Fearlessly Love One Another

The Greatest Miracles

​​As a young boy I loved to listen to stories about the shepherd David who used one smooth stone and some faith to fell the giant Goliath.

Also Samson, who wielded a jawbone to slay his enemies and wrestled lions with his bare hands (it occurs to me now, thinking of him tying fox tails to firebrands, that he must have been a bit of a problem child).

And like many of you, growing up I read the beginning of the Book of Mormon more than any other part, and I fell in love with Nephi who communed with angels and burst the bands of his wicked older brothers (having an older brother myself, I could sympathize). 

But as I grew older, the great feats of strength and faith performed by my boyhood heroes were replaced with more subtle, unheralded examples of heroism, like watching parents care for a special needs child, or a family circle-the-wagons around a recently divorced loved one, or a young father trust in the Lord when diagnosed with cancer. 

I realized that the greatest miracles in life were not splashy one-time wonders — like parting the waters of the Red Sea hither and thither, end of story, roll the end credits Mr. DeMille — but rather the steady, daily sacrifices made in love by those who follow Jesus Christ.

Faith may move mountains, sure, but if we want to move heaven and earth itself, try love.

Charity is Not a Hobby Horse

Towards the end of Nephi’s life, as he finished his record upon the small plates and bid us farewell, Nephi said three times (three!) that he had “charity” (2 Ne. 33:7-9). 

What an odd claim from a man who did not believe in boasting.

I mean, Nephi had an impressive resume; he could have listed any number of remarkable accomplishments, and yet, at the end of all things, with his soul laid bare as it is for all men at death, the thing he thought most important was how much he had loved. 

What good is being king and priest if one hasn't received the pure love of Christ?

This kind of "pure love" is something I search for in myself, wondering if I am one of the "true followers" of Jesus Christ upon whom this gift has been bestowed, or am I just a pretender, a hypocrite?

At the end of the Savior’s mortal life, love was foremost on His mind as well.

Surrounded by His closest companions at the Last Supper, Jesus gave them His testimony.  He said:

   A new commandment
   I give unto you,
   That ye love one another;
   as I have loved you,
   that ye also love one another.

   By this shall ALL men know (!)
   [so this isn't guesswork]
   that ye are my disciples,
   if ye have love one to another.

(John 13:34-35) 

   How? 

How was Jesus able to see in the unschooled fisherman the seasoned apostle who would one day give his life for the Lord he adored?  How does Christ see within every one of us something of eternal worth, souls filled with endless possibility?

   Why? 

Why does Jesus love us?  Just look at us!  Why doesn't He measure our worth in the scales of the past and present like the admissions committee at Harvard, checking our grades and extra curriculars?  Why does He want to unlock our divine potential by sacrificing Himself?

Love will always tip the balance in our favor.

Blood Covenant

Look, sometimes sacrificing a broken heart and contrite spirit is gutting. 

While there is no fear in love, chances are there will be a lot of sorrow.  Perhaps that is why love is associated with blood.  It is the thing that gives us life, and to lose it means death.  It is the sign of the covenant:

   And Moses took the blood,
   and sprinkled it on the people,
   and said, Behold the blood
   of the covenant, which the Lord
   hath made with you
   concerning all these words.

(Exodus 24:8)

Paul taught the testimony of Jesus was sealed with His blood.  That is something to hope in.  Hope is love's companion because it gives us confidence to endure against all odds.  To the end.

What was Christ's promise?  If we hold on to Him, He will guide us through the fender-benders and fiery crashes of eternity, beyond the mists and mockery, through the dreary wastes and darkness, worlds without end.

The Tree of Life is not something we reach at the end of our journey, but the thing that begins it.

Tasting the goodness of Jesus is what gives us the courage to press forward, no matter the cost, regardless of how long it takes, because we know the Father's fulness awaits.

Life is Short: Write More Love Letters

What is the gospel, but Christ's love letter to the Father?

I've decided that life is short and we should write more love letters.

