Hidden in plain sight

I found another few points of inspiration today - the point of study is gifts of the spirit, so we're going through the topical guide on that subject. I'm working my way through all the scriptures, but today's study is a chunk of the references in the Book of Mormon.

Mosiah 8:16. "...A seer is a revelator and a prophet also; and a gift which is greater can no man have, except the power of God..."

Alma 9 verse 21. "Having been visited by the Spirit of God; having conversed with angels, and having been spoken unto by the voice of the Lord..."

And I lost the third one.

At first it seems that the two have to do with very different subjects, but there is a shared commonality (I know, that's saying the same thing twice - it just feels better that way) between the two. Both represent the gifts of God, and how he communicates with us. The first reminds us of how the Lord communicates to all of the church and all of humanity through his prophet and seer. The second reminds us of the set of gifts available to each of us.

I've heard accusations by non believers and haters that those of us in the LDS faith are sheep and will follow whatever the prophet says blindly. The reality is that it is possible that some may actually do that. But those individuals may have some basis for doing so justifiably. The key word here is "blindly". If, for example, I happen to have received personal revelation from a divine source that the prophet is the prophet? Well then, if I choose to just follow, then that's not being blind to me. It's always better if I choose to follow up and receive my own revelation, but honestly, we're humans. I for one am not going to be likely to seek confirmations from above on every word said at general conference, for example.

I feel the need to drive it home a bit further. I play ultimate frisbee. Let's say that I know the guy who wrote the rule book on ultimate. He plays frisbee with me 3 times per week. He is accepted by the guys as the source for all rules (meaning that there are no "house" rules we've adopted, like a dropped pull/kickoff is not a turnover). If a moment occurs when something happens, and he says the rules say "x", then if I trust his integrity to interpret the rules as written, I'm not going to research google every time he says something. That's not blindness - I think it falls under the category of faith.

Now if I were to go to google to verify what he had said, that's never a problem - it increases my knowledge of the rules and confirms my faith. That's all good.

I also found it interesting that the Lord provides multiple gifts and pathways to me being provided with my own personal guidance. This to me is one of those gems that is beautifully hidden in plain sight. We can be guided by the Holy Ghost, by the Lord's messengers, or by the voice of the Lord himself. Three pathways, one me. There may be others - who knows. The one that strikes me, though, is the one about the Lord's messengers. He sends angels. I think my mom is one of them for me. She is certainly an angel, and I'm sure she has few motivations greater than to see me succeed. This makes her absolutely my angel mother.

I've written about this before, but sitting around playing the harp sounds to me like what hell is about - I don't want to play the harp, let alone forever. I want to help people succeed when I pass to the other side. Especially my family. I'm sure it would be frustrating often - just like parenting is - but the love and joy I can imagine when my people do well? That sounds like heaven.

It's entirely possible that my third reference was in 1 Nephi 10. The center of this thought is in verse 17. Lehi had received a vision in a dream. Nephi had more than enough confirmation in his life to know that his father was a man of the Lord and a prophet. He could have let that be enough, but he wanted it for himself. He wanted more. He chose not to use faith this time, but to add to his own knowledge and spiritual stature.

17 "And it came to pass after I, Nephi, having heard all the words of my father, concerning the things which he saw in a vision...I Nephi, was desirous also that I might see, and hear, and know of these things..."

There's more to that scripture, but for the sake of conciseness (yeah, I make words up) I limited it to that.

So first he listened to his father's words. Not just generally, but he made sure that he listened to all of his father's words. For me, that word all adds huge meaning to this scripture. He didn't just listen at 50% and have curiosity for more, he studied his father's words. He absorbed them. He searched them for meaning, both on the surface and at depth. Then, he not only wanted to duplicate what his father had seen, he wanted that and more. He didn't just want to see, he wanted to see, and hear, and know. He wanted his spiritual eyes, ears, and brain fed. And he knew he could do it via the gift of the Holy Ghost. Then he told us we can all receive that gift if we diligently seek him.

Faith is awesome, and we can grow when we use it properly. But when we choose to grow on certain occasions beyond faith? That's when miracles happen.  That's when our spiritual stature not only grows and evolves, but jumps.

May we choose to rely on the Lord, and find our own personal greatness in the process. It's what the Lord wants for us, because he Loves us.