Gethsemane - Forgiveness - Repentance

This morning, I read the Gethsemane chapter in Come, Let Us Adore Him in preparation for my personal celebration of Easter (the Resurrection) tomorrow. I don't know how anyone can read it and not be sobbing by the fourth page in.

For this post, I just wanted to share a few quotes from this chapter, which is an apostolic eyewitness of Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection as seen by Denver Snuffer. All emphases are mine.

To enter into the kingdom of heaven, all [people] must lay down their sins. But this they cannot do when they claim the right to restitution for any offense from their brother [meaning all other humans]. All claims must be set aside, the greater and more difficult being the righteous claim against another for their deliberate offense. Yet in asking for justice for yourself, you always require justice be answered in turn for all of your offenses. A [person] will not be given mercy if he is not merciful. (pp 228-9)

Denver talks about paired waves of torment our Lord suffered, the first being the suffering for those who harmed others (the perpetrators) and the second being the suffering for those who have been harmed by others (the victims), then he writes the following:

The greater difficulty in these paired waves of torment was always overcoming the suffering of the victim. With these waves, the Lord learned to overcome the victims' resentments, to forgive, and to heal both body and spirit. This was more difficult than overcoming the struggles arising from the one who committed the evil . . . The victim . . . always feels it is their right to hold resentment, to judge their persecutor and to withhold peace and love for their fellowmen. (pp 220-1)

In the final wave, the most brutal, most evil, most heinous sins men inflict upon one another were felt by Him as a victim of the worst men can do. He knew how it felt to wrongly suffer death. He knew what it was like to be a mother holding a child in her arms as they are both killed by those who delight in their suffering. He knew how it was for ambitious men to rid themselves of a rival by conspiracy and murder. He knew what it was to have virtue robbed from the innocent [this would include the rape of toddlers and children]. He knew betrayal, treachery, and abuse in all its worst degrading horror. There was no cruelty, no offense, no evil that mankind has suffered or will suffer that was not put upon Him.

He knew what is it like for men to satisfy their ambition by clothing their hypocrisy in religious garb. He also felt what it was like to be the victim of religious oppression by those who pretend to practice virtue while oppressing others. He knew the hearts of those who would kill Him. Before confronting their condemnation of Him in the flesh, He suffered their torment of mind when they recognized He was the Lord, and then found peace for what they would do by rejecting Him. In this extremity there was madness itself as He mirrored the evil which would destroy Him, and learned how to come to peace with the Father after killing the Son of God, and to love all those involved without restraint and without pretense, even before they did these terrible deeds. . . .

As a result of what the Lord suffered, there is no condition - physical, spiritual or mental that he does not fully understand. He knows how to teach, comfort, succor and direct any who come to Him seeking forgiveness and peace. (pp 222-3)

I share the above in the hopes that it gives comfort to some, and that it helps someone who is struggling to forgive a person or people who have caused them harm, no matter how terrible that harm.

P.S. You can forgive without putting yourself in danger, and without ever having to contact or talk to a person who is dangerous to you.

Thoughts that came about as a result of the storm Helene

 And plagues shall go forth, and they shall not be taken from the earth until I have completed my work, which shall be cut short in righteousness, until all shall know me who remain, even from the least unto the greatest, and shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, and shall see eye to eye, and shall lift up their voice, and with the voice together sing . . . .

T&C 88:7 - D&C 84:97

The earth surely seems to be in commotion. All sorts of things happening that are not good. I've been seeing a lot in regards to the decimation and loss of life in the southeastern United States. And I'm seeing some things I haven't seen before.

First: I have not seen such devastation in my lifetime as has happened there.

Second: I am seeing lots of calls for prayers from the victims and those who care about them. "If you can help with supplies, please do so, and if you can't, please pray for us."

Third: As seems typical, a certain alphabet agency is hindering people from helping - but, this time, people are finding ways around them. I mean physically getting around them. I think it's a combination of compassion, determination, and God's help.

Fourth: The downplaying in the media (I don't blame them; they are only as good as the info they're fed) is offset by the fact that individuals own cell phones. Power may have been out (and is still out in many places), but some people have generators. Some people have some electricity. Some people can connect to satellite internet (think Starlink), which made it possible for others to contact people outside the devastated area. And, people in the areas are reporting a whole lot more death than we have been told.

I can give nothing physically to help these people, but I can pray. And I have been praying most sincerely, fervently, with single-mindedness. I have been praying for the people who are suffering, that they get the relief they so desperately need, and that they are comforted by God and angels and that their hearts are turned to rely on God. I have been praying that God bless the people who are determined to get needed supplies in, that God fight their battles like he did so many times with the Nephites against the Lamanites. And, this morning, I felt such incredible power in my prayers, sobbing in sorrow for the suffering and also sobbing in joy and gratitude for those stepping up to give concrete help in spite of the obstacles. And I believe that the power I felt came and comes from the thousands (perhaps even millions) of other people praying the same prayers.

