[Artwork in this post by American painter Walter Launt Palmer, 1854 - 1932]

"The Christ that is to Be"

​​One of my favorite lines of poetry comes at the end of Alfred Lord Tennyson's New Year's poem, In Memoriam A.H.H. (Canto 106) (more commonly known as 'Ring Out, Wild Bells'):

  Ring out the darkness of the land,
  Ring in the Christ that is to be.

I find the last line to be deliciously provocative: who is this "Christ that is to be?"

We usually think of Christ in a historical setting, walking around Palestine ― a creature of physical spacetime (especially during this season, when we want to reach out and pinch the chubby baby cheeks of the little Child lying in a manger).

But for a moment, contemplate the Christ that SHALL BE (for context, see the post on "I AM").

We know the Lamb of Passover; but who is this Hanukkah Lamb?  What about this Witness who comes in wintertime (see John 10:22)?

Will we recognize the "Christ that is to be" ― or will we cling to our preconceived notions of what His coming will be like, as they did 2000 years ago in the springtime?

Wisdom is finding God in every season ― but especially "in times of winter, or of cold, or famine" (D&C 89:13).

Have you seen the world?  The world today is struggling through a terrible winter, a time of numbness where the hearts of men have "waxed cold" (Matt. 24:12).

Speak to me of the Shepherd of snow and ice, whose countenance burns like a winter's sun.

   He giveth snow like wool:
   he scattereth the hoarfrost
   
   Like ashes   
   he casteth forth his ice
   like morsels:
​
   Who can stand
   before his cold?

   He sendeth out his word
   and melteth them.

(Psalm 147:16-18)

Winter is the season for holly berries and rubies and blood. 

A Personal Note

Before we continue, I want to pause and share some personal reflections as we approach 5 years of Owl of the Desert.

I'm amazed at the patience of you who are with me on this journey.  My uncommonly long posts and style serve to filter out all but the most sincere seekers.

We are lepers serving at the Lord's table; we are the malnourished, the maimed and marred, the meek.  Yet Christ has made us whole (Luke 17:19).

The world prefers to be served by the buxom blond waitresses of modern religion, who serve a steady fare of chicken wings and whited sepulchers in cut-off tank tops.

You and I are not striving for sainthood but salthood (with a splash of pepper for good measure).  We are seasoning the earth with the savor of hope when the leaves have fallen and birds have flown south for winter.

The world needs the hope of Christ more than ever.

I call you Owls because owls are associated with wisdom, and that is what we're after: the wisdom of God (James 1:5).  Summer is a season for knowledge, but in winter comes wisdom.

Sadly, the world is not after wisdom.  But we are not of this world ― we spend our nights on the heavenly rooftops gazing over the horizon, pondering the deep things of God.  We are given to contemplation and compassion, as is our Father.
 
God is mindful of our growing parliament of Owls (that's what a group of owls is called).  I feel like God has gathered us ― and given His angels charge over us ― for a purpose.  I think it is to seek His lost lambs out of the byways and caves, out from the hidden places and poorest climes.  
 
Yes, winter can be a time of weariness.  There is a lot of weariness in the world right now.  Spiritual fatigue is spreading.  At times it is hard, even for me, to "not be weary." (Gal. 6:9).  But we've got this!

Paul said:

   I have a desire to depart,
   and to be with Christ,
   which is far better:
   Nevertheless to abide
   in the flesh is more needful.

(Phil. 1:23-24)

We are needed.  The world needs salinity, and we are as an ocean of God's love.  The ocean never freezes.

The Lord has work for us to do.  So while we yet "abide in the flesh," let's enjoy it!

We've got a body, let's use it.  Let's rub these calloused hands together and use our brains to bless and heal, lift and hug ― and most importantly, to dream better.

Winter is a season for bear rugs and dreaming.

The problems before us require more creativity ― more 'outside-the-box' thinking on our part ―  as the Lord bursts open the windows of heaven, thereby granting us increased access to the probability field of divine possibilities (which is what faith is for, i.e., generating vortices from which new options spiral to the surface).

Let us shake the dust out of our voices and sing the song of redeeming love; let us stretch our creaky spiritual limbs and dance!

