Take My Yoke Upon You

Recently I was thinking about a scripture that I have loved at different points in my life, but I gained some new perspectives on it that make it even cooler. I thought I would share them here.

This is the scripture:
 Matthew 11:28-30

 "28 ¶Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

In these verses, Jesus Christ is asking us to come pull His load with Him. I think this is cool for several reasons: He wants us to come be a part of His work. He is inviting us to not only be a part of His work, but to actually work right next to Him. 

I remembered hearing about teams of oxen in a talk by Edward Dube. In a contest to drag a five-ton sledge 3 feet, the teams of oxen who worked together did better than the stronger oxen that didn't work together.

By Klaaschwotzer (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

In this picture of two oxen yoked together, notice how close they are to each other. They can't even look to the side without the other one knowing about it. They are also both facing forward, and are both squared against the load they're pulling. I imagine the two oxen learning to become a team. One being a little slower to hit the yoke, getting distracted, or trying to pull the load all by himself.

When we act on the invitation to work next to Christ and take His yoke upon us, we're accepting similar conditions. We won't be able to hide our imperfections or laziness from Him (not that we ever can, but we will be more aware that He sees them), nor will we be able to slack off without feeling how it affects His work.

Sounds a little scary, actually. To have be working right next to the only perfect person to ever walk the earth, who is also the Son of God. Could be intimidating, even when your heart's in the right place. But then I thought of this scripture, and I think it sheds a different light on the situation.

Ether 12:27 "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

So when we get closer to Christ, He will show us our weaknesses. BUT He shows them to us so we will be humble enough to accept His correction and help so we can improve. So our weaknesses can become strengths. And in Matt. 11:29, He says that He is meek and lowly in heart—approachable.

Christ isn't worried about taking a tally of how many times we mess up. We're on the same team, and what He wants is for each of us to learn to be a team with him. To learn how to pull His load with Him. Ok, that's cool. So the process of learning to be a team with Him will be hard, but the end goal is to . . . be a team with Christ. And He's the one offering to be there helping us—being yoked to us—every step of the way!

He wants us to improve, and just like in a team of oxen, where one ox can help the other keep moving forward, He will help keep us on the right track if we accept His yoke. And I've found that that is the case for me—when I consistently read scriptures and pray, I feel the Holy Ghost more in my life, and receive more invitations to delve deeper in the scriptures and to do a little better. I'm sure there is so much more helping power I could tap into if I would just commit to it!

I like having this visual of a team of oxen yoked together as a metaphor for my relationship with Christ. It seems too good to be true, to work side by side with the Savior with Him promising to teach me how to be a better team member, but He's asking me to come—so why not answer?

On Sunlight and Walks

On Sunlight and Walks

I like to walk
On Summer days
to feel the Sun
Its luxious rays

In Fall I feel the
Air so chill
creeping softly up the hill
But hearing crunch
of fallen leaves
brings the warmth of
smile to my cheeks

Winter takes the Sun away
I see it only through the glass
that acts a barrier to the warmth
and—standing—I can only see--not feel--its affects

Spring comes in lurches
Sometimes late
But whether in the morn or eve
Walking outside, begins anew
the Sunlight bursts from within
a paradise of golden whim

Speaking to Be Heard

Speaking to be heard

Why else would you speak?, you ask. These are some reasons I can think of:

To hear yourself talk.
To blend in.
To shock people.
To agree.
To get someone else to stop talking.
To break the uncomfortable silence.

People are uncomfortable with silence, and having words fill the air, regardless of their meaning, is more comfortable for most than a silence that sits heavy on your abdomen. And speaking is a great method of getting someone's attention—some people just speak so people will look at them, so they will be in the spotlight. It's not about their words—it's about them. Sometimes you speak to show that you agree, that you're part of the group, that you want the person speaking and the people nodding to be your friends.

But this post is about speaking to be heard. The kind of talking where you actually want the person to understand something, not just hear you speak, the kind of talking that has a mission other than reflecting the same thing everyone else is saying or drawing attention to yourself.

When—or why—would you speak to be heard?

Because you have something to say that matters.

"Italian Gas Horn" by Edvvc - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Italian_Gas_Horn.JPG#mediaviewer/File:Italian_Gas_Horn.JPG

You have something to say that matters. You have a unique perspective. You experience and feel and have a moral compass, and have wishes and hopes and desires that are good. Are valid. That can inspire people. That can wake others up to beauty, reality, love, purpose, their need to change.

What about when you don't feel like you have something important to say? Or that what matters to you won't matter to anyone else, so you should just keep your mouth shut? And you've talked yourself down (on the inside) so that it doesn't feel important to say what you think, to contribute your opinion, to give voice to the hurt someone has caused you . . . but you should speak up, if only to feel how liberating it is. And how much it helps you value who you are—because honestly, it takes valuing who you are and what you have to say to make the effort to speak up.

So when you have something that feels important to say, say it! You don't know if it might ring true to someone listening, or help you learn more about yourself or the people around you—or even cause a connection with those people—in the process.

Flavors of Silence

Flavors of Silence
Thoughts on sharing...and withholding...our thoughts from those around us.




















(What thoughts, actions, and feelings fill the space that we otherwise leave empty of sound?)

To that I say, no more silence. It's time to speak up.




















(What are the many kindnesses and actions we do without marring them by speech?)

Yet...what kindnesses are marked only by our willingness not to speak? Or what peace is left undisturbed by us having the restraint to leave it be, like the moonlit meadow laid with newly-fallen snow? There are so many other ways to express ideas and feelings. When to use which?




















What does silence mean, after all? It can be mean-spirited, inspired by fear, or maintained only by self-restraint.

