WHAT MAKES THE BOOK OF MORMON A L.I.T.M.U.S. TEST?–Pt. 1


THE STRANGE THREE-STAGE ACT OF THE THREE STOOGES

This post is inspired by a post by LDSA which was entitled: The Book of Mormon is a Litmus Test. In it LDSA identifies a three-stage process to which all churches without exception are subject. The cosmic church of Christ is not an institution of man and not a church in the traditional sense of the word. But as far as all literal churches go there are three stages through which they all pass. According to LDSA those stages are:

1st The works of the Father

2nd The works of men

3rd The works of the Devil.

We will discuss these three stages in more detail and examine the Book of Mormon in a far wider context than it has likely ever been treated at any time since it was published.

This three-stage process is not only observable over the decadent course of decades, but is in fact playing out from moment to moment. A careful student will see the three stages summarized in scriptural accounts, and in spite of the student’s carefulness, a certain degree of whiplash is bound to set in upon the reader’s stiff neck until what is being witnessed is fully realized as a back and forth tennis match between “God” and “Devil” with Man’s head as the ball. Once you have seen the many matches that the holy prophets of all ages have covered like Wimbledon commentators whispering loudly from the dust, you will then be required to acknowledge your part or place in the continuing cycle of violence or be condemned by the words you have read. God does not want us to serve as stooges for a corrupt system. He does not expect you to keep your head in that game. He hopes you will soften your heart and pull your hard head out of the game, out of the sand box that is the Matrix, and into the greater reality that is Zion.

An understanding of the three-stage process invites us to put away childish things like the apostle Paul said and did. The progression of the three stages, from ministering angels on the right to tempting devils on the left hand, places the responsibility firmly on the shoulders of the individual who is endowed with his/her very own crown, a crystal radio receiver which may be tuned to Christ as his/her Head. In the West Afrikan tradition and throughout its various spiritual lineages, The Orisha are spirits and deities who are among the oldest in the expansive divine family of gods who have dealings with this earth. Orisha is a Yoruba word meaning “owners of heads”. There is an old Yoruba proverb that says: “Spirit can not give what head refuses”. This saying reflects the responsibility that each of God’s children bears as a free agent to act for his or herself.

Afrika today is slowly lifting herself out of spiritual darkness into which she fell a long time ago with the rest of the world following suit later, like Jack and Jill, Adam and Eve. But before the really wild fruit began to show up in the world, Afrikan cosmology promoted a much more balanced cosmology which invited men to do good continually and walk peaceably with one another so that they would not be found guilty as harbingers of evil. This ancient cosmology did not include anywhere in their stories of the Orisha, any character quite as despicable as the modern concept of Christ’s evil brother Lucifer. There was only a Heavenly Uncle who was a trickster teacher. His name was Eshu. I would like to share a story about Eshu which illustrates the three-stage downfall of churches/congregations of men as they digress from the works of the Father, to works of Man, and finally to works of the Devil.

Two farm boys, who grew up together and were best of friends, reached the age of puberty and went for a divination ceremony. This is similar to two Mormon buddies going to the Stake Patriarch to receive their Patriarchal Blessings. The Spirit spoke through the Elder and said that the two boys must live on adjacent farms because their abundance would depend on mutual cooperation. No problem there, for as stated earlier the two adolescents were best friends, brothers in the faith. The Spirit said that they needed to make regular offerings to Eshu, in order to ensure that their feelings of brotherhood were never broken.

The two young men could not imagine being separated, they could not imagine being enemies, and they could not imagine living to old age in poverty. There seemed to them no need to appease the spirit of Eshu. One day Eshu came to their joint farm which had by now grown into a huge successful co-op that blessed the lives of many friends and family members. The farmland was separated by a narrow path that went right down the middle. As Eshu walked down the path all the farmhands and every member of this mini-zion, as they supposed, all the men, women, and children stopped what they were doing and stared at this stranger passing by. Eshu, did indeed appear a strange sight to them all, for he had painted one side of his face red and the other black.

When he had passed through one of the young men said “Who in the world was that strange fellow with the red face?” The other responded, “No, your wrong. He had a black face.” The two men got into a heated argument that ended up drawing in the whole community which, up until that day, had always felt comforted by the fact that they were of one mind. The contention even reached the point of physical violence and after that, the friendship, as well as the community, was broken up and ruined.

This age-old Afrikan tale illustrates the three stages in the apostasy cycle that LDSA pointed out. In the first stage the Spirit speaks, the works of the Father are manifest and everyone is happy. The second stage starts out happy enough, but man thinks that his ways are better or at least sufficient and trouble eventually ensues. Finally, in the third stage the Devil shows up and makes short work of what seemed for all the world to be a perfectly secure community of nice and industrious people. eshu the trickster with his red and black hat

The parable also shows how the trait or state of like-mindedness, which is so sought after in today’s world, is quite overrated. This concept of being one in mind will be crucial to an expanded understanding and appreciation of the importance of the Book of Mormon which we will endeavor to achieve later on in this piece, so let’s look at it analytically shall we? As Mormons we have been counseled specifically by the Divine to be of one heart and one mind. But in the thralls of an advanced second stage as we are, we are trying desperately to fool the Lord into accepting our pseudo-zion. In fast & testimony meetings across the U.S. you can hear superficial and stereo-typical tourists give travelogue testi-phonies, talking about how grateful they are that the Church is the same everywhere you go. The streamlined assembly-line Gospel of the Gringos is of course they’re own creation, and at this stage they are oh so proud of it.

When it comes to mentality, diversity of view-points is the whole point of gathering in Zion, that “all truth may be circumscribed into one great whole,” as we are reminded in the temple. There is already one Universal Mind, a Zionistic Ethernet, to which every one of God’s children are entitled unlimited access. The only rule is that the more you share the greater your personal bandwidth will be. But, as society sinks deeper into the second stage of our collective straying from God, we see the three colluded institutions of ®eligion, $tate, and $cience want us all as their stooges hooked up to their RSS feed. In the field of science Nikola Tesla tapped into the spirit of invention and prophesy. And he discovered ways of providing homes throughout the land with free electrical energy, just as it was in the most ancient kingdoms of Egypt, back when Egypt was still in the first stage, working more closely with the Father. Tesla has been lauded as one of the greatest minds of modern times, but he was humble because he knew how things worked. Said he:

“My brain is only a receiver. In the Universe there is a core from which we obtain knowledge, strength and inspiration. I have not penetrated into the secrets of this core, but I know that it exists.”

dendera-dr
The vast majority of scientists are false priests in white robes working for the gods of the State. The secret-combination system to which they belong, demands that all research and scientific scripture be peer-reviewed. By this system of controls they desire to rip away those protective veils which the Lord puts in place for the sake of his true servants and subject any findings to the peering eyes of wizards, who peep, and mutter, and censor information which could be of great value to the children of men. True prophets do not necessarily receive approval from their peers and that is not needed. External validation and worldly ex-perience is not superior to what we might call in-peerience, or peering within to divine the Mind of the Divine. Meditation is a helpful, purifying, and rejuvenating practice for the mind because it is tuning into OUR energy; not one’s own limited level or private reserve, but the unlimited and consecrated mental capacity of ALL OF US.

Now, in the field of religion we have three notable stooges known as the First Presidency. Most people who act as if they know the mind of God fully are also full of wild and fanciful ideas about the devil. Nothing could be worse than withdrawal of support, displeasure, and discipline from Heavenly Parents to selfish children who do not trust the Father when he says, “Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good” (D&C 90:24) But whatever our attitudes and personal relationship with God the Father, he certainly seems to have a very, trusting, and respectful relationship with the Devil. LDSA points out that: “the Lord only gathers His own and will not rob the devil of that which pertains to him.” after which he refers us to Mosiah 5:14.

“And again, doth a man take an ass which belongeth to his neighbor, and keep him? I say unto you, Nay; he will not even suffer that he shall feed among his flocks, but will drive him away, and cast him out. I say unto you, that even so shall it be among you if ye know not the name by which ye are called.”

Ok so the conditions described here obviously do not amount to a very Zion-like scenario. Sounds like the type of CONditions set up by CON-men who say “Oh, look! What have we here? Let us put your New World in Order properly.” And we, like dumb asses, go along with their monopoly game of NWO-OWNership. These would-be owners of our heads are no Orisha because they do not serve humanity; they do not answer the prayer of the meek. So how exactly does one secure one’s position in Christ’s flock? The secret to the flock’s firmness is that they are free-range. Esoterically they are fixed, like the stoic spirit of a stone. However, exoterically they are a band of uncontrollable gypsies who take orders from no man, an artful moving target that follows the flow of spirit to the bewilderment of all predators. Let’s break down verse 15 while we’re at it.

Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable,

[not swayable to one side of the paradigm or the other but balanced and Christ-centered. Standing anywhere but with the Mediator of All Mankind would be only an illusion]

always abounding in good works,

[Work is a functional reality that is only possible through duality. Good works indicates a smoothly functioning, or at any rate, enjoyable relationship between the two basic opposing forces of the universe]

that Christ,

[It is important to note that the term Christ does not merely refer to Jesus, but to his entire flock by extension, and more importantly to the pre-existing and eternal spirit-substance which Jesus embodied, and which always has and always will fill the universe]

the Lord God Omnipotent,

[the prefix ‘omni’, means all, and the word ‘potent’ speaks of power. Thus, just as ‘omnivorous’ describes a creature which partakes freely from all forms of sustenance available to it, ‘omnipotent’ describes a god who makes use of all forms of power, not just those powers we say he does.]

may seal you his, that you may be brought to heaven, that ye may have everlasting salvation and eternal life, through the wisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of him who created all things, in heaven and in earth, who is God above all.

