Why do good people suffer?

This is a video answering a question from a teary woman asking why she is suffering when she is doing everything she knows to follow God. 



The woman asks:

How do we understand the love of the Lord when he gives you more trials? In my personal life I have more trials than anything else. Trying to have a baby we cannot have. And we are here going to the temple, doing every single thing we are supposed to do. How to understand that?

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland replies: 

Okay, you’re falling into a trap that I want everybody in this to avoid. And that is:

God must not love me, if I suffer. I must be being penalized, if I suffer. Can you see the danger of thinking that way? 

Every person I know in this book [holds up the scriptures] suffers. Peter who was crucified upside down. James, the first Christian martyr from the New Testament. Paul beheaded. Now does God like Peter and James and John and Paul and Isaiah and Ezekiel and Jeremiah and Daniel? Prophets of captivity. Prophets of persecution. Prophets of trouble and trials of every kind. Who suffered more than anyone in time or eternity that we know of? The living son of the living God, the only perfect child who ever lived. Don’t ever. Please, please, do not fall victim to the temptation to say, ‘Well, I guess God doesn’t love me’.  Because, what on earth would that say about his love for his Only Begotten Son?  

These are times for faith. These are times for perseverance. Life is filled with times of trouble. I just ask us to cling to the wonderful examples that we’ve had, starting and going down to virtually every figure I know to point out here [holds up the scriptures].  

If there were any really picnic stories in here, I missed them. They must have taken them out of my edition. Because everyone in here is a hard story. And I think that’s for a reason; that somehow, and this is the part I don’t fully understand and I don’t ask you to just blissfully accept it and glide out of the room. But there is something at work in suffering that is exalting. 

Now that is not news, anyone particularly wants to hear today, but I think it somehow must be doctrinal. That suffering is exalting. I don’t know whether that’s because it  makes us more patient with others? Does it make us more sympathetic with other people who’ve got troubles? It is part of the expanding of our heart to where we’re not smug and we’re not self centered? And we’re not trivial? I don’t know. I think it’s probably all of that. But it is hard to read these [the scriptures] and it is impossible to read the life of the Savior without coming to the conclusion that suffering somehow is preparatory to exaltation. 

So hang on and say your prayers and trust in the Lord and lean against that pillar and know from Elder Holland as a promise to you apostolically today that it’ll never be removed.  And someday, somewhere, sometime, you’ll have more children than you know what to do with. And I don’t say that trivially. I say it prophetically. That with the eternal view, and the long sketch of our plan of salvation, every blessing tenfold, 100 fold, 1000 fold will be given to us. But I think probably only when we’ve worked off our rough edges and been ready to receive it. 

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Here is the quote shown at the end

How can you and I really expect to glide naively through life, as if to say, “Lord, give me experience, but not grief, not sorrow, not pain, not opposition, not betrayal, and certainly not to be forsaken. Keep from me, Lord, all those experiences which made Thee what Thou art! Then let me come and dwell with Thee and fully share Thy joy!”

“Lest Ye Be Wearied and Faint in Your Minds”, Neal A Maxwell, Apr 1991

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1991/04/lest-ye-be-wearied-and-faint-in-your-minds?id=p10&lang=eng#p10 

Jacob Collier deconstructs a Stevie Wonder classic

I love Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder. I have learned to appreciate is more because of Jacob Collier. 

Living on the Lord’s Side of the Line

My dad shared this with me today. I don't remember ever hearing it before. I recommend the whole talk. Here are some parts that stood out to me. 

'There is power in making covenants. Weekly, as we renew our covenants and promise to take upon ourselves the name of the Son, to always remember Him, and to keep His commandments, we receive in return a transcendent promise, one filled with heavenly power: that we “may always have his Spirit to be with [us]” (Moroni 4:3). Having the Holy Ghost with us—and learning to hear His voice—is a key, perhaps the single most profound key, to remaining steadfast and immovable on the Lord’s side of the line. And it all begins by making a covenant.'

...

