Dramatis persona*

helenhead Helen Chick

I've always wanted a bumper sticker that said "I'm a female, LDS/Mormon, Scout leading, geocaching, piano-playing, bicycling, mathematics educator with a PhD in maths ... and I VOTE"!

I think this makes me a minority group of cardinality 1!

* Since there's only one of me and "personae" is plural (I think), I've gone with dramatis persona.
March 2024
S M T W T F S
« Jan    
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31  

Visitor counter

Visits since May 2016

Recent visitors

[RST] Fog (and Moods of the Mountain #83)

[It has been a while since the last “Relief Society Thoughts” message (the occasional homily-thingies that I write for the women at Church) and this one kind of explains why. It also incorporates a bonus Moods of the Mountain photo plus a recycled one, because they fit.]

For a number of reasons my last 18 months or so have felt particularly foggy*. There have been a few challenges, work has been demanding, there have been some occasional doubts, my brain has been a tad bemused and befuddled, my memory has had its dodgy moments, I have been aware of my shortcomings, and my faith and patience have been a little tested at times. In many respects this is probably just business as usual … and yet it HAS felt somewhat foggier than normal.

It has been rather too easy to wonder why, and to feel lost and alone.

And then I thought about Lehi’s vision of the tree of life (1 Nephi chapter 8). The vision tells of fruit that was oh-so-desirable to eat, and a path to the tree that bore the fruit; and some people realised what was on offer and set out to reach it. However, with the goal in sight, the mists of darkness fell. The mists didn’t care that these people had made good choices, had good intentions, were on the right path, and were worthy of blessings. No, the mists fell anyway, obscuring the view of the path and the tree, and surrounding the righteous in a miasma that put them at risk of becoming lost. Of course, we know the rest of the story: those who held to the iron rod, and continued onward DESPITE the mists, reached the tree and the blessings of its fruit.

b130523mistfrombalcony

As suggested by this vision, the Lord does not promise us that there won’t be mists and fogs and darkness and doubts in our lives. Moreover, the coming of mists may not be determined by our levels of righteousness. We will all experience uncertainty, challenges, trials, and confusion; we knew this would be a consequence of coming to earth. Not only are mists part of mortality, the Lord doesn’t even promise us that, having passed through challenges and come to the light and the fruit, the mists won’t fall again.

What He DOES promise, though, is that the fruit WILL be there if we but hold to the iron rod, and press forward with steadfastness. He promises us that our weaknesses can be made strong (Ether 12:27). He invites us to come unto Him and learn of Him; He reminds us that He is the way, the truth and the life; and He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. He understands the mists of darkness, but invites us to press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope. This hope may sometimes be dimmed by the mists, but if, as President Uchtdorf suggests, we doubt our doubts before we doubt our faith, and endure with trust in God even in uncertainty, then the mists WILL part, today or maybe tomorrow, but eventually. When they do, glory and light and blessings will fill us to overflowing, and, ultimately, eternal life is the promised fruit.

bmm161101

Please have faith when you are beset by the fog, hold to that which is good and move forward, and also be a light and a beacon to those who seek.

* I’m okay, by the way

The full “Moods of the Mountain” collection is here (the first photo is an old “Moods of the Mountain” shot, but the second is new).

Note: The Relief Society Thoughts posts are reprints of little mini-sermon/parable/homily-thingies that I’ve been writing for the women in my Relief Society group at Church. I write them when inspiration strikes and email them out as well as posting them to our Facebook page. I thought I’d add them to my blog as well. You can find others by clicking on the “Relief Society Thoughts” category label, in the grey box at the end of this post, and the most recent of the thoughts should have a list of all the posts by title at the end. Previous posts are:

Burdens and blessings (Mar 2015)
Some things we can’t do alone
(Jan 2015)
New Year’s resolutions and fireworks
(Dec 2014)
Faith, Hope and Charity at Christmas
(Dec 2014)
Charity and hebe
(Oct 2014)
Getting our priorities straight: Mary, Martha and us
(Sep 2014)
The stinging nettles in my garden
(Aug 2014)
The black Sunday shoes
(Jul 2014)
An unspectacular sunset
(Jul 2014)
On not doing ALL the things
(Jun 2014)
Gulp! I didn’t see that coming (Mar 2014, which sort of explains the job of “Relief Society President”)

Leave a Reply

 

 

 

You can use these HTML tags

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>