Sacrament Prayers Part 3

Our relationship with God established, we proceed to ask for specific blessings. These blessings are quite possibly the most significant we could possibly ask, which is probably why it is done by the power of the Priesthood. The blessings are first, to bless, and second to sanctify, the bread and water to the souls of all those who partake of it.

To bless is to bestow favors. When we consider any blessing, whether it one we perceive as a personal blessing or a blessing that has been widely acknowledged, we are really recognizing God's hand in our lives. God bestows upon us blessings which we have deemed ourselves, according to our conduct, worthy to receive (D&C 130: 20-21). They can be anything from an extra bit of money that shows up when we need it, to the feeling of forgiveness that permeates our hearts. Thus, to bless is to give extra help. So what could possibly be meant by "bless...this bread (or water)"? I sincerely doubt that the Sacrament bread and water gives us any added nutrients or health benefits.

To sanctify, quite simply put, is to purify. We are sanctified by the blood of Christ, through the Atonement. Having paid the price, we are set free from the effects of sin, and our sins become as white as snow, as Isaiah so eloquently puts it. But, again, this is in regards to us personally, so what possible benefit could sanctifying the emblems have? Personally, I've never seen a fungus growing in my cup.

The key, then, is the phrase, "to the souls." That little two-lettered word denotes aiming toward something, or, in this case, someone. Specifically, you. The Sacrament is wrought with symbolism. The emblems remind us of something specific about the Savior's sacrifice. The bread represents His body, which he took again the third day in order to make possible the resurrection of mankind. The water represents His precious blood, which was shed both in the Garden and on the cross, during which times the Savior made possible our spiritual return to the Father. So, it is not the actual bread and water which are blessed and sanctified, but rather the actual sacrifice of the Savior. His sacrifice is blessed and sanctified to us, or given to us for our benefit. Those are the blessings that the Lord is already willing to grant, if we will only ask for them.

I think the next time I take the Sacrament, I will think differently about it.

Sacrament Prayers Part 2

Having established that the Sacrament Prayers are indeed prayers, one must consider the manner in which they begin. The very first words are an indication of who they are directed toward. Just as all prayers, they are meant for our Heavenly Father's ears. However, something very fundamental can be learned from what follows: "...we ask Thee, in the name of Jesus Christ...". Yes, we address Heavenly Father, but we do it in the name of Jesus Christ. The role of our Savior comes to light here. Christ is our advocate with the Father, and it is through His sacrifice that we obtain blessings from the Father. 

No one can deny the existence of God's law. Adam himself was given this law and put under covenant to obey it. But Adam was not perfect, just as none of us are. And without obedience to the law, there can be no exaltation, no blessings of any kind. In short, we would be damned, or stopped in our progress. We wouldn't be able to become better, or learn new things, because the Spirit would cease to strive with us. Without the Savior's Atonement, this very existence would be utterly wasted. 

But the wonderful, liberating reality is that He did perform the Atonement. He answered the very ends of God's law, He paid the price for when we have our imperfect moments. So that when we have them, we can turn to our Savior and obtain forgiveness once again, and the Spirit back. Anyone who has ever felt the loss of this gift can tell you, life is nothing without it. And once we have it back, we can continue to become more like the Savior.

Thus Jesus Christ becomes our advocate with the Father. This does not mean that God Himself does not hear our prayers, it simply means that we have someone standing next to us, to verify and give validity to our prayers, to say, "I have payed the price for their mistakes. Hear their pleas." So when, through the Priesthood, we ask for the blessings of the Sacrament to rest upon us, we can be assured that God will both hear and answer our prayers, because we ask in the name of Jesus Christ.

Sacrament Prayers Part One

I have begun to think in immense detail about the prayers that are said over the emblems of the Savior's sacrifice every week. They are short, sometimes even shorter depending on how nervous the Priest is who happens to be blessing it that week. Sometimes they have to be repeated. But they are always the same and they always make me think.