'In today’s world, where immorality is celebrated on nearly every world stage, succumbing to moral temptation is depicted as being easier and even more desirable than maintaining moral purity. But it isn’t. The moment of sexual transgression is the last moment immorality is easy. I have never known anyone who was happier or who felt better about themselves or who had greater peace of mind as a result of immorality. Never.'

...

'It is so much more comforting to live with the Spirit than without, so much more joyful to have relationships of trust and true friendship than to indulge in a physical relationship that would eventually crumble anyway. Whereas Satan’s lies lead only to enslavement, the Savior’s promise is that if we will seek the riches our Father wishes to give us, we “shall be the richest of all people, for [we] shall have the riches of eternity” (D&C 38:39). In other words, we shall have joy in this life and a fullness in the life hereafter. Righteousness begets happiness.'

From "Living on the Lord’s Side of the Line" by Sheri L. Dew of the General Relief Society Presidency 21 Mar 2000 https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/sheri-l-dew/living-lords-side-line/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfeyxFLhdPk  

The sacred clothing of Latter-day Saint temples, and why it's significant

Found at the Saints Unscripted episode, "The sacred clothing of Latter-day Saint temples, and why it's significant" 

"Unlike today, clothing in ancient times was very costly and difficult to make. The hand spinning and looming process could take possibly hundreds of hours for a single piece of clothing. Thus, the giving of clothing, especially ceremonial clothing, represented a significant bestowing of authority and power."

("The Laver and the Washing and Anointing of Priests", Oct 2019, Daniel Smith)

What is the Office of Marriage

 From D. Todd Christofferson, 4 Apr 2015

'Knowing why we left the presence of our Heavenly Father and what it takes to return and be exalted with Him, it becomes very clear that nothing relative to our time on earth can be more important than physical birth and spiritual rebirth, the two prerequisites of eternal life. This is, to use the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the “office” of marriage, the “post of responsibility towards … mankind,” that this divine institution “from above, from God” occupies. It is the “link in the chain of the generations” both here and hereafter—the order of heaven.'

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2015/04/why-marriage-why-family?lang=eng 

Four Keys to Understanding the New Testament

Intertestamental Period | Dec 26-Jan 1 | Come Follow Me Insights

https://youtu.be/HAMZSG2fjRM

Taylor and Tyler of Come Follow Me Insights tell in the above video about four areas that can help my study of the New Testament. 

1. History

721 BC Assyria

587 BC Babylon

530s BC Persia

330 BC Greece

2. Language

The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Jewish Bible There was an Aramaic version that was the common language of the people. It was not commonly used during the time of Jesus. 

3. Sects

Sadducees  

Pharisees

Essenes

Zealots

4. Gospel Writers 

The Rarest of the Good Traits in Human Beings

https://youtube.com/shorts/bL1u6fOw7H8?feature=share

"Courage is the rarest of the good traits in human beings. And it is the one upon which all the others are dependent. Because without courage, kindness and integrity and all these other wonderful things, don't amount to much. Because the world demands courage on every plane in life."
- Dennis Prager

What is my True Identity?

I was thinking about an identity that I have been focusing on. I then asked myself "What identities are healthier for me to focus on?" 

My mind went to a recent post of Russell M. Nelson. 

Labels can be fun and indicate your support for any number of positive things. But if any label replaces your most important identifiers, the results can be spiritually suffocating. I believe that if the Lord were speaking to you directly, the first thing He would make sure you understand is your true identity. My dear friends, you are literally spirit children of God.

No identifier should displace, replace, or take priority over these three enduring designations:

- Child of God

- Child of the covenant

- Disciple of Jesus Christ

Any identifier that is not compatible with those three basic designations will ultimately let you down. Make no mistake about it: Your potential is divine. With your diligent seeking, God will give you glimpses of who you may become.

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From this post on Facebook

Prophets Can See Around Corners

 A BYU-Hawaii Devotional given By Sheri Dew, November 02, 2022


https://youtu.be/jqFKbnzuF-M

https://speeches.byuh.edu/prophets-can-see-around-corners

She tells 

- how all missionaries got smart phones before the Covid-19 pandemic.