[as well as in and below all]

Amen.

[Amen – the name of the All-in-One Godevil of Is-Ra-El who men try desperately to slice in half, or even furiously hack to psychotic pieces, but who remains indivisible – can also be compared to the surname by which the united family of gods pertaining to this earth are called.]

Examples of the three-stage process can be seen everywhere in the Book of Mormon, even and especially in the fault-line cracks of commentary that riddle the record, purposely placed like wounds on the resurrected Christ, to display his power over death. It is like the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with a lacquer resin sprinkled with powdered gold, called kintsugi (gold joinery), which finds beauty in the broken. kintsugi2Words contain living energy, but they freeze as soon as they hit the page, or plate in the case of the Book of Mormon. Like Han Solo in a four-sided metallic bed, the words of ancient Nephite scribes lay frozen until Joseph Smith resurrected the dead characters from the Golden Plates.  With spiritual forensics we can examine a mummified Moroni who departs frequently from the summary of the writings he has been tasked with compiling. Sometimes he shared insights received via the spirit and then promptly proceeded to apply either deductive or inductive reasoning based more on personal life-experience. Moroni was no less susceptible than any of us to following this three-stages/three-stooges process all the way through from Moe to Curly. Everybody plays the fool sometimes, and the man who will not admit this, ends up playing the fool more often than not. As abridger of the record, Moroni can be found depositing and defending the whole range from eternal truths of God, to philosophies of men, to doctrines of devils like racism and violence. Gods are, after all, only men realizing their fullest potential, and devils are only men realizing their lowest natures.

THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY & REVELATION – THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST

Interpolation of man’s ideas, and often man’s interpretation of God’s thoughts can, if we are not careful, cause an interruption in the flow of spirit. It is said that the words of the Book of Mormon were recorded by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. If the words of The Book of Mormon were originally recorded by the spirit of prophecy and revelation, and later translated by the spirit of prophecy and revelation, then they can only be fully understood when reading by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. It should be noted that nothing about the phrase “spirit of prophecy and revelation” connotes rigidly imposed order or external regulation. Spirit is not a controlled substance. Neither does the word ‘prophecy’ confine itself to any one particular person or group’s agenda. And revelation does not work for us only by set guidelines. Control, restriction, and structure, like that which all life-forms possess to one extent or another, are useful, but life-forms are never stronger than life itself. Churches and bodies of all types are tools; spirit is the power by which they may operate. Churches are life-forms but Christ is the Life. There are no rules or commandments by which infinite spirit is bound to operate. It is only out of love and free will that spirit will go along with our games for a season. As soon as love or freedom is violated the spirit begins to withdraw. The word ‘body’ is instantly singular and plural as it is one, but made up of many parts. If a body forgets to honor this duality from instant to instant, and instead insists on struggling against itself, indeed “any-body” which thinks it can gain and maintain the Holy Spirit as an outward badge or a trophy, will ultimately be afflicted with atrophy.

In the case of the Golden Plates, they could not be grasped nor held, not physically, not intellectually, not even tenuously, except as a sacred document. As such, the Golden Plates did not rely entirely on the material composition of the electrically conducive gold, nor upon polished or flowery language meticulously engraved thereon. All of these factors played a role, and the special treatment of the plates continued after Joseph unearthed them. Yet, it was not these actions toward them any more than their physical attributes from whence their sacredness sprang. Sacredness flows through and fills all things but is not limited to any one vehicle or vessel. The fact that Joseph kept the Golden Plates sealed closed and wrapped up in linen, even during much of the translation process, shows how he honored and preserved the sacred electrical charge coming through them and not just the engravings themselves.

To maintain a spiritual charge, temporal triggers must be kept in their proper perspective. The mystical can not be made completely technical and the technical looses relevancy and efficiency if it is not allowed to contrast and serve the mystical. True mysticism is the appropriate equilibrium between spirit and flesh. If it aint mystic it’s a mistake. When LDSA lists the three stages, he has established a trigger point with the powerful energy of the Holy Tri-nity. The advent of the Son is what graduates man and woman to the level of Father and Mother. The Son is the Christ, The First, The Mediator who comes in the Meridian of Time, so it should come as no surprise that as Christians we find ourselves perpetually in the 2nd stage, partaking from two sides of nature which both teach us equally by reflecting the thoughts and emotions we bring to them. Light and Dark, Revelation and Truth, Urim and Thummim function together to provide inquiring minds with Prohibitions and Commands, Doctrine and Covenants, answers of ‘No’ or ‘Yes’.  White and Black divination stones may be set in silver bows and fastened to a breastplate, but this does not mean that the will of God may be set in stone. We may memorize lines and verses which contain lux and veritas, but that does not give us the right to tyrannically take of those scriptures and make rote responses to loyal seekers in varied situations.

Nephi says we must liken the scriptures unto ourselves, but this must be done on a case by case basis. We have to guard against every impulse to pervert that which is spiritual into spiritless social constructs. Dogma is deadly; Holy Scriptures must only ever be used as divination tools to serve the individual in his or her personal life story. Recourse to any collective schema can only be valid if the schema is taken as a descriptive process for indicating potentialities as they uniquely replicate themselves in each and every individual case. In the LDS Church people speak of two types of revelation, institutional and personal. But in truth all revelation is personal revelation. But LDS Inc. says that personal revelation must fall in line with institutional revelation. Such a thing can never be possible without building a lie because the collective is only as strong as its individual members. LDS audiences seem to adore comedian Brian Regan. If they desire to shake off the spiritual schizophrenia that weakens them and stand up in true and instantaneous solidarity, hearts and minds individually as well as collectively in sync, the LDS people should take a note from one of Brian Regan’s stand-up routines, so they can say to each other, and together as brothers and sisters, “Hey, I have that exact same one, only different.” Personal revelation is the key. That’s why even though Nephi expressly stated in the spirit and to his personal Christ-Spirit guide that he desired to see what his father had seen, still he was shown much more. And even those images which Nephi through faith was able to view the same as in the vision his father had beheld, yet the experience was different based on the one experiencing it. You will recall that Nephi noticed the filthiness of the river of water whereas Lehi did not. (1 Nephi 15:26-27)

When Joseph Smith said that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book we have to remember that he was speaking to a specific target audience. And we should also understand the word correct in its true spiritual sense. To be correct means to be right in line with the core. A man’s or woman’s core is their heart. Men and women are wired to be able to communicate with Spirit but this ability depends on a proper alignment between head and heart. Heart in Spanish is Corazon. The word ‘co-razon’ signifies co-reason, or the reasoning together of heart and mind in which Isaiah 1:18 invites us to participate. This alignment is made or broken in the spine at the place where the neck meets the head. This location is designated with the letter Qof in ancient Hebrew and is the reason why in modern English the letter ‘Q’ still resembles a neck connecting at the base of a head. That is why the afore-mentioned Eshu, the Afrikan cosmological concept of “The Devil,” is described as living at the crossroads. It is the crossroads between mind and emotion or head and heart. When the crossroads is blocked as a result of unexpressed emotion the feeling in the body is experienced as a pain in the neck.

This condition of stiffneckedness is a manifestation of Eshu which is mentioned over and over again in the Book of Mormon, even more than in the Bible. The true vision of Zion is veiled and can not be accurately received by Latter-Day gentiles, the main target audience of the Book of Mormon, and Zion can not be implemented by them in physical form without first doing some serious spiritual chiropractic work. LDSA has discussed at length the veil of unbelief and the chains of hell which the devil attaches at the nape of the neck. He has also spoken of “fear and trembling” as a scriptural prescription for freeing one’s soul from the influence of the devil. He says that the formula of fear and trembling is not a mental process alone, but also a physical one. In Voodoo, when one wants to finally get free from whatever hex Eshu has laid upon the initiate, there is a lot of therapeutic shaking involved. When a man truly accepts Christ to be his ever-living Head, the loftiest languishing branches of his brain get grafted into the ever-loving Heart. In this way the Tree of Life is revived. But when we undertake to separate the grey matter with which our heads are stuffed, into black and white texts to be brashly branded onto the trusting flock of the Good Shepherd, we only succeed in scrambling our own brains into a liturgical lobotomy of confusion.

There is a tree planted in a certain spot of ground which perfectly illustrates this reality and the illusion which imitates and hides truth in a blinding blaze of Luciferian light. The tree stands in a park, right against a fence, on the other side of which, stands an LDS chapel. The tree naturally wanted to branch out from its base in two directions. But it was robbed of this natural tendency towards balance and beauty by the cruel saw of a city worker. Why did this particular tree suffer such an awful and severe truncating at its trunk, while others nearby only receive harmless and even helpful pruning of branches? The reasoning behind this action was to preserve the American Illusion (A.I.) of separation of Church & State. The City-State wanted to publicly respect the private property of the Church-State, so they cut off one half of the tree, right where the trunk first started to split. The result has been a lopsided tree whose leaning foliage just so happened to bloom in the basic shape of the human brain. One can see the graceful curve of the cerebellum resembled in the branches where the natural center of the tree lies. These are lush and green. But the parts which would correspond to the prefrontal cortex and the frontal lobe respectively go from sparse yellow leaves to completely barren branches.

The anterior region of the brain is the thinking area, but it is precisely our thinking that can get us in trouble. If you think you know the mind of God from book reading without specifically asking, then think again. The ancients were exhaustive and tireless in their use of sticks, and stones, tea leaves, and entrails for purposes of divination. But once mankind forgets the proper place of these temporal triggers, an Artificial  Intelligence (A.I.) takes over, and the casting of lots of yarrow stalks turns to a hay-wire trusting in technology that casts a lot of shadows of doubt over the Light of Infinite Intelligence. In Moroni 7:14-15, Moroni tells us:

“Wherefore, take heed, my beloved brethren, that ye do not judge that which is evil to be of God, or that which is good and of God to be of the devil.

