recognize the Lord’s involvement in our lives when we, as a people, turn from Him?

In Helaman 13 Mormon records some of Samuel the Lamanite’s prophesying: “Yea, behold, the anger of the Lord is already kindled against you; behold, he hath cursed the land because of your iniquity.

“And behold, the time cometh [and is here!] that he curseth your riches, that they become slippery, that ye cannot hold them; and in the days of your poverty ye cannot retain them” (verses 30-31).

Mormon then records how the people will lament and cry out, “O that we had remembered the Lord our God in the day he gave us our riches, and then they would not have become slippery that we should lose them; for behold, our riches are gone from us” (v. 33).

“Yea, we have hid up our treasures [tax shelters, CDs, mutual funds, and other investments wherein one's riches are hidden, not readily accessible], and they have slipped away from us, because of the curse of the land” (v. 35).

Again, why does this happen?  Because the people choose iniquity over righteousness.  They choose momentary pleasure and ease instead of lasting worth.  In fact, Samuel tells the people specifically why the land has been cursed in verse 38: “. . . for ye have sought all the days of your lives for that which ye could not obtain; and ye have sought for happiness in doing iniquity, which thing is contrary to the nature of that righteousness which is in our great and Eternal Head” (emphasis added).

Seems crystal clear to me why a land, or people, are cursed when iniquity is chosen.  One cannot choose to do evil and find happiness; the two are, by their very nature, incompatible.  Wickedness will never bring happiness – only sorrow, heartache, and misery.  While righteousness will always bring happiness.

“Why will ye die?”  (Jeremiah 27: 13; Ezekiel 18:31; 33: 11; Jacob 6: 6; Helaman 7:17).

I’m sure Mrs. Smith is happy. I’ve upgraded our WordPress installation to a newer release, so she can enjoy all the features she’s wanted.

I don’t know that it will change appearance for the casual reader; but for those that have additional access (authors, editors, et al) you’ll notice changes throughout the back-end. Happy blogging!

In Helaman 10, Mormon records the Lord’s dealings with the Prophet Nephi and the people in general.  Mormon records Nephi’s righteousness and how he has sought the Lord’s will and to keep His commandments at all times, irrespective of what personal danger or discomfort it may impose.  And, because of this [Nephi's unwearyingness], the Lord gives Nephi tremendous spiritual blessings, including the sealing power.  This particular entry from Mormon has always caught my attention in past readings because of Nephi’s faithfulness and the evidence of why he was given the sealing power.  The Lord makes very clear why Nephi was so richly blessed – and, by extension, how each of us can be equally blessed when we’re equally obedient, faithful, and committed.

Something else caught my eye this time, though, in a way I’d not considered previously.  Specifically, the last part of verse 5: “… behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will” (emphasis added).

I’ve always read that as a sweet affirmation of the Lord, that Nephi had proven himself sufficiently, through prior trials, that he would do whatsoever the Lord commanded him (which is, afterall, the express purpose for which we’ve come to mortality – D&C 84:44).  I still think that’s an appropriate and a correct reading of the verse.  After all, in many other revelations the Lord has declared similarly, that each individual must prove worthy (not because we are capable alone, without the grace of Christ- but rather, that we’re willing to persevere with faith in Christ despite our weaknesses) and that, once we’ve done so, we qualify for blessings beyond comprehension (i.e. calling and election, visions of eternities, second Comforter, et cetera).

This time I understood it to be a dual-purpose statement: (1) an affirmation of prior performance, and (2) a commandment.  The Lord did both simultaneosuly – isn’t He clever?  He commanded Nephi that he should “not ask that which is contrary to [God's] will” and concurrently bolstered Nephi’s faith that He was supremely, yea divinely confident that His power, especially the sealing power, would not be abused.

It’s a wise and loving (and clever!) parent that can command a child not to do something and at the same time provide confidence, assurance, and encouragement to that same child that (s)he is trusted with immeasurable power.

