How to Follow Christ: Noticing the One

This past week was weird. I started the week attending a political meeting, where I met and shook hands with important political figures of our state, as well as our nation. My husband and I got our photo taken with someone you've probably heard of, no matter who you are or where you live. There were great speeches given, and bold statements made. Decision-makers spoke. We listened.


Later in the week I attended a writers conference with about 250 other writers, all in different stages of their writing careers. There, in attendance, were award-winning writers. Some had sold millions of books. Some you have probably heard of. Also at the conference were decision-makers. Editors and agents are the gatekeepers of the book industry, and they had come to look for new material to one day be placed on bookshelves in your local store. No matter what workshop we were in, eyes were on these men and women.


On the way home, though, I rode with my friend. We'll call her Valerie. I asked Valerie what was her favorite part of the writing conference. She said it was talking to her dear friend, a longtime writer but one who is now suffering from Parkinson's disease, and who is frail and sat at the back of every session. Valerie took the time to sit and visit with this sister, to make her feel noticed and important and special. Because Valerie's husband also suffers from this disease, and Valerie is his main caregiver, she could really offer empathy to this sister, and could listen better than anyone.


As I thought about these experiences the next morning, I couldn't help but think about the time in Jesus's life when he was teaching in the synagogue and noticed a woman "bent in two." He healed her, though it was the Sabbath. Of course, He caught flak for this, but then He rebuffed His detractors with the fact that she was a daughter of Abraham and deserved to be healed any day of the week.


This story comes to mind often. It's a favorite of mine, I think because I realize there are those around who go unnoticed and whose pain is ignored by the more mainstream of society. But our Savior saw her. And our Savior sees me, and He sees you. And I loved being able to hear about my friend Valerie's skill at noticing the one who no one else noticed, and to show that person love. I want to be like Valerie.


Of course, even the people who are "important," and "decision-makers" also need to be noticed and loved on an individual level. It is wonderful to know that no matter our station in life, the Savior is aware of our needs and our insecurities, of our pain and of our joy.


I love Him. And I love that I have examples of His kind of love in my own life that I can see in action daily.

How to Read the Scriptures: A Seven-Step Pattern

I was reading a book this morning by Clay Christensen, a professor at Harvard University. It covers a lot of different topics, but one thing he wrote really struck me. He said that we get trained in school how to read textbooks and novels, and they are mostly a "start to finish" read-through. However, he said, reading the scriptures is a very different skill set. When reading the scriptures, the most effective way to read is to look for answers to questions we may have.


Then there's a seven-step pattern: pray, read, write; pray, read, write; pray.


When we study the scriptures, the best way is to start with a question. For instance, what about original sin or infant baptism or what happens when a loved one dies.


Then it's like homework, but spiritual homework.


The first step is to PRAY. I find it effective to first pray and express to Heavenly Father my gratitude for the scriptures, for those who sacrificed so much to make them available to me in my language, and to God for his goodness in giving them to me to guide me. Also in the prayer, I talk to Him about my question, the things that concern me, the things I've reasoned out, and the thing that still puzzles me.


The second step is to find and READ scripture passages that apply to the question. (Use the index or topical guide, or ask a missionary or friend if you don't know where to look for the answer.) Read and ponder what is in the passage.


Then get a notebook and WRITE down what insights you've gained through reading the scripture, how your understanding has changed, and so on.


Next, PRAY again. Express gratitude for the understanding gained. Also ask if there's further insight and understanding God might have beyond what was gleaned in the first reading and writing.


Then, READ again, looking for further enlightenment.


WRITE down anything else you might have learned.


Finally, a PRAYER of thanks is in order, plus a COMMITMENT in the heart that we will live true to the truth gained from this study.


Maybe the commitment to live according to truth is the most vital. If the only reason we want to know is to satisfy curiosity, it's not as likely that God will answer these inquiries. However, if we truly intend to live and follow this truth, and we prove to Him that we will by DOING so, then our future study of the scriptures can result in great spiritual insights.