For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.”

In script-sure-real language the term “perfect knowledge” implies perfect intimacy between two things breaching the ledge of knowing and unknowing. When Moroni employs the stark metaphor of daylight and dark night, it must be understood in spiritual terms, or else we run the risk of relying on the arm of flesh. If this happens we will assume that we know what is right and wrong by default of our belief systems without need of the spirit. In Man of Light, by Henri Corbin, we read:

“The divine and the satanic remain ambiguous so long as consciousness is unable to distinguish between what is its Day and what is its Night. There is an exoteric Daylight: so long as its conditions prevail, the “midnight sun” which is the initiatic light cannot show itself. This Day and this Night are unaware of one another and nevertheless are accomplices; the soul lives in this Daylight only because the Night is in itself.”

The perfectly faithful, despised and crucified Jesus warned us about the light within that is really a great darkness. It is a shadow that shines out of our eyes and projects onto the wall’s of Plato’s Cave (P.C.) captivating and conning our senses into a con-sensus of Political Correctness (P.C.). In We Are The Weather – Pt. 2, I speculate that the majority of humankind may be operating with their physical bodies at an angle of 90 degrees difference (indifference) to their spirit-body (man of light) – the latter generally waking and “getting up” when the former is sleeping or “laying down”, and visa-versa. And so, the Book of Mormon testifies that we are guilty of trampling the Holy One of Israel underfoot. (Helaman 12:2, 1 Nephi 19:7, Alma 5:53)

In the LDS Temple Endowment Ceremony, immediately following his assembly, the two-part creation of the gods – firstly in spirit as Michael, secondly as Adam in the flesh – is put under a deep sleep from which he is commanded to “awake and arise.” The extremely faithful, twice excommunicated mystic, Brother Max Skousen pointed out that it is the Elohim character who tells Adam to, “awake and arise.” Next we hear a voice tell the brethren to arise, but it is not the voice of God. Furthermore Brother Skousen points out that to arise does not necessarily mean to awaken. The verb “awake” is conspicuously missing from the narrator’s command to all male patrons. We stand up, but do we really wake up? The entire endowment ceremony is patterned in such a way to show to our minds that we are the living dead sleepwalkers. And it is meant to instruct us in the art of “Coming Forth by Day” like the original title of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, fragments of which found on ancient papyri served as the temporal trigger for the retrospective revelation known as the Book of Abraham.

Speaking of the Christ Spirit, Moroni 7:16-18 continues:

“For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.

But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him.

And now, my brethren, seeing that ye know the light by which ye may judge, which light is the light of Christ, see that ye do not judge wrongfully; for with that same judgment which ye judge ye shall also be judged.”

You will notice Moroni says that the Spirit of Christ is something which has been given to every individual personally and its function is to invite to do good. To in-vite is to put vitality into, and this process is only completed by the outward placing of temporal triggers to in turn solicit the Spirit of the Lord from its hiding place. The eternal order of events goes: first spiritually, second temporally, then temporally again, and lastly spiritually – repeat ad infinitum. (D&C 29:32) This is how Nephi could be so sure that God “giveth no commandment unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.” (1 Nephi 3:7) The Book of Mormon is a temporal trigger, and just like it says in D&C 84:57, we remain under condemnation if we only say and do not do whatever the spirit prompts us to do according to what we have read therein. In other words, to exercise faith is to work out our spirit-light-body, work it out from within the denser flesh-truth-body by bringing Urim and Thummim into alignment. What we need is coordinated action of simultaneous and spontaneous combustion to propel us away from the sleepy norm and into the invigorating life of true service to our personal Lord.

Divination is the blanket term for any number of techniques which may provide a secure connection for communication between God The Father and His Children instead of the pitiful perversion of prayer taught in churches today which is easily hacked by the watchers from the fallen hosts of those Nephilim Siring Angels (NSA). It is secure because it transpires between an individual and his or her Higher Self. Divination is designed to be fool-proof. When properly understood it is a sure method for the establishment of Zion. This is what gave Enoch and his people such success as the world has never known. Enoch is known as Hermes in other disciplines. Hermes is the later Greek name for the Hellenistic Thoth, which comes from the Egyptian god named Tehuti, who is a deification or Higher Self of Enoch. Long before gathering the faithful and establishing the City of Enoch he preached and was well known in the antediluvian city-states of Atlantis and Egypt. But before all that he was just a common man living somewhere near present-day Ethiopia.

tehuti

Legend says that one day Enoch was drawing pictures in the dirt near the side of the road when a stranger happened along. The stranger asked Enoch if he knew the significance of the figures he was drawing. Enoch replied that they were merely doodles, but the stranger insisted that they were spiritual memories from his subconscious, and began to expound unto Enoch the meaning of each image. Enoch was greatly astonished and asked the man how it was that he could recall long-forgotten memories from Enoch’s own mind. The stranger then revealed his true identity as Tehuti, Enoch’s personal Christ Spirit. Then he transformed into an ibis and flew away. The 78 ideograms that Enoch then introduced to the world served to awaken the minds of many people to lost truths and gather them back into the Universal Mind which had begun to be scattered because of wickedness. These symbols were God’s gift to the world through his servant Enoch and they survived to form the basis for many hieroglyphic systems in many mystery schools/religions which arose after the flood waters had subsided. There were other great cataclysms which afflicted the earth once Zion, like the ibis in Enoch’s first of many angelic encounters, had already departed flying into the heavens.

HISTORICAL RE-VISIONS – SACRED SITES & SACRED SIGHTS

From that day when Enoch sat drawing figures in the dust by the side of the road to that day when Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground – language in general, and written language specifically, have had a powerful effect on the hearts and minds of men. But syllables are silly when spoken with no understanding. Punctuation is pointless with no feeling behind it. Documents are dead that are not infused with divine design. Words without wisdom never do humanity any good. The Word of God descends in purity and simplicity and in a few short years we find Him doing the Work of the Father, confounding the teachers of religion. But so free in His association with sinners is He, that the teachers of religion feel the need to nail the Word down. They think the whole purpose of the Word is to nail ‘it’ down to a crossed ‘t’ and dotted ‘i’. Strictly observing the letter(s) of the law always spells D-E-A-T-H.

In the presence of those accusatory Rabbanim who rabidly sought to justify by their law the murder of a woman taken in adultery and also Jesus himself, the simple Son of God spoke the powerful words: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”  But it was not that configuration of words alone that caused those wicked elders of the church to go out “one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last” (John 8:6-9). The very fact that they left in such a manner shows that they were completely controlled by the protocols of their religious law (just like the G.A.s). Mere words would not have been enough to stop those murderous men dead in their tracks. They had the law on their side, a law conceived from generations of culturally inculcated hate. Indeed the practice of stoning women accused of adultery did not even originate with Moses, who these Jewish Judges cite, but had been boiling for millennia ever since the edicts of King Urukagina, ruler of the city-state Lagash in Mesopotamia. And now this cruel sexism raged in their prideful hearts. Armed with socially sanctioned custom, and in the heat of the moment, it would take something more miraculous than religious rhetoric to stop those mad men.

Notice what Jesus does first. He stoops down and begins to write with his finger on the ground as if he doesn’t even hear them. Jesus_writingWhen the aggravated prosecutors pushed him for an answer, he stood up and uttered the by now familiar and famous scolding. But then he went right back to writing on the ground. Writing actually played a very important role in this situation and the double edged sword of the written word was illustrated by the fact that the middle-eastern custom since circa 24th century BC had been to make polyandry punishable by stoning with rocks upon which the woman’s “crime” was written. So those miserable men had already done some writing of their own. What was Jesus writing there in the dust? The words Jesus spoke did not simply spring from his brain. He brought them forth with deep emotion and thought from the Universal Heart and Mind and they served to highlight the words which he wrote on the ground before the woman’s accusers. In tune with Divine Mind as he was, Jesus was able to discover the dark deeds and desires of those perverted priesthood leaders, and he wrote them out to their shock and shame. Jesus was not blackmailing them for selfish intentions; he was merely doing what was necessary to deliver the victim from their clutches. As with the leadership of today, fear of public disclosure was the only thing that could work upon their blackened hearts.

By contrast, the hearts of the Nephites and Lamanites who Jesus visited personally in the Americas were sufficiently pure to be able to not only hear the powerful spirit in Jesus’ voice, but to actually see the glorious geometric shapes and splendid thought forms that generated in the air along with his speech.

“And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak” (3 Nephi 17:17)

Jesus Christ’s prayer was no doubt extremely striking and moving, however, he is by no means the only the only person whose thoughts and words result in some kind of visual display on the astral plane. This goes on every time we speak. The imagery and colors are brighter and more or less spectacular depending on the level of spirit with which the words are imbued. In many times and places on this planet people were able to see and comprehend the mental and intuitive images and sounds. But as civilizations gradually lost this ability, the written word was created as a salvific substitution. What we consider the dawn of history is the point where several major civilizations began to make use of the written word. Many of the writing systems devised during that most ancient period known as the “first time” were greatly superior to the alphabets of later languages. Moroni is impressed with the advanced accuracy and deep capacity for conveying meaning in the characters of the Jaredite writing system. And he makes especial mention of its efficiency for purposes of record keeping. In lamenting out loud to God the limitations of Reformed Egyptian, Moroni describes the Jaredite writings as, “mighty even as thou art, unto the overpowering of man to read them.” (Ether 12:24)

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. But if those 78 ideograms which served as the basis for the Tarot and virtually all religions from that day forward, were God’s gift to the world through his servant Enoch, then they were also God’s test for the world. The Torah, the Book of Mormon, and the Bible are tools to judge divergent branches. The Jewish, Christian and Mormon religions come from these scrolls and plates and are beholden to them. But we can clearly see that the religions now have twisted things around to pervert the word of God in them and make the books to represent the religions as quaint decorations at best, and venerated but completely inverted symbols of power at worst.  And so we see, according to the Stick of Judah and the Stick of Ephraim, any and all who do not take their diplomas in hand and walk away, any who fail to GRADUATE from the religions, coming forth out of the Church and touching not her unclean things, but becoming again People of the Book, Yea I say that all such are set to fail the test with a big fat ‘F’!