So a few months back I read something in the book of Mosiah, in the Book of Mormon, which has stuck with me and I think of from time to time.  It takes place shortly after Alma (the Elder, a Nephite Prophet), leads a few hundred souls away from the wicked King Noah’s clutches.  Alma refuses the people’s voice desirous that he should be their King, continuing instead “merely” as the High Priest.

Alma also admonishes the people that it’s not good to have a King because of the great wickedness a King may cause the people to commit (unless it could be guaranteed the King would always be righteous, which is never the King when not dealing with God as the King).  Alma has some great words on the subject: “I desire that ye should stand fast in that liberty wherewith ye have been made free, and that ye trust no man to be a king over you” (Mosiah 23:13).  Alma exhorts them to many things pertaining to their freedom, all of which I commend to the reader and which is something worthy of considerable discussion in its own right.  But that’s not the part I wanted to discuss tonight.

Reading along farther, starting in verse 25, the Lamanite army, lost after seeking Limhi’s people, stumbles across Alma and his followers in their city of Helam.  Naturally, the Nephites fled from the adjoining fields into the relative safety of the city.  Mormon records that they were “much afrightened” because of the Lamanites (verse 26).

With faith in an omnipotent God at his side, Alma boldly exhorts them “that they should not be frightened, but that they should remember the Lord their God and he would deliver them” (verse 27, emphasis added).  How did the people respond?  This is the part I love – for some reason I still don’t understand yet it speaks to my soul:

“Therefore, they hushed their fears, and began to cry unto the Lord” (verse 28, emphasis added).  The citizens responded with equal boldness and faith in their Lord, and Priesthood leader, that He would in fact preserve them if they but excercised sufficient faith.  And, as always, the Lord responded according to their faith and their lives were spared.

I think the lesson is equally applicable in our lives.  Although I don’t live in a war zone (and I recognize many Saints around the world do!), I can likewise hush my fears and exercise faith in the Lord’s (a) capacity, (b) desire, and (c) willingness to bless my life.  Whether it’s fears about being a poor father, inadequacies in my calling, temperment, love toward others, et cetera, I can likewise “hush” my fears and trust the Lord to step in with His grace.

OK, so it’s not likely a huge eye opener for anyone -nor, really, for me- but there’s something about the way it’s documented, perhaps even the poetry of the statement to “hush” one’s fears (and I’m not into poetry!), something just makes me tingle.

So, it’s been some time now since I’ve written.  Alas, fear not my faithful reader – I mean, readers! – I am still here.  In fact, I think I’ve resolved to use this blog as an opportunity to record insights I get during the day about whatever, though I expect much of it may be spiritual in nature.  The Lord’s Prophets repeatedly counsel that we should keep a journal.  Moreover, as pertains to revelation, we should record thoughts, impressions, and insights as they occur: (a) so we’ll remember them, (b) so we can refer to them later when “a” no longer applies; (c) it shows the Lord that we think it important, which (d) prepares us to receive additional insigh and revelation.

So, I will attempt to do that more as I come across things and, hopefully, document some prior things.  They’ll generally be categorized as ‘spiritual’ for easy reference, though there may be other occasional categories included.

Happy reading.

What a great couple of days it’s been.  Mrs. Smith already hilighted how great yesterday was, so I’ll mention today only.  First off, the kids woke up happy.  Wahoo!  Yesterday when the kids got up, they decided they wanted some yogurt (oh, important plot element – Mrs. Smith and I were still in bed and though awake, barely, we {poorly?} elected to remain in bed) and proceeded to eat five yogurt containers… on top of the space heater in the front room… leaving the unfinished containers on it where small Eagle hands greedily found them and promptly consumed them… or attempted to, but most of it was found dripping onto the rug, down the sides of the heater, and matter into his hair (which never smelled fruitier!).

So, this morning, instead, Doodle was very clear to tell me that he wanted some yogurt, but that he was only going to get one yogurt (which he repeated about 100 times as I’m groggily enjoying my Saturday morning, bless his big heart).  Having been urged thus by my children to awaken, I got up, took Eagle with me, and left Mrs. Smith to slumber on peacefully, which she did for some time (yay!).  We had some cereal and good times in the morning.

