Lean Not Unto Thine Own Understanding

Aloha! We are having a wonderful family vacation in the beautiful paradise state of Hawaii. On Saturday we drove to Laie, the home of one of our oldest temples and of the campus of BYU Hawaii. Last sumer we learned that one of my ancestors went there as a missionary around 1860. He was given the charge of procuring the land where these buildings now reside. His wife started the first school there. It hit me that we were now seeing the fruits of their labors. We spent most of the day at the nearby Polynesian Cultural Center. We had a great day.

Of all the beautiful sights and sounds we have experienced, the one that I cannot get out of my head was attending church services at a local congregation of our church near Pearl Harbor. After taking the tour to the U.S.S. Arizona, we changed clothes and headed to a nearby chapel we had found on the internet. We were about the only Caucasians in the whole congregation but we immediately felt at home. The meetings all over the world are conducted the same way. The hymns are the same but more than anything we share the same spirit. It was this congregation's, "Ward Conference," which means that in addition to hearing from their bishop (pastor), we also heard from the Stake President (regional ecclesiastical leader) and his counselor. The theme for the meeting was taken from Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknoledge Him and He shall direct thy paths."The Bishop spoke for quite awhile. I'll have to say that the warm air, the peaceful spirit and my heavy eye lids were not a great combination for remaining alert. He went on for about an hour. The counselor shortened his talk and did a great job discussing trusting the Lord. The Stake President then stood and I shall not soon forget the experience.

He had a soft voice and very kind eyes. He spoke about "leaning not unto thine own understanding." He spoke of times in his life when he put aside what he thought was best and did what the Lord thought was best. He spoke of serving a mission, marrying the right woman, accepting the right job and raising his family. He mentioned his upcoming retirement this December and how he might consider "relaxing, going on trips." Better yet, he spoke of putting those things aside and serving a mission with his wife. He then, tenderly looked into our eyes and declared that he knew the God and his Son, Jesus lived. The spirit of his testimony touched me deep in my soul and I understood that this knowledge came from a man who truly walks with the Lord. He had "taken his yoke upon him" many years hence and truly knows his master. He then declared "this is his church." Jesus cannot reside on the earth at this time so he has chosen a prophet, Thomas S. Monson and he leads and guides us. He then told that congregation that their bishop was called from God. He promised them if they would heed his counsel, they would be blessed. There was no mention of the previous sermon going too long. He loving supported and elevated this good bishop who had only just been asked to fulfil this calling two weeks previous. His words only covered about ten minutes but he left us all with a powerful spirit. The mood had changed. We left, feeling alive and blessed for having been there.

"My Burden is Light"

I recently was able to attend Sunday School and watch my lovely daughter teach. She did a great job! The lesson was centered on the scripture found in Matthew 11:28-30.

28¶ Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

This has been a favorite of mine. I think we all feel heavy laden at times. I remember the feeling of backpacking and of taking off that load when we have reached our destination. What a great feeling. That is what the Savior does for us. He has carried that burden. He has made us free.

The next verses have made me wonder, though. How is it that his yoke is easy and his burden light? His burden was the greatest ever to be placed on the back of one of God's children. One of the students in the class made a comment that made a lot of sense to me. She commented that a yoke of oxen is never singular. It is a device that ties the two beasts together. Walking, side by side, the load is shared. We are invited to come under the Savior's yoke and walk with him. His yoke is easy because he has already born the greatest burden. As we walk in the paths that he walks and do the things that he does we gain his strength and we arrive where he arrives. It is the process by which we get to know our Lord and be known of him (see Mosiah 5:13).

Watch and Pray

This week I had the opportunity of going with my daughter to the Carl Bloch exhibit at the BYU Museum. I love art and looked forward to going. More so than the art itself, I was affected spiritually as I considered the biblical events depicted in the paintings. The one of Jesus praying in the garden of gethsemane was particularly touching. Consider the words found in Matthew:

36Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.

37And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.

38Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

39And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

40And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?

41Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

42He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.

43And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.

44And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.

I have pondered these words before. These men were his closest of companions here on the earth. He must have felt so alone as he had to shoulder the burden of all mankind. Just prior to the agony which caused him to "sweat as it were, great drops of blood on the ground" (Luke 22:44), "there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him" (vs. 43). This is the scene depicted in the painting above. At the museum, one of the commentators speculated that the angel possibly was sent from the Father in response to the prayers from all of His children, watching over the greatest event that would ever occur on the earth. Knowing of my weaknesses, I have previously thought that if I were in the situation of watching over the events of the garden, I would have fallen asleep as did his apostles. The thought that, perhaps unencumbered by the weaknesses of the flesh, I could have been watching and praying for him from above and that an angel was sent in answer to all of our prayers, touched me deeply. It made the atonement even more personal to me. I am forever indebted to my Savior and hope that I can now and forever "watch and pray" more earnestly in all that I do.