The Word is a two-edged (S)word. Like the legendary Sword of Laban, it has power “to the dividing asunder of both joints and marrow,” and that is the exact wording used 5 times over as an injunction to give heed to the revelations of the Doctrine & Covenants. What is interesting is how in 4 out of the 5 sections it is listed as verse number 2, emphasizing the principle of duality and division at play in those verses. Only in section 33 does the same wording appear in verse 1 to indicate the power of God’s Word to join two into one. The spoken, and to a less powerful extent in modern times, the written word, provide man with a link to the spiritual world. Or, they can just as easily be abused, and seal up the gates against the blasphemer. Writing is a tricky tool. Sometimes we can hear a conglomerate of sound-bites and know that it is a Golem who addresses us and not a human soul speaking from the depths of the heart. When it comes to writing there may or may not be a high dosage of Holy Spirit behind the words, but because of the nature of letters and words jointed into paragraphs to bear ideas, it is easy to find fault with the messenger and ignore the message.

If knit-picking about grammar or lack of citation, etc. does not deter the messenger, who comes back to us like Abinadi in disguise among the people of King Noah, then we will try to ambush and ensnare the messenger. If none of these tactics work we can actually kill the messenger or spirit behind the words and hijack the body of writing to dress up our own perverted, personalized message. All words are essentially composed of letters or characters which break down to lines. All written language comes from graven images. Jews, Muslims, Christians, and Mormons have all been explicitly commanded to not worship graven images, but they all too often do worship their scriptures. The Ten Commandments which evangelists rant and rave about come from proto-Hebrew pictograms engraved upon stone tablets. We Mormons congratulate ourselves on having graduated from Holy Cows made of gold to Holy Writings made on gold plates. And the scary or most dangerous quality of written language is not that it can be ripped off of the inner-heart of living language, but the fact that lines of letters will not long remain unfilled by some spirit or another. And if the Holy Spirit has been chased off, the vehicle of written language is promptly inhabited by a vain and lying spirit.

Deified documents from the King James Version Bible to the U.S. Constitution have, by this point, been used to do more damage than good. Static interpretation of law leads to memorized statutes and eventually mesmerized worshippers at the feet of stone-cold statues. Ideology is idolatry in its most extreme form. You cannot say, that ideology is not ideolotry until it passes some specific threshold, you cannot say this; because when you and your contemporaries are brought to that awful state of so-called “literal” idolatry it is still the same spirit which possesses the “letter” that composes your “body” of laws. Scripture can have the effect of making us mentally lazy. Failure to recognize the spirit behind the words has caused us to lose the astral-mental capacities that we once had before and also following the time of the great cataclysms. As the lyrics of the spirit-stirring Mormon hymn say: “The visions and blessing of old are returning.” When the Spirit of God, manifest in fiery orations, is again seen in its full light, then latter-day glory begins to come forth. Our job is to not reject it. But if man’s spiritual vision is to fully re-turn to him, it will require some serious re-vision of what we commonly call historical fact.

There is a time in all histories of ancient date, whether oral or written, which testifies to great cosmic cataclysms. There were widespread destructions in the forms of flooding, earthquakes, wind storms, and fires. One thing is clear, when we compile all these various accounts we get a picture of a planet shaken by successive upheavals. The people of the world had already gone willingly into confusion when in the days of Adam and Eve they decided to dispense with the teachings of the first parents. It is said that the first parents “made all things known” unto the rising generations, but they “loved Satan more than God.” (Moses 5:12-13) As this willful confusion grew to an involuntary habitual death-style it naturally led to increasingly more physical effects in what we would call the literal levels of reality. Chaos in the minds of men, and through their words then deeds, finally erupted in the cataclysmic chaos which plunged the people of that time period into a deeper dimension.

That time period in many very real ways has extended to the current time. The more things change the more the essential spirit remains the same. Individually there have been many throughout the ages who have transcended time and space and lifted themselves into a higher dimension where lost knowledge, lost cities, and lost tribes are rediscovered. But, collectively speaking, the grand majority of the earth’s people have remained deeply buried under spiritual sedimentary strata, like seeds which do not sprout until the forest floor has been again completely purged by fire, ensuring that nothing of the past order remains. Some of those few pockets of survivors of the great “deluge” were very tall, classified as giants even. They stubbornly managed to keep their “deluge-in-all” heads above the spiritual waters which were intended to be a cleansing baptism for the lost souls in need of salvation in the days of Noah.

They/we inherited an earth whose geodesic grid-system had been thrown off. The natural harmony had been devalued and had to be slowly ushered back in with humans showing signs of respect for that which they had so carelessly taken for granted before. Simple interventions to stabilize the geodesic currents were no longer successful. As Father Adam had taken action by building an altar after the first major earth transition, so the children of men at this time began to build, or rebuild, physical structures to mark the geodesic currents. Temples of stone appeared again, dotting the land and creating focus-points for the interchange of spiritual energies. The emanations of planet Earth’s spiritual skeleton were canalized to correspond with these cosmic centers. The emanations of the planets and of the Sun, Moon and stars were hallowed and harnessed within geometric structures, master-minded to correspond with the main traits and qualities of the universal flow of spirit.

But take note, and be aware, that as soon as these stone structures are in place and the first words of prayer are uttered from those dedicated grounds; that is the precise moment when Satan steps on the scene. Even though this crafty character had extensive dialogue with both Adam and Eve as Lucifer in previous scenes of the LDS Temple Drama, oddly enough he is not recognized upon his entrance in the opening of this new act of man and his hand-made temples of stone. You would think Adam remembers him, but he asks: “Who are you?” to which Satan responds: “I am the god of this world.” While Adam is crying out to the sky for God to hear the words of his mouth, he is not fully remembering that the temple he has constructed is merely an echo or reflection of the temple which the Lord made to house His Holy Spirit already in the opening scenes of creation. Satan seizes upon any degree of forgetfulness as a chance to commandeer a role as Stone Temple Pilot. This brings him one step closer to his goal of possessing the True Temples of the Lord, becoming not just “the god of this world” but the personal god of Adams and Eves everywhere, “throughout all generations of time”.

Not only do Adam and Eve not recognize Satan, but Peter, James, and John, the very messengers whom they seek, appear to their eyes as strangers. Brigham Young prophesied that:

“By-and-by Zion will be built up; temples are going to be reared, and the holy Priesthood is going to take effect and rule… About the time that the Temples of the Lord will be built and Zion is established—pretty nigh this time, you will see, those who are faithful enough, the first you know, there will be strangers in your midst, walking with you, talking with you; they will enter into your houses and eat and drink with you, go to meeting with you, and begin to open your minds… About the time the Temples are ready, the strangers will be along and will converse with you, and will inquire of you, probably, if you understand the resurrection of the dead… they will then open your minds and tell you the principles of the resurrection of the dead and how to save your friends…They will expound the Scriptures to you, and open your minds, and teach you of the resurrection of the just and the unjust, of the doctrine of salvation: they will use the keys of the holy Priesthood, and unlock the door of knowledge, to let you look into the palace of truth. You will exclaim – THAT IS ALL PLAIN: WHY DID I NOT UNDERSTAND IT BEFORE?” (Journal of Discourses Vol. 6 p. 294-5)

Over time Synagogues, Mosques, Cathedrals, and Temples have come to dot the land once again. However they are not always dotting the ley-lines of Mother Earth’s spiritual body. And even when they are strategically located according to unseen energy currents, they are most affected by the unseen energy of currency, filthy lucre which has corrupted them. Both the previously discussed exchanges – between Jesus and the Jews at Jerusalem, and Jesus with the Nephites in the New World – took place at or on the grounds of temples. Imagine our older Brother Jesus in a Bishop’s or Stake President’s interview for a Temple Recommend – preposterous! Now whip yourself into shape, overturn the money changer’s desk, and imagine yourself out of such blasphemous dealings so that you may rid you and your family’s garments of the Latter-Day Stains. Jesus prophesied the utter destruction of Church owned and operated temples. (Matt. 24) He references the times of Noah and tells us that, as it was in the beginning so shall it be in the end. If we truly consider ourselves Saints of the Latter-Days then we must realize that we are cycling back around once again from a temple-constructing craze, through Jesus’ prophecies of man-made temples being totally leveled, razed, in order to make way for the Son of Man raised in glory. But before the resurrection glory of the coming of the Lord, will come the trampling of the grapes of wrath and the gory fullness of the time of the gentiles, when, as per the three-stage cycle that LDSA has expounded, works of the Devil shall abound, and LDS Temples will become temples of doom.

