Refugee Mother from the Congo
I just read about this brave woman here and I’d like to give mad props to the people of Catholic Community Services of Utah for their fine work. I hope to be of help to them in a few months when I move west.
About a week ago, a lady at church spoke about the hardships she had experienced due to her son’s repeated incarcerations. She spoke about how it had been very trying for both her and her son, but that he had been a blessing to people in prison and they had witnessed wonderful things that never could have happened if he were not there. I was impressed with her courage and vision. I have no personal experience with a situation like hers, but my mind flew straight to Aminadab, a jailbird from the Book of Mormon.
Aminadab was a Nephite dissenter, who, having been taught the gospel in his youth, had rejected it and gone over to the Lamanites. We meet him in Helaman 5:35 when he is a prisoner in the very jail where Nephi and Lehi were wrongfully imprisoned. The prisoners, most of whom were probably Lamanites, were terrified by the apparent earthquake and the ensuing cloud of darkness. A still, piercing voice spoke to them from seemingly out of nowhere, calling them to repentance, but they were too afraid to move.
Aminadab understood what was going on, though. Even though he had rejected the gospel, he knew the Spirit when he felt it. He saw Nephi and Lehi through the cloud of darkness and understood they were speaking with angels. Aminadab told the others to look and then answered their questions and directed them to repent and pray for faith in Christ. Pretty soon, the prisoners had their vision cleared. They experienced their own heavenly flames, were filled with the Holy Ghost, and angels came down out of heaven to minister unto them.
It’s a pretty amazing story for many reasons, but I keep thinking about Aminadab. Here was a guy who had clearly made some bad decisions and yet the Lord used him for great things right where he was, both literally and figuratively. God gave him an opportunity to teach the very gospel he seems to have rejected. When he did it, not only did his own faith in Christ become renewed, but he was able to help over three hundred other people learn of Christ as well.
I don’t know why the son of that lady from church was in jail. It doesn’t make any difference to me. What I do know is that God can use him for good right where he is. Our wise Heavenly Father will use you wherever you are as soon as you are willing to be an instrument in his hands…and He’ll get you ready for the moment long before you know it’s coming.
There is a General Conference address from 1986 that relates directly to Aminadab and others like him. Elder F. Burton Howard said, “Some years ago it was fashionable in certain circles to use the phrase, “You can never go home again.” That is just simply not true. It is possible to return. It is possible for those who have ceased to pray, to pray again. It is possible for those who are lost to find their way through the dark and come home. And when they do, they will know, as I know, that the Lord is more concerned with what a man is than with what he was, and with where he is than with where he has been.”
I have never separated myself from the Church. But I have known and love people who have taken a different route. When they considered returning, it felt uncomfortable to them. It was hard. They didn’t feel like they belonged anymore. But the truth is, wherever you are, you always belong. You are always wanted. You are always loved. And wherever you are now, God has a work for you to do.
I can usually tell I’m not righteous enough when I read the scriptures. I mean, when is the last time I put my life on the line in defending God? I don’t even like putting my social standing on the line. I love Romans 1:16 that says, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” But a couple of weeks ago, I felt nervous to post an article on Facebook because I knew some people would be offended by my faith-based view on traditional marriage. I posted it anyway, but come on! I am not supposed to be ashamed!
Obviously, I have a long way to go in being more Christ-like. But there is this one story in the Book of Mormon that gets me every time I read it, reminding me how very far I have to go. It’s in Helaman 5:23-28.
Basically, the story goes like this: These two super-righteous brothers named Nephi and Lehi were preaching to a group of people that hated them (for long-standing cultural reasons) and after being wildly successful at converting some of the people to Christ, a whole army of haters (literally an army!) comes and puts them in prison. In jail, they go a bunch of days without food and are, I imagine, feeling pretty crummy–what with being hungry and dirty and in PRISON ! To make matters worse, the bad guys come into the prison so they can kill these two great men. But when they get there, a heavenly fire surrounds the brothers and the bad guys are too scared to move. Once Nephi and Lehi realize the fire is not actually burning them up, they think, “Awesome! This fire is not going to kill us! And look! Those guys are too scared to move! They’re not going to kill us either!” So, they take courage. And what do they do?
Now, take a second here. Imagine it’s you in that dirty, smelly jail. These horrible people have unlawfully imprisoned you, starved you, and are now coming to kill you. Suddenly, something amazing happens and the odds are in your favor. The enemies are at your mercy and you’re like “Flame on!” with some major divine power on your side! What would you do?
I know what I would do! I’d say, “I TOLD YOU SO! I told you I was serving God! You should have listened! You should have repented! What now, SUCKA!?”