If you were thinking of hanging up your tap shoes, forget it: God's got plans for you.

And don't think we'll be dancing alone, like no one is watching: for the angels' eyes are riveted on what we do next (Ezek. 10:12).

"What desirest thou?"
 
No one ever thanks God for being cast out of Eden, but I do.

Losing paradise was one of the best things to ever happen to us.  Why?  Because it created space for "desire" (and desire is a divine gift).

Have you ever thought, if we were 'perfected' beings who had all things, what would there be to desire?  If we possessed a fullness, what then would we lack?

Desire is a creature of want.  I am grateful to experience winter here, broken and bruised beyond Eden's borders, where we can long for what we do not have; search for what is forgotten; and reach towards what has been lost.

Leaving Eden was a godsend.
 
Like ice passing through a pillar of fire, transforming it into steam that reshapes as it rises, the movement of man and woman toward their desires generates enormous spiritual potential.

Usually we're very literal about our desires ("I want a new car" or "I want to be healed from cancer").

But what we're really "desiring" is not the object of our desire, but the nature of our existence.  Our desires are merely a reflection of our spiritual orientation.

The spiritual spectrum is a wave stretched between two polar opposites: love and fear.

Lehi called this "choosing" a choice between "liberty and eternal life through the great Mediator of all men" (what I am calling 'love') ― versus "captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil" (what I am calling 'fear') (2 Ne. 2:27).

Love is positively-polarized (charged) and fear is negatively-polarized.  Why does this matter?  Because people who say they "desire" God, but who seek Him through fear-based thought-forms and behaviors and beliefs, are actually "choosing" spiritual captivity.

Isn't it ironic that a person who loves is desiring God (even if they don't realize it) ― while a person who fears is hardening their heart against God (even if they don't realize it)?

   I fear not . . . 
   for perfect love
   casteth out all fear.

(Moroni 8:16)

Fear-based religion prevents us from knowing the true and living God because, well, "God is love" (1 John 4:8).

So I ask you, as the angel did Nephi: "What desirest thou" (1 Ne. 11:10)?

Take your time; there is no rush.  We have all eternity.

   And I looked and beheld
   the virgin again,
   bearing a child
   in her arms.

(1 Nephi 11:20)

Our return to Eden is marked only by a mother's love.

The Wave of God

There is an eternal wave proceeding forth from the bosom of God (D&C 88:12-13).

But what most people don't realize is that this wave is actually part of a divine tide: and the tide always flows back, and returns again, to God.

This is the hidden heartbeat of the universe.  You can sense it between the inhalation and exhalation of the Creator's breath.

Hearing the heartbeat of God is the beginning of wisdom.  His heartbeat resounds in the stillness of winter.

This tide is guided by the Lady of Light (symbolized by the moon), who oversees the ebb and flow of our growth and spiritual development.

Mortality is a form of swaddling clothes, but at some point we must put on Christ and become men. 

Too often we remain in the makeshift manger atop the tide, where the winds toss us to-and-fro, until we capsize.  This is called being "overcome" by the world.

I commonly observe people paddling furiously against the tide, thinking their futile efforts and spent strength will save them.

Christ's work is to "draw all men" unto the Father (John 12:32).  Trust the tide.  Flow with the water, whose current "will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea" (Ether 2:24).

Contrast the wave of God to the stagnation of waters upon a lake, even "a lake of fire and brimstone" (2 Ne. 9:19).

Why a lake?  Why not a river of fire?  A lake is like a reservoir; water channels into it, and there it stays.

Without the movement of living waters, a lake can become filled with toxic algae, turning into a cesspool filled with dead carp.  Don't be afraid to move with the water; the anchor of Christ (Ether 12:4) is in constant motion.

The problem with the state of modern religion is that, as Mormon said, it makes a "mockery" of God (yikes!) because, instead of trusting the hidden tide, we "put trust in dead works" (Moroni 8:23).

These "dead works" that we think are anchoring us are actually millstones.

Whereas the anchor of Christ is a living, breathing Stone.

