I have a son who is an extremely talented musician and songwriter. The other day, he told me that he was writing a song and looking up a bunch of vocabulary that was new to him to come up with the lyrics.
I asked him to share some of the words he had come across, and I knew most of them, but there was one I didn’t know—velleity.
How have I not known this word?!? It is a fantastic word and well worth looking up! Totally relates to my next blogpost. :)
This is one of my favorite verses in all of scripture, and so it’s a little surprising to me that I have never noticed that there is a revision of this verse in the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible, but the subtle differences have been both a blessing to me this morning and an echo of things that I have felt in my heart recently, so I’m dropping a quick post to share.
Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities. (Psalm 141:5)
When the righteous smite me with the word of the LORD, it is a kindness; and when they reprove me, it shall be an excellent oil, and shall not destroy my faith; for yet my prayer shall also be for them. I delight not in their calamities. (JST 141:5)
P.S.—I think that there is a lot of significance in the fact that the “breaking of one’s head” has something to do with the “destruction of faith,” and that that also relates to the Adversary’s ability to “bruise our heel” and to our ability to “crush his head.” Things to think about. :)
I think that this blogpost will be just a slight interruption to my thoughts on the kingdom of God.
My blog might have seemed to be a little depressing to some people as of late. It is true that my life has been unbelievably difficult recently. However, my life has been filled with some of the most incredible experiences, too, and, for that, I am inexpressibly grateful.
This morning, I woke up with this scripture on my mind:
Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven. (D&C 121:45)
I couldn’t get the “dews from heaven” part out of my waking thoughts—probably because of the miserable weather we’ve been having recently. Yesterday, we had humidity at almost 100%, the dew point was at 81 degrees, and the heat index was over 120 degrees! And there have been similar days several times this summer. Step outside, and you start sweating bullets. Even the evenings provide little relief. I’m writing this at almost 4 AM, and the humidity is at 84%, the dew point is 75 degrees, and the heat index is 87 degrees. The day ahead is slated to be worse than yesterday.
But as miserable as these conditions might seem, they are really good for producing dew, if dew is what you are after.
Some people think that being in the presence of God is an enjoyable thing, and it can be, but I am here to tell you that it is not—not for most people. If it were, why would our confidence need to “wax strong?”
In what conditions would it be the most difficult to let our “bowels…be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith?” What does it mean to “let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly,” and in what conditions might it be difficult for us to do that? These are important questions, because it is only when we do these things that our confidence waxes strong, and how can you have confidence in the most difficult circumstances if you do not do these things in the most difficult circumstances?
If you not only want the “doctrine of the priesthood [to] distill upon thy soul as the dew from heaven,” but you also want that dew to distill as quickly as possible, you should expect (and even ask) God to bring about the intense circumstances in your life that are precisely calculated to do just that.
Discovering and then maintaining Christ-like character in challenging situations is key. If you are able to keep your soul “cool” in the hottest, most humid, and most miserable conditions, the dew will naturally condense.
I’m not sure if this will be a series of posts or not. I just felt impressed to drop a few questions on this topic, and maybe it will spur others to ponder further.
What is a kingdom?
Ok, I’ll provide Noah Webster’s answer on this one:
The territory or country subject to a king; an undivided territory under the dominion of a king or a monarch.
So, when the scriptures talk about the “kingdom of God,” what are they talking about, and in what contexts? Are there different “kingdoms” over which God has dominion? If there are, do they relate to each other? If so, how? How can the “kingdom of God” be inside of us? How is the “kingdom of God” brought about here on earth? How is the “kingdom of God” like the many things to which it is compared in the scriptures? How does it increase?