Clearly, I am not very righteous.
What do Nephi and Lehi do? They say this: “Fear not, for behold, it is God that has shown unto you this marvelous thing, in the which is shown unto you that ye cannot lay your hands on us to slay us.”
Did you see that?! They tell their would-be murderers not to be afraid! They recognize a teaching moment (Hello, captive audience!) and begin preaching. They take no credit for the miracle surrounding them. They don’t even seem to feel any sense of righteous indignation for all the crap they’ve been put through. They just love their enemies, their brothers. They want to comfort and uplift them.
It’s so embarrassing to think of the times I get feeling self-righteous and adopt an “I told you so” attitude. It is horrible to know I sometimes use the truths I’ve been given to justify my unkind feelings towards others…towards my brothers and sisters. I am really glad for reminders in the scriptures to suck it up (it being my pride) and to love God’s children. So, thanks Nephi and Lehi, for showing me what humility looks like. I needed that.
By the way, if you don’t know how this story turns out, look here. It’s AWESOME.
I’m going to do a regular feature called Hottest Modest. I don’t know why we get it in our heads that to be modest, our fashion must be limited to undershirts with everything and the same type of dresses over and over again. I’m going to post pictures of the hottest modest looks I find as a reminder that modesty is not a limitation, it is an invitation to creativity.
I love this quote from Igor Stravinsky: “My freedom will be so much the greater and more meaningful the more narrowly I limit my field of action and the more I surround myself with obstacles. Whatever diminishes constraint diminishes strength. The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one’s self of the chains that shackle the spirit.” Take a second and read that quote again. It’s a beauty. He was talking about music, but the same holds true for fashion. With the particular limits we place on our clothing, we should have the most creative style and beautiful fashion design. Here are a couple of modest stunners for a formal affair (in case you are lucky enough to go anywhere fancier than church.)
Amy Adams in teal sequins and nude shoes
This is the right way to rock some sequins. The teal color is beautiful and I love it with the nude shoes. (I love me some nude heels…though, of course it’s only nude if that’s your skin color. My version of nude would be more of an off-white.)
There are no fashion compromises here and it’s completely modest.
This dress is like a dream. Can you just imagine what it would feel like to wear it? It’s so elegant. The drape is perfect. The color is lovely. The sparkle is amazing.
Elizabeth Banks in canary yellow
I love the bright canary yellow here and the alternating bands of sparkle and silkiness. The cut is just right and it’s all perfectly modest. Wisely, she left her hair, makeup, and other accessories very neutral, so the color was the star of the show.
If you like this picture, check out the original! This lady is hilarious!
I remember the first time I thought about the 13th Article of Faith very hard. I was pretty young, but I had a moment of pause as I thought, “Endure all things? Really? What exactly does God mean by that?” It was unsettling.
Fortunately, we don’t usually have to actually go through every possible bad thing that could happen in our lives. But I’ve been through some sad things (read: my baby daughter died and I have miscarried 9 out of 11 pregnancies) and now I understand a little more about what it means. Doctrine & Covenants 121:8 says, “And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.” We don’t have to go through every possible bad thing to become like Christ. But when we do find ourselves waist-deep in awfulness, we need to endure it well.
So, what does it mean to endure well? I think it means we trust God and we keep on obeying him even when we don’t feel like it. We believe He loves us, and we accept that love even if there is a whole heap of things we don’t understand.
My favorite scripture that teaches this is in 1 Nephi 11:17. An angel is teaching young Nephi about the coming of Jesus Christ. He has just shown Nephi a vision of the virgin Mary and then the angel asks if Nephi understands the condescension of God. With typical humility, Nephi says both what he knows and what he doesn’t know succinctly: “…I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.” That’s how I feel. That is the crux of my testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and in my Savior as the Redeemer of my soul. I know he loves me because I have felt that love over and over again throughout my life. And I love him back, so I obey his commandments the best I can, even when I don’t know the reason for everything.
Think about your favorite mystery novel. It wouldn’t be that great if you knew all the information right from the beginning. It’s the lack of knowledge that makes the journey through the story worthwhile. In our mortal lives, there is a veil put over our minds for a similar reason. In order to demonstrate faith and become who we need to be, there are some things we have to not know. If we get really great at living with question marks while still loving and trusting our Father in Heaven, we will have endured “all things” well. The promises for that are awesome–especially that we will become “more than conquerors” and never be apart from God again. So, contrary to the wisdom of G.I. Joe, not knowing is half the battle–at least during mortality.
Salvation and Stuff 