   While we can.

No time to waste; no use longing for what could have been because when you fall in love, you always fall forward.

Maybe it's time to reach out to those who have harmed us and see if there is any ground in which to plant a seedling of grace?

Whatever heartache and heartbreak exists in our relationships, I think there's hope for any heart to yet blossom as a rose.

C.S. Lewis said:

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. But lock your heart up in a safe, dark, motionless, and your heart will change. It will not be broken, true, but it will become unbreakable. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell."

(C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves, London: Harcourt Brace & Co., 1960, 121.)

Elder Holland

The Series, "In the Mouths of Two or Three Witnesses", Parts 1 thru 6, was my love letter to Clark Burt, who has ministered to me as an angel God-sent.

   Who has touched your life?

I've written a love letter to Elder Jeffrey R. Holland (his talk The Inconvenient Messiah drew tears when I read it).  Elder Holland doesn't know me from Adam, but what better way to spread Gilead's healing balm than to declare "I love you" to a stranger, to a neighbor, even to our enemy?
​​
I Love You, Elder Holland

But what do we know,
my love, of longing,
of unrequited heat
felt through an open robe
staring into each other’s bosom
of flesh and bone
aflame with resurrection's blood─
light shining not thru but around, 
framing the darkness between─

     alas untouched
     is the floor beneath our feet.
 
Will we measure time left to us
as the cock crows?
Such picaresque saints
we are: lowly born
in an age of innocence 
no more.  I remember
falling in love with you,
my angel, my teacher,
as inconveniently as love comes
to us ‘fast nags of the cloth.’
 
But now they have pierced our pericardium 
protecting the pungent oil.
Can you feel strength draining
from our roots, robbed
of virtue?  Is it not the lofty
branches, dearest, looking down
upon us, their choking gaze
lingering as the smell of manure
or as the taste of regret?
Oh, my love, do not despair!
there is hope if someone
(if someone like you)
still dungs the dying.

     O deseret, our sweet olea europaea,
     your flowering ovaries 
     blackened against the bark, 
     your trunk a tangle of braided veins 
     holding up a heavy crown . . . 
     the whole head is sick. 

Take my hand, love of my heart, 
let us create something worthy
as if we had the scepter
of Charlemagne, imagine,
or the courage of William who conquered
Harold under the comet,
or the faith of Joan speaking to
Michael in the pasture
wearing men's clothes,
or the plucky nerve of Luther
standing against the Cathedra Petri,
or given our sacred honor
sealing our names to liberty
on the banks of the Thames
before King John─
     or burned in the noonday sun
     beside Joseph as he prophesied
     a future where men would govern
     themselves and have no law but the light
     of Christ to lead them─
 
now history watches
what we do, armed with love alone
as others seek to steal our freedom in Christ
hanging by a thin thread.
​
We have learned by sad experience, my love,
great men are not always wise
and foxes walk upon the desolate mountain.

   Please, beloved, choose.

Love Your Enemies

Perhaps the best change to the Temple Recommend Interview Questions in 2019 was this one:

[FORMER]  

​Q.  Do you affiliate with any group or individual whose teachings or practices are contrary to or oppose those accepted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or do you sympathize with the precepts of any such group or individual?

Well, that question was problematic.  It was overly-broad and vague.  I work for the government, so do I affiliate with a group whose practices are contrary to the gospel?

And rather than insulate Himself from sinners, didn't Jesus intentionally sit and dine with them?  So there's no 'guilt-by-association' in the Savior's ministry.

But in 2019 the Church reworded the question, removing entirely "groups" and "individuals."  It was a positive change!

No longer is the question framed around people (who we should love and spend time with, if we hope to be reconciled).

[CURRENT]

Q.  Do you support or promote any teachings, practices, or doctrine contrary to those of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

I like this new question because we are free to embrace everyone (good news, whenever we reduce McCarthyism in the Church).

And it appears we are also free to accept any teachings that are not contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

   Is that how you interpret it?

