Inquiring minds want to know

Can I just say that the book of Mormon is starting to feel like going back to an old friend. I know that the reading won't be difficult and there will be simple gems laid out right there. It's fun to find the easter eggs buried deep in the words, but sometimes it's fun to have it right there in front of you on a silver platter.

I'm in 1 Nephi 15 today. This is a great, and greatly simple explanation of how to get the gift of guidance from the Father. I see that He's simply waiting to give us what we want, but we have to prepare ourselves for it. Most of the time we don't, or won't, do that.

So in the previous chapters Nephi has had a vision of the olive tree shown to him and explained to him by no less than the Lord and His messengers. Then the Lord goes further and shows Nephi the future. This of course is a biblical level gift, but it weighs Nephi down heavily because he sees that he progeny will be wiped out by that of his brothers. In this chapter, he states that "I considered that mine afflections were great above all" (verse 5). Funny again how we have a biblical level gift that weighs him down to the point where he believes he's got the shortest straw in the history and future of humanity.

That could be a discussion by itself. Christ of course had the worst of it, and Joseph Smith certainly didn't have anything easy, but to be shown that your children would be wiped out, and that it would be by your brother's children? It would certainly make it tempting for me to want to take out the brothers now. The Lord knew that Nephi wouldn't do that. This is part of the reason why Nephi was granted this knowledge.

So here's Nephi, he gets that it's pretty easy really: want to know what the Lord wants you to know? You ask. And if you have strengthened your core, or your soul, to the point that the Lord can give it to you without damaging you by giving you a gift you can't handle, it happens. verse 3 "...and they being hard in their hearts, therefore they did not look unto the Lord as they ought".

It goes me back to humanity thinking they just need to order things up at McDonalds. Drive up, get what you want. We want to make the Lord our drive up window servant. And if it doesn't happen that way? We blame the Lord.

Even at McDonalds, there are things we must do. First, we have to have a car. This means that we have to go buy one somewhere, and it means that we have to have job enough to be able to make the car payment. We have to regularly put gas in it, not to mention other maintenance. This is perhaps the equivalent of regular spiritual maintenance - prayer, study, keeping the commandments. We have to obtain and maintain a driver license, a car license, and we have to drive well enough to not get pulled over by the cops. This one might be more like keeping the commandments.

With all that behind us, yes it is easy. We drive up, or kneel, decide what we want and make a request. We have the financial or spiritual capacity to pay the price.

Verse 8. Nephi asks them "Have ye inquired of the Lord?" It's a clear point, driven home like a wrecking ball on an old barn. It reminds me of a training I did where we were all working on ourselves. I noticed that one student in particular was not only making a point of not participating, but was completely closed to any part of it. Toward the end she said something like "I'm not getting much out of this". I couldn't help myself because she reminded me of people I was having trouble with at the moment. I asked her "What have you put into it?".

That didn't make me her friend.

The same applies to Nephi's brothers, and to many, if not all, of us. They responded "..We have not, for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us."

Of course he doesn't. Why would a loving Father give them a gift like that that he knew they'd reject? It would just condemn them.

So Nephi had to explain how things work. "Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said? - If he will not hearden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you." Verse 9

It's not like Nephi was explaining anything they hadn't heard (do ye not remember...), but that was advice that they had also rejected - it wasn't convenient to their chosen lifestyle. Easier, or so they think, to do what they want and blame others for the problems in their life that they perceive. None of us do that of course.

So no less a man of God than Nephi gives us the recipe. You want a gift from God? Here's your plan

 - don't harden your heart
 - ask in faith
 - diligence in keeping the commandments

It's a short list. I like short lists. They're more doable.

I also notice that it doesn't say "keep the commandments", as if it must be done perfectly and completely. It says diligence. Diligence in doing so allows some forgiveness against the high bar named perfection, but it's well above the shrug and "well, I tried" level.

I see the meth head wanting a gift from God. Say a heavenly messenger and regular guidance from the other side. Sounds great right? So he draws deep on the meth, then reads a passage or two from the scriptures. He puts the scriptures down and takes another hit. Then he tells his meth head buddy "I guess God doesn't care about me -  I don't see any angels".

That's as good an excuse as any to stay on meth. No god for that guy.

May we all do better at not hardening our hearts, improving our faith, and cleansing our souls so we can have an ever increasing quantity and quality of gifts from our Father.