Wisdom
a poem

​​I wished.
     Not on a falling star
     (when a blink
     shapes doubt
     of what was
     or might have been)―
Will you
     promise
not to tell?     
     Wishes are secrets
     we cannot
forsake―
     perjuries of disbelief
     never giving
     more than they take.
     Neither was it a happy-birthday-to-  
you wish, spent absently
     on clapping smiles.  Remember,
a wish stretched
     beyond two
     becomes something
new.  Fragile, maybe―
     but stronger, too. 
     Not a throw-a-ruby-in-a-well wish, either 
     ―No, this was a full-blooded
Earth Wish: with lips like fountains
     flowing toward mountain gates
     through hidden paths and pillars―
     understanding―
     heartsome―
     waterful―
     rising, flooding . . . . It  
awaits an answer (can makers
     become grantors?)―
My mother said
     wishes make little
children of us all.
     
       God, I wish
       I knew
       how to Wish
       like you.

Mother

The following words are found in Psalm 91, but I am going to change the pronouns to highlight a deeper reality, inspired by the Lord's words in Matt. 23:37 (who thought it no disrespect).

As you read these words, allow your mind to roam free; what comes to mind?  Who comes to mind?  What does your eye of faith see?

Then, I invite you to do something with the inspiration that comes.  Follow the wave; ride the tide.

Fear not the winter, neither the season we find ourselves in: for God is found in every snowflake and frozen tear.

   She shall cover you
   with her feathers,
   and under her wings
   you shall take refuge;
   her truth shall be
   your shield and buckler.

   You shall not be afraid
   of the terror by night . . . 
   for she shall give her angels
   charge over you.

   [And] in her hands
   she shall bear you up . . . 
   [and say], I will set him
   on high because he
   has known my name.

(Psalm 91:4-5, 11-12, 14)

If but for Eve, Eden would have become hell.

Sacrifice was the womb-price paid that joy might override paradise.

   O be wise,
   what can I say more?

(Jacob 6:12)

[Artwork in this post by French Impressionist Berthe Morisot, 1841 - 1895] 

The Name of God

As a young lawyer I practiced family law.  One day a man walked into my office looking for a divorce attorney.  He introduced himself and said his name was 'His Royal Majesty.'

I didn't believe him and asked for proof.  He produced a Court Order showing he had legally changed his name to H.R.M.

(So I have the distinction of being one of the few lawyers to divorce His Royal Majesty.)

Now, unless you have legally changed your name, you probably carry a name that was chosen for you (typically by your parents ― let's hope they had good taste).

I say "carry" a name because our names are like articles of clothing: they do not define us, but merely dress us.

Does your given name "fit?"  

My name means "to honor God."  But I have never thought of myself as a "Tim" or "Timothy."  Simple syllables don't begin to describe the essence of who we are.

Names are reflections of our identity, but they also have power to change our natures.  They serve as symbols.

Why am I talking about names?  Because I want to discuss the name of God.

Jesus said, "Whoso taketh upon him my name, and endureth to the end, the same shall be saved at the last day" (3 Ne. 27:6).

How do we "take upon" ourselves the name of God?  And do we even know what the Name of God is?

Divine names are not conferred but discovered.  These "new" names are sacred ― drawn from the wellspring of our essential selves.

These names aren't secret, but we're incapable of sharing them: for how does one possibly convey the breadth and depth of their whole soul in a word?  We can't.  (The closest we've come to capturing the name of God was when the Word was made flesh.)

A king can grant us a title (like Knight or Lady) but these merely describe our roles ― they do not describe who we really are.

Adam becomes Michael; Noah becomes Gabriel (and vice versa).  But such "names" are merely robes to be taken on and off.

​Sadly, too often we remain strangers even to ourselves, never knowing who we really are.  We cling to our given-names like amnesiacs.

But the good news is we can discover our hidden names through knowing our divine selves.

The Name of Christ

Christ has many names; He bears many crowns; His titles could fill enough books to cover the earth.

But Christ's real name?  That is one we have not heard.  No lips could do it justice.

When Christ returns, we are told He will have:

   a name written
   that no man knew
   but he himself.