The first thing I realized about the Sacrament Prayers may sound fairly obvious. The Sacrament Prayers are prayers. There, I said it. But think about it. I have always thought of them as special words that are set apart from any others I send Heavenward. But they are prayers, just like the ones I say at my bedside. They may be said on my behalf, by the authority of the Priesthood, but they are prayers nonetheless. The Bible Dictionary says that "prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them." The blessings promised in these prayers are ones that God is already willing to grant. But God wants us to ask. Not for Him, He already knows our hearts. Partaking of the Sacrament and participating in those prayers is for us, so that we know that we indeed want what has been promised. We are also reminded of our part. Prayer itself is a form of work, and partaking of the Sacrament is quite possibly the most important work of our week. So the next time you listen to those words the Priest is saying, remember, they're not just words. It's a prayer.

Confessions from the Gym

I went to the gym the other day, which in and of itself was a triumph after over two months of avoiding it. The movie that was playing in the Cardio Cinema was Forever Strong. I love that movie, for many reasons. As I sat watching it, I thought about what it would be like to be part of a team that loves me as those boys loved Rick. He was an outcast, by all accounts an enemy, having previously played for the rival team. He was in their neck of the woods due to erratic and irresponsible behavior. They didn't have to show him the love and respect they did. But they did. And I started to wonder why. It was then the words to one of my favorite songs popped into my head. It's called Perfect Love, by Felicia Sorensen:

Perfect love, purest love 
Breaking through my anguish
Precious love, endless love
His love never fails me

And I realized that kind of love was what those boys were exhibiting. How often do we get to experience that? Love in spite of our faults. Love that causes us to want to be better. Have you ever experienced that kind of love? I realized that day that I have, and that I am. Eight months ago I started attending meetings for the Addiction Recovery Program, sponsored by LDS Family Services. And I have never felt love like that before in my life. The women I am privileged to meet on a weekly basis love me. I don't understand why or how, but I now know that they do. They love me because they understand something very fundamental about life: nobody is perfect, but we can all strive together to become so. Theirs is a perfect love. And so, I echo Alma, "If ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now (Alma 5:26)?"

I never thought to be able to say that I have done just that. But I submit to you now that I have sung the song of redeeming love for the first time. I may have felt a fraction before, but I never comprehended the full import of what it means to be loved by Heavenly Father. His love is all-reaching, all consuming and all-encompassing. All other love stems from this love. When we feel love for our fellow men, it is only by the grace of God.

Christ Himself taught us how to love, both those who accept it and those who don't. It is He who payed the ultimate price, making it possible for us to feel love. Without His great, last and everlasting sacrifice, we would know nothing of love.

This wonderful gift came from God. It came on His terms, in words I would understand and at the right time. He also gave me a quiet place to enjoy and contemplate it. Once again, all these things worked for my good.

I know that Christ lives, that He loves us, and is waiting with open arms to show us, as soon as we open our hearts. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, that he restored these wonderful truths to bless our lives. I know that if we strive to do what is right, we can't go wrong.

Human Chemistry

In nature, all reactions want to end up at a lower energy level than they started in. The reason that Oxygen comes in molecules of two (O2) is because it costs less energy to hang out together than to go it alone. Some reactions require a catalyst. A catalyst lowers the energy necessary to get started, because sometimes it's just too much. Sometimes the catalyst is heat. Sometimes it is another molecule. Sometimes it is pressure. There are hundreds of examples.

Human nature is no different. Some things are relatively easy and require no real motivation. Like blinking. We don't require a reminder every few seconds that we need to blink; we simply do. But things that require faith sometimes require a catalyst. These motivations can come from anywhere. Sometimes, something is said to us that convinces us we need to change. Sometimes it is another person coming around who inspires you. Always, though, it is the still, small voice after all the wind and rending rocks. Because that's what all those other things are. Things to get us prepared to hear, and listen. We don't have to be as powerful as Elijah or as wise as Solomon in order to hear. And it doesn't matter what motivates us or whether we would have changed had it gone differently. What matters is that we do. Your body doesn't complain that you get your Vitamin C from oranges instead of cranberries. It doesn't care. It just knows that it has what it needs.