- how President Nelson was instructed to share his #GiveThanks video

- a moving story of how she gave her often quoted talk in Oct 2001, “Are We Not all Mothers?”

- even though prophets are fallible, they are one of the most trusted sources for moral truth today. 

It is a powerful witness to me of who I can trust most. She tells of the most recent counsel of President Nelson. 

"To increase our capacity to receive revelation, spend more time in the temple, and become a major force in gathering Israel. To understand who we are as children of God, children of the covenant, and disciples of Christ, and to never allow other identifiers to replace those three primary designations. And to let God prevail in our lives."

This is what Dallin H Oaks spoke about 12 years ago, "Two Lines of Communication", Oct 2010.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2010/10/two-lines-of-communication?lang=eng 

What Does it Mean to Recover?

President Nelson said, 'Rich meaning is found in study of the word atonement in the Semitic languages of Old Testament times. In Hebrew, the basic word for atonement is kaphar, a verb that means “to cover” or “to forgive.”' https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1996/10/the-atonement?lang=eng

In the book of Moses, it says "Unto Adam, and also unto his wife, did I, the Lord God, make coats of skins, and clothed them." https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp/moses/4?lang=eng&id=27#p27

Jesus clothed or covered Adam and Eve. I see this as a symbol of him offering his atonement to them. 

If Atonement means to cover. What does it mean to re-cover? Perhaps it is to apply the blood of the atonement of Jesus Christ to cover us with his strength or his grace. To enable us to be born again as a new creature. One whose confidence has waxed strong in his presence. 

3 Nephi 22:4 "Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed; neither be thou confounded, for thou shalt not be put to shame; for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more." https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/3-ne/22?lang=eng&id=4#4

"Ye Must Be Born Again", David A. Bednar, Apr 2007, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2007/04/ye-must-be-born-again?lang=eng

D&C 121:45 "let virtue [or strength] garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God" https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng&id=45#45

Peggy Rowe "Don't follow your passion but bring it with you"

Mike Rowe paraphrases the best advice his mom ever gave him: 

Don't follow your passion but always bring it with you. Find a way to love whatever it is you wind up doing. That to me has informed everything. Just because you love something doesn't that you can't stink at it. Just because you don't love something, doesn't mean you might be good at it. It took me a while to figure that out. Growing up with people like my mom and dad, where you were encouraged to constantly experiment, that advice makes sense. But it can't compare to actually watching them live it. 

https://youtu.be/ZlGJTPvwAS0?t=378 

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What is the difference between free will and moral agency?

 I came across this article this morning "What is the difference between free will and moral agency?" Following is my answer. 

The following are from my faith tradition. In a more general sense, the difference between "free will" and "moral agency" might be illuminated by the difference between a natural right and a natural responsibility. 

"Elder Bednar: Mormon Moral Agency - You Are Not Free To Do What You Want" is a video by David A. Bednar. He talks to church members about what moral agency is. It may be helpful to recognize that in our church we make covenants with God and with the church and with others. A covenant is a sacred promise. 

"Moral Agency" By Elder D. Todd Christofferson uses the term "free will" and "moral agency". 

All Truth is Ours

Here is an interesting article from Bart J. Kowallis. He is a Latter-day Saint who teaches geology at BYU. "Bart does research in Geologic Mapping, Mineralogy of Titanite, and Geology of Mexico." (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bart-Kowallis)

From the article ("Things of the Earth", Latter-day Saint Scholars Testify, FAIR):

Brigham Young said that Mormonism “embraces every true science and all true philosophy. . . . True science, true art, and true knowledge comprehend all that are in heaven or on the Earth, or in all the eternities. . . . All truth is ours.” (Young, Journal of Discourses, 14:280–81.)

