Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Change address
Well, its really embarissing, but this website's address is spelled wrong. So from now on I'm at http://religiousrampages.blogspot.com/
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Hearts
Another theme I have seen throughout the scriptures is the different conditions of the heart. Over the past few weeks in church I've heard about hearts being hardened, hearts being softened, or having a broken heart and a contrite spirit. So I decided to have fun with this idea.
According to the scriptures a softened heart is obviously the best one. And thinking about it I thought of two ways it could be softened. Both involve the living waters of the gospel. One hard heart could be like a sponge, when it isn't filled with the living water it is dry and hard. But once it touches the living water it soaks it up and is immediately softened again. This to me seems like those people who have already received the gospel but for some reason have begun to harden their hearts. They haven't left the spirit for long, but long enough to dry up and become hard. These people who know of the wonders of the gospel immediately desire for it once they feel it in their life again and soak up as much as they can and as fast as they can. And thusly they softened their hearts.
What about those people though that even knowing the wonders of the living water choose to stay away, or those that never have had it and have had not fully had a choice but to harden their hearts. Their hearts to me seem to be more like a rock. This is when the broken heart is needed to have a softened heart once more. At this point I'm going to stretch the metaphor slightly, it still works though. So all of these rock hard hearts need some serious work done on them. How I have seen it done quite effectively is soaking them in the living water. So in a literal since always offering a hand of friendship, showing these people how the gospel lifts up lives, the bearing of testimonies, and all the other incredible things the prophets have asked us to do when trying to fellowship a person. While rocks are mainly waterproof, any good campers knows that a rock that is soaked will have water fill up the cracks that run throughout the rock. All good campers know this because if this rock is in a fire it might explode due to the pressure of the water evaporating inside the rock. So relating this to hearts I though about how spiritual experiences are burnings in the bosom. Burnings works perfectly here. When this rock hard heart that has been soaked in the living water is exposed to the fire of the spirit it is ready to burst and be softened. This is easily seen in life. I know that I have seen peopl a million times "explode" into tears, or have an explosion of emotion, when all of a sudden all the factors line up and they feel the spirit. And even if they don't explode outwardly they still seem to have that all at once experience where they have changed.
Oh, and to cover my back in some ways. There are a lot of sponges that have never had the oppurtunity of the gospel. This is because we all lived prior to this life, so most of us only have the hardening that the veil gives us. Some are more veiled than others though and are rocks. So sponges aren't neccesarily better than rocks. Lol, I doubt that makes sense. But hopefully it did to someone.
According to the scriptures a softened heart is obviously the best one. And thinking about it I thought of two ways it could be softened. Both involve the living waters of the gospel. One hard heart could be like a sponge, when it isn't filled with the living water it is dry and hard. But once it touches the living water it soaks it up and is immediately softened again. This to me seems like those people who have already received the gospel but for some reason have begun to harden their hearts. They haven't left the spirit for long, but long enough to dry up and become hard. These people who know of the wonders of the gospel immediately desire for it once they feel it in their life again and soak up as much as they can and as fast as they can. And thusly they softened their hearts.
What about those people though that even knowing the wonders of the living water choose to stay away, or those that never have had it and have had not fully had a choice but to harden their hearts. Their hearts to me seem to be more like a rock. This is when the broken heart is needed to have a softened heart once more. At this point I'm going to stretch the metaphor slightly, it still works though. So all of these rock hard hearts need some serious work done on them. How I have seen it done quite effectively is soaking them in the living water. So in a literal since always offering a hand of friendship, showing these people how the gospel lifts up lives, the bearing of testimonies, and all the other incredible things the prophets have asked us to do when trying to fellowship a person. While rocks are mainly waterproof, any good campers knows that a rock that is soaked will have water fill up the cracks that run throughout the rock. All good campers know this because if this rock is in a fire it might explode due to the pressure of the water evaporating inside the rock. So relating this to hearts I though about how spiritual experiences are burnings in the bosom. Burnings works perfectly here. When this rock hard heart that has been soaked in the living water is exposed to the fire of the spirit it is ready to burst and be softened. This is easily seen in life. I know that I have seen peopl a million times "explode" into tears, or have an explosion of emotion, when all of a sudden all the factors line up and they feel the spirit. And even if they don't explode outwardly they still seem to have that all at once experience where they have changed.
Oh, and to cover my back in some ways. There are a lot of sponges that have never had the oppurtunity of the gospel. This is because we all lived prior to this life, so most of us only have the hardening that the veil gives us. Some are more veiled than others though and are rocks. So sponges aren't neccesarily better than rocks. Lol, I doubt that makes sense. But hopefully it did to someone.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Foundation
As you all have guessed by the title I am sure you all realize this post is about the religious implications of make up.
