Climbing to a Glorious Day

Fear clutched my mind and heart. I couldn't imagine going up, and I didn't believe I could go down. I really had gotten myself into a predicament. I had chosen to go to the ropes course with my girlfriend, and even though my efforts to act brave before the actual climbing kept my mind at ease, I knew climbing to the top of the 50 foot wooden behemoth of a tower was out of the question. In my mind it wasn't possible. Previous to the climbing I had set a goal to get to a platform about 10 feet from the top, but as I clutched the hand holds on the diagonally rising wooden beam my feeble goal seemed out of reach. Defeated I climbed down to a lower platform halfway between the ground and my goal I looked at my girlfriend with vanquished eyes. All I saw in her face was encouragement and hope. How could I let a pretty face like that down? A new strength surged within me. Maybe I could climb higher. A thought, or maybe a seed of faith? With this new strength I started up the wooden beam again. I learned from my last attempt that looking down is not a good idea because it made me even more scared. I looked forward with resolve. "Just keep looking forward," the thought resounded in my mind. I climbed higher one hand hold at a time and got stuck in the same place partly out of fear, and partly out of not knowing where to put my feet to go higher. "Where is a foot hold!?" I yelled down.
"Put your left foot where your right foot is, and put your left foot on the foot hold a little higher up!" They yelled back. They were right, but it was easier said than done. With much more mental effort than physical I carefully did as they suggested and hoisted myself higher. With shouts of encouragement from my girlfriend, and the perspective of moving forward I continued on until I reached my goal. I sat exhausted on the small platform with my legs hanging off the edge. I stood heavy, but relieved breaths. I had done it! "You're almost there," shouted my girlfriend, "just a little bit farther." She was right. I only had 10 feet to go to reach the top of the tower. I might be able to do that. I had already come this far, why not go the extra mile (or in this case 10 feet). Putting the foot of faith forward I climbed the rope ladder that lead to the top. As I stood on the top of the tower I looked around amazed not by the stunning view, but by the incredible feat I had just accomplished. Accomplished is a good word because that is how I felt. Never had I been this high, and I overcame a previous fear. Not only was my self-esteem boosted, but the lessons I learned through the experience are priceless, and applicable. This was a glorious day in the life of Jeffrey Beck. I challenge you to have glorious days.

Talk on faith that I gave last Sunday

One of my favorite childhood games to play was Jenga. Jenga is a simple game where you start by setting up a tall stack of wooden blocks. Players take turns by first removing blocks from the stack and then placing that block on the top of the stack while trying to avoid knocking it over. I can be pretty competitive at this game. One of my favorite strategies is to take away the blocks around the bottom first making the stack structurally weak from the beginning forcing the other players to be especially careful from the beginning.

When the foundation of the stack of wooden blocks is weak the entire structure is weak. World-views and belief systems are the same way. A person's set of beliefs often begin with a few foundational assumptions or paradigms about the world by which they begin to stack other beliefs on top of those beliefs. The best way to cause another person to loose confidence in their beliefs is to remove or weaken those foundational assumptions or beliefs.

If we were to take all of the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and stack them on top of each other like the wooden blocks of jenga, what would be our foundational assumptions and beliefs? One of our foundational principles is our belief in agency, because if we have no agency, then the plan of salvation would be completely pointless. The stack would crumble if we did not have agency at the bottom. Another core principle is faith. Without faith there is no repentance, without repentance there is no baptism and no Holy Ghost and no eternal life and so on. According to Joseph Smith "faith is the first principle in revealed religion and the foundation of all righteousness".

It seems that one of Satan's best strategies against religion would be to attack or confuse the principle of faith.
What are some of the ways that Satan attacks this principle?

In the ancient world in the Book of Mormon, a man who was anti-christ named Korihor sought to destroy the beliefs of the followers of Christ. We learn from the record in Alma chapter 30 that he had much success. He led many believers away from Christ because he attacked their foundational beliefs concerning faith. He said, "Ye cannot know of things which ye do not see; therefore ye cannot know that there shall be a Christ."

In the modern world we hear similar attacks on faith. Bertrand Russell said, "We only speak of faith when we wish to substitute emotion for evidence." Another public intellectual Richard Dawkins has also said, "faith is merely belief without evidence; a process of active non-thinking which is not subject to peer review."

Attacks from the philosophies of men, from both the ancient and modern times try to redefine faith as something that believers cling to without any evidence. "Your faith is a crutch" they would say. If our faith was the way that they define it then they would be right. But our faith is not like they define it.