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The first time I was confronted by someone with a different perspective was during my mission to Quebec. One missionary, Elder Clayton, was known missionwide because he and his companions always worked more hours and wasted less time than anyone else. He had no apparent fear of people and would stop and talk to anyone at any time even in the most unlikely settings. I always felt a little uncomfortable around Elder Clayton, as did many other missionaries. We referred to him as “Enoch”; we were certain he already had his application in for translation.

One day while I was working with Elder Clayton on an exchange, we tracted out some potential investigators in an apartment building. At one point in our conversation, one of them asked us what our church taught about evolution. I responded that we believed it to be a false theory. Elder Clayton, in his calm and pleasant manner, interjected that he believed I was wrong. His understanding was that the LDS Church took no official stand on evolution. I was completely astounded and distraught, and I felt the blood rushing to my head as I checked my anger, for this was heresy to me. We left, and on the way back to our apartment I let him know that the Church could not tolerate such doctrine. I pointed out the obvious implications that evolution had for fundamental tenets of the gospel like the Fall and Atonement, the Creation story, and our relationship to God. He said he understood what I was saying, but he stuck by his belief that the Church had not taken an official position. Although I felt vindicated that day, his comments had a profound effect on me: they opened a crack in my mind with thoughts that had not been there before; they helped me to be more open and willing to listen the next time a similar discussion occurred. I am indebted to Elder Clayton for the day we shared together.

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The Christian Network of CBRE

I have found something in my company CBRE that surprised me. There is a Christian network. I am guessing that this is similar to other ethnic and cultural groups in the company. 

I have attended 3 meetings so far that use the Alpha Film series.

We watch an episode each week then break into small groups in Zoom to discuss it. I have found it very enriching. I have found that I am connecting on a emotional and spiritual level with people across the country and world. 

Wrestling With Comparisons

"Wrestling with Comparisons", J.B. Haws, Associate Professor of Church History and Doctrine, BYU Devotional, May 7, 2019 

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"Please, my beloved brothers and sisters, we must stop comparing ourselves to others. We torture ourselves needlessly by competing and comparing. We falsely judge our self-worth by the things we do or don’t have and by the opinions of others. If we must compare, let us compare how we were in the past to how we are today—and even to how we want to be in the future. The only opinion of us that matters is what our Heavenly Father thinks of us. Please sincerely ask Him what He thinks of you. He will love and correct but never discourage us; that is Satan’s trick.

Let me be direct and clear. The answers to the questions “Am I good enough?” and “Will I make it?” are “Yes! You are going to be good enough” and “Yes, you are going to make it as long as you keep repenting and do not rationalize or rebel.” The God of heaven is not a heartless referee looking for any excuse to throw us out of the game."

("Am I Good Enough? Will I Make It?", Elder J. Devn Cornish, Oct 2016 GC)

Dad brought this up during his Come Follow Me study

What Is the Meaning of the Phrase “Sufficient Is the Day Unto the Evil Thereof?”

From “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread”, D. Todd Christofferson, CES Devotional, January 9, 2011

In the 1950s my mother survived radical cancer surgery, but difficult as that was, the surgery was followed with dozens of painful radiation treatments in what would now be considered rather primitive medical conditions. She recalls that her mother taught her something during that time that has helped her ever since:

“I was so sick and weak, and I said to her one day, “Oh, Mother, I can’t stand having 16 more of those treatments.”

She said, “Can you go today?”

“Yes.”

“Well, honey, that’s all you have to do today.”

It has helped me many times when I remember to take one day or one thing at a time.

The following is from https://bookofmormonstudynotes.blog/2019/06/02/what-is-the-meaning-of-the-phrase-sufficient-is-the-day-unto-the-evil-thereof/

In the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, as recorded by Matthew, the Savior cautions his disciples against excessive anxiety about the future. You can’t serve both God and mammon, He says. Therefore, if you really trust God, you will focus on the present, with confidence that He will bless you in the future (Matthew 6:24-33).

Then He gives the following admonition:

Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof (Matthew 6:34).

When Jesus visited the American continent following His death and resurrection, He delivered essentially the same sermon to a group of people gathered at a temple in a place called Bountiful, but with some variations. The verse quoted above is different from the version recorded in Matthew:

Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient is the day unto the evil thereof (3 Nephi 13:34, underlines added).