Later in the afternoon we went to Sugarhouse park with the Tolleys, friends that live nearby, and went sledding – wahoo!  I’ve not been sledding in a long time and, believe it or not interested reader, I’ve never been sledding with my kids before!  Ever.  Thought we had some near misses and collisions amongst ourselves, and from other enthusiastic children, we managed to come back home sans injury, but with big smiles, appetites, and somewhat cranky kids (they were hungry and tired, after all).  We fed them some old, moldy, crusty bread (well, it wasn’t old anyway) and sent them off to take naps.

Of course, they didn’t take naps, but they did remain mostly quiet upstairs which is as good as it gets without direct divine intervention.  Doodle came down eventually, “stealthily” snitched some crackers and retreated back upstairs.  He came down a bit after and again “quietly” grabbed some more, presumably for his directing sister (or possibly his grumbly tummy).

Afterwards we had a great dinner (thanks Mrs. Smith) and then decided that since the kids watched Prince Caspian last night, it would be OK if they watched The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe tonight.  Both Cinderalla and Doodle had to go give Mrs. Smith a big hug, kiss, and tell her “Mom, you’re the best – I’ll love you forever” which they gleefully and anxiously did! 

So we popped a couple tons of popcorn (OK, I admit it, I exaggerate at times – it was only one ton), turned on the projector, cranked up the surround sound, and immersed ourselves in the magical world of C. S. Lewis’ creation (with only occasional interruption for Eagle’s crying and kids’ potty breaks).

A little playtime afterwards, and sprinkled throughout the day, a bedtime story, comments of “You’re the best, dad” and “Dad, I love you” of course made this a glorious, happy day for the Smith family.

Don’t you wish you were a Smith, too?

Check out the blue widget on the side.  Mrs. Smith and I (together with the youth from our Ward) attended the celebration, “A Brand New Year” at the Conference Center.  It was awesome, and I’m pleased to include it for your perusal.

This morning poor Doodle woke up sick.  Bummer.  Not sure what’s wrong – he doesn’t have a fever, hasn’t vomited, and doesn’t complain about any specific pains.  But he’s assuredly not his usual “chipper,” energetic 3yr-old.  He woke up a couple times during the night and needed assistance (as he stood at the top of the stairs crying/screaming – at least the second time he followed my admonition and came downstairs to get me).  He, Eagle, and Mrs. Smith stayed home from Church today as a result, as well as Mrs. Smith’s grandmother’s house, who was going to watch the kiddies while we attended “Music and the Spoken Word.”

So, I went downtown to attend the musical Christmas broadcast at the Conference Center.  We took the youth of our ward down there.  I’m not sure if they all enjoyed it, but hey – they went… that’s more than I can say I likely wouild’ve done had our roles been reversed!  This was the Choir’s annual Christmas broadcast, so the Conference Center was ‘dolled up’ with festive decorations.  Surprisingly, President Monson attended the broadcast, too, so that was neat for the kids to get to see him (even if from a distance).  Some great music, I thought.  The concluding song was the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s Messiah which was, of course, spectacular.  President Monson, et al, stood up for that (which, according to Mrs. Smith, is “the way it’s supposed to be done ever since King so-and-so stood up for it when first played for him back in Handel’s day” – I’d never heard that before… any truth to it, readers?).

I picked up Cinderalla and headed to Church, which was a great outpouring of the Lord’s Spirit on His Saints (lots of capital letters in that sentence, goodness!).

Grrrr, the chilluns just came downstairs.  They’ve been thumping around up there for nearly an hour, which I don’t usually mind so long as they stay upstairs.  However, they haven’t.  Grrrr.  I won’t likely conclude the remainder of the day’s activities now, so suffice it to say it’s been a good day.  Too bad Doodle and Mrs. Smith are sick.