Because I am now going to talk about a very polarizing figure about whom everyone has an opinion:

   Denver Snuffer.

Blessed Are the Pure in Heart

Gold must be proven seven times in a fire to become pure; I suppose our hearts must become burnt offerings upon God's altar many more times than that before they're rendered free of dross.

But the blessing Christ promised to those who have pure hearts is real: "they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8).

Denver says he has seen God.  I have no reason to dispute it; I mean, it is a blessing promised in the scriptures to us all.

But neither do I think seeing God makes a person special or better than anyone else.  In summary: seeing God is great; but don't let it go to your head.

   Verily I say unto you
   that it is your privilege,
   and a promise I give unto you
   that have been ordained
   unto this ministry, that inasmuch
   as you strip yourselves
   from jealousies and fears,
   and humble yourselves before me,
   for ye are not sufficiently humble,
   the veil shall be rent
   and you shall see me
   and know that I am.

(D&C 67:10)

I believe that when we follow the spirit of "fear" we become divided; we seek to exclude those who are different from us; we refuse to break bread with them; and in such a spirit of fear, I think it would be difficult to claim a pure heart.

Contrast the approach of the Church towards fundamentalists (polygamists), shunning them and requiring those who wish to be baptized to renounce their families, with the outreach of Denver towards that group, offering reconciliation and charity rather than judgment and recrimination.

Which approach do you view as more loving?

Fear Not

What does it mean to be "pure" anyway? 

​A prideful man is as impure as an immoral one.  Purity, then, is not synonymous with virtue, and purity of heart is far greater than chastity.

A thing is pure, by definition, when it is "free from anything of a different, inferior, or contaminating kind."

What if a "pure heart" was simply one in which God had poured His pure love?  It's not the vessel but what's inside that matters; in fact, the contents is what cleanses the vessel in this case.

So we're probably not prepared to see God if we fear some guy with a blog who goes around giving talks in hotel ballrooms to small groups like Denver does, because it shows our hearts haven't yet been purified; for "perfect love casteth out all fear."

There's nothing to fear when Christ has overcome the world.  Not even death.  Not even Snuffer.

As President J. Reuben Clark said:

"If we have the truth, it cannot be harmed by investigation. If we have not the truth, it ought to be harmed."

This is why I don't understand why the Brethren have an infographic with Denver's name on it.

Because I Was Asked

Recently I was asked my opinion about Denver Snuffer.  My initial reaction was, "Why does it matter what I think?"

After all, Jesus Christ is the "head" of the body of believers (Eph. 4:15-16), and more importantly, He is the heart.  Surely the only opinion that matters is the Lord's?

But even Nephi, when asked by his brothers about their father's dream, who hadn't inquired of the Lord, went on to answer their questions.

And so I responded in the same honest spirit in which they asked, and said, "Denver Snuffer is one voice that God has sent forth, and there are many others, and you must raise your voice in the chorus so that the Lord might speak thru many mouths, for His word must reach the nethermost parts of His vineyard."

Ask yourself: should we avoid the writings of C.S. Lewis because he wasn't a member of the Church?  Should we ignore what Emma Smith had to say because she wasn't loyal to Brigham Young?  Do we disregard Sidney Ridgon's spiritual experiences (such as the Vision of the Degrees of Glory) because he didn't gather West?  Do we discount everything Brigham Young said because he was nasty at times?
​
No.  Quite the opposite: the Lord taught us to study and:

   Whoso readeth it,
   let him understand,
   for the Spirit
   manifesteth truth;

   And whoso is enlightened
   by the Spirit
   shall obtain benefit therefrom.

(D&C 91:4-5)

So we are free to read and ponder the writings of Freud, Kierkegaard, Snuffer, John Widtsoe, and the Dalai Lama.

At the same time, we can disregard anything that is contrary to the word of God.

Because at the end of the day, it is not the messenger but the message that matters.

Follow Christ.  Listen for His voice, cling to His word, and watch and be ready.