Blog of the Bao-‘dad' Tree

Posting this so I can refer to it later.  Reference is here, or for the full PDF of the book, here.  Number 4 stings me the most.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell, then a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, suggested the following reasons leaders sometimes fail to delegate:

“1. We would really rather do it ourselves.
“2. We are not really willing to use our time and talents in order to train others so they can help.
“3. We dislike asking others to help, forgetting that receiving help is as much a part of the gospel as giving help.
“4. We like to feel a bit harried because it gives us a false sense of being noble.
“5. We say we are concerned about ‘quality control’ if the task is delegated, and sometimes there is good reason for the concern; other times, however, we actually worry not about tasks being done poorly, but too well.”

Elder Maxwell advised: “The sense we may have at times of being devoured by duty . . . is at least partially avoidable. . . . We could, if we chose more often, delegate, thus developing others, including our children, more and, finally, thereby reducing unnecessary burdens on ourselves” (Wherefore Ye Must Press Forward [1977], 99–100).

Would love to hear your comments about the diagram below.

Lord, help me do something today that will have made a difference 100 years from now.

For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. (2 Nephi 2:11)

If I want to get stronger, I need to go to the gym and lift weights.  Not just lift weights, but push myself to lift more than my muscles are used to lifting, to the point of exhaustion.  When strength training, what rep really matters the most?  The last one.  All the previous ones only served to wear your muscles down to the point of fatigue and exhaustion.  Then when your will makes your body keep going despite that, somehow your body gets programmed: I'm going to make these muscles stronger!

I am learning that these same principles of athletic training apply to spiritual growth as well.  How am I going to develop patience unless I am given situations when nothing I can do will make things immediately better?  How can I strengthen my faith in God unless I pray and do the best I can despite the temptation to feel overwhelmed and discouraged?  How can I come to love as God does, unless I forgive others, and bear with them in their shortcomings; as they do for me?

I could go on.  But these insights help me to acknowledge God's hand not just in the blessings and good things of life, but also in the trials and difficulties.  I know that God is my Father in Heaven, and that He loves me with a tenderness and care that far surpasses even my love and care for my own children.  He is not mean, indifferent, or distant.  Rather He feels our heartache, and cries with us our tears, and carries us when we have no strength.  Why does He not fix the problem, or remove the pain, you ask?  I can only suppose for the same reason why I do not solve all my children's problems, or give them everything they want; and why I make them do their chores and their homework before they play.  I have been where they are, and I know where they need to go in order to be happy and successful in life.

In this month's issue of the Ensign magazine, President Uchtdorf states, "The teachings of our Heavenly Father are not the ordinary, predictable, run-of-the-mill kind you can pick up in paperback at the local bookstore" (Ensign, March 2012, "Why Do We Need Prophets?").  I have often wondered why it is so much harder to read the scriptures than to read a popular novel.  Surely if God had so desired, He could have had the scriptures written in a more engaging format.

As if it wasn't hard enough, we have the writings of the prophet Isaiah, which are filled with obscure references to ancient cities and leaders; and where God often refers to Himself in the third person.  I never thought I would ever understand Isaiah, much less appreciate or even memorize his words.  It must be a sign that I am getting old because - for some reason - over the last several years Isaiah has started to "click" for me.

There are many articles about how to better understand Isaiah.  Here are the things I've done that I think have made a difference for me.

1. I have "stuck with it."  I haven't given up.  I have continued to read Isaiah's words, not only out of determination and obedience but because little by little I have found a verse here or a phrase there that has stuck in my mind and heart.  So I guess you could say that if you stick with Isaiah, he will gradually stick to you.
2. I bought a book to help me understand Isaiah. (The one I bought was Isaiah: Prophet, Seer, Poet by Victor Ludlow.)  I don't necessarily think you need to buy a book to understand Isaiah, but it helped me understand the historical references enough to not be distracted by them.
3. I stopped trying to understand Isaiah in a linear fashion, and started to read him as poetry.  I hesitate to call Isaiah's words poetry, for they are much more than that.  As one called to speak for God, I suppose you could consider Isaiah as God's poetry - sonnets to His children - at times to warn, at times to comfort, but always to teach and inspire.
4. Paul said that "the natural man receiveth not the things... of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."  On days when I am more of a "natural man," I would rather read a magazine or surf the internet than spend time in the scriptures.  But at some point when I was ready, the Holy Ghost touched my heart as I was reading Isaiah chapter 53, and I now regard it as one of the greatest chapters in all of holy writ.  I thought about quoting some of it here, but for those interested I would prefer that you open your Bible in a quiet place and savor it for yourself.

Was Jesus really bruised for my iniquities?  Am I really healed by the stripes he received as He was viciously flogged?  How long have I hid my face from Him, and esteemed Him not?  These things indeed seem to be foolish and irrelevant until we ask, seek, and knock; and they are opened unto us.

Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour. (Isaiah 45:15)

And he has hidden Himself in the words of Isaiah.

Here is a link to a word search that includes all words in the 13th article of faith.  Or, here are some words from the 13th article of faith to unscramble.  There's also a crossword puzzle.  When you're done, try to find your way through this maze!

Found some needle ice in our yard the other day.  Amazing!  I had never seen this phenomenon before.