Here’s how I interpret the New Testament version of this passage:

You have enough challenges to deal with today without piling on all of the challenges you may encounter in the future. Focus your time and attention on today’s problems, and you can work on tomorrow’s challenges when they come.

And here’s my paraphrase of the Book of Mormon version:

Every day, you have enough time to deal with the challenges and duties of that day.. Therefore, don’t burden yourself with worry that there won’t be enough time tomorrow to deal with tomorrow’s work. There will be enough time.

I like both versions of this sentence, and I think they both lead to the same conclusion. I ought to prioritize serving over planning. I ought to prioritize the duties of today over the duties of tomorrow. I ought to pay attention to the people I’m with right now and the tasks I’m working on right now, and not be distracted by the people and tasks I will interact with in the future.

Today, I will exercise my faith by living in the moment. I will trust God, believing that there is enough time to address any challenges which the future may bring.

"My Kindness Shall Not Depart From Thee"

https://youtu.be/_gWXIn6Et7c

I love this song. It touches my heart and fills me with hope and love. 

See 3 Nephi 22, Isaiah 54,  D&C 121:33, D&C 122::8-9, 3 Nephi 17:24, 2 Timothy 1:6-7, 3 Nephi 10:4-6, D&C 6:16 

Lyrics for My Kindness Shall Not Depart From Thee by Rob Gardner

For a little while

Have I forsaken thee

But with great mercies will I gather thee

In a little wrath I hid my face from thee

For a moment

But with everlasting kindness will I gather thee

And with mercy will I take thee 'neath my wings

For the mountains shall depart

And the hills shall be removed

And the valleys shall be lost beneath the sea

But know, my child

My kindness shall not depart from thee

Though thine afflictions seem

At times too great to bear

I know thine every thought and every care

And though the very jaws

Of hell gape after thee I am with thee

And with everlasting mercy will I succor thee

And with healing will I take thee 'neath my wings

Though the mountains shall depart

And the hills shall be removed

And the valleys shall be lost beneath the sea

Know, my child

My kindness shall not depart from thee

How long can rolling waters

Remain impure?

What pow'r shall stay the hand of God?

The Son of Man hath descended below all things

Art thou greater than He?

So hold on thy way

For I shall be with thee

And mine angels shall encircle thee

Doubt not what thou knowest

Fear not man, for he

Cannot hurt thee

And with everlasting kindness will I succor thee

And with mercy will I take thee 'neath my wings

For the mountains shall depart

And the hills shall be removed

And the valleys shall be lost beneath the sea

But know, my child

My kindness shall not depart from thee

 

Rising Strong

I am not sure if I can stop saying how much Brene Brown has benefited me. This book is no less good that the others I have read. This quote jumped out to me this morning.

In the absence of data, we will always make up stories. It’s how we are wired. In fact, the need to make up a story, especially when we are hurt, is part of our most primitive survival wiring. Meaning making is in our biology, and our default is often to come up with a story that makes sense, feels familiar, and offers us insight into how to self-protect. What we’re trying to do in the rumble --choosing to feel uncertain and vulnerable as we rumble with the truth-- is a conscious choice. A brave, conscious choice.

Robert Burton, a neurologist and novelist, explains that our brains reward us with dopamine when we recognize and complete patterns. Stories are patterns. The brain recognizes the familiar beginning-middle-end structure of a story and rewards us for clearing up ambiguity. Unfortunately, we don’t need to be accurate, just certain.

(“Rising Strong” by Brené Brown p 79)

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Heart Health

 Ragusa Fats, Carbs and health

https://youtu.be/Ji0ZFybqWD8

I Will Try to Fix You

"Lights will guide you home

And ignite your bones

And I will try to fix you"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VDAhbzTovo

https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/coldplay/fixyou.html

I love the Cinematic Pop version of this song. I imagine these words come from God. God will repair all if I allow His Grace in my life by working the path he lays before me.