Ponderings

 I've been reading through some of Denver's latest posts. I've heard him say this before, and it makes me wonder, ponder, think. Out of the nearly 2 millennia of people who preached Jesus coming soon, this is the only one I know of who God told me was a true messenger, thus I feel obligated to at least consider that Jesus may very well come within the next few decades.

There are clearly many signs underway in the heavens above and in the earth beneath. NC Luke 12:17 Christ told our generation to “look up” and realize He will soon come. Of course the meaning of “soon” is the Lord’s, and He alone will set the event. But the generation now lives who will see Him vindicate His prophecies.

There are great reasons to be optimistic and hopeful. Far more reasons for that than for despair and gloom. Keeping the commandments is the first step in having the mysteries of God’s last-days “strange act” revealed. (T&C 101:20)
February 21, 2021

That doesn't mean I'll live to see it. If I live to be 99, that will be just over 35 years. On the other hand, if a 20 year old lives to be 99, that will be 79 years. "But the generation now lives" - that obviously could include those born before Feb 21st, so now we've added 98+ years to the hypothetical 99 year life span.

So, perhaps, it is safe to suppose there's a century-long window. At the same time, we've had a lot of signs. The moon turning to blood (eclipses) on Jewish holy days which, if I recall correctly, included an LDS general conference day. Eclipse of the sun that created the first X across the United States (which was also on the birthday of the leader of the LDS Church at the time). Bare Record has posts about these eclipses which are very much worth reading (I have the individual links at the bottom of this post if you would prefer to see them that way).

And the end (fulfilling?) of the times of the gentiles is upon us. In my opinion, this is not only white gentiles, but black ones, too. I expect the violence we have seen in the last year will increase until-perhaps-all that are left are those Americans whose ancestors lived here 2,000 years ago and beyond - and those who refused to pick up a weapon and kill others.

When I think of keeping the commandments, I think of God's commandments to me, personally, yet not ignoring the general commandments (like don't kill, don't steal, etc.). I've been reading in 1 Nephi. He told his brothers that he could do anything God commanded him to do - because of God, not because of himself.

I've thought, recently, how both Denver and Nephi seem superstitious to me. A man shows up, asks Laman and Lemuel why they're beating their brothers, is inspired to prophesy that, this time, they'll be successful, and Nephi considers the man an angel (and, by Denver's definition in one of the early lectures, he was). Denver seems to see signs everywhere, including things that I would think nothing about (like bleeding for 40 days after an operation; I would not have even kept track of the days, let alone made a spiritual connection to it).

As I've thought, it seems to me that maybe I could take a lesson from these men who see signs in the most logical of situations (women becoming strong and no longer complaining = natural consequences of a hard life, eating mostly meat, and adapting. Nephi says it's a miracle from God). Like, if I looked at things as miracles or signs from God (like the 3 wild, white, horses peacefully grazing across the river when Daryl baptized me in the river in Sept 2013 between the first and second lectures, fully accepting them as a sign of the Father/Mother/Son. Right; I did not include the Holy Ghost - or the beggar I met in a Walmart parking lot whose skin reflected so much light that I wondered if he was an angel. Though he (lackadaisically) held a sign, he seemed more interested in conversation than in asking for help), and fully accepted that God is not only mindful of me, but is giving me signs galore, would I then have more and more realistic (to me) experiences with heaven until real and true miracles abounded in my life even more than they do now? Or, at the least, I would be fully aware of great miracles I am presently blind to? And would the heavens open more fully to me so that visions outside of dreams would be the norm for me? Would all fear be gone? Would the scripture be fulfilled in my life that because of righteousness, Satan has no power over me? Would I actually have the power to help the poor and needy, to lift up those around me, to perhaps even help in the physical and mental healing of those who suffer?

Here is a list of the posts in the above link for Bare Record (dates are the dates the posts were written):

Solar Eclipse, May 20 2012

Four Blood Moons and the Man in the Moon, Nov 11, 2013

Partial Eclipse, Oct 23, 2014

Rare Astrological Events: Signs in the Heavens, April 11, 2014

Fourth and Final Moon in the Tetrad, Sept 27, 2015

The Great Conjunction: Signs in the Heavens on the Winter Solstice 2020, Dec 21, 2020

ALS

ALS (aka Lou Gehrig's Disease) is a sucker punch to go through. It's a death sentence, but not a nice, easy, quick one.*

A friend of mine is going through it. He and his wife have three small children. Prayers for him and them would be welcomed, I'm sure.

Also, someone is selling T-shirts, the proceeds of which will go to help him and his family. This link goes to the form; the link also has a photo of the family.

The first link says, "ALS risk increases with age, and is most common between the ages of 40 and the mid-60s." This man is not even 40 yet.



*(from the first link)
As the disease advances and nerve cells are destroyed, your muscles get weaker. This eventually affects chewing, swallowing, speaking and breathing.

. . .

ALS affects the nerve cells that control voluntary muscle movements such as walking and talking (motor neurons). ALS causes the motor neurons to gradually deteriorate, and then die. Motor neurons extend from the brain to the spinal cord to muscles throughout the body. When motor neurons are damaged, they stop sending messages to the muscles, so the muscles can't function.

Numbers

At 8 p.m. tonight, it will be 02-20-2020 20

Thoughts on the allegory of Adam and Eve and the Fall

Disclaimer: I don't know anything and I already know that.


When God said, "Don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," what he really said was, "Don't choose fear.".

The fallen one tried to get Adam to fear, but Adam wouldn't listen, so the fallen one tried to get Eve to fear. He found a way in, and Eve shared that fear with Adam. Perhaps she started a fight with him.

Then God returned and they couldn't bear to be in his presence because they had partaken of fear and anger. That made the Light and Love impossible to bear, so they had to leave to continue to exist.

And their children were born to parents who had learned to fear, and who had learned to be angry. And the fallen ones capitalized on that to create as much pain and mayhem and fear as they could get away with in all of the generations since Eva and Adam.

As far as the first clothing goes, I've heard the theory that Eve and Adam were clothed in Light until they "ate the fruit" - then that Light left and they had no covering to protect them, so God made clothing that would work in a pinch, but wasn't as good as what they had before.

Why, then, do the scriptures say the man and the woman were naked but not ashamed? Maybe because they didn't wear clothing like we do, but were clothed in Light.

What about Eve/the scriptures saying Adam and Eve would have had no children? It's possible they were in training and, at some point, the Gods would have taught them how to combat fear with love, then they would have gone prepared to the dark spot in the garden (see below).

Why were fallen ones allowed to roam the garden? I'm sure I do not know . . . but what if they were only confined to one area? What if they were confined to the spooky old house and yard in a certain part of the garden that was majorly creepy to anyone who knew what fear was? What if the Gods said to stay away from that creepy place? (After all, the fallen ones were kicked out onto the same planet. Maybe they demanded a place next to Adam and Eve's house. Far enough away to not overpower them unawares, but close enough to entice them because . . . well, I guess life is about choices. And, besides that, this planet was their turf.)

Adam wasn't interested in the spooky old house, but EVe wondered what it was, so crossed over the boundaries to explore it. In that case, the fallen ones had a chance to put fear and anger into her heart and mind.

And, since it's an allegory, what if the Gods were Eve and Adam's parents (two couples) who had survived a global disaster, and had reached a spiritual level so high that they were, in reality, Gods?

Just wondering. It makes for an interesting story, to be sure.