When I was 10 or 11 years old, I remember a Sunday School lesson on "the Plan of Salvation."  It was the first time I saw a visual representation of this unique doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It looked something like this:

Although I encourage you to take the time to study this doctrine more carefully from official sources, the basic idea is that before we were born, we lived with our Heavenly Father as His spirit children.  He presented a plan to us, whereby we would have the opportunity to gain a body and to progress and become more like Him.  It involved being born – forgetting our Father and our life together with Him – and experience the challenges and joys of mortality, and make choices for ourselves in a realm outside of the powerful influence of our good and perfect Father.  After death, our spirits would go to a "spirit world," to await a judgment of our choices and desires relative to the knowledge and opportunities we had in life.  This judgment would determine which of three kingdoms we would enter for eternity: the celestial, terrestrial, or telestial.  Not shown above, but illustrated in the lesson I remember, was that the celestial kingdom was portrayed as a sun; the terrestrial, a moon; and the telestial as stars.  There was also a destination called "outer darkness," where only the worst of the worst would go.

This plan was very intriguing to my 10-year old mind.  In fact, as I have learned more about its intricacies over the years since, it has only become more so.  It is much more than just a simplistic heaven or hell, but an intelligent and fair explanation for who we are, why we are here, and what happens after death.  If this is the first time you are hearing about these ideas, I'm not sure what your reaction is, but my initial reaction was one of wonder and amazement.  I believe that the Holy Ghost gave my young heart a testimony of the truth and goodness of this doctrine, and I have never come across any theology that equals the beauty and simplicity of it.

If there is a flaw in this diagram, it is that is glosses over the central role of Jesus Christ in making this plan possible.  You see, in allowing us to come to an environment away from Himself where we would be subject to both good and evil influences, God knew we would make mistakes and wrong choices.  He knew that we had to have this freedom – or agency as it is called – to choose for ourselves or we would not be able to develop our character and become more like He is.  The problem is, that even one wrong act would render us imperfect and unworthy to return to the holy presence of God.  So our Heavenly Father sent His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to be born just like we were, to experience the trials and vicissitudes of mortality just like us, to suffer temptation like we do, but never to yeild to it, always honoring His Father.  When the time came, "the Lord ... laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6), whereby "God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also" (Alma 42:15).

Jesus explained what we must do to receive His grace and the gift of forgiveness:

      And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end.
      Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.(3 Nephi 27:19-20)

This is the gospel, the "good sound."  This is what I believe, and looking back I can see how God has been re-teaching me some of the many things I once knew when I sat at His knee.

I believe that there are "tricks" to success in life.  By "tricks," I mean secrets—but they're not really secrets, they're just ways of doing things that yeild the greatest effect for the effort put forth.

What I want most for my children is for them to understand the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, and come to know that God is their literal Heavenly Father and feel His profound love and care for them.  Modern-day prophets urge us to teach our children the gospel in weekly family home evenings.

As a trained educator, I used to feel that in order for teaching to be effective, children had to behave, sit still, and listen while I presented a well-prepared lesson on a gospel topic.  This would be great if it were always possible, but as parents inevitably come to know, most children don't/can't sit still and listen very long unless they're interested in a TV show or a video game.

Today I helped my eight-year old son prepare a lesson on "how to know that the Book of Mormon is true."  (The idea for this topic came to me yesterday as I was reading this article out of the Friend magazine to my daughter yesterday.)  I read with him from the Introduction of the Book of Mormon that there are basically three steps: 1) read the Book of Mormon, 2) ponder its message, and 3) ask God in faith if it is true. “Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. (See Moroni 10:3–5).”

We wrote the three steps on word strips and had other members of the family stick them up on a board when they identified the step.  I wrote a basic outline of the lesson on an index card for my son to follow so he could be in charge of the lesson himself. He did a great job.

In reflecting on this afterwards, I realized that children learn much better and more thoroughly when they are actively engaged and when basic principles are presented clearly and simply with periodic revisiting and repetition, rather than by trying to get them to sit still, listen, and give me the answers I'm looking for while I present my elaborately prepared lesson.

There.  That's the "trick" I learned today.  I don't mean that we shouldn't or don't need to prepare lessons, but perhaps we should prepare differently, with a focus on learners learning, rather than teachers teaching.

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. (Alma 37:6).

Inner peace is really what we are all looking for.  Everything else is, in the words of the soothsayer, "a cup that can never be filled."

Inner peace and power come from knowing who we are, a theme also present in the Lion King.  We come to know who we are as we 1) accept our past, 2) feel we are loved, and 3) choose who we will be.  Actually, I wish it were this simple.  But, in fact, I believe we come to know who we are by revelation.  It is a spiritual journey.  It cannot be forced, any more than you can force a seed to sprout and flower.  (But you can plant the seed, and nurture and protect it.)  It was such for Po in this movie.

And this is a weird one.  As I looked at the menacing wolves at the beginning of the film, bustling about in the foundry making cannons, I thought, What could sustain someone in such a dark and evil life?  What sustains any of us?  If we are more than just physical beings, then we need more than just physical nourishment.  Some pine away in a life of addiction, feasting on pleasures and escapes that increasingly do not last.  Some draw continual strength from prayer, fasting, the Word of God, and losing themselves in service to others.  Most of us lie somewhere in between these extremes, struggling each day to make our choice.  But I believe our power to choose is greatly affected by what we feed on, whether it be dreams and plans of comfort and security; schemes of lust and power; or entering into covenants with God, and walking in His ways.