Less Lost, More Found

Continuing with the theme of getting lost in Indiana, I thought I would share a few more pictures of the adventures we have been having here. 

To start, there is this "Cancer Survivors Park" which continues to capture my interest. I wonder if there is a "Cancer Killed Park" somewhere, or something equivalent. When I think about being a "cancer survivor" I also think about those who have not survived. The park is honestly a little dilapidated. And while life is not the same as it was before--I am grateful for those reminders that life is a gift.

Recently walking back from my work at the Neuroscience center I ran into a gentleman who was going to visit a friend in the Eskenazi hospital. As we were talking he brought up the subject of God and we talked about that. One thing he told me he did not understand is why he lived, and did so well, when others have not lived.  I also learned the man he was going to visit had lost both an arm and a leg in the war, and had recently tried to commit suicide for about the 10th time.  While my own experience was different. I was grateful to know the source of peace, and guidance for why we live, and what God expects of us.

But, this was just a small part of the city, there was much more!

Saving the Worms or Saving the Birds?

I love the rain!  These last few weeks we have been getting a lot of rain (comparatively, Utah is a pretty dry state).  With the extra rain, there have been a lot of worms on the sidewalks.  With the extra moisture I guess it is a good time to travel; but sadly, many of them are not able to find a spot of earth before the rain stops.  The sun comes out quickly, everything is soon dry, and the worms become cooked to the sidewalk.  Not only is this very gross, but I do also have some sympathy for the worms.  In walking to the temple yesterday morning I decided maybe I could give a little charity, and save a few worms.  I did this by picking up the worms which were still moving and throwing them into the grass.  It was good at first, but very quickly it became strenuous.  It was not fun to keep bending over, and I felt gross after touching each worm.  I felt torn about leaving the worms to suffer, or alleviating my own pain.  Even though the worms were small and mostly insignificant it was difficult for me to rationalize a good reason to let them die, but I did not suffer long as I soon found a reason to stop.  I was saved later when I saw a bird tearing up a worm that was too big for it to eat all at once.  I rationalized that by saving worms I was really killing birds, I was taking away their breakfast.  In order to work for the greater good, I have stopped saving worms in order to save birds.

It struck me this morning how much this is really like the experience of many of those who fall away from the church.  It starts with joy and gladness, but as it becomes difficult it is easy to find excuses.  Unlike saving worms, the gospel is something which is good for both the worms and the birds—metaphorically speaking.  And the consequences of leaving it are more than just a gross looking sidewalk and dead worms.

♫ ♪ Getting To Know You ♪ ♫

I talked in an earlier post about how often here at the MTC I am able to reconnect with friends and acquaintances.  Another blessing of serving here is the new people I am able to meet and the new friends I am able to make.  I do feel very blessed as I have met so many different people.  One thing I have found interesting is how much my perception of people change as I get to know them better.  It often is not until we get to know each other that our personalities come out and we learn more truly the character of the person.  In the same way, I have noticed how much this applies when talking about the Gospel and Jesus Christ.  We cannot truly know how good it is until we are able to try it for ourselves.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer of the World, a perfect being.  But yet, Isaiah describes him like this;

“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” -Isaiah 53: 3-5

Christ being the epitome of good was certainly not recognized as being such.  These verses cause me to ponder very much, “How is it that the people could have rejected Jesus Christ?  With the miracles He performed and with the good He was able to do, how could people reject Him?”  After all, He healed all the sick and afflicted who came to Him, He walked on water, and He raised the dead.  Jesus Christ was certainly one person who was misunderstood.    Maybe a little more unsettling is Isaiah’s prophecy that “all we like sheep have gone astray.”  How can we be sure we are following Christ, how can we know we have accepted Him?  It is these last questions which I wish to answer now.

Pearls found in 1 Nephi during scripture study

At a meeting a few months ago President Allen, a leader in our mission, used an analogy of “pearls” to talk about little pieces of wisdom or insight in the scriptures.

I came across such a pearl this morning during my studies.  I was watching the BYU scripture discussions online this morning as they discussed in the beginning of the Book of Mormon the story of how Nephi and his brothers were able to obtain the brass plates.  The plates were important because they had the scriptures on them.  Having those enabled them to teach their posterity in the future the commandments gospel of Jesus Christ which is necessary for us to find real happiness and joy in life. which would bless and help them in their lives.  In the Book of Mormon we read Nephi and His brothers have trouble getting the plates from a wicked man name Laban.  They try many different things, but in the end Nephi is led by the Spirit, and finds Laban drunk and passed out.  Nephi, as led by the spirit, kills Laban, and is then able to obtain the plates.  We know God commanded Nephi to do, as it was the only way for them to get the plates; but it still makes me wonder why Laban was killed.