Heavenly Father always makes sure our spiritual bodies have what they need. Stop wondering about that. My favorite line from my favorite song says, "The Lord is on thy side." It's just a matter of whether you're on His.

Where You Are

Once upon a time, I watched a movie. A very minor character struck a chord with me. She was strong, smart and confident. And she had the best line of the whole movie. A long time later, I saw a commercial for a TV show. The name of the actress who played the main character struck a memory. I looked it up, and indeed, it was my once upon a time heroine. So, I started watching from the beginning. I hate coming in in the middle. Well, I loved it. And not just because it was my favorite person. She was playing a completely different heroine. But the new character became my new heroine. Or rather, was added to my list of heroines. Then something happened to my newest heroine that was very similar to my own life right then. And I made decision to better my life based on her good decision. She is not perfect, but she made a perfect decision at the perfect time.

What startled me was that once upon a time I was inspired by a character, committed the actress's name to memory and recalled it when I really needed it. Was that movie made just for me? I doubt it. Was that casting director inspired to cast that particular actress, in either the movie or TV show? Maybe. Is it a coincidence that any of this happened? Absolutely not. I looked up the other movies this actress has been in. Most of them are Rated R, except for that one that I saw.

God speaks to us in our own language. And not necessarily our spoken language. Some of you have heard of the Five Love Languages. Some of us speak Book, Movie, Music or Sports. God speaks to all of us in a language we can hear. So even if He can't physically be by our side, He can speak to us. We just have to listen - everywhere.

Forgiveness

Imagine that your friend comes to you, in dire straits. He needs $600,000.00 tomorrow but the bank won't loan him the money. You agree to help him because you love him, so you head to the bank. You take out the loan in your name and hand over the check, while he assures you that he will pay you in full before the due date. You know him well and don't doubt him. The loan comes due and you have seen hide nor hair of him since you gave him the money. The bank contacts you and requests a meeting. When you go to the meeting, the bank reveals that they have conducted an investigation and found your situation. Knowing this, they are forgiving the debt, because even if they confiscated all your assets, the debt would not even be half paid. Rather than go through all that, they are willing to simply let it go-let you out of your contract. And so you are free-but not completely. Your friend, whom you loved, put you in an extremely difficult situation, and that is not easy to forget. It sits in your heart, eats you up inside. Then one day the doorbell rings. Your big brother has brought your friend to you. He looks terrible. His clothes are dirty, his face smeared with black and no shoes on his feet. While you were forgiven your debt, your friend has been hiding from you out of fear. He has slept in the deepest, darkest holes and wept the bitterest tears. Your brother has brought him to you to show you how remorseful he is, and encourages you to forgive him. But that's not so easy. How do you know that your friend won't do it again? But then your brother points out that the debt has been forgiven, whether you forgive your friend or not. The only pain is coming from the clench in your heart that you won't let go. And so, you let it go. You cry tears of pain and relief. You embrace your friend and bring him into your home, to relieve his pain and wipe his tears. He tells you his story. He invested the money with a man he thought would take him as far as he could go. But the man lied. He took all your friend's money and ran, reveling later in the misery he had caused. When your friend realized what had happened, he ran. He had tried several times to make contact with you, but you hadn't recognized him. It wasn't until your brother found him that he found the courage to confront you. And suddenly you are very glad he did, because you have not felt so happy in so long a time.

You are yourself in this story. Your friend is Sinner You, or the Natural Man, as King Benjamin would put it. The bank manager who so generously forgives your debt is your Heavenly Father, who loves you so much. Your brother is Jesus Christ, who works to reconcile your sins with God. When we sin, we put ourselves in debt with God, but He readily forgives us when we seek it. Sometimes the hardest person to forgive is ourselves. Knowing that God forgives us isn't enough, we have to know in ourselves that we forgive us. It isn't until we do so that we achieve true peace. Of that I testify, in Christ's name.