About Aging...

I love this little quip by Elder Russell M Nelson* about the purposes of mortality, healing and aging.

"The Fall of Adam (and Eve) constituted the mortal creation and brought about the required changes in their bodies, including the circulation of blood and other modifications as well. They were now able to have children. They and their posterity also became subject to injury, disease, and death. And a loving Creator blessed them with healing power by which the life and function of precious physical bodies could be preserved. For example, bones, if broken, could become solid again. Lacerations of the flesh could heal themselves. And miraculously, leaks in the circulation could be sealed off by components activated from the very blood being lost...

"Even though our Creator endowed us with this incredible power, He consigned a counterbalancing gift to our bodies. It is the blessing of aging, with visible reminders that we are mortal beings destined one day to leave this “frail existence.” Our bodies change every day. As we grow older, our broad chests and narrow waists have a tendency to trade places. We get wrinkles, lose color in our hair—even the hair itself—to remind us that we are mortal children of God, with a “manufacturer’s guarantee” that we shall not be stranded upon the earth forever. Were it not for the Fall, our physicians, beauticians, and morticians would all be unemployed."

Really. Have you ever considered aging a gift? I love that Elder Nelson pairs healing with aging as counter-balancing opposites. I suppose Merlin was right: "to every sqaure there is a round, to every high there is a low, to every to there is a fro - that's what makes the world go round."** And, apparently, that's what makes the plan work.

*“The Atonement,” Ensign, Nov 1996, 33
**"That's What Makes the World Go Round," from The Sword in the Stone, Disney 1963

To Gladden the Heart and Enliven the Soul

"Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart; Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul. And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man." (Doctrine & Covenants 59:18-20)

**all photos from here

Commemoration

"The Relief Society inspires and teaches women to help them increase their faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families, and seek out and help those in need."*



What does Relief Society to you?


*Silvia H. Allred, Ensign Nov 2009

Conduit of Power

I've been ruminating on a few comments made from a talk given a few weeks ago in Sacrament meeting about covenants, particularly this:

"Covenants are a conduit by which we draw upon the powers of heaven."

A conduit is a passage (pipe, tube, duct) by which (generally) water or electricity flows from one place to another (an interesting lesson here - both electricity and water are sources of great power). So by establishing and making covenants with the Lord, we literally have access to His power. Of course, we need to remember that we never set the terms - we only agree to them. But by agreeing and following through, the Lord wants to and is thereby able to impart at least a degree of His power for our use - in faith - and we learn, bit by bit, to be like Him.

To access that power, the Lord requires both prerequisites (faith, repentance, conversion, worthiness) and in-the-moment must-haves (that we exercise faith, ask in His name and according to His purposes and will, and that we are still worthy - for example).

Maybe it's a little bit like driving a car. To earn a driver's license we have to take a written test, accumulate hours of practice, and prove our capability with a formal driving test. There - covenant made. But to access the power we've been granted access to, it's assumed that we will also adhere to several in-the-moment reqirements (unimpaired by drugs, alcohol, lack of sleep, or correct and adequate vision - for example).

The point is - if we have a driver's license, we use it. And if we've made covenants, we should be using them. The Lord, by extending His covenants to us, has granted permission to His power to great purpose in our lives - to bless our families, to be better people, to be like Him, to serve others and generally to bring about great good in the world. Let's make it work.