(Rev. 19:12)

Meanwhile, as a placeholder, Christ's "name is called The Word of God" (Rev. 19:13).  Notice this is not His name, but His 'calling.'

When the name of God is written upon us ― which is to say, when we unlock the secret of our true nature ― then we, too, become the Word of God (and although many, this "Word" remains singular).

At some point in our progression our holy name becomes a portmanteau, blending with the name of God.  This exalted portmanteau is utterly unique throughout the universe, as divine strands of DNA that reconstitute us across space and time.

   I will write upon him
   my new name.

(Rev. 3:12)

This verse indicates our "new" name is not just our own, but God's.  In other words, the Ineffable Name becomes a type and shadow of the Godhood that dwells and abides in us.

"If men do not comprehend the character of God," said Joseph Smith, "they do not comprehend themselves" (TPJS, 343).

In case I am making a muck of my point, what I am trying to say is: This is life eternal!  "That they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent" (John 17:3).

For how else would we "know" God but through knowing ourselves?  Then, like Jesus, we will:

   have manifested thy name.

(John 17:6)

To "have manifested His name" is to know God ― having His name written upon us ― for only those who know Him know His name (which has, in fact, become their own).

Now don't worry, we're going to break this down into digestible bits.

Let's look at what it means to "manifest" the name of God by seeing how Jesus did it.

The Burning Bush Speaks!

Moses hiked Sinai and was shaking in his sandals when God spoke to Him (telling him to remove his footwear, for starters). 

But Moses had to discard a lot more than just his sandals on Sinai's mount.  He had to discard his old notions and ideas in order to be taught a greater reality.

God's new wine will burst the bottles of our beliefs; His higher truths will shatter the foundations of our past knowing.

Once Moses found his courage to speak, he bravely asked God an inspired question (showing himself to be a true prince of Egypt):

   What is [thy] name?

(Exodus 3:13)

This was not just asking, "How would you like to be called?"  No, Moses was asking something far greater.

And God's response was deliciously perfect!  God replied to Moses's question simply:

   אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה‎

(Exodus 3:14)

In case you don't read Hebrew (neither do I), this means, transliterated, "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh."  Or, being interpreted, "I am that I AM."
 
In other words, God was saying He was beyond naming.  There was no mortal nomenclature to capture His essence, other than simply, He IS.

   He IS above all things,
   and in all things,
   and IS through all things,
   and IS round about all things

(How can you be "above" all things if you are, in fact, "in" them?)

   and all things
   are by him
   and of him,
   even God,
   forever and ever.

(D&C 88:41)

According to scholars, Biblical Hebrew does not distinguish between grammatical tenses.

This is important because the statement "I am that I AM" may equally be translated as all of the following:
 
   (1)  I am who I WAS
   (2) I am who I SHALL BE
   (3)  I was who I AM
   (4)  I was who I WAS
   (5)  I was who I SHALL BE
   (6)  I shall be who I AM
   (7)  I shall be who I WAS
   (8)  I shall be who I SHALL BE
 
Take some time and ponder the implications of אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה!  God's name IS past and present and future: it IS, literally, "endlessness" and "eternal" (D&C 19:10).  He not only walks One Eternal Round, He IS One Eternal Round.

I think it is interesting that this nuance was picked up by Joseph Smith in D&C 68:6, where God says:

   I AM
   the son of the living God,
   that I WAS,
   that I AM,
   and that I AM TO COME.

The reason I am sharing all this is because the Name of God describes who we are, too.  God is trying to teach us something not just about who He is, but about who We are.

Jesus came to reveal God to man by revealing God in man.

Now to the heart of the matter: Specifically, Jesus made seven explicit "I AM" statements during His mortal ministry.

It was blasphemous for Jesus to declare "I AM" because He was saying He WAS/IS/SHALL BE God; the Pharisees wanted to stone Him for claiming such a thing.

But don't miss the mark: Jesus was declaring these things as the Son of God, and therefore, on behalf of all of us who become sons and daughters of God.

In other words, Jesus's seven "I AM" statements describe not just Him, but also our own nature.  ​All of us who have received the name of God, know that I AM.

