Come Follow Me this week is based on Mosiah chapters 25 through 28. Starting with chapter 25 I find there to be several verses that were meaningful to me.
Mosiah 25:4
And now all the people of Nephi were assembled together, and also all the people of Zarahemla, and they were gathered together in two bodies.
I take that to mean that the people of Nephi were one body and the people of Zarahemla were another body. I find that very interesting. It would be good to check the dates and see exactly how long the Nephites under Mosiah’s leadership had been merged with the people of Zarahemla at this point.
We know it had to have been quite a while because when they first discovered each other they could not even communicate, their languages were so different. Mosiah then taught his language to the entire Mulekite nation! Imagine doing that and how long that would take. We also know that there were a lot more Mulekites than there were Nephites so isn't it interesting that the Nephite language was the one they chose to adopt? Then the expeditions went looking for their land or origin and it had been several years since Zeniff and his party took their leave. So after all of this time, why would they be meeting now as two bodies and not as one?
How is this a reflection of the problems we have today with cultural, racial and ethnic diversity?
Why is it so hard for diverse people to merge their lives and become one?
Why are these statements by the church so important?
The Church unequivocally condemns racism, including any and all past racism by individuals both inside and outside the Church. In 2006, then Church president Gordon B. Hinckley declared that “no man who makes disparaging remarks concerning those of another race can consider himself a true disciple of Christ. Nor can he consider himself to be in harmony with the teachings of the Church. Let us all recognize that each of us is a son or daughter of our Father in Heaven, who loves all of His children.”
Tuesday, August 15, 2017 The Church has released the following statement:
It has been called to our attention that there are some among the various pro-white and white supremacy communities who assert that the Church is neutral toward or in support of their views. Nothing could be further from the truth. In the New Testament, Jesus said: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:37–39). The Book of Mormon teaches “all are alike unto God” (2 Nephi 26:33).
White supremacist attitudes are morally wrong and sinful, and we condemn them. Church members who promote or pursue a “white culture” or white supremacy agenda are not in harmony with the teachings of the Church.
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Mosiah 25: 7-10
And now, when Mosiah had made an end of reading the records, his people who tarried in the land were struck with wonder and amazement. For they knew not what to think; for when they beheld those that have been delivered out of bondage they were filled with exceedingly great joy. And again, when they thought of their brethren who had been slain by the Lamanites they were filled with sorrow, and even shed many tears of sorrow.
1- My first thought about this section is that life is just filled with situations where rejoicing and sorrowing come together as a pair. Think of situations in your own life where these opposites of rejoicing and sorrowing have both been present at the same time.
Do we sometimes feel guilty when choose to have a celebration when at the same time there is also a reason to grieve, and do we sometimes let the sorrow take precedence and then neglect to support a loved one who deserves a celebration?
2- My second thought about this section relates to the idea of record-keeping. At this meeting the records of both Zeniff and Alma are read. The people are struck with wonder and amazement. Some of what they hear makes them so happy, some makes them so sad. Let me share a story from my own family history.
My grandfather's first wife died shortly after the birth of her seventh child. That was 1918. Her children were then ages 13, 12, 10, 8, 6, 3 and lastly the newborn.
Grandpa was grief-stricken but immediately faced with the reality that he could not care for these children. The baby was taken by a niece who was newly married. About a year later they went to California. The family lost contact with them.
The only daughter was taken by another family who lived nearby. They adopted her yet lived locally in Pike County so the family always knew where she was.
Grandpa was at the store in his little Missouri town one day talking about his situation to the clerk. As the story goes, a neighbor overheard him and went up to him and said “I could take these two that you have with you.” And so on that day this good man took a 6 year old and an 8 year old home with him and presented his childless wife with two sons. And so this "Aunt and Uncle" raised two of the brothers. They always knew who their family was.
The older three boys remained with their dad.
Over the course of years, Over the years the family lost touch with three of the boys. One moved to Oregon, one joined the merchant marines and was never heard of again. The one in California refused any contact with the family.
2- My second thought about this section relates to the idea of record-keeping. At this meeting the records of both Zeniff and Alma are read. The people are struck with wonder and amazement. Some of what they hear makes them so happy, some makes them so sad. Let me share a story from my own family history.
My grandfather's first wife died shortly after the birth of her seventh child. That was 1918. Her children were then ages 13, 12, 10, 8, 6, 3 and lastly the newborn.
Grandpa was grief-stricken but immediately faced with the reality that he could not care for these children. The baby was taken by a niece who was newly married. About a year later they went to California. The family lost contact with them.
The only daughter was taken by another family who lived nearby. They adopted her yet lived locally in Pike County so the family always knew where she was.
Grandpa was at the store in his little Missouri town one day talking about his situation to the clerk. As the story goes, a neighbor overheard him and went up to him and said “I could take these two that you have with you.” And so on that day this good man took a 6 year old and an 8 year old home with him and presented his childless wife with two sons. And so this "Aunt and Uncle" raised two of the brothers. They always knew who their family was.
The older three boys remained with their dad.
Over the course of years, Over the years the family lost touch with three of the boys. One moved to Oregon, one joined the merchant marines and was never heard of again. The one in California refused any contact with the family.
As times changed, I was counting on the internet to help me. I was able to locate a woman who I thought was the daughter of one of my missing uncles. A Google search came up with an address so I took a chance. I sent an introductory letter with my email contact information.
Bingo! I struck gold! I was so happy to find this cousin.
But – and here is where the connection to Mosiah 25 takes place. It was not a happy story. In a family plagued by alcoholism another life was ruined. Life can be so messy! Here in the story of my mother’s half brother we see the bitter with the sweet just as we see it in Mosiah 25 as those records were read. Life is like that. (Compare Doctrine and Covenants 29:39)
Where in your family or in your family histories do you see the sweet and the bitter together? Love is a bitter-sweet thing isn't it? We love our families and yet there we find some of our deepest sorrows.
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Mosiah 25:11–12
And again, when they thought upon the Lamanites, who were their brethren, of their sinful and polluted state, they were filled with pain and anguish for the welfare of their souls.
And it came to pass that those who were the children of Amulon and his brethren, who had taken to wife the daughters of the Lamanites, were displeased with the conduct of their fathers, and they would no longer be called by the names of their fathers, therefore they took it upon themselves the name of Nephi, that they might be called the children of Nephi and be numbered among those who were called Nephites.
How did these two verses reflect the idea that it is easier to forgive and feel compassion for a stranger than it is for a family member who does something wrong?
Why is it that family has the power to hurt so deeply?
Why are gospel principles so important when we are facing such family discord?
The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi
Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
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