Approaching Zion: The Pure in Heart

The Restoration's Relationship to Zion

The Restoration through Joseph Smith is like a rare and valuable coin ― a 1933 gold Double Eagle, as it were ― but it would be foolish to assume that the Double Eagle is the only coin of the Realm.

As wonderful as the Double Eagle is, it does not even begin to describe the greater currencies the Lord has in circulation, including the legal tender of "holy men that ye know not of" (D&C 49:8).

Those of us gathered in and through the Restoration have been blessed by it, and I am grateful, but the Restoration is but a small finger lake that stretches back to a great ocean; we are a tributary, not the ocean itself.

And so the Lord's promise "to gather all things in one" excites me.  I cannot wait for our weary caravan to meet up with other sojourners from distant lands at the Oasis we call Zion.  Just imagine what they can teach us, with their foreign treasures and fresh testimonies.

So I seek Zion with the understanding that the Iron Rod is non-denominational.  Zion will be far more ecumenical than we have supposed.  Her borders will stretch to include all peoples, kindreds, nations, tongues, traditions, and religions over whom the Lord has shepherded; His fold will reach into new heavens and new earths, where all those who cling to their -isms shall look terribly out-of-date.

"Nostra Aetate"

The Catholic Church has a doctrine called the Nostra Aetate from its Vatican II Council (1962-1965), which declared, "The Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in [other] religions."

I have holy envy for the Nostra Aetate because it reminds me of the Spirit captured in Joseph Smith's statement, "One of the grand fundamental principles of Mormonism is to receive truth, let it come from whence it may." (History of the Church vol. 5, p. 499).

Last Sunday I was reading at home in the basement, trying to stay out of the summer heat, with a cool drink and a handful of Mike & Ike's, when I came across the Modern Spiritual Masters Series (Orbis Books Publishing) containing the writings of "some of the great spiritual masters of the twentieth century."

Great spiritual masters?  That sounded interesting.  I was intrigued.  Who were they?  With interest, I read the list of books in the Series, disappointed with myself that I only recognized three people on it.

I wondered, how can I be ignorant of so many "great spiritual masters" of our time?  Have I been living under a rock?

How many do you recognize?

As I read this list, an awareness settled upon me of my profound ignorance.  How limited my education has been, and narrow my vision.  There is a whole world I have yet to explore.

The Lord popped my prideful bubble with a pinprick of His Spirit as I contemplated my vast ignorance.  I imagined the vaulted libraries of heaven for which I haven't even been issued a library card yet.

Zion is so much more than what we have imagined in our Sunday School classes.  Before us lies an infinite University, the likes of which we cannot fathom; there are countless tomes of Creation's courses that lie unopened at our feet.  There are Everest-truths our finite minds have yet to conceive, standing as-we-are at the base camp, near the bottom, looking up at the summit shrouded in the mystery of the Lord's day-cloud.

How long it will take us to absorb it all, I cannot say; had we ten lifetimes to learn about this earth, it would be but a drop in the ocean.  But I can't wait to gaze beyond the horizon of our faith and witness the wonders of God hidden from the world in Christ Jesus. 

Here is my hope in Christ: that enduring to the end shall be but a delight, no matter how many lifetimes it might take to experience all of the divine emanations of God as numerous as the sands upon the shore, until, after endless waves of the surf have washed over me, I shall at last become part of the ocean itself.  

"You must begin with the first [principle of the gospel] and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation.  But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them.  It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave."

(Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 348)

Pack your backpack and grab your Trapper Keeper: looks like we're headed to Summer School.​

Zion is an Inheritance

As an attorney I used to practice estate planning.  One day a client walked into my office and shared a tale as old as time.  Their elderly mother had grown feeble and needed to move in with one of her adult children.  My client's sister offered her home, and so it came to pass that Sister cared for Mother until she passed away.

Well, Sister must have felt a bit entitled (having assumed the burden of nursing an aging parent), so what did Sister do?

One day, shortly before Mother's death, Sister drove Mother to a law office and got her to sign legal papers amending her trust and will, making Sister the sole beneficiary of Mother's estate.

That's right: she got Mother to disinherit her other children.  You might think that was greedy and selfish, but remember, which child was the one sacrificing for dear-old-Ma, day-in and day-out?  She had earned it, so she thought; she deserved the inheritance more than her siblings, after all she had done.

After the funeral, my client and the other siblings found out what Sister had done and were livid; they wanted to sue Sister and have the amendment declared null and void.  That way, the trust would revert back to the original, which divided Mother's estate equally among her children.

Well, I told my client the truth: it was nearly impossible to overturn a will after the death of the testator (or in this case, testatrix).  The only way to do so was to show undue influence or a lack of competency at the time of signing.