A true understanding of temples, both the god-given and man-made types, is vital to the discussion of scripture because we are talking about what has been the long-range goal of redemption and restoration across multiple dimensions and multiple times. We often overlook the obvious connection between the word temple and time. Whether we follow the word back to its Proto Indo-European root “temp”, meaning “to stretch,” or the Latin word “tempus” – “time”, we find a history that spans the association between time and body. Whether speaking of stone or skin, Temples or temples – we are made mindful of the fact that both are essentially “timely places” for a “mortal blow,” whether with deadly steel or livening spirit. From inscriptions on the now invisible walls of the Temple of Re-Atum to encryptions within human DNA and RNA, if a man’s spiritual vision is to be fully re-stored to him, it will require some serious re-vision of what we commonly call historical fact. What will we see when spiritual and spatial vision is restored? We will see both living and dead in holy temples together, re-deemed and re-surrected.

Walls of falsehood must come tumbling down. They are as frivolous as passing fashions that superficially separate one dispensation or time period from the next with nothing more than frilly veils between them like the mannequin in H.G. Wells’ classic – The Time Machine. All the veils of the temples shall be rent. Scripture like the Book of Mormon plays a special role in this sacred process. If, as Brother Joseph says, “the Book of Mormon is the key-stone of our religion” then we can infer that it is through subtle manipulation of this sacred text that the Corporate Church has injected poison into the life-stream of the spiritual structure of the real church of Christ. If the Book of Mormon is the key-stone of a real Temple de la Raison, then it also stands to reason that the Book of Mormon would be the wrecking-ball for demolition of the false belief structures (B.S.) which have been set up by Satan to obstruct our multi-dimensional, multi-gene-rational view.

Book of Mormon Stories for Mature Minds

…and I’m a Mormon


Maggie asked me:

“I believe in a similar fashion and lately I have been unable to call myself a Mormon because of it.  Is one a “true” Mormon if they do not take everything in the rigid literal?  I started to feel I couldn’t be much like I can’t call myself a vegetarian if I eat meat.  But now I’m not so sure.  Isn’t this what Mormonism is at its core, its base?”

I’ve also read similar sentiments – e.g.

“I [have x-y-z different opinion on this-or-that facet of Mormonism, yet still identify in some degree as “Mormon”].  As a result, when I speak to others [and] I say, “I am a Mormon.”  Am I being deceptive if I don’t reveal what that phrase means to me upfront?

This represents my ~4500 word response to that.

The religious experience of the gospel of Jesus Christ — at its core, its base — is the subjective and transcendent experience of God:

I was once told in conversation that:

“Mormons just don’t drink alcohol – that is the least that is expected of them.”

And I thought – really, that’s the least that’s being LDS means – abstaining from alcoholic drinks?  I’m sure if we are talking about LDS youth, then that person would probably say that the “least” is something related to body modesty or not having sex.  But again – that’s our least?

For a religion proclaiming Jesus Christ – the “least” ought to be pretty straightforward.  Jesus called people to consider themselves the servants of all – and act accordingly.  Having the same mind in you that was in Him:  who did empty himself and take the form of a servant [Philippians 2:5-8].  That’s it.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is fluid.  It’s meant to be lived by every human who’s ever lived on the whole earth.  As such, it is flexible, adaptable to the variety of conditions that exist among people.  What makes nature so beautiful and awe-inspiring is its diversity.  Even though nature follows certain patterns, it is ever-new and always creating – never boring or monotonous.  [see, Going from Concrete to Flowers]

However, a “hardened” religious tradition cannot tolerate subjectivity and diversity.  So, when one’s mind is informed by such a belief system, God ceases to be the experience of the Supreme Being – and becomes instead This-Thing who sits Up-There in the sky ruling over nature and who must be related to according to in That-Way [see, Making an Image out of God].

The fundamental aspect of the gospel is people having a transcendent experience of God – one that experiences God as a continuous happening that we are all a part of.  It’s that experience of Joy that all our myths, stories, and rituals are telling about and pointing to – so that we may come to that same place where we too relate to God with an I-Thou relationship framed in terms of family and covenant [see, Taking our Myths Literally].

That relative experience is expressed outwardly in a material sense in various ways:

Now – the gospel does manifest itself outwardly as a physical space-and-time institution according to the doctrine of expediency.  Suiting itself to the conditions found among the people at that time and place [see, There are no “higher” or “lower” laws; there are only expedient laws and D&C 46:15].

But the base-layer, the common experience is always about coming to relate to the Power of the created universe in terms that break-down the left-brain sense of separateness and open-up the right-brain sense of complete continuousness and connectivity.

There may be behavioral or moral implications of a covenant with God – but it is not the jurisdiction of the gospel to lay down specific “hither thou shalt come and no further” fence-posts for human behavior that have a universal application across space-and-time.

So, within Mormonism, there is a wide range of possibility for diversity in belief and practice that can be characterized by having different people fill in the following blanks:

  • A Mormon is known for at least always ___________.
  • A Mormon is known for at least never ____________.

We should not be ashamed to display a bit of a bell-curve variability with respect to what a Mormon looks like, especially considering the subjective morality and the generally ambiguous nature of the standard works [see, Methods of Scriptural Interpretation].

But institutions patterned after the doctrines and commandments of men [such as corporations] generally dislike such variation — seeking instead to streamline and control naturally variable situations.  So, in Mormonism we see things like correlation, the CHI, etc.  But that’s a different matter entirely.

Specific manifestations of a common subjective experience express natural diversity:

The point is – [to go back to Maggie’s vegetarian who eats meat example] is there nuance within vegetarianism?  Certainly.

Is it animal meat only?  What about organs, or fish, or mollusks, or crustaceans, or dairy, or eggs – or is it all animal products altogether?  Is it only about the eating, or is it also about using them too?  Or is it really about a protest against the industrialized rearing conditions of the modern food system?  Or is it about choosing to only eat plants?  I’ve known vegetarians who could go a whole day and not eat a single vegetable – what with soy burgers, breaded tofu nuggets, and pizza.

There’s variation among a community that is informed by a common impulse – i.e. something is wrong with our current way of relating to the Life that we eat.

Fundamentally, all that matters is if you experience the miraculous works of the Father or not:

Being of this-or-that religion, practicing this-or-that model of worship, conforming to this-or-that belief system – none of that gives any indication about whether a person has experienced Jesus or not.  And therefore doesn’t matter.  The only standard for determining that a person is a true believer in Christ is the presence of the miraculous works of the Father, or signs that follow them that believe [D&C 84:64-72], in their life.  Anything else is not a righteous judgment [John 7:24] – but is a judgment based on the outward appearance or the works of men.

Telling me you read the scriptures, participate in the rituals, are active in the church, etc. – tells me nothing about the experiences you’ve had with Jesus.  Those things are just the retelling or reenactment of someone else’s story.  It is all pointless and vain unless it is pursuant to you having the same experience — seeing eye-to-eye with the seers who have laid down those stories before you.  Their stories will not save you.  Reenacting events from their stories as a ritual will not generate Joy in you.  Such things are meant to motivate you to get on the same pathway, to receive a similar connection with God, and to see eye-to-eye with them [see, The role of angels in Nephite preaching and How to receive what you ask for].

I don’t want to hear anything about what system of stories a person believes in their brain to be “true”.  Whether those stories “happened” or not is completely irrelevant to me – because what matters is what “happens”, right now – in you.  I don’t care if you believe in the stories about Adam or Abraham or Moses or Lehi or Joseph Smith having real experiences with the Father – I care if you’ve had them.

The only thing that discerns a good thing from a bad thing is its relationship to the thing that Alma termed the ever-good seed [Alma 32:28]:

the Son of God
that he will come to redeem his people
and that he shall suffer
and die to atone for their sins
and that he shall rise again from the dead
which shall bring to pass the resurrection
that all men shall stand before him
to be judged at the last and judgment day
according to their works.

Anything that persuades you to believe in and plant this ever-good seed into your right-brain-heart is itself a good seed.  While anything that persuades you not to believe and plant this ever-good seed is not a good seed.

Nothing in the gospel is based on the merits and works of men.  Righteous judgment has nothing to do with having mainstream LDS beliefs.  All things are judged to be good or evil with respect to how they measure up to the ever-good seed and whether they point people towards, or away from, it [Moroni 7:13-19].

Everything in the gospel is based on the merits of Christ and whether we harden or soften our hearts in response to the experience of His love.

The presence of miraculous works should be our only concern:

What should characterize LDS and be our over-riding passion is the experience and the celebration of the stories of people who’ve experienced faith as a principle of power, instead of action [see, The seeds of the powers of godliness] – which are the examples of the miraculous works of the Father being manifested.

The scriptures are our collective stories of such events.  But we should be celebrating the experience [nothing more, nothing less] – and with an emphasis on the newest miraculous experiences.  Because a proper celebration of the spiritual works of God invites others to receive the same experiences for themselves – so there would be no need to hold on to the stories of a by-gone generation.  Every country, culture, and local group needs to have their own body of miraculous works of the Father among themselves to celebrate.

It is dangerous to celebrate non-miraculous works [the works of men] and call that “faith.” All it does is encourage drudgery, or the non-miraculous works of men.  There are plenty of people of all religions who sacrifice for their beliefs and religions, but who have no works of the Father in their lives.

I’ve met people who receive multiple visions or prophecies, who’ve spoken in unknown tongues on demand, and who’ve been ministered to by angels.  On the other hand, I’ve also met people who’ve never received a revelation in their entire life.  In either case, every one of those people professed to believe in Jesus and came from different churches and belief systems.  The only substantial difference between the two groups is that the former manifested the works of the Father – while the latter manifested the works of men.

Someone who has denied their Self, experienced the transcendent joy of the Supreme Being, and received Christ will be totally obsessed with Jesus.  And only the truly obsessed have faith – and only those with faith demonstrate the manifestations of the fruits of the Spirit in their life.