This is why it is important for those with faith to understand it clearly and define our faith to the world before enemies of religion define it for us. Understanding faith and defining it properly will help us build the foundation of our testimony and knowledge of the truths of the gospel that build upon this foundation.

So what is the accurate definition of faith?

The apostle Paul defined faith as "the substance(later clarified by Joseph Smith as assurance) of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." and Alma declared that faith is not a perfect knowledge; rather, if we have faith, we “hope for things which are not seen [but] are true”

This definition of faith contrasts with the definition of faith given by those who are against religion. Their definition says that having faith is accepting something without evidence or assurance, however, the true definition is that faith “is the assurance we have of the existence of unseen things.

An example of faith is found in Alma 58:11 where the armies of Helaman are at war with the Lamanites. Helaman said, "Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and did cause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him."

The faith of Helaman's army was based on evidence only it was the kind of evidence that they could not see. They could not see that they would be delivered from death in war, for those events had not happened yet. But they had assurances such as the peace that they felt which gave them hope and strengthened their faith.

We have assurances that if we repent, we will be forgiven. We have assurances that Christ lives and that he has atoned for our sins even though we cannot see these things. When we bear our testimonies we proclaim that through faith, we know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that he was visited by God and Jesus Christ and restored the Gospel. We cannot see these things with our eyes but we can experience that they are true through faith.

In the church we believe in science and reason, and in faith. Whereas those who would attack religion limit themselves to only science and reason. Therefore, those with faith can see things that vindicate our faith that are practically invisible to those who deny faith.

In a 2000 BYU a devotional address, Richard N. Williams said something that was really profound to me, he said,

" The truth of the gospel rests on the occurrence of certain events. There was a Man, Jesus, or there was not; He overcame the whole of sin and darkness in the garden or He did not; the tomb was empty or it was not.

The truth of events is not confirmed by reason or science but by witnesses. Because of the restoration of the true gospel, we are blessed with an abundance of witnesses. This is why the apostolic authority of special witnesses and the restoration of the gifts of the Spirit are essential to the true church. Scriptures also witness of these things, and we Latter-day Saints have an embarrassment of riches where scripture is concerned. In this context, faith is not what we cling to when we do not know truth, faith is the knowledge of truth nourished by good acts. It is strengthened by witnesses capable of penetrating our very souls and culminates in the palpable fruits of sure and certain experience.
Faith is not a placeholder for knowledge or what we cling to in its absence. faith is substance, it is evidence--the evidence Alma talked about; the evidence God gives us by many witnesses; the evidence we give to each other; and what we evidence in our own lives. It is not the substitute for things hoped for but their very substance.

D&C 93:1

This verse has always been meaningful to me. Those who follow these steps will see Christ.
(Organizational numbers added)

"VERILY, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who

1. forsaketh his sins
2. and cometh unto me,
3. and calleth on my name,
4. and obeyeth my voice,
5. and keepeth my commandments,

* shall see my face and know that I am;"

(1-5) are the conditions
(*) is the promise

How does one forsake his sins?
• Through faith in the Atonement
• Repentance
• Seeking virtuous things(Article of Faith 13) to replace the unvirtuous things in our life

How does one come unto Christ?
• Studying his words
• Consistently striving to become like him

How does one call on Christ's name?
• Deep and thoughtful prayer

How do we obey Christ's voice?
• Obtain his voice through revelation
• Follow those feelings and thoughts consistently

How do we keep Christ's commandments?
• Learn the commandments through reading the scriptures to understand what they are
• Set goals to internalize the most personally difficult commandments


I will add to this list later...

Being Blind

Here's an entry in my note journal that I thought I would share from March 1st.

Scripture Study while @ work

Today, I've been reading in Matthew learning more about the Savior's life and ministry while he was on this earth. I've been reading for about 2 hours now, in between calls at work, yet nothing I've read today impacted me as strongly as this short miracle that Jesus performs for two blind men.

Matthew 20:32-34

^30. And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.

^31. And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.

^32. And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you?

^33. They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.

^34. So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him

Comparing this to other miracles that I had recently read about, (like Christ raising the dead) it seems odd, that this one stood out to me so strongly. The verses of 30 and 31 of this chapter, painted the scene so clearly: Two blind men sitting by the road, Jesus Christ and his followers passing by, the two men cry out, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David!", Christ's followers "rebuked them" ( Rebuke: to express sharp, stern disapproval of; reprove; reprimand. -Dicitonary.com ), Yet, "Jesus stood still, and answered them."

I can't help but wonder about those two blind men. Who were they? How long had they been blind? Where were their families? What kind of hardships had they been through?

What did Jesus Christ see in them that others did not see?

What does Christ see in me?