But I accepted the case (as my legal-eagle hero Perry Mason would have done), warming to the challenge.  I retained one of the chief experts on Alzheimer's in the state, a university professor whose specialty was interpreting gray matter and lesions in the brain.  Using MRI scans of Mother's brain taken shortly before her death, the expert was able to persuade the judge that based on her advanced stage of Alzheimer's, Mother lacked the mental capacity to understand what she was doing when she disinherited her other children.

The judge revoked the amendment and restored things to the original.

The point:  I share this story to illustrate how awful we can be to family.  We think Zion is the inheritance of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that the Church is the sole beneficiary of the covenants God has made to His children.

But has God disinherited the rest of humanity?  Who are the heirs of the Fathers?

God does not treat His children unjustly or unequally.  Even as we are squabbling here below over our inheritance, God is up there shaking His head.  "All I have shall be given them (D&C 84:38); why are they fighting over real estate in my holy city?"

The Song of Zion

The promises of Zion are manifold, but broadly speaking they fall under two categories: (1) restoration and (2) reunification.

   (1)  Under restoration, we see the Lord fulfilling the covenants He made with the Fathers under the new and everlasting covenant given to Enoch and renewed through Noah.

   (2)  Under reunification, the peoples of God shall be gathered at last into One Fold (3 Nephi 15:17), culminating in Zion from above merging with Zion from below (see, The Deeper Magic: Translation and Tarrying).

This is described beautifully in what is called the "Song of Zion" found in D&C 84:98-102, which I love.  I am looking forward to it being put to music and sung by angels.

   The Lord hath brought again Zion

Who brings again Zion?  Not us.  We are participants, sure, but the work is God's.  We are but water-boys for Him who is the Living Water. 

   The Lord hath redeemed his people, Israel

When does the spiritual redemption of Israel occur?  Has it already?  Yes, even from before the foundation of the world (Alma 13:3), which redemption was perfected in the meridian of time (Moses 7:45-46).

So this seems to be referring not just to Israel's spiritual redemption, but also to Israel's latter-day temporal salvation.

   According to the election of grace

How are we redeemed?  Is it because we're righteous and have obeyed the Word of Wisdom and paid Tithing?  No, it is by "the election of grace."  What does that mean?  It sounds very Pauline; as Latter-day Saints we don't "do" grace very well.  Or election.

   Which was brought to pass by the faith

Ah, faith ― now this is something we can relate to; surely faith is one thing we can take credit for.  Nope; this is not talking about our faith, but that of the Fathers:

   And covenant of their fathers.

This is hard to hear for those of us who have been raised hearing we're the "greatest generation held in reserve" for the last days, being taught we're the head-of-the-class and valedictorian and the quarterback and captain of the cheerleading squad, all-in-one.

Consider rather, the fact that we don't have a starring role in bringing forth Zion.  As shocking as that sounds, it is what the scriptures teach: we merely get to "assist" in the building of the New Jerusalem (3 Nephi 21:23).  We are not its architects or master stonemasons (we're the water-boys, remember, that the Lord sent out to baptize believers?).

   The Lord hath redeemed his people,
   And Satan is bound and time is no longer.
   The Lord hath gathered all things in one.

The Lord gathers all things "in one" ― this does not say the Lord gathers all things into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (which, as I've pointed out before, has no unique identity anywhere in scripture once Zion is formed; in other words, the institutional Church ceases to be a going concern once we're brought into the company of the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, which is also called the Church of the Lamb).

   The Lord hath brought down Zion from above ("righteousness" - see Moses 7:62).
   The Lord hath brought up Zion from beneath ("truth" - see Moses 7:62).
   The earth hath travailed and brought forth her strength

What is this referring to, the earth's travail?  What is the earth giving birth to?  I love this prophecy, as you know if you have read The Deeper Magic: Signs and Seasons.

   And truth is established in her bowels;
   And the heavens have smiled upon her;
   And she is clothed with the glory of her God;
   For he stands in the midst of his people.

(D&C 84:99-102)

He stands!  I love this last reference to God "standing in the midst of his people."  He's not sitting down, He's not on His throne; no, He's out mingling with His children; He's out in the streets and in the cafés, in the homes of His friends.

The Pure in Heart Shall See God

God is found in the most unlikely of places.  If we had access to 'Find My Friends' (John 15:15) to locate Him, where would He be?

Well, that's quite a shock: He is not where we expect Him to be, which is why the scriptures say He "is hidden."

   Verily thou art a God
   that hidest thyself,
   O God of Israel.

(Isaiah 45:15)

You would think God would want to be on the 10 o'clock news, His face posted on billboards ― not on milk cartons.

But this is all quite deliberate, the way He has chosen to be concealed from the world.

But why?  As Job and David both cried out, "Wherefore hidest thou thy face?" (Job 13:24; Psalm 44:24).  Where is He?

What kind of celestial game of Hide-and-Seek is this?  Ah, that is the point, isn't it?  To require us to seek Him.

   But if thou shalt seek
   the Lord thy God,
   thou shalt find him,
   if thou seek him
   with all thy heart
   and with all thy soul.