Being a “good Mormon” or Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Wiccan – or any “faithful” [add-Religion-here] only tells me whether a person adheres to the creeds of their respective belief system.  That says nothing about whether they have faith in Christ or not.

We should only be concerned with having faith in Christ and experiencing the miraculous works of the Father.  Unless one has communed with God, been ministered to by angels, seen visions, received prophecies and revelations, etc. – all incessant talk that professes belief in Christ is just mental masturbation, feeling good but not producing any fruit.

The all-important, saving faith in Jesus Christ that we should be obsessed with is centered in Jesus only

With sufficient faith, a believer can come to know the truth of all things [Moroni 10:5].  But faith in this-or-that true doctrine does not blossom into experiencing the miraculous works of the Father.  If faith is ever transferred from Christ to true things about Christ – then even though what’s spoken may be true, there is no faith there.

Mormons have much truth – but they have essentially transferred all faith to the truths, and thus none of it is on Jesus.

The vast majority of our conversations at church are centered on prophets and apostles, obedience to leaders and commandments, blessings of paying tithing, attending church and the temple, and every other conceivable topic that has nothing, whatsoever, to do with Jesus Christ’s suffering, death, resurrection and judgment upon all mankind.

In fact – a good test is to ask how much of our religious conversations are devoted to the relative, periphery matters and how much is devoted to the experience of God’s love.  How comfortable are we in talking about this-or-that issue of the day in light of Mormonism – and how comfortable are we talking about our spiritual contacts with Jesus Christ.  With the latter, I’ve found we stumble, are vague, express doubt, and likely just say nothing at all because most people have nothing to say.

Any church not based on the miraculous work of the Father may potentially be a true church, but will be a dead and blind church:

We may have true stories and properly authorized rituals – but they are not enlivened with the Spirit of God because none of them are experienced eye-to-eye as shared experiences.  Our standard for judgment is informed by outward appearances instead of by the light of righteous judgments informed by the fruits of the Spirit. [see, What does the phrase “only true and living church” mean?]

This has made the LDS successful in being exactly like the rest of Christianity.  There may be true doctrines, disciplines, and rituals – but such things have been made into absolutes and pedestalized as ends unto themselves – instead of being the means to an end – which is obtaining the experience of the miraculous works of the Father.

To convert a bona-fide revelatory experience with God into a prescribed system of creeds and approved practices dodges the real issue.  It’s easier to tell ourselves that the important thing is keeping certain rules and believing certain doctrines – instead of turning ourselves over to the transcendent idea that the fundamental nature of Reality [God] reaches into human history to covenant with humans and gather them into a family.

The basic purpose of what we call “the church” is to take unrelated believers in Christ and knit them together by covenant into a single body or family:

When people see a problem with their group worship dynamic – the temptation is always to get together with some like-minded and “do church” more scripturally.  However, this often will just create a slightly smaller, less-controlled replication of the same dynamic they were trying to get away from.

The problem lies in the fundamental way we feel towards God, towards the earth, and towards ourselves.  It is a model based on the underlying concept of separateness [see, Split-Brain Model of the Gospel: The Fall of Man]:

  • God as the male-figure seated on a throne exerting control over nature,
  • relating only to a certain in-group by virtue of their religious behavior towards Him,
  • living as separate islands of skin-encapsulated centers of will that are plopped onto a earth of otherwise disorganized, inherently-flawed stuff.

The very ideas that are informing our relationship with the world and with other people has to change – the pattern or model of a hierarchy of religious rulers and approved ways of thinking is [itself] broken.

Putting different people in power can’t change a problem that exists because there are people in power.  Power must instead be pulled down [Alma 60:36].

You can’t have meetings with an instituted body of the like-minded become “more scriptural” – when the gospel is tribal in nature and meant to be experienced by a group of kin who naturally meets.

One can use religion to serve their Self or to serve God.  If you believe that only your collection of stories is the One, True Way of experiencing God – then you are using it to serve your Self.  This is the hardened or atrophied religare that creates feelings of superiority and maintains a sense of separation and conflict with others.

On the other hand, when in the service of God, a fluid religare is just the stories left behind by men and women who have had miraculous experiences with the governing Power of the universe that direct the community to receiving that experience for their selves, eye-to-eye.

Effectively, what we call the “Great Apostasy” represented a hedge that had been built up around an individual person and the experience of God.  The whole essence of a religious life was reduced to a commodity that needed to be brokered by a male-dominated priestly class.  And the “Restoration” was about taking scattered and disconnected people and gathering them – not by virtue of what they believe in the mind or confess with the mouth – but by covenant into a family.

But instead of having a passion for this tribal notion of a separate people-group bound by covenants, gathered out from their scattered state among the tribes of the earth – leadership patterned after the works of men care more about uniformity of thought than about making actual tribal connections between individuals.

Focusing on these outward appearances [which include prescribing behavioral standards and acceptable doctrines] is a manifestation of the current state of the church being guided by the doctrines and commandments of men.  While the gospel could be said to prescribe a certain approach to human problems and decisions – any ethical component is but a consequence of a person’s genuine relationship with God – not the basis for receiving one.

The mission of the church of God is to be the ministerial support for individual members becoming Kings and Priests, Queens and Priestesses in their own right – to teach them the word of God, explain and offer the covenants of the gospel, and then allow them to organize themselves accordingly as their local circumstances dictate – helping them as they go from an unrelated body of like-minded and knit them together into a bona-fide family.

As long as a part remains in the body – it is the body:

Most LDS speak about and relate to “the church” as this entity that exists outside of them or separate from their selves.  But there is no such thing as a group without the context of the individual people.  You cannot have a body without all the components that make it up all together.  A group is the sum-total of the individual units that make up that group.  The whole is the parts as they are arranged.

Thus, each person is the church.  You are the church – and so long as you remain in the church, your views are representative of what the church believes.  You are Mormonism — as it is lived out or as it is taken literally by you.  The only time that ceases to be true is when you cease to identify as a member of the church.

That’s why I would never advocate someone leaving the church.  The group is [hands-down] always better served if everyone who’s ever left over this-or-that doctrinal/history/etc. issue didn’t leave – but rather stayed and lived out their own story in the community.

By most estimates, there are at least as many, if not more, of them than there are of the toe-the-line, mainstream Mormons.  So, at this point, if they’d all stayed — they could potentially outnumber the rest, and we’d have an entirely different dynamic in the church.

You represent you – and that is representative of what it means to be Mormon – if it happens to be that you are Mormon.

Now, the Church [as it is organized currently as a corporate entity] is something altogether different.  None of us are their representative for what that group is or believes.  For that purpose, the Church has official Church spokesmen.  You can identify them by the corporate logo they wear on their name-tags.  If we all were official representatives of that corporate entity and what it says, then there would be no need to have a group of specially-called official representatives, now would there?

But when people tell me that they no longer find any value in the Mormon experience and want to leave – I get it.  I see in many respects how the church is laden with the doctrines and commandments of men, leader-worship, female repression, etc.  I truly empathize with people who feel disaffected with church because they’ve increasingly found the three-hour Sunday block [and all that comes with active participation] to be more of an obstacle, instead of a vehicle, for them experiencing the Lord.

I get why they don’t speak up to church leaders in an attempt to change things too.  There is no real platform for open and honest discussion among members without getting the:  “Well this is the way that the brethren have approved — so like it or leave it”-rhetoric.  I wouldn’t expect open and honest disclosure from people who feel put-out [even though I admit it would be better if they all did speak-up].

The environment provided by leaders at church leaves them with no voice and no room to have non-mainstream opinions [at least in some open and honest capacity] – so many don’t see how speaking-up matters.  They’ll just be told:

“Look here, if you do not want to subscribe to our form of worship of the Savior, then there are many other Churches to try out until one finds the one that provides that appropriate outlet or none may suffice.”

So they throw-up their hands and leave.  I get that.

Imagine a marriage relationship in which every time the wife brings up a certain issue she has with her husband, he gets defensive, he belittles her and yells, etc. — and nothing ever changes.

Now, the husband is doing that particular behavior one day and the wife has that look that women get when you know something’s wrong — she’s obviously bothered.  So he asks, “Honey, what’s wrong?”  And if you’re married, then you know her answer is, “Nothing.

Now — it’s not nothing, it’s most definitely something.  Why does she say “nothing”?

  • Because she’s a liar who doesn’t care about getting the marital issue resolved.
  • Because of her experience with her husband, she knows that bringing the issue up will only result in a fight and nothing will be resolved.

Are their marital problems her fault because she won’t be forthcoming about what’s wrong when asked?  Or are they his fault because he has failed to provide an environment where his wife feels comfortable talking about her issues in emotional-safety?

The key for me is that the church doesn’t belong to such people.  It belongs to Jesus – and He says you have a place in it:

To make that distinction further – each member was baptized into the church of God, not the Church.  None of us are listed on the corporate charter of that agency, and are therefore not their agent.  The scriptures only describe us as agents “unto ourselves”.  As believers in Christ – we ought to also consider ourselves to be agents “unto Him” – and act accordingly.

But our fundamental allegiance is to Christ and to the word of God – thus there is very little concern for whether this-or-that aspect is considered contrary to “general Church-approved practices”, the “long-standing traditions”, etc.

The assumed state of things in the church is to trust no one until you know them well enough to open-up and share your story with them:

Now, I’ve acknowledged that the leaders do not provide a platform for open and honest discussion among members – and there’s no outlet for the disaffected to express their nuance of opinion or their concerns about certain issues.  As such, church leaders cannot reasonably expect open and honest disclosure from people who are feeling on the outs.

