Lent

I wrote the following essay this week for our missionaries on the topic of Lent: 

http://www.sicklethruster.blogspot.com/

Teach One Another Words of Wisdom

Some think that Mormons have small mixed-up minds, filled with funky religious ideas that are outdated and not relevant to our times or seasons. For instance, a Feb. 25, 2010 New York Times article described us as a "religious culture that many view as joyless and eccentric".

But what if?

What if there really is something to the Joseph Smith story? What if he really did see God and Jesus Christ as a 14 year old? And what if he continued in constant, direct contact with Diety for the rest of his life, until his untimely murder at age 39? What if?

An objective student of our history will discover that the Joseph Smith was a man of unusual insight, brilliance, compassion and interest in human nature. He communed with God in a realm and sphere unknown to common man. Among the revelatory things he wrote:

"The glory of God is intelligence."

"That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day."

"There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes; We cannot see it; but when our bodies are purified we shall see that it is all matter."

"And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom, seek learning even by study and also by faith."

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As a young man, I had the privilege of attending Stanford University for both my undergraduate and graduate degrees. On the Stanford campus there is a beautiful non-denominational chapel called Memorial Church. Great thought went into the exterior and interior design of this chapel.

Carved into Memorial Church's interior sandstone walls are a collection of instructive and inspirational sayings assembled by Jane Stanford over the years. Gathered by Mrs. Stanford from many sources, the sayings represented her religious faith and convictions and, in the flowery language characteristic of the Victorian literary style, the carved inscriptions were intended to decorate the church and inspire its visitors. Intricately carved stone frames enclose each of the twenty-eight inscriptions, and four of the six memorial tablets are lettered in gold. Here are some of the inscriptions:

There is no narrowing so deadly as the narrowing of man's horizon of spiritual things. No worse evil could befall him in his course on earth than to lose sight of Heaven. And it is not civilization that can prevent this; it is not civilization that can compensate for it. No widening of science, no possession of abstract truth, can indemnify for an enfeebled hold on the highest and central truths of humanity. "What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"
[Mark 8:37, Matthew 16:26]

A noble ambition is among the most helpful influences of student life, and the higher this ambition is, the better. No man can work well unless he can speak as the Great Master did of the joy set before Him.
And this leads to the greatest of all safeguards, and the most encouraging of all stimulating influences to a noble life, - that is, the power of personal religion. We need something outside of and beyond ourselves. "Remember, you are not your own, - you are bought with a the precious blood of Jesus."
[Cf. I PETER 1:18-19]

The world is new to every soul when Christ has entered into it.
We can never perish if we remain in the arms of our Father Almighty.

True life is the principles of Christ lived. There is no other life that is true. To condense it still more, the true life is the Christ life lived.
God knows what His Children want before they ask, but it proves their faith in Him to pray for what they want.

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When something rings true, it usually is. Whether from the inspiration of Joseph Smith or the inscriptions on the walls of this beautiful church - truth is truth. I am uplifted and desire to do my best and be my best. To see all of the inscriptions -- and there are many and they are wonderful -- go to: http://www.stanford.edu/group/religiouslife/memchuInscriptions.html

Be My Valentine

Members of our ward (congregation) back in Redmond, Washington surprised Joyce and me with a large envelope full of home-made Valentines.  Thank you!

Weather is Where You Are

One morning last week while I was exercising in the basement of the Mission Home, snow was falling in the backyard. I watched it through the screened basement window. It has been a season of snow. A record-breaking season. As of Wednesday, Philadelphia had 70.3 inches. The previous record for the snowiest winter in Philadelphia was 65.5 inches in 1995-96.

Schools were cancelled. Businesses were closed. Lives were disrupted. The weather impacted everything. By mid-morning the power was out, not to return until early evening the next day. The house was cold. The candles were insufficient. The food in the fridge was warm. Roads were not plowed. Grocery store shelves were ghostly empty.

But this world of mine was wonderfully quiet. The snow dampened excess noise – from cars, planes and people.

And a familiar thought came to mind: Weather is where you are.

Unconsciously my entire world was buried in snow. It extended in all directions and dimensions. I wondered how my 82-year-old father would weather this storm? And my new two-week-old grandson?

I put on long-johns, gloves, stocking cap and my heavy winter coat. I spoke kindly to my all-wheel-drive rig, like a rider might speak to his horse at the beginning of a steeple chase. We drove up north and the roads were empty of other horseless carriages. Trees had fallen down, taking power lines with them.

I stopped and took some pictures.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

And soon pick-up trucks with snowplows were everywhere, reminding me of hyenas arriving after the kill, excited for the spoils.

Back at the darkened Mission Home, my laptop was using its battery reservoir. And with my wireless USB I was connected to the rest of the snowbound universe.

