Personal Online Journal

Saturday, July 19, 2008

"Power...given by God so universally"

What power was Jeffrey R. Holland speaking of?
I submit to you that no power, priesthood or otherwise, is given by God so universally to so many with virtually no control over its use except self-control. And I submit to you that you will ever be more like God at any other time in this life than when you are expressing that particular power. (Of Souls, Symbols, and Sacraments. BYU Devotional. 12 January 1988.)

This is one of the quotes one of my favorite people has on the inside of her kitchen cabinet door.

This puts in perspective the patriarchal order for me. Yes the man is the head of the home (not the neck). Yet he cannot excercise this, one of the most sacred and potent of powers, without a woman. We excercise it most strongly when the man and woman are married. When they are committed to each other. When they have made solemn commitments to God.

All of us will be held accountable for how we excercise the power of life within us. A man and woman who make covenants with God and to each other has the benefit of His power to fulfill the raising of the children in a Christlike home. To pass on a legacy worthy of Him.

I know that I cannot live up to this standard. I must do my best and leave the rest to His grace. I must call upon Him before I can even have the hope of doing His work in my home.

There is so much joy in raising children. I say often that one of the wisest things God did for us is allow us to become parents. How better to give us perspective; to let us know how it is like for him? We are responsible for children with their own wills. We can learn how to lead and inspire them to live according to the plan of happiness.

Now to attend to the little one in my lap.

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