The Tetragrammaton

The Tetragrammaton is the name of God in Hebrew, written as YHWH (the word Tetragrammaton is Greek and means 'four letters').  YHWH is vocalized as Jehovah.

As you know, there aren't numbers in Hebrew.  Instead, letters serve as numbers.

In Hebrew, the name "ADAM" and "YHWH" both share a numerical value of 45.  This is significant because it implies 45 = 45 (Adam = God and God = Adam).

Please don't misunderstand: this has nothing to do with Brigham Young's Adam-God Doctrine.  I am pointing out, simply, that "Adam" ― which means "man" in Hebrew, and is the name given to "the first man" on each world (Moses 1:34) ― represents all of us.

Now, to go a little further into the weeds, the name of God is masculine.  But Moses at times refers to God as a female using feminine pronouns (such as in Numbers 11:15 when Moses uses the word "At," which is the second person feminine singular form of "you") (the masculine form would have been "Atah").  (And if anyone knew the proper form of address for God, it would be Moses!)

Jesus appears to capture this nuance when He compared himself to a mother hen.

For God to be "in" all things, that would certainly include womankind (who are also "in" Him).

Therefore, gender semantics with God become somewhat absurd at the transcendent level where all of creation becomes of "one flesh."

A New Take on "Keys"

We pray in the name of Jesus Christ.  The Savior instructed His disciples that "if ye call upon the Father . . . in my name, the Father will hear you" (3 Ne. 27:9).

The name Jesus Christ is Greek and has been truncated from "Jesus the Christ" (which in Hebrew is Joshua the Messiah).

  -  The meaning of Jesus / Joshua = "Yeho" (a prefix that refers to the name of God (YHWH), and "Shua" meaning salvation).  So "Joshua" means God is Salvation.
 
  -  The meaning of Christ / Messiah = "Anointed One" 

One way to interpret the name of Jesus Christ, then, is "God's Salvation Comes Through His Anointed One."

That's referring to Christ, right?  Well, yes, but not just Him.  It also refers to us, too, who have been "anointed."

   But ye have an unction
   from the Holy One,
   and ye know
   all things.

(1 John 2:20)

Pause.  I want to talk about the meaning of "unction."

On October 19, 2024 I was pondering the question, "What are the 'words of eternal life' referred to in Moses 6:59?"

I had gone to the gym (yes, despite appearances I do try) and after my workout I was sitting in the sauna meditating by myself.

It was there, desiring to "enjoy the words of eternal life in this world" (Moses 6:59), that I asked the Lord to help me understand what this verse was talking about.

The thought came to me that to "enjoy" the words of eternal life, we must embody them.

The only way to really "know" what eternal life is, is to live it.  We must "become" the words of life ourselves.

In other words, we are meant to be that I AM (for are we not joint-heirs with Christ?).

As Clark Burt wrote, "By believing His words we will turn to Him because His words are Him" (emphasis in original; "But We Have the Book! That Same Spirit," December 1, 2024, at fingerofgod.blogspot.com).

The best way to describe what happened next, amidst the hot steam and sticky benches of the sauna, was my "eyes were opened and [my] understandings were enlightened, so as to see and understand the things of God" (D&C 76:12).

I understood that Jesus's "I AM" teachings were an invitation to join Him; they were keys of the kingdom, even those of Melchizedek ― that is to say, God's High Priests are to become the Keys of I AM.

These keys are not abstract notions but actual, embodied, fleshly Persons who unlock "the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key[s] of the knowledge of God" (D&C 84:19) for others (like Christ).

Christ gave us the keys of the Kingdom by being the Key.  And so may we be.

I heard the Spirit say, "To possess the words of eternal life is to bear the keys of I AM, even the unction of the Spirit." 

"Unction"

If you're wondering (as I was) what "unction" meant (I had no clue, sitting in the gym, where the Spirit pulled that from, other than it sounded faintly 'Catholic'), it means, "the anointing of someone as a symbol of investiture."

In the Old Testament we read about the unction of Elisha (as prophet) when God told Elijah:

   Elisha the son of Shaphat
   shalt thou anoint 
   to be prophet
   in thy room.