No man is an island, entire of itself
every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.

Unless, of course, no man is a snowman. My world was blanketed in snow, lots of snow. That was, until I opened an email from a friend in Seattle. He’d been on my farm that day and had sent a bunch of new photos. Eager to see the beauty of the blizzard in another part of the country, I quickly opened one photo after another.

I was stunned to see not white, but green. Green fields, green lawns, green trees. The contrast was arresting. Like awakening from an unfinished dream, I realized once again that weather is where you are. It impacts everything and colors your entire reality.

A different kind of weather is even more impactful and disruptive: storms in our hearts and minds. Unhealthy emotional responses to the challenges of daily life can create internal storms of monster proportion.  Such storms blur our vision and corrupt our internal compasses.  But perception is reality.  And with storms of the heart and mind, perception provides protection.  We quickly lose direction and cause significant damage to ourselves and others. We create our own power outages. We crash into others. We overheat, working feverishly to place blame externally. We create excuses and tell lies – all as a means of escaping personal responsibility for our thoughts, actions and choices.

But unlike the snow falling from a heavenly cloud, these storms are of our own creation.  We are our own weathermen.  And while the sun will eventually melt the snow, a frozen heart can last forever unless we choose to turn on the defrost.

At such times, I find these three sentences to be most helpful:

I was wrong.
Please forgive me.
I love you.

Indeed, weather is where you are! Whether it is snow falling in Philadelphia or discord blowing through one’s heart, everything is impacted.

Once More, With Feeling

I'm to blame for the massive snow storms in the Mid-Atlantic states. You see, it was time for me to get a new mission car. The church manages their large fleet of cars with great precision. My old car had maxxed out on miles. I asked, "Say, do you have any all wheel drive cars on the list?"

To my surprise, I was given a new Chevy Traverse. I'd never heard of it. But it's no car -- it's a rig. And rigs love snow.

So for the past few weeks I've been praying madly for snow. I wanted to take my Traverse on a true test drive.

I've learned an important lesson -- mission presidents seem to have more sway in the prayer department than I realized. I have now officially stopped praying for snow!

The Mid-Atlantic snow siege ended yesterday with record-breaking snowfall and blizzard conditions . Places such as Washington, DC, Baltimore, MD, Philadelphia, PA, Wilmington, DE and Atlantic City, NJ have all topped their previous snowiest winter season snowfall totals (at least in recent recorded history).

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Snow

Our mission is smack dab in the middle of the "Mid Atlantic" snow storm. The first two photos were taken early this morning looking out the front door of the mission home. I had to dig a path for Ruby, the mission dog, to pee. She lives for adventures like this.

The rest of the photos were taken yesterday. Two are of our patio and the rest were taken as I traveled to Souderton and Reading. I was often the only car on the road. Luckily my mission vehicle is a new Chevy Traverse, a very dependable all-wheel drive "rig".

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Officially, 28.5 inches was measured at Philadelphia International Airport, just shy of the all-time record and vaulting the winter of 2009-10 to No. 2 for snow in 126 years of record-keeping.  This winter is within 10 inches of becoming the snowiest ever. Another storm is possible Tuesday night into Wednesday.

What Motivates This Kind of Change?

It is contrary to conventional wisdom:  Take a 19 year old boy, put him in a suit and force him to live a rules-bound life for two years with no entertainment, and with the requirement to preach the gospel both day and night.  The outcome, most experts might predict, would be REBELLION and a rejection of the faith into which he was raised.

The world defines freedom as a lack of constraints.  God defines freedom as a lack of sin.

I recently received the following email from one of our missionaries.  It's "World vs God".  You be the judge.

“Dear President Murray,

I want to share with you my list of things I am going to change to make this transfer the best one yet. I divided my list into two smaller lists, the things I am going to stop doing, and the things I'm going to start doing.

I am going to stop:
· fault-finding
· searching for contention
· being negative
· tearing myself down
· assuming the worst
· taking offense
· doing things that offend others
· tearing my companion down
· dwelling on the negative
· worrying about things I can't control
· comparing my areas
· blaming others
· blaming past occurrences for current circumstances
· focusing on things that are unimportant
· doing anything to drive away the spirit

I am going to start:
· looking for the good in everyone
· being positive
· giving credit to others
· being grateful
· loving those around me no matter what
· thinking the best of others
· dwelling on the positive
· focusing on things I can control and making them better
· loving my area no matter what
· taking responsibility
· focusing on the important things
· doing everything I can to always have the spirit with me

I love you and want to thank you for encouraging me to change.”


By rooting out all the counterfeit influences of a noisy world, this young man is finding himself. And he is sensing joy in the journey. One more vote for God.