Or maybe not, I'm just really tired so my mind has to say one stupid thing at least.
So what I am really talking about is about all the times it talks about Christ being our sure foundation. Christ is the rock upon which if we build we shall not fall. And who can forget the primary song of "The Wise man built his house upon the rock, the wise man . . ." or the hymn "How Sure a Foundation"? This also makes sense of the great and spacious building in Lehi's vision having no foundation since Christ is the sure foundation. So on this topic my mind started to wonder what happens when a person picks and chooses which part of Christ's doctrine they want to follow. Choosing which parts of the gospel that fit with their desires, and disregarding the rest. They would have some foundation, but not much.
My mind basically decided that Christ would mean a foundation is 100% rock, and 100% sturdy and safe. Having absolutely no Christ would be the foundation of sand. So thinking about it I've decided each lifestyle decision a person makes that is not in accordance with Christ slowly changes their foundation from rock to sand. So the foundation would be mostly sure after one or two choices, but not completely sure. So when the rains and storms came the house upon the foundation with a few impurities would most likely still stand, but not necessarily. Lets say there is a trial that shakes a person's life, so in the figurative sense it is shaking their house. So I think that using this train of thought trials which are strong enough to shake a person would be a metaphorical earth quake. And this made me think instantly of liquefaction. A few particles of sand in the rock is enough to cause the foundation to become a mud hole when an earthquake hits. The foundation would not be able to support the house, or in the real since the person.
So what could these impurities be. One that everyone does, including and especially me, is speeding. Is it against the law and thusly against our religion. Its a truth most people don't like or agree with, but there is no possible way to acutally justify it. It is one small impurity though, so it probably would not destroy a person. But when you speed you can't be protected by the spirit in the same way, and it could lead to death. Another is smaller lies, things that don't really matter. Again, its a small amount of sand, something that doesn't fully affect anything. But if a person is caught in a half lie it leads to distrust which is never good for anyone.
So this is how I view these things, sure people can do what they want. I will put a couple of references though of what I think about it all though. And keep in mind, to me these things are mainly lifestyle choices, not the small mistakes, and that I do them to. I am just saying it as I see it.
References to look at (I might add some later soon)
2 Nephi 28: 7-9 (yea, justify in comitting a little sin)
June's First Presidency Message
Or maybe not, I'm just really tired so my mind has to say one stupid thing at least.
So what I am really talking about is about all the times it talks about Christ being our sure foundation. Christ is the rock upon which if we build we shall not fall. And who can forget the primary song of "The Wise man built his house upon the rock, the wise man . . ." or the hymn "How Sure a Foundation"? This also makes sense of the great and spacious building in Lehi's vision having no foundation since Christ is the sure foundation. So on this topic my mind started to wonder what happens when a person picks and chooses which part of Christ's doctrine they want to follow. Choosing which parts of the gospel that fit with their desires, and disregarding the rest. They would have some foundation, but not much.
My mind basically decided that Christ would mean a foundation is 100% rock, and 100% sturdy and safe. Having absolutely no Christ would be the foundation of sand. So thinking about it I've decided each lifestyle decision a person makes that is not in accordance with Christ slowly changes their foundation from rock to sand. So the foundation would be mostly sure after one or two choices, but not completely sure. So when the rains and storms came the house upon the foundation with a few impurities would most likely still stand, but not necessarily. Lets say there is a trial that shakes a person's life, so in the figurative sense it is shaking their house. So I think that using this train of thought trials which are strong enough to shake a person would be a metaphorical earth quake. And this made me think instantly of liquefaction. A few particles of sand in the rock is enough to cause the foundation to become a mud hole when an earthquake hits. The foundation would not be able to support the house, or in the real since the person.
So what could these impurities be. One that everyone does, including and especially me, is speeding. Is it against the law and thusly against our religion. Its a truth most people don't like or agree with, but there is no possible way to acutally justify it. It is one small impurity though, so it probably would not destroy a person. But when you speed you can't be protected by the spirit in the same way, and it could lead to death. Another is smaller lies, things that don't really matter. Again, its a small amount of sand, something that doesn't fully affect anything. But if a person is caught in a half lie it leads to distrust which is never good for anyone.
So this is how I view these things, sure people can do what they want. I will put a couple of references though of what I think about it all though. And keep in mind, to me these things are mainly lifestyle choices, not the small mistakes, and that I do them to. I am just saying it as I see it.
References to look at (I might add some later soon)
2 Nephi 28: 7-9 (yea, justify in comitting a little sin)
June's First Presidency Message
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