(1 Kings 19:16)

And the unction of Aaron (as priest) before the congregation:

   And Moses poured
   of the anointing oil
   upon Aaron’s head,
   and anointed him,
   to sanctify him.

(Lev. 8:12)

And the unction of David (as king) over the people of Israel:

   Then Samuel
   took the horn of oil,
   and anointed David
   in the midst of his brethren:
   and the Spirit of the Lord
   came upon David
   from that day forward.

(1 Sam. 16:13)

My point is that all of these unctions (of prophet, priest, and king) came together in Jesus.  And thus in us.

I left the sauna and dressed, returning to my car and, sitting in the parking lot, I pulled out my phone and searched for the word "unction" in the scriptures.

While I found many instances of "anoint," the word "unction" appears only once (in the First Epistle of John, Chapter 2).

   But whoso keepeth his word
   in him verily
   is the love of God
   perfected:

What is the connection between the "word" and the "love of God?"  
​
   hereby know we
   that we are in him.

Where are we?  We are in His body?  Really?

   But ye have an unction

i.e., an anointing; a messiahship; a christening.  What does this mean?

   from the Holy One

Who is this?

   and ye know all things.

We know "all things?"  How?

   Let that

Let what?
  
   therefore abide in you

What are we to let "abide" in us?  

   which ye have [had]
   from the beginning . . . 
   [and] ye shall continue
   in the Son and in the Father.

We're "in" the Son and Father?  And have been from the "beginning?"

   And this is the promise
   that he hath promised us:
  
God does not break His promises, does He?  Can we count on Him to keep His Word?  What has He "promised us?"

   even eternal life.

Now watch carefully this next verse, which brings it all together:

   The anointing
   which ye have received

When did we receive this anointing?  Before this world?

   of him

We did not anoint ourselves.

   abideth in you

Even now, today, our souls are filled with the unction of the Spirit so that:

   ye need not that any man
   should teach you

Wait, what?  Who shall teach us, then?

   but as the same anointing 
   teacheth you of all things,
   and is truth.

(1 John 2:5, 20, 24-25, 27)

You see, Jesus is the Truth; and that Truth is only found within ourselves.
​
Is it any wonder that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him (1 John 3:2)?

From the Cross

For the past six weeks I have pondered the "I AM" statements of Jesus, realizing that I must follow Him by embodying these words.

To refresh everyone's memory, the seven statements are:

   1.  I AM that bread of life (John 6:48) (referring to the manna from heaven).

   2.  I AM the door (John 10:9) (referring to the sheepfold).

   3.  I AM the true vine (John 15:1) (referring to the fruit and family of God).

   4.  I AM the good shepherd (John 10:11)

   5.  I AM the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6)

   6.  I AM the resurrection and the life (John 11:25)

   7.  I AM the light of the world (John 8:12)

In my opinion there is no greater irony than the fact that Jesus ― who declared to the Samaritan woman at the well that whosoever would drink of the living water should never thirst (John 4:14) ― hung upon the cross and cried, "I thirst" (John 19:28).

Speaking of, there are (coincidentally) seven statements that Jesus made at Calvary during His crucifixion (which are mostly allusions to the Psalms; see in particular Psalm 22 and Psalm 31:5; notice the hyssop branch used to give Jesus sour wine (vinegar) and compare to Psalm 51:7). 

Each of us must learn the mystery of I AM from the source of all good and truth.

We must learn that we are saved not by Christ acting upon us, but by Christ acting through us.

I have attempted to turn the key; I have tried to open the Door of I AM as Jesus showed us, so you might see: but we must each walk through it.

I would note, simply, that as you ponder the seven I AM statements of Jesus along with the seven sayings of the Cross (which I have listed below), and apply them to Jesus, I would ask you to also (here's the fun part) apply them to yourself.

Become the Bread.
Be the Door.
Extend the True Vine.

   To him that overcometh
   will I give to eat
   of the hidden manna,
   and give him a white stone,
   and in the stone 
   a new name written,
   which no man knoweth
   saving he that receiveth it.

(Rev. 2:17)

I share my love with each of you, in the bonds of everlasting brotherhood, and say, as our Savior:

​   "I thirst."