(While typing this I noticed that it was Christ's followers that chastised the blind men for calling out to Christ, while weren't they themselves blind to the worth of these two men? I think, in a way, we are all blind, and, in contrast, it is Christ who is the one who can see all things.)

I am so grateful for my Savior. His compassion becomes more and more clear to me as I read of his life in Matthew. His compassion and mercy is my hope and security. I know he lives and I will follow him. I hope that as I follow Christ, I will not be blind as his followers were, but learn to see the value of everyone and everything.

-Tessa Dior

A Bible, a Bible, we have a Bible

Over time, interpretations are added to doctrines that make them lose their true value and meaning. The jews added their interpretations to the law which prevented them from accepting the new law when Christ came. Similarly, Christianity interpreted the scriptures in a way that was incompatible with new revelation.

Holding on to beliefs and traditions is part of human nature which has been of great benefit to humanity. However it can also have the negative effect of maintaining incorrect traditions and false interpretations of scripture. It can make us closed off to new learning that may come from revelation and/or science.

One of the great benefits of science is that it can challenge our interpretations and assumptions that we have wrapped around pure doctrine. Those who reject good science from a religious standpoint may sometimes be like those who say that they already have a bible and need no more bible. Those with strong testimony and faith should not fear new knowledge even if it doesn't reach us through theological channels first.

It's the Little Things

I was having kind of a rough night tonight and some bad memories were bouncing around my mind. That horrible overwhelming tidal wave of emotion was creeping ever so slowly towards my sanity and I knew I couldn't hold the tears in any longer.

When I was down and feeling as low as I could be, my mom talked to me. And that helped a little. I got some good advice and got some things off my chest.

And then my mom said we had got heart-attacked. (This is when hearts are plastered all over your front door in an expression of love.) On the door step was a little bag of candy for me with Happy Valentines Day! written all over it. I'm not sure who it was from, but I think it was my relief society presidency.

And then my friend told me that I was so cool on Facebook. I mean, how could that possibly help, right? But it did. It made me warm all the way to my toes.

I love the Heavenly Father sends us friends and family to help us. Even when we don't necessarily ask for it.

Mediocre Turkeys

"Remember the Turkeys who learned to fly, and then walked home." -a quote from James C. Christensen's journal.

In this quote, I relate myself to those turkeys at the times in my life, when I become comfortable in a state of mediocrity. Mediocre in this sense meaning: of only ordinary or moderate quality; neither good nor bad; barely adequate. (dictionary.com)

I've been taught, since youth, that as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, that we were never meant to let ourselves settle to be anything less than our very best. In fact, we are expected to reach beyond what the world expects of us, and become a better people.

"Men cannot really long rest content with mediocrity once they see excellence is within their reach."

-Thomas S. Monson

In a New Era article, by Sterling W. Sill in 1976, this assistant to the Council of the Twelve went as far as to compare mediocrity to a trap. A means of the devil for the purpose to capture, defeat, confound, or ensnare. The following is the concluding paragraph from that message.

"Each of us is a child of God, formed in God’s image and endowed with his attributes, heir to his kingdom, with an understanding of our own eternal potentialities. There is everything in knowing our origin and destiny and in constantly reaffirming them in our lives. We are the offspring of divinity. We have inherited the creator’s wisdom and power. We should cling to our inheritance. We should think of ourselves as children of omnipotence. We should never let the thought escape us, even for a moment. We should keep our feet out of the traps, and we should never let evil destroy this inspiring picture of ourselves."

When we settle into that false sense of security of mediocrity, it may seem as if you are at a neutral stand. You may think you are neither moving more towards God, or towards Satan, but in reality you are moving towards something worse. You become indifferent, and when you are indifferent, nothing can help you except yourself. You literally become your worst enemy.

I attended a class by Sister Wilcken in August of 2008, which was titled, The Enemy Within. This class really inspired me to snap out of my state of mediocrity and work, really work towards the better future. I remember a quote from Sister Holland that she shared with us,

"Our worst enemy is ourselves. If we are constantly fighting internal fears, then we won't have energy for the ones that come from the outside."

When I first heard that quote about the turkeys who learned to fly and then walked home, I thought it was pretty funny, but the more I thought about it, the more serious I realized it was. I realized that I'm often a turkey. I have been given this gospel ever since I can first remember, a doctrine that is meant to help me find that eternal potential and reach a divine and holy state. And what a gift it is! Going back to Sister Wilcken's words,

"If you reject a gift, you reject the giver of the gift. Would you reject your God? For he has given you everything."

I suppose the purpose of my sharing this with you, is to encourage you to remember your God- and not be a turkey.