(Deut. 4:29)  

Notice this is not a casual pursuit; we must seek Him with "all our heart."  This, for me, is the essence of what it means to be "pure in heart."  For what could be purer than a heart seeking God with real intent?

​​   Verily, thus saith the Lord,
   let Zion rejoice,
   for this is Zion―
   the pure in heart.

(D&C 97:21)

Those who have "found" God are known by the love He has filled them with (John 13:35); the defining attribute of the "pure in heart" is childlike love.

Thus purity is far more than chastity, for a prideful man is as impure as an immoral one (if not more so).

Pride clings; love lets go.  Perhaps this is the reason God dwells apart from our institutions, because we must wander off our religious reservations to find Him.  Why?  He dwelleth not in unholy temples; because finding Him has always been an act of faith.

   Blessed are the pure in heart:
   for they shall see God.

(Matt 5:8)

"Purity of heart" has nothing to do with institutional affiliation.  It has nothing to do with one's religious beliefs.  This does not say "Blessed are the pure in doctrine."

Allow God to surprise us when, and where, and how, we least expect it.

"One day during my last term at school I walked out alone in the evening and heard the birds singing.  I remember now the shock of surprise with which the sound broke on my ears.  It seemed to me that I had never heard the birds singing before and I wondered whether they sang like this all the year round and I had never noticed it.

"As I walked on I came upon some hawthorn trees in full bloom and again I thought I had never seen such a sight or experienced such sweetness before.  I came then to where the sun was setting over the playing fields.  A lark rose suddenly from the ground beside the tree, and then everything grew still as the sunset faded.

"I felt inclined to kneel on the ground, as though I had been standing in the presence of an angel; and I hardly dared to look on the face of the sky, be­cause it seemed as though it was but a veil before the face of God."

  ― Bede Griffiths, The Golden String, An Autobiography (1954)

An Equal Inheritance

I began this post by stating Zion is, foremost, an inheritance.  But the problem (and the chief reason she has eluded us) is Zion cannot be inherited except in equal shares per stirpes (as they say in legalese).

You see, a hierarchy that creates inequality cannot bring forth Zion, which is why our Church organization prevents the very thing we seek.

We find in the Vision of Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon a description of a higher reality (heaven) that is so remarkable ― so foreign to things here on earth ― that we wonder if they were writing fiction:

   We saw the glory of the celestial
   . . . and he makes them EQUAL
   in power, and in might, 
   and in dominion.

   [For] the glory of the celestial
   is ONE, even as the glory
   of the sun is ONE.

(D&C 76:92-96)

Equal with God?  And we cannot even become equal with each other.

Notice it says God "makes them equal."  We are not equal by nature, for God is far greater than we are.  But we become equal in status, by virtue of Christ's intelligence ― as (wait for it) "joint heirs."

   And if children, then heirs;
   heirs of God, and joint-heirs
   with Christ.

(Romans 8:17)

The scriptures make plain that eternal life (like Zion) is gained in only one way: through inheritance.

   And the Lord said unto me:
   Marvel not that all mankind,
   yea, men and women . . . 
   must be born again,
   being redeemed of God,
   becoming his sons
   and daughters;

   and thus they become new
   creatures; and unless
   they do this, they can
   in nowise INHERIT
   the kingdom of God.

(Mosiah 27:25-26)

The only ones who inherit are heirs; and the only way to become an heir is to become a son or daughter of the Testator who is dead; and the way we become God's sons and daughters is to be born again after the manner of His Son, whose heart was filled with pure love.

   If they should have charity
   they would not suffer
   the laborer in Zion
   to perish.

(2 Nephi 26:30)

I say, let us not wish for the end of the world and the destruction of the wicked; let us pray instead for a new beginning and the redemption of those who are lost.

"I was suddenly made aware of another world of beauty and mystery such as I had never imagined to exist, except in poetry.  It was as though I had begun to see and smell and hear for the first time.

"The world appeared to me as Wordsworth describes it, with "the glory and freshness of a dream."  The sight of a wild rose growing on a hedge, the scent of lime-tree blossoms caught suddenly as I rode down a hill on a bicycle, came to me like a visitation from another world.

"But it was not only my senses that were awak­ened. I experienced an overwhelming emotion in the presence of nature.  It began to have a kind of sacramental character for me.  The song of the birds, the shape of the trees, the colors of the sunset, were so many signs of this presence, which seemed to be drawing me to itself.

"It is as though a veil has been lifted and we see for the first time behind the façade which the world has built around us.  Suddenly we know we belong to another world, that there is another dimension to existence.  We see our life for a moment in its true perspective in relation to eternity.  We are freed from the flux of time and see something of the eternal order that underlies it.

"We are no longer isolated individuals in conflict with our surroundings; we are parts of a whole, elements in an universal harmony."

  ― Bede Griffiths, The Golden String, An Autobiography (1954)