What a beautiful set of meetings we had yesterday at church. For those of you who aren't LDS, our sabbath day meetings consist of three hours of spiritual nourishment . . . one hour which is the Sacrament Meeting, a time with which we partake of the Sacrament and renew our covenants with the Lord, and listen to a small number of short talks, given on a theme, often by members just such as ourselves . . . one hour which is like a Sunday School, where we break up into age groups, and are fed spiritually through the scriptures and our study of them . . . and one hour in which we break down further into groups which pertain to our sex, male and female . . . priesthood holders and women, an hour in which we enjoy fellowship with each other and share a special lesson which pertains to a variety of subjects . . . in our case, pertaining to the Sisterhood.
Most weeks I am blessed to be able to take away small gems of knowledge and spiritual upliftment. I always come away with something new, something cherished, and yesterday was no different . . . another reason why I love the Sabbath so . . . not only is my spiritual battery recharged, enabling me and giving me the strength to make it through another week, but I always come away with a new treasure, which can't be bad can it!
In our Sunday School lesson yesterday we were talking about the Rock, or the foundation of our faith . . . We were being taught by our Bishop, who is only a young man of 27. Married, father of one, lifetime member of the church. I was immediately struck about how very different this man was from most men of his age. Here he is only a few years older than my youngest son . . . and yet . . . he is a Spiritual giant in comparison, and my heart ached a bit from that failing on my part, and I wished that I had done better. Then, I realized that . . . when you know better you do better . . . and it's not too late. Anyways, I wrote down in my notes the following: "If our foundation of faith is centred on the Saviour, then we are on the right path." and then beneath it I had noted another gem, words from the mouth of our teacher . . .
"That which we persist to do, becomes easier to do."
You know when something has really touched my heart . . . when I have made note of it. As our teacher shared these words I could see clearly the Spirit manifest in him. There was an aura about him that was unmistakeable. How very often we struggle with one commandment or another. Some seem to come very easily . . . there is something inside of us which tells us when breaking them are wrong, without ever really being told. Like not stealing and not lying . . . not murdering, etc. There are other's though that are not so easy to follow . . . things like following the Word of Wisdom, or Paying our Tithing . . . I have to admit when I walk into a Coffee Shop, that smell of that fresh coffee can be very tempting, although I never give into the temptation . . . the temptation however of a coffee and walnut flavoured cake is a lot harder to resist. Paying our Tithing too, is something which we both struggle with from time to time. We do really well for a number of months and then something crops up like our having to pay the car tax, or the MOT, or some other bill, or all the bills come at once leaving us very skint . . . and then our tithing suffers, because it's not there . . . having been spent instead on the bill . . . or bills . . . .
We are proud people. We will not ask for help . . . instead, we break a commandment. Commandments are funny things. Each time you break one, it becomes easier to break it again . . . and again, and yet again . . . Before you know it, you are not keeping it at all. But yesterday in listening to my Bishop speak, his words resonated in my soul . . . I realized that this also works the other way, in reverse. Commandments which are hard or difficult to keep . . . if we stick with it and persist with keeping them . . . they will become easier to keep, and soon become as natural to us as breathing is.
Gem Number One.
Then . . . in Relief Society, a lovely sister was teaching us a lesson based on Sacred Moments, and how we need to keep records of them. These are the special moments in our lives, profound moments which touch our souls in marvelous and wonderful ways. Ways which change our lives forever, and which . . . if we neglect to take note of . . . can disappear into the ether that is the human mind, and be forever forgotten. She admitted that she had not always been good at this, but had kept records of a few of hers from time to time, and then she shared with us a very poignant one that she had experienced when one of her sons had been on his mission, and which she had recorded . . . as she read the words that she had written down during that time, my heart was again touched and pricked in a very special way. I have not always been that good at journaling. I have kept prayer journals from time to time and often when I read back on them, my heart is touched by these very sincere and touching prayers that I prayed for various people throughout the years . . . always answered, some in quite miraculous ways.
And then there is this blog, which I suppose is a journal of sorts. I share a lot of my heart on here I suppose, but still . . . it is not really a legacy is it . . . it's not something that a hundred years from now, a great great great grandchild of mine will be able to read, or even know exists. It may not even still exist then, who knows . . . things can change so quickly in modern times.
A handwritten journal though . . . a place where you keep your special thoughts and remembrances, something that is tangible and solid . . . this is something which can be handed down. I need to write down these sacred moments I have, moments when I am touched by the spirit in special and meaningful ways. Moments when my life is touched by God's holy signature and hands, proof of His very special presence in my life. Moments when my soul is touched by a special memory . . . a lesson learned, a lesson taught, a gem put down on paper for my posterity. Who knows what life may be touched by these experiences that have touched my own. I need to put these things down on paper, or in my memory book in a meaningful and tangible way.
Gem Number Two.
And so I ended my yesterday with two new gifts that I had not started the day with. That is a day well spent.
We have a busy day ahead of us today. They are supposedly beginning the renovations on our bath tomorrow and so we have to pull everything out of it and store it elsewhere until the job is done. It will be 2 1/2 weeks that will be difficult and a bit of a trial in many ways, but we must keep our eyes on the end prize and just get through them! I hope my diverticulitis doesn't act up . . . that could be a problem. I'll have to be . . . vewy vewy careful. (Yes, I was just channeling Elmer Fudd. lol)
Have a wonderful Monday people.
Baking in The English Kitchen today . . . Ruby Jacks . . . a very special kind of flapjack, indeed a flapjack that is a cut above the rest!
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