I am so glad I read about this pattern this morning. While I've spent a lifetime studying the scriptures and attending Sunday School classes, I still have questions, and lack understanding of the mysteries of God. I plan to make this pattern a part of my morning study routine. Doing this will slow me down in my study--exactly what I've been intending to do.

How to Follow Christ: The Lost Coin

I'm still reading the New Testament, in Luke. I'm trying to take the parables slowly, let them seep into my soul. There's a pairing of parables in Luke 15, the parable of the lost sheep, and the parable of the lost coin, that seem very similar, but that make different points.


I think most people who have read the New Testament have been affected by the parable of the lost sheep. Such an image, of a shepherd bringing the lost one home on his shoulders.


Today I have been thinking about the lost coin. It's slightly different. From the commentary I read (some by Bruce R. McConkie, some by Andrew Skinner and Kelly Ogden, and some by Reverend Farrar), this parable is juxtaposed with the lost sheep because whereas a sheep can wander off of its own power, the coin is lost due to neglect.


8 ¶Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one ^apiece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?

 9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.

 10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the ^aangels of God over one ^bsinner that repenteth.

I think of myself as the woman having the responsibility over the coins. The coins, of course, are souls. Like the coin itself, which has the image of the king stamped upon it to give it value, the soul of man has the image of the King stamped upon it, giving it value. We are made in God's image. Every soul has value. As a follower in the kingdom, I have responsibility for the souls within it, and should do everything this woman did (turn on a bright light, sweep to the very corners) to reach out and find the lost souls within my sphere of responsibility.

It's hard sometimes to labor that diligently. I find myself tending to think that people have their agency to choose whether they want to wander--like the sheep. But truthfully, some souls are lost by neglect, like the coin. And then, how much greater the duty to seek them out.

I want to be better at this.

How to Make Sacrifices for Christ: Counting the Cost

This morning I was reading in the New Testament from Luke Chapter 14. I'm making my way through the New and Old Testaments slowly. Recently I read something I believe was from Joseph Fielding McConkie like "We read the scriptures too quickly," and that's certainly been the case with me. A chapter in three different books each morning, about a half hour of study. Zip, done. Pondering quickly (oxymoron), getting a bit of spiritual breakfast and I'm off.


But I ought to be feasting on the word. And so I've been reading more slowly. In the New Testament I've been trying to read just a paragraph or two (signified by the paragraph symbols.) I then try to focus and think about what that parable or event could mean. It has helped.


So today I read about when Jesus was being followed by a great multitude of people and he turned to them and told them in order to be his disciples they have to hate father, mother, wife, children, brethren, sisters, to follow him. Then he gave this parable:


28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and ^acounteth the ^bcost, whether he have sufficient to ^cfinish it?

 29 Lest ^ahaply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,

 30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to ^afinish.

 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and ^aconsulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?

 32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ^aambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.

 33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that ^aforsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my ^bdisciple.

The thing that struck me about this was that yes, we want to follow Christ. We feel the Spirit when we read His words and the Spirit fills our souls, and we think this is what I want. That must have been the case among the great multitude that followed Him.

But Christ pointed out that there is a cost. If you want the tower, you have to plan to finish it. If you want to win the battle, you need to evaluate your resources and whether you're going to win. You don't want to look like a quitter. You don't want to look like a failure. You need to plan for the victory and for success. But the tower is worth it, as is the victory. And so you "count the cost."

That final verse, 33, where he says, "forsaketh not all that he hath," shows what the cost is for becoming a disciple of Christ, one of the greatest things to be desired because the rewards are immeasurably great--greater than the multitude could've imagined at that time.

This is the cost: all that we are and have, forever more.

Considering this, I think baptism is what shows that we are willing to give it, and I believe that the strengthening we get from the Holy Ghost along the way is the great enabling power that helps us pay that cost as we go. We learn to pay the price. We become so that we are able to pay the cost, with His divine help.

We should not forget to count that Helper into our cost estimate, because He is always there for us, lifting us and making us better.