This morning I ran into a friend of mine who has become the new bishop in a neighboring ward. I asked him how the calling was going, and if he found it any harder. He told me that our Stake President told him that he was to "delegate everything". Anything that he could delegate he was to do, and to do nothing of himself in terms of obligation--that his top prioriety was to make himself available to the Ward Members and their needs, concerns, counsel and be able to minister to them at any time. He said "The calling's really very simple. You just have to ALWAYS stay worthy."
This struck me. So often I've had callings that I can do. Even as a missionary I've often done the work, rather than letting God in... this has been something I've needed to repent of time and time again.
I was humbled by this friend's observations. I thought it a poignant question, Do you need the Spirit?
Strange how it is so quick I forget to include God in the fulfilling of my own callings... on a microscopic level, in every aspect of my life, I find the Nephite cycle of pride creeping into me, turning me away from God's will to my own, puffing me up to think I am he who can do it, when what needs be done is seldom what I think up to be clever... but what God already knows.
So whaddya say? Do you need the Spirit? In what ways could the Spirit be more useful in your life, were you more worthy? What needs to change? Sometimes I think worthy young men allow worldly influences (anything from porn to becoming a workaholic) into their lives because they don't depend upon the Spirit for guidance. They simply don't see a need--they don't value virtue or crave worthiness, sure it's nice, but it's also boring--they don't need the Lord in their lives nearly as much as they should--and so they seek personal fulfillment, because they are capable, to a limited degree. We all preach free will and that we are to be actively engaged in a worthy cause, but how easy it is to turn our focus away from the light of the Lord, that we be a light unto ourselves.
Me, personally, I've made Helaman Chapter 12 a favorite chapter, hoping that I won't succumb to the darker side of my nature that I am all too familiar with and all too willing to embrace.
I am grateful to be a part of a church that demands the complete abandonment of sin--despite the steep climb it has and will be for me, I am so greatful for these afflictions which humble me, and set me back to seek the Lord. It has made all the difference in the world.
--Ray
-- Edited by rayb at 13:12, 2007-02-17
__________________
I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
That's actually been a topic that's been on my mind for the past year. It's not even really regarding my calling. My calling right now is as a ward missionary, and in teaching new member discussions I rely mostly on the Spirit, and the lessons always teach me as much, if not more, than the new members are learning (I get the whole preparation process too).
However, in school, my classes are getting progressively harder, so hard that I pretty much eat, sleep, and study, and I'm only taking 12 units! I do have some fun as well, no worries. But I'm having trouble learning so much at once. However, as Elder Oaks said in a CES Fireside last semester "The Holy Ghost knows Thermodynamics" (which happens to be one of the classes I'm taking). In fact, that phrase has been in my mind a lot. I used to just be able to study and understand everything, but now I have books, problems, and teachers who aren't as easy to understand as I've been lucky enough to have all my life (well, it's been happening since I came to college, so I've been slipping through). But I realize now that I really need to learn what I'm learning because I've taken some of the higher-level classes, and I can see where learning what I'm learning now could have helped me with those classes that didn't even have these prerequisites. But alone, I can't do it. In fact, the other day as I was doing my thermodynamics homework, I was about to give up in frustration (even with the solution manual...we hadn't actually gone over how to read the graphs in class and the teacher thought we had...he fixed that though), when I remembered that the Holy Ghost knows thermodynamics. The homework assignment still took about 7.5 hours to do 12 problems, and it took a lot of reading and analyzing and trying to understand, but after praying for the Spirit's help in learning, it was no longer frustrating, and when the teacher went over what he thought the TA had gone over, it all made sense and all of the holes were filled in.
The trouble for me is remembering. I need to remember that the Spirit will help me, and that hard work plus the Spirit is way more beneficial than hard work without the Spirit. I'm going to remember that this week while I'm taking my 3 tests and turning in my 4 long homework assignments.
__________________
Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.
— Oscar Wilde
Good luck this week glumirk... prayers are headed your way from here.
M
__________________
no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing... the truth of God will go forth till it has penetrated every website, sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done
Glum: I'm glad you remember to pray, I wonder how often you thank God that things are hard enough that you're reminded to do something you know you should be doing all along? :)
Btw, when I got into that situation in schoo, I found one of the best thing that helped me was to do the homework with a group of close friends in the classes. Just having each other explain basic concepts helped enormously. I also had a friend who's dad was the department head of the College of Engineering and taught many of the classes I would be taking. Getting help is a tough challenge in and of itself, but ask yourself, if you get out into the workforce, where do you expect to find help? There's nothing wrong with asking around if you consider that that's what you're expected to do when you get to work... in fact they get quite annoyed when you don't ask for help and end up screwing things up...
--Ray
__________________
I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
Good luck in your studies Glumirk. I know that without the spirit and prayer, I would have had a really difficult time in college. I prayed about every test and project that I can remember and studied hard. I figured if I did my part and left it in the Lord's hands then it would work out. It always did.
Luckily I have a very good work group, which is something I have lacked until this semester. I know what a difference it makes. And the best part is that on Saturday we went straight from studying dynamics, to going to the hospital so that the guys could give a blessing, to make the drive for our ward temple trip. Much better than the drunk groups I'd had bad luck with in the past.
Anyway, thanks for the support guys! It turns out I needed the Spirit for much more than just my schoolwork this week, and it sure helped a lot.
Sometimes it amazes me when I think about prayer and the scriptures and the Spirit, and how they are all so simple, but are really some of the greatest blessings we have been given, if we just utilize them to their full extent. I feel like I am learning more about how to really use them every day, and I have a feeling that will just continue my whole life long and I look forward to it.
__________________
Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.
— Oscar Wilde
Now some might think that I would be self deceiving... BUT
I don't know how we could survive without the Spirit.
Without it, there would be no reason to live.
__________________
no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing... the truth of God will go forth till it has penetrated every website, sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done
Mahonri wrote: Now some might think that I would be self deceiving... BUT
I don't know how we could survive without the Spirit.
Without it, there would be no reason to live.
I had a Hometeaching companion once who was an adult convert to the Church. He grew up in a basically good family albeit agnostic. I asked him how does one function day to day without even a hope, let alone belief, that there is more to existence than mere chance and to always have the thought that when one dies, it is all over.
His reply was two words "Silent desperation." That, I believe, is the big self-deception. We need the Spirit (and in turn need to listen to the Spirit) in order to avoid the self-deceiving tendencies of the natural man.
__________________
It seems to me the only thing you've learned is that Caesar is a "salad dressing dude."