In fact, in my experience, leaders are often witch-hunters [taking the “judge in Israel” thing to the extreme], always looking for someone to judge as unfaithful, apostate, etc.  The only valid reason, in their minds, for “contrary” points-of-view or “unapproved” behavior is worthiness issues.  And so although the scriptural law is innocent until proven guilty – according to my experience, when leaders see dissension, they take a guilty until proven innocent stance.

Which is why I’ve taken Alma’s admonition to “trust no one…” [Mosiah 23:14] to be my marching orders and usually keep my mouth shut.  I’ve seen that those who implicitly trust the leadership [not living Alma’s admonition to “trust no one” unless you know beyond a reasonable doubt that they are men of God], will often say more than is expedient to say and quickly get into trouble.

I’ve been protected by a revelation I received some years ago that the word of the day for me is, “Shhh” — or that it is always best to be silent, to say nothing, to openly answer no questions to church leadership — sticking with “Yea” for yea and “Nay” for nay if I am ever asked.

But whether you choose to remain in the church and identify yourself as “Mormon” has nothing to do with what the approved practices and long-standing policies of the corporation that runs the church:

“Mormon” is a lot like the term “Christian” — it is more about what the person professes to believe.  It is not a term that can be brokered by a particular class of rulers “in charge” of the word.

For example, LDS insist that we are Christian just like everybody else, based on our professed belief in Christ.  Others would claim that our more nuanced understanding of Christ, the Godhead, etc. are beyond the leeway allowed for by orthodoxy.  But since we profess to believe in Christ – we generally call ourselves “Christian”.

Likewise, the Church has a hard time with professed Mormons who practice polygamy – thinking the term “Mormon” belongs to the corporation.  However, polygamist Mormons are Mormons.  The Community of Christ are Mormons.  Everyone has a professed belief in the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith.  We may have more nuanced approaches to certain things [polygamy being the key example], but [like “Christian”] the term is general and correctly identifies all of us [in a general sense].

A person that hears me identify as “Mormon” starts viewing my actions and words as representative of the church.  This is why the Church – as a corporate entity – is big on the members considering themselves walking “advertisements” for the Corporation, carefully monitoring the public image that the members “sell”, etc.

But I am not their spokesperson.  I am not a broker for their religious product.  I am Me.

People do not exist as Platonic Ideas — pure representations of terms or concepts.  Being Me means that I represent the unique symphony that is the arrangement of my Life.  I can’t pour the entirety of Me into your brain all at once.  Each human being is a storytale that has to be shared in order to be known.

We come to know people as we interact with each other.  The “whole truth” doesn’t come by “telling” – but by coming to know the real You through experiencing.  It cannot be shown all at once – but people do come to see it.

So I’d say, “I’m Mormon” is generally not a bad start for me.  Granted, my family does understand certain things differently and holds a bit more of a nuanced opinion on things like what church authority means, what the role of the church with respect to our family is, the priesthood keys and common consent, marriage and family relations, etc.  But those views aren’t applicable to every relationship we have with every other church member — just like my entire set of views on things like politics, diet, marijuana, vaccination, homeschooling, etc. don’t need to be put all out on the table every time I meet someone new.

Should the particulars come up, I don’t hide or obscure them — but I don’t hand them out like business cards either.

We should treat our religious identification like we would any other interpersonal interaction – we start basic and progress towards the more specific/personal as [or if] the relationship goes that way.  To attempt to disclose the whole picture of the entirety of the specific nuances and peculiarities all at once at a first meeting or in casual interactions is both impractical and unhelpful.

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Falling to the Earth as a Sign of Conversion


And now the astonishment of Alma was so great that he became dumb, that he could not open his mouth; yea, and he became weak, even that he could not move his hands; therefore he was taken by those that were with him, and carried helpless, even until he was laid before his father.

And they rehearsed unto his father all that had happened unto them; and his father rejoiced, for he knew that it was the power of God.  [Mosiah 27:19-20]

and

And it came to pass that they did call on the name of the Lord, in their might, even until they had all fallen to the earth, save it were one of the Lamanitish women, whose name was Abish, she having been converted unto the Lord for many years, on account of a remarkable vision of her father — Thus, having been converted to the Lord, and never having made it known, therefore, when she saw that all the servants of Lamoni had fallen to the earth, and also her mistress, the queen, and the king, and Ammon lay prostrate upon the earth,

she knew that it was the power of God;  [Alma 19:16-17]

When Alma saw his son being carried home by his friends, rendered completely unconscious – his first reaction was to rejoice because he recognized that as a manifestation of the power of God working.

When Abish saw the Lamanite queen and king, all their servants, and Ammon laying prostrate on the ground, unconscious – her first reaction was that this obviously meant the power of God was working.

Falling to the earth in this manner is a sign that the power of God is rending the veil of unbelief and breaking the chains of hell that are on that person:

Alma and Abish share one thing in common that explains why their first thought after seeing someone fallen to the earth unconscious was that the power of God was at work – they both had first-hand experience with the miraculous works of the Father.

Alma had witnessed the word of God delivered by Abinadi in the spirit of prophecy and revelation:

…the Spirit of the Lord was upon [Abinadi]; and his face shone with exceeding luster, even as Moses’ did while in the mount of Sinai, while speaking with the Lord.  And he spake with power and authority from God;  [Mosiah 13:5-6]

Alma went on to organize a church of believers gathered in the wilderness, himself and the church manifesting the miraculous works of the Father:

…both Alma and Helam were buried in the water; and they arose and came forth out of the water rejoicing, being filled with the Spirit

…Alma, having authority from God…  [Mosiah 18:14, 18]

Abish had witnessed a miraculous vision that had been given to her father in the spirit of prophecy and revelation:

…she having been converted unto the Lord for many years, on account of a remarkable vision of her father…  [Alma 19:16]

Falling to the earth is a result of the fear of the Lord coming upon that person:

And behold, he spake unto us, as it were the voice of thunder, and the whole earth did tremble beneath our feet; and we all fell to the earth, for the fear of the Lord came upon us.  [Alma 36:7]

It accompanies true recognition of one’s unjustified state before God, which is received when the word of God is preached in its fullness — in the spirit of prophecy and revelation, by the power of the Holy Ghost:

And now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had made an end of speaking the words which had been delivered unto him by the angel of the Lord, that he cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and behold they had fallen to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them.

And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying:

“O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men.”  [Mosiah 4:1-2]

Once the fear of being cast off forever from the presence of the Lord sinks into the right-brain-hearts of believers, it works there to create this “fear” spoken of in the scriptures.  Trembling/shaking and weeping/shedding tears follow next – working to rend the veil of darkness and remove the chains of hell attached to the brain of all sinners, and to manifest a broken heart and contrite spirit.

But, “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.”  [Psalm 126:5]:

Meaning the Lord is quick to hear the cries of his people and answer their prayers [Alma 9:26].  The conversion pattern found in the Book of Mormon shows that once the fear of the Lord comes upon a person/people, they’ve been overcome and have fallen to the earth, and have shed tears of sorrow and anguish for their carnal and sinful state – joy follows:

And it came to pass that after [the people of King Benjamin] had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come, according to the words which king Benjamin had spoken unto them.  [Mosiah 4:3]

and

And it came to pass that [Abish] went and took the[Lamanite] queen by the hand, … ; and as soon as she touched her hand she arose and stood upon her feet, and cried with a loud voice, saying:

“O blessed Jesus, who has saved me from an awful hell! O blessed God, havecmercy on this people!”

And when she had said this, she clasped her hands, being filled with joy, speaking many words which were not understood; and when she had done this, she took the king, Lamoni, by the hand, and behold he arose and stood upon his feet.

[…] And it came to pass that when Ammon arose he also administered unto them, and also did all the servants of Lamoni; and they did all declare unto the people the selfsame thing—that their hearts had been changed; that they had no more desire to do evil.  And behold, many did declare unto the people that they had seen angels and had conversed with them; and thus they had told them things of God, and of his righteousness.

And it came to pass that there were many that did believe in their words; and as many as did believe were baptized; and they became a righteous people, and they did establish a church among them.

And thus the work of the Lord did commence among the Lamanites; thus the Lord did begin to pour out his Spirit upon them; and we see that his arm is extended to all people who will repent and believe on his name.  [Alma 19:29-36]

and

I [Alma] was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins.  Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments… the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror.

[…] And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.

Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart:

“O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.”

And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.  And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!

Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.

Yea, methought I saw, even as our father Lehi saw, God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels, in the attitude of singing and praising their God; yea, and my soul did long to be there.  But behold, my limbs did receive their strength again, and I stood upon my feet, and did manifest unto the people that I had been born of God.  [Alma 36:12-23]

We must follow the example of the king of the Lamanites after he received the gospel from Aaron:

And it came to pass that after Aaron had expounded [the gospel] unto him, the king said:

“What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? Yea, what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day?”

Behold, said he, “I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy.

But Aaron said unto him:

“If thou desirest this thing, if thou wilt bow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest.”

And it came to pass that when Aaron had said these words, the king did bow down before the Lord, upon his knees; yea, even he did prostrate himself upon the earth, and cried mightily, saying:

“O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day.”

And now when the king had said these words, he was struck as if he were dead.

[…] Now when the queen saw … she also began to fear exceedingly, lest there should some evil come upon her.  And she commanded her servants that they should go and call the people, that they might slay Aaron and his brethren.

Now when Aaron saw the determination of the queen, he, also knowing the hardness of the hearts of the people, feared lest that a multitude should assemble themselves together, and there should be a great contention and a disturbance among them; therefore he put forth his hand and raised the king from the earth, and said unto him:  “Stand.” And he stood upon his feet, receiving his strength.

