Feeding the multitude - Care

In Luke 9 we learn about Jesus feeding thousands of people who had followed him out into the desert to learn from him. It's a remarkable event as the disciples only had 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes, but at the end of feeding everyone there were baskets full of food.

I think it's important to remember how this miracle was performed. It had very little to do with food. It had everything to do with caring for the people.

Here's a verse just before the feeding occurs:

11 And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing.

Note that he healed those with a need. Then he feeds those with a need for food.

12 And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place.

When considering the reasons for Jesus performing this miracle, a few stand out.

1) The multitude had a need - they were hungry.

2) The multitude could have eaten somewhere else, but as they had come to Jesus to learn of and be with him, he blessed them with increased faith and with a full stomach; this is important, perhaps Jesus gives us help/miracles as we try to come to him just to make other parts of life easier

3) Jesus cared for them; he cared about all of their needs, not just spiritual

I appreciate the lessons this story gives us. Surely it teaches Jesus had power over elements and could multiply food. Perhaps more importantly though, it shows how much he cared for the people and how willing he was to take care of those that sought after him.

Prophet - Rescuing the People by showing he cares

I was listening to the interview of Heidi Swinton, who wrote President Monson's biography today. It was a very good interview and got me excited to read it after I'm done reading my current book (Bill Simmons' book on basketball - a little vulgar but also extremely well researched on my favorite sport).

I was impressed by how he consistently tries to meet with people and talk to them and let them know he cares. When I think about President Monson, one clear lesson is that just by letting people know you care, you can help them. It's a reason to always do home teaching and a reason to visit people. It shows you care.

In the interview, Heidi tells the story of a church member, Henry Burkhardt, who spent a lot of time with President Monson in Germany as he was the temple president and mission president for years. President Monson made a lot of promises to the German people about having all the blessings of the gospel even while there was a full communist reign there. Those promises came true with the blessings of the temple, which is incredible considering communism was still strong at the time. When Heidi asked Henry Burkhardt what the most incredible experience he had with President Monson, he replied, "Dec 20, 1979 was the date. My wife had spent 9 weeks in the hospital and wasn't getting better. That's when word got to President Monson about her sickness. He hopped on a plane the next day and we went and gave a blessing to my wife."

I am impressed by that. He cared about people so much.

I heard a story about when President Monson visited Spokane WA for a stake conference. During the conference he went out of his way to go visit the home of a faithful stake patriarch who was sick.

I've also seen him shake hands for over an hour at the end of a regional conference. He cares about people. It's obvious.

I was also impressed by how he wrote so many things about his life and experiences in journals. If someone as busy as him makes time to write in journals, I should to. It probably enlarges the memory, crystallizes thinking and experiences, and creates a record.

I love our church leaders and in particular the prophet. I know he is who he says he is, God's representative on earth. I know Jesus Christ leads the church through his prophet.

Have a great Sunday tomorrow.

Inspiration

One of the things that became more clear to me yesterday is how clearly revelation and inspiration can come, in particular for things that revolve around the Priesthood. For instance, I do not have thoughts that "just come" about work things very often. However, when I was listening to priesthood session I had many thoughts about things to do, prioritize, change, etc.

Also, we're speaking on Sunday. Last night Jamie told me her talk and a bunch of ideas came to me as I heard her thoughts. It's an interesting process that just doesn't happen when thinking about too many subjects. It can happen in work things as well, but it happens more often and more clearly and more consistently in spiritual matters.

So here's the main points I want to get out in the talk, although it needs to be flushed out better.

1) Explain why it's necessary to put on the "whole armor of God" and not parts of the armor of God.

a) I have clearly seen in the lives of numerous people that having only parts of the armor of God is not acceptable. For instance, I know someone who is a very good person in many ways. I remember him giving a talk in which he said he thought it wasn't wise to listen to some of his 80s rock music in the car with youth he was driving. The music he was talking about wasn't that bad, but he wanted to be an excellent example. This same guy has had some other at first minor issues however that led to major problems. He's a good guy, but he only had part of the armor of God on. I can think of numerous life examples. There's also some scriptural examples (like David). The Savior also warns in the Sermon on the Mount to avoid a lot of sins. I also have a story or two from my own life about this.

A few other people who had chinks in the armor: many early Saints. The 3 Witnesses had a sure testimony of only the Book of Mormon but not of a lot of other things. Clear holes in the armor. Also, Sidney Rigdon - the Lord even warns Sidney in D.C. 35 that the leader of the church is the one with the keys - 25And ^aIsrael shall be ^bsaved in mine own due time; and by the^ckeys which I have given shall they be led, and no more be confounded at all. Sidney should have known not to try to lead the church. We all are guided to know what our weaknesses are.

2) Potentially include this: it's important to care about everyone in the church having the full armor of God. I remember in Guatemala one time we had a priesthood class that discussed D.C. 58:54-57.

54And your ^aminds in times past have been ^bdarkened because of^cunbelief, and because you have treated ^dlightly the things you have received—

55Which ^avanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation.

56And this condemnation resteth upon the children of ^aZion, even all.

57And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new ^acovenant, even the ^bBook of Mormon and the ^cformer commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to ^ddo according to that which I have written—

One member said that as long as his family was reading scriptures as they should then it didn't matter how anyone else was doing with their scripture reading, his family wouldn't be under condemnation. Essentially, he didn't care what other people were doing; it just mattered that he was doing well. This sounds harsh, but I wanted to yell at him for a considerable while. We are all affected by everyone else. For example, if everyone in the entire ward is strong spiritually, the ward will continue to grow. It's likely that youth will join the church with their families and my son or daughter may end up dating or even marrying people who joined the church simply because of how strong the entire ward was. Our lives are greatly affected by those who are in the church and we have to be extremely invested in how they're doing. I was shocked that a man who had been a member for so long didn't understand that. Elder Choi talks about this idea in his conference talk here: http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,49-1-1117-18,00.html

Enoch and the city of Zion was lifted up because everyone was of one heart and one mind and dwelt in righteousness. It's important to me that my family is spiritually strong and that every family in the ward is as well. "No man is an island." :)

3) Why I want the full armor of God? Because it's a better way to live. I really like the Elder Maxwell quote about living well. Something like, "it's important for youth to have more examples and fewer critics, not just so that they know that walking the path and holding onto the iron rod is possible, but also so that they know it is worth doing." - admittedly, this section may get cut and needs more thought.

4) Why it's worth it? Because you'll get to partake in the Sacrament meeting with the Savior and all the great prophets and faithful Saints that will be held at Adam-ondi-Ahman if you do have the full armor of God. That's why D.C. 27 contains the armor of God and a description of that great Sacrament meeting. Pretty cool.

What convinces me that meeting will be so great?

a) Elder Shumway spoke to us about taking the Sacrament with the Prophet and what an amazing experience it is (when I was a missionary). I can only imagine how much better it would be with the Savior there.

b) My own experiences with the Savior and with some of his servants (listening to Pres. Eyring, talking with a temple president, briefly meeting an area seventy, briefly meeting elder Hales, a few others that I'm not thinking of right now :) convince me that being at that meeting alone would be one of the most choice experiences we could ever have. It's so worth it to put on the armor of God in this life to end up there. Great ROI.

Still a lot to do, but this is coming along.

Have a great day