I have also prayed that God give this country (and Canada, if I'm being honest) another chance. That he put in whatever candidate that he sees can be humble and teachable, and that God will protect (or continue to protect, if it is Trump, as many seem to think he's God's man) and help that person to live in God instead of his own ego or blindness and fears, so that he can be a factor in giving us more time to truly repent.

 I have begged God to make the Covenant of Christ (modern-day translation of the Book of Mormon, for those who don't know) flood this country, then flood Canada and the rest of the world, so that another honest chance at repentance can be given

 There is no scripture, anywhere, that says only a tiny amount righteous people are going to be alive when the Lord comes again. In fact, reading Jacob's retelling of the parable of the olive tree leads me to believe that there will (or could be) a great many people who are good fruit (the wicked/bad fruit are destroyed by degrees, so that the good fruit can become strong). I'm talking about the whole planet here. Also, Nephi (son of Lehi, in the Book of Mormon/Covenant of Christ) saw many places all over the planet where the people were armed with righteousness and God's glory.

So, let's take heart. Let's join together in faith, whoever you are, wherever you are, whatever faith you might or might not espouse. Let's join together in God. Let's let this ground roots movement of loving and caring for others take root in our own hearts and minds. Let us repent in sackcloth and ashes so that the whole of America can become Zion, so that the whole of Earth can become united in compassion and caring and love.

And let us be faithful to God while the cleansing is taking place, even while we mourn for those innocents who may be taken in the process. Surely, those who are not worthy of destruction will be claimed by angels and taken to God's bosom if they die in what has happened and what will happen.

Let us pray for the Power of God to be with us, as well as with those who are presently doing their best to provide relief. Let us pray with deepest humility and sincerity that we are no longer blinded by pride or devils or darkness. Let us cast aside all we think makes us more enlightened or better than others. Compared to God, all of us are idiot fools who know zilch.

Please! I pray for our (this earth's) collective repentance and mighty change of heart, that we face toward God and be filled with God's power, that God protect us with his power as we struggle to overcome the vast wickedness that is determined to bring this country (USA) to its knees to drown in the mire, and as we struggle to overcome the vast wickedness that has infested every country on this planet, as if the planet were a garbage dump and those controlling it were rats, spreading disease and death with everything they touch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope for humanity - Reddit post

This is so awesome that I wanted to share a couple of posts from the thread. It reminds me that God sends natural disasters so we have a chance to come together and remember what is actually important. Race, covid, politics forgotten as people pull together. The first quote is from the opening post. The other quote is one of the comments in the thread. https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/pg9vg1/theres_still_hope_for_humankind/

I live in Southeast Louisiana and we just got slammed by one of the most powerful storms to ever make landfall. Not sure how CNN or Fox News is making it out to be since we don’t have any service (currently at a family member’s house away from the damage) but this storm was bad. We’re talking worse than Katrina. A local ship captain clocked wind speeds at 172mph, the strongest ever recorded. Entire parishes wiped off the face of the earth, power outages expected to last for a month, and gas supplies dwindling. New Orleans is an absolute shitshow right now with no end in sight. They dodged a major bullet since the levees held (Corps actually got something right). Anyways I digress, back to the people.

The people in south Louisiana are a special kind of people, resilient in the face of destruction. I live in the suburbs of NOLA and everywhere you look you see utter destruction. Homes gone. Schools gone. Hospitals barely hanging on. But all around those places are people. People with smiles. People who understand. People who want to help. They don’t care what color your skin is, whether or not you’re vaccinated or who you voted for. Chances are these people lost everything just like you and are battling the same battles. Extension cords cross the streets underneath the utility company’s lines so neighbors can share their generators with those who don’t have any. Restaurants opening up just to cook all their food and give it away to those who are hungry. Whole blocks gathering and cooking all their meats so they won’t go to waste.

It’s truly something to experience a life-altering hurricane. It feels like everything has reset. I feel like I’m in a community that cares. No politics are discussed and covid fear is looooong gone. I almost wish it could be like this forever. The time spent with family and friends circled around a lantern drinking and eating is humbling and peaceful. My friendships have gone stronger, my love for my community has grown stronger, and most importantly, my hope for humanity has grown stronger.

The comment (jefftopgun):

Tennessee resident. My inlaws literally lost everything in the flooding. Talking a majority of small items from house found a mile down the creek, coffee table over 10 foot up in the trees. Flood insurance was not possible after the 2010 flood, after insurance paid out, they rezoned the flood plane to include their home, and thus eliminate their ability to renew.

Spent many days down there since. The overwhelming support, even from those who also lost everything, is truly touching. Feast for more than double the people helping pick up dropped off 3 or 4 times for every meal, no matter the objections we gave about having plenty. While its not alot, or enough for a new home, this woman literally has more money than she's ever had at one time in her life from the donations. We're hoping to build her a dream home (modest 2k sq ft bardaminium) on another piece of property they bought last year (out of harms way) and I truly hope we'll be able to trade enough sweat labor and wheel and deal a bit with some of my customers (hardwood lumber and plywood distributor) that she has a free and clear home.

Amazing how beautiful life is, and amazing people can be when the powers out, and no ones on facebook.