Holding to the rod when things get tough

So things are in a bit of turmoil in my ward. We had the ward mission leader visit someone who was leaving the church, and instead of helping the person who he went to visit, he instead chose to leave the church as well. And presumably take his family with him. This is especially painful to me because I know him and his family, and they are beautiful, bright and warm people. I don't know the man that well personally, but he has a good reputation among others whose opinion I respect. He was a leader - how could that happen? How could a person who so many thought had it all together, find a way to give it all up?

And then we get someone else recently who decides to join the wicken religion and be a witch.

All of this happens while the ward has grown large enough to be split into two and a half new wards. Our ward, though huge, is very close. The thought of losing these amazing people is really painful. That split happened yesterday. Each of the wards will go to different buildings, so we won't even see them in the halls. These are people that we love.

So last night, with friends were were talking about holding onto the iron rod, and how easy it is to lose sight. My friend's kids are all well raised, intelligent and extremely insightful. One of them mentioned that he lost a friend to Satan's cause because that kid (I wish I could remember the words he used, but I'll make a stab at it) "turned off the switch, and then said that there was no light". He said that the kid slowed down on his scripture reading because of an operation and recovery, then never picked up the habit again. Next thing he knows, he's proudly exclaiming that the light he turned off wasn't on, and that it wasn't there.

So I'm a slacker too - writing like this is how I motivate myself to read. Often, but not always, I read and then write blogs like this. I used to look forward to reading ever morning, and finding that super juicy and inspirational easter egg in the scriptures. I loved how I could find something in there and have it fill my soul enough to need to write about it. I haven't done that in months, and so I felt the need to grab the rod again.

credit: moroni channell

And - to my small surprise, I open up the scriptures to (wait for it...) Nephi's discussion of the iron rod. I love it when I get little signs like that.

So here's the scenario. As a writer, sometimes I try to pour my heart and soul into something. I exert every brain cell's maximum as I passionately pour my soul and my feelings into a paragraph. I try to make it as powerful as possible so that I can fill the reader's soul with light. And when it's done? I have words. A paragraph.It's still just words, and the vast majority of my intended meaning still didn't make it to the reader.

Nephi did that. In 1 Nephi Chapter 15: 24 and 25, Nephi tried to use those kinds of words. "And I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction"

I could write another blog about that word "blindness", but that's for another day.

Then in verse 25 Nephi pours out his soul. I'll let you read that yourself.

We must hearken to the word of God, and hold fast to it. There is also room to discuss what "hearken" and "hold fast" mean. For me, today, it means I need to be better about opening my scriptures and searching them regularly. It means I need to hunt in them, and for me it means I must write about them so I can drive the gems I find more deeply into my brain, heart and soul.

We can all do better, but most notably I can do better. I commit do doing that, and you'll probably be able to see how well I succeed.