Blundering along and hitting a post

So here I am, toward the end of a long and revealing journey studying gifts and mysteries, and I run into a whole new concept.

You start to think you're getting it. You've done the homework that there is to do - it's almost all done and bam! Smacked with a post in the head to remind you that you haven't got it at all. You thought home plate is a few feet away, and you realize you haven't gotten near first base yet.

I've been writing all along how if we wish to know the mysteries and have the gifts of God, we need to ask him for it, while at the same time knowing that we will probably only receive what we have prepared our souls to receive.

It's a theme I've seen over and over again, and something I've written repeatedly throughout this journey through the topical guide. It might almost make it look like a person can do this on your own: live your life well, develop your relationship with the savior, find something you'd passionately like to know or become, and then develop the download that the Lord bestows on you. It all sounds very individual.

Until today's reading, that is.

D&C 84:19 was a bit of a non-hitter this morning. "And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God".

OK, so the greater (melchizedek) priesthood has the keys. Not sure what that means, or how it applies, so I moved on.

D&C 97:5 "And I will bless him with a multiplicity of blessings, in expounding all scriptures and mysteries to the edification of the school, and the church in Zion."

Man, how awesome would it have been to sit in that school and learn from Parley Pratt as he expounded all the mysteries? The man had access to the direct guidance of the Lord (side note: I guess we all do or could have that, but that's another subject) and could expound and expand on all the awesomeness there is out there.

And as they say on TV commercials - but wait! I'll double the offer. Here is a man providing mysteries not just for himself, he's sharing them with everyone in the room. This isn't just an individual thing, a person can demonstrate readiness to receive the mysteries of the Lord by preparing himself and going to a place  the Lord has prepared to teach us. It doesn't have to be a lonely, singular thing. It can be going to a place where you can listen and be taught, and teach others. It happens because the greater priesthood is used as the authorized structure to dispense mysteries in this way. It may just be the only way that certain mysteries are provided to us. There may actually be stuff that we can only learn while in the company of those who wish to be lifted together.

It doesn't have to be a struggle. Sometimes we can just lift each other. We can do it sitting down. But we still have to show up - and be willing to be lifted. Just like when we do it the other way.

May we build a new view of how and why we visit the Lord's structures. May we connect with the Lord by serving and being served in these structures, and connect with those who are also wishing to connect. It's a whole lot more fun that way too, I'm certain.