I would like to examine this more in future posts...in the meantime, what are your thoughts on silence? What causes it? When have you wished you would have spoken? Kept your mouth shut? When is it helpful and when is it hurtful? When is it wrong to stay silent? Can we be silent while still voicing something? How do we do that? When is it best to speak, and when best to stay silent?

Fruits of Faith

In our scripture study the other day, my husband and I read Ether 12. I had forgotten how much neat stuff is in there!

I wanted to see if I could learn more about what faith is by pulling out the things it causes. When I was writing up this blog post, I also saw that there were different phrases used to indicate that faith influenced something. See the lists below of the "fruits of faith" that I found in Ether 12.

Because of the faith of men...

• Christ showed himself to the world. (verse 8)
• Christ has glorified the name of the Father and prepared a way that others can be partakers of the heavenly gift. (verse 8)

By faith...

• The law of Moses was given. (verse 11)
• A more excellent way has been fulfilled. (verse 11)
• Miracles are wrought. (verse 16)
• The Brother of Jared obtained the word of God and then saw His finger, then received a promise that he would see the Lord, and then saw all things that the Lord had promised. (verse 21)
• Their forefathers obtained a promise that the scriptures should come to their brethren through the Gentiles. (verse 22) 

William Blake [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The miracles listed below were brought about by a person's (or several people's) faith.

• "it was the faith of Alma and Amulek that caused the prison to tumble to the earth." (verse 13)
• "it was the faith of Nephi and Lehi that wrought the change upon the Lamanites, that they were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost." (verse 14)
• "it was the faith of Ammon and his brethren which wrought so great a miracle among the Lamanites." (verse 15)
• " it was by faith that the three disciples obtained a promise that they should not taste of death" (verse 17)

In addition to telling us a sampling of the things faith has done for certain people, Moroni explains that faith will help each of us. If we have faith...

• We can have hope and be partakers of the divine gift.(verse 9)
• We can take part in miracles, can work miracles in God's name. (verse 16,18)
• We might with surety hope for a better world. (verse 4)

It's interesting that there are different phrasings used--by faith, because of faith, it was the faith of ____. That seems to indicate that some things are done by the power of faith (by faith), while others happen as a result of, but not necessarily by the power of faith (because of faith).

What do you think of the phrasing used to talk about faith in Ether 12?

Some of these have close phrasing to the actual verses--I decided to forego quotation marks, since I list what verse each comes from and the source is readily available at lds.org.

Obeying - more than a moment's decision

I turned to the Topical Guide and read the first entry under "Obedience." It was a verse in the story of Noah.

It was interesting to me that Noah's story begins with the Lord being grieved by the wickedness of the people. Noah found grace in God's eyes because he was "a just man and perfect in his generations" and  "Noah walked with God" (Genesis 6:7-8).

I think it's interesting that in the same thought of Noah being a just man, it also says that he walked with God. As in, walked in the same manner God does—justly? And because of that was able to spend time learning from God. That's pretty cool.

In Genesis 6:13, God speaks to Noah and tells him what is going to happen (the people are going to be destroyed) and he tells him exactly what to do to escape that fate (built an ark of such and such a size, with these materials, etc.). It may seem strange that God would talk directly to Noah—doesn't he love the other people as well? He does love them—but they've already established that they aren't going to listen to him. They ignored his advice for so long that they are completely unwilling to listen to him, even if it costs them their lives.

Why would the Lord choose to tell Noah his plans to destroy everyone, then? Why would he tell Noah what to do to bring his family to safety? He loves them; Noah will listen to him. Noah's actions didn't bring the Lord to say that it repented him that he even created him. I think this tells us that the Lord wasn't angry for the sake of being angry—he went through the process of planning a way to save one family who still listened to him and tried to be good. Noah had established a relationship of trust with all of those walks with God (hear: all of the past of following in God's paths).

But Noah didn't get a free ticket out. At this point he still could have said it was too hard, that making that much pitch didn't really appeal to him. He could have been overwhelmed with how demanding the task was—finding a male and female of all sorts of animals, and building an ark that would house them all safely sounds difficult to me. Let alone gathering "all food that is eaten" enough to "be for food for thee, and for them [all of the animals]."

So Noah had a choice to make—would he trust that the Lord would really destroy those people? Would the flood really happen? Could he really build a sea-worthy vessel, especially one strong enough to hold all sorts of animals, as well as enough food for them AND for his family?

"'Noah and His Ark' by Charles Willson Peale, 1819" by Charles Willson Peale - Own work - Wmpearl.
 Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

It's not clear how much doubt Noah dealt with as the Lord told him this life-changing news, but it is clear from his actions that he did trust, and acted accordingly:

"Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded Him, so did he." (Genesis 6:22)

Comparing the Comparable

In my skimming of the news I came across this story.

Police find remains of seven babies at Utah home

My reaction was something like "How in the world could she do that? WHY would she do that?" I felt disturbed and revolted.

My next thought was "but isn't this exactly the same thing I heard people advocating for--for the right to choose whether or not the babies they have live?"

I also heard a story containing an audio of someone talking with a clinic talking about late-term abortion--even after-birth abortion. (I don't want to try searching for it--the kinds of things that search will bring up is more than I ever want to learn about--but it's out there.)

What is so different between what Huntsman did and what abortion clinics do? Is the difference that she did it herself? As far as I can see, that's really the only difference.

Can I say that something is messed up? I think I can. It seems obvious from the first story (and the comments on it) that our society considers a mother killing her babies is disturbing, wrong. Why can't we see that the SAME applies to abortion? What's getting in the way?

Some comments say she is clearly mentally ill. So does it follow that all mothers who would choose to end the life of their infant for personal convenience (and the society that makes it overly acceptable--even right--to do so) are mentally ill, not seeing things correctly?

My answer is yes. What is yours?