Now this was done in the presence of the queen and many of the servants. And when they saw it they greatly marveled, and began to fear. And the king stood forth, and began to minister unto them. And he did minister unto them, insomuch that his whole household were converted unto the Lord.  [Alma 22:15-13]

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Apathy is not a problem, it’s a symptom and a solution


Almost all of my posts are directed to LDS who are not in leadership positions.  But with this one post, I want to talk about, and perhaps even to, the leaders.

Apathy is not a result of bad members,
it’s a result of uninspired leadership

Apathy in the church is a manifestation of a problem with the leadership, not the members.  Inspired leaders do not preside over apathic congregations.  Take Ammon and his brethren:

And as sure as the Lord liveth, so sure as many as believed, or as many as were brought to the knowledge of the truth, through the preaching of Ammon and his brethren, according to the spirit of revelation and of prophecy, and the power of God working miracles in them—yea, I say unto you, as the Lord liveth, as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away.  (Alma 23: 6)

The converts of Ammon (and his brethren) remained 100% active throughout the rest of their lives.  Apathy never became an issue.  Why?

Wherefore, I the Lord ask you this question—unto what were ye ordained?  To preach my gospel by the Spirit, even the Comforter which was sent forth to teach the truth.  And then received ye spirits which ye could not understand, and received them to be of God; and in this are ye justified?  Behold ye shall answer this question yourselves; nevertheless, I will be merciful unto you; he that is weak among you hereafter shall be made strong.  Verily I say unto you, he that is ordained of me and sent forth to preach the word of truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of truth, doth he preach it by the Spirit of truth or some other way?  And if it be by some other way it is not of God.  And again, he that receiveth the word of truth, doth he receive it by the Spirit of truth or some other way?  If it be some other way it is not of God.  Therefore, why is it that ye cannot understand and know, that he that receiveth the word by the Spirit of truth receiveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of truth?  Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together.  And that which doth not edify is not of God, and is darkness.  (D&C 50: 13-23)

Ammon preached to the Lamanites by the Spirit of truth, which resulted in the edification of both parties.  In other words, he preached by the gifts and powers of the Holy Ghost and the (non-member) Lamanites who eventually converted received the word he preached also by the gifts (see D&C 46: 14) and powers of the Holy Ghost. They continued this same process and no one became apathetic.  But no one can receive the word by the Spirit of truth unless it is preached by the same Spirit.  Therefore, uninspired leadership alone is to blame for apathy in the church.

Ah, but surely the receivers carry some of the blame, too, right?

Wrong.  We are talking of members of the church, not non-members, so these are people who have already received the word and who are already willing to receive more of the word.  They believe in the word, they believe the word will be at church and they go to church to receive it.  They expect and believe their leaders will give them the word in the Spirit of truth, meaning that it will be dispersed “according to the spirit of revelation and of prophecy,” by the gifts and powers of the Holy Ghost, “the power of God working miracles in them”, just as Ammon spread the word.  If, though, after they go and listen to their leaders, they remain apathetic, it is entirely their leaders’ fault.  The leaders are uninspired.  Period.

Without the manifestations of the Spirit, boredom sets in

Anyone who has experienced manifestations of the Spirit knows that any “religious” experience in which the Spirit is not manifesting itself is not really a religious experience.  It is just going through the motions.  When the Spirit is present, a religious gathering can last all day long and one still can’t get enough.  Without the Spirit, boredom quickly sets in and ten minutes becomes an eternity.  Many will say that it is up to the members to bring the Spirit to a meeting, in other words, that you get what you put into it.  This, though, is a cop-out to try to remove the responsibility of the leaders from ministering the gospel as the scriptures direct: in the Spirit of truth.

In other religious denominations, in which pastors are paid, the members do not simply suffer through boredom-filled meetings.  If the pastor does not bring the Spirit, they either fire him or the members go elsewhere, to a pastor that they feel does possess the Spirit. Not so with the LDS.  We do like the Puritans and consider it saintly to suffer through week after week of boredom.  (See The Title of Insufferable, Self-Righteous Prigs.)

Motivation is not the issue

The typical tactic used by uninspired leaders is to try to motivate the members to do their duty, as if motivation were the problem.  For example, not a single Sunday will go by without an elder’s quorum president striving to remind, encourage and motivate his quorum to do home teaching.  Success stories will be drawn from talks of GA’s and such, showing that home teaching is important and effective.  Week after week the elders’ ears will grow more and more weary with hearing the broken “home teaching” record play.  In one ward that I was a part of, one of the elders got so tired of hearing it that when the bishop sent one of his counselors to deliver a special bishopric message to our quorum of elders, and it turned out to be about home teaching, this elder stormed off in anger and didn’t return again to the quorum until he was finally coaxed gently back.

Member missionary work is another area that is treated like a motivation problem.  Members generally are excited about the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ and do not need motivation.  They do, however, need inspired leadership.  Bringing a non-member friend to a boring meeting is not something everyone is willing to do.  If the leadership is inspired and the gathering of the saints are occasions in which the Spirit is poured out and manifestations are regular, members naturally spread the word.  This is true of all cultures and religions.  For example, in the Catholic religion and regions of the world, when someone has witnessed a virgin appear somewhere, word spreads like wildfire and everyone goes to see what Spiritual manifestation is occurring.  The miraculous is widely held as a sign of the divine working, or as the Savior puts it, “the works of the Father.”  If you remove the works of the Father from any church, even one that carries the name of Christ, you are left with a church of man.  So, “the power of God working miracles in” leaders is very important.

Uninspired leaders are not sanctified

The Lord has made it plain that all leaders are to be sanctified.  If they are not sanctified, they are not to be leaders, or “teachers” of the word.  (See Scriptural Discussion #5: Teachers—Must Be Sanctified.)  Sanctified leaders possess the spirit of prophecy and revelation, yet, how many leaders have actually prophesied in the church?  How many leaders have actually received a revelation, not just inspiration, but the type that can be written down?  Go and ask your leader if he or she has ever prophesied or ever received a revelation from the Lord and see for yourself.

Unsanctified leaders are more like managers than leaders.  No one wants to be “managed.”  Heck, no one wants to be led, either, unless the Holy Ghost is doing the leading, then everyone wants to be led.  Unless a leader is sanctified and thus possesses the guidance, gifts and powers of the Holy Ghost, those who follow his leadership are being led by just a man.

Apathy is a good thing

If you touch a hot iron, you feel pain.  That pain may seem like a bad thing, but it really is a good thing as it alerts you to the danger of the hot iron so that you can remove your hand and avoid further damage to your body.  All symptoms of illness, then, although they don’t feel good, are but signals to us that there is a problem.

Leadership will often see apathy not as a signal that there is a problem, but as the problem itself. The apathy itself is then addressed, not its cause.  The members will be preached to and made to feel guilty for not doing their duty.  They will be encouraged and motivated and every other trick in the book to get them to do something that they would naturally do anyway, without any external influence, if only they heard the word preached to them in the Spirit of truth.

An argument could be made that uninspired leadership should not be encouraged by acting on it.  Only inspired leadership should be acted upon.  After all, if the membership acted upon uninspired leadership and brought their friends to boring church meetings in droves, what would be the result?  However, such an argument is not necessary because man, by nature, negates uninspired leadership with the solution of apathy.  Apathy, therefore, is not a problem, but a solution to uninspired leadership. It is an apathetic membership which should inspire the leaders to sanctify themselves and obtain the powers, gifts and fruits of the Spirit with which to minister in righteousness among the Lord’s people.  Only the Spirit can cure apathy, or enliven a sleepy body.

How to encourage leadership to repent: inspired, intentional apathy

If your ward or stake leaders are uninspired and you notice that your ward or stake is full of apathetic members, the answer is not to fight them or call them to repentance.  The Lord will take care of His leaders and will chastise them in His own due time.  It is not the duty of the membership to steady the ark.  We members did not call them, although we did sustain them through our vote. And that (sustaining) is the key.

Sustain inspired leaders and withdraw support from uninspired leaders

The proper, scriptural way that the Lord has set up whereby membership can “modify the misbehavior of the leadership” is by withdrawing a sustaining vote.  Most people feel that once a vote is cast, it must remain cast until the end of the term of office.  The election of California Governor Schwarzenegger should have put an end to that line of thinking.  Just as the Lord giveth and taketh away, so the membership has the power to sustain and withdraw support.

I might suggest a couple of important things to keep in mind when withdrawing support from an uninspired leader.  First, this is not a way to punish him, but to encourage him to sanctify himself so that he may again have your support.  And second, keep firmly in mind the difference between what are the commandments of God and the counsels or petitions of an uninspired man.  As long as you continue to keep the commandments of God, you will remain on safe ground.

For example, having entered baptism and made a covenant with God, we are to partake of the sacrament each week.  So, not attending a ward that has an uninspired bishop is not an option.  However, just attending the portion in which the sacrament is passed, partaking and then skipping the rest of the meeting, might be.  On my mission, many baptized members did just that, as they had covenanted to partake of the sacrament each week, not listen to every talk given in that meeting.

During sustaining votes, especial care might be taken as to who you vote for, or even if you vote at all.  (See Is our procedure for sustaining a rubberstamp?)  Just as there are many ways to sustain a leader, there are probably as many ways to withhold support.

Inspired apathy is a solution

Inspired apathy can be a great tool in the hands of those who wield it with a proper understanding of its effect on leadership.  Although apathy is often seen as a thing to be avoided, a bad thing, it can be a means of generating humble leaders who are guided by the Holy Ghost and not just by their egos.

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