For thus it whispereth me

It seems like the most important stuff we do always takes last place. It's been two months since my last post, and I used to do ten a month. Yes, I've been busy, but not too busy to keep up on a dozen or so active games on words with friends. Sadly but not strangely, I've been feeling further apart from our Savior. I still know his voice, but I don't feel it nearly as often as I used to. I still have the will to be the vessel that reflects His light, but I don't think about it as much as I used to.

But there's always hope. With no ward choir this morning (mother's day) I have an extra hour. So what did I do? I finished my words with friends games, then turned to the scriptures. It feels like going back home.

I had more trouble spotting that easter egg, but I found a good one. Words of Mormon, verse 7. I know Mormon to be a great man, full of wisdom, and possessor of a life that I would never want. Still, he found his greatness, he filled his calling, and he knew the voice of the Lord.

In the early verses, he talks about finding the plates of Nephi, and he saw how they were written in until they were full, then the last dude quit. I guess that's an easter egg of its own - one level of being is to write until the paper you're handed is full. Another level is to fill the paper with what's important, then figure out how to go make some more paper. Hey, it's what the Lord had available at the time I guess.

So those plates are now filled, and Mormon finds them, and stacks them with the rest of what will become his book - the Book of Mormon. He doesn't consider himself an author - he's a soldier and man of God. He doesn't understand what it's all about, and he doesn't know what the next steps are. He just knows that the spirit of the Lord is telling him to do these tasks. Being a good soldier, and a prophet of God, he does that.

Verse 7: "For this it whispereth me..." How I know this phrase. Mormon was a good soldier, so when he got an order, he recognized it and he did it - now. He was a prophet of God, so when he got instructions, he executed them - now. And because he did so, the Lord knew He could give Mormon more instructions, and that they would be executed. This helps Mormon to save his people, and himself, and has much to do with why Mormon became a great man of God.

I love the language. "It whispereth me". I get that languages can put verbs and nouns in different orders, but this is unusual language, even for the scriptures. He's saying something unusual. He doesn't know exactly what "it" is, but he knows "it" is of God. He knows it comes as a whisper. In other circles that whisper is called a still, small voice. It's hard to describe, but the closer you align yourself to God, the more you know when you're being whispered to.

For me, when I'm aligned with my Savior, I call it my voice. I get that it feels like a whisper, but there's not a sound - it's just in my head. It is gently placed there, so that you have to be ready and aligned, or prepared to hear it. And then you have to act on it. Asking questions, or wondering if the source was really from God can result in orders lost, and furthers orders perhaps not received.

But the peace, and the confidence, and the love for self and others, and the settledness of a lifestyle that comes from following the voice? I have to say that the things I'm told, and the joy I get from doing them and seeing the results from others? That's fun! I love that.

And now I'm wondering why I spend so much time on facebook and words with friends, and why I'm not doing what's really exciting. I guess it's time to change my ways.