I have started this blog to make my own scriptural study more meaningful, by putting some of my pondering into writing, so I'm sure that I've actually done some such pondering. Cuz otherwise, . . . .
The format may change with time, but for now, when I finish a chapter I'll try to write down something I have learned about the Savior, and sometimes also identify and discuss any particular word and/or symbol and/or doctrine, that intrigued me or stood out to me as I read.
All thoughts in this blog are my own, written solely in my personal capacity, and not on behalf of any other person or group. All doctrinal assertions are based on my own personal understanding, and are not intended as a statement of the official doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All doctrinal speculations are probably wrong.
THE SAVIOR
We learn a beautiful doctrine about the Savior in the last verse of this first Chapter of the Book of Mormon, that it is His mission to make those who have faith in Him "mighty even unto the power of deliverance." 1 Nephi 1:20.
This calls to mind Elder David A. Bednar's many references to "the enabling power of the Atonement" which "stengthens us to do and be good and serve beyond our own individual desire and natural capacity." https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/david-a-bednar_strength-lord/
The verse suggests to me something about the nature and purpose of the Atonement, and of what we need to do to participate in obtaining its full blessings. Through the grace of Christ's Atonement, we can, and are asked to be, transformed into the type of person who is mighty. How mighty? Apparently mighty enough to play some part in our own deliverance, by repenting for our prior sins, and by obtaining strength to overcome our ongoing weaknesses, at least to the extent possible in this lifetime.
Or maybe that interpretation puts too much emphasis on the works side of the grace and works process, and maybe the "mighty even unto the power of deliverance" phrase is meant to help us see our own power to lead others to the deliverance that ultimately only the Savior offers. A person could spend a lot of time thinking through all the implications of verse 20, but there's my start.
A WORD
A word that intrigued me in this chapter, which discusses one of Lehi's earliest visions, as recounted to, and then by, his son Nephi, was the word "thought" in verse 8: ". . . and he thought he saw God sitting upon his throne."
What does this mean exactly? Did Lehi see someone who looked like a divine being, sitting on a throne, and think it was probably God, but he wasn't sure if he was interpreting what he saw correctly? Or was he not sure what it was he saw?
It seems an odd word to use in the context of a visionary experience. But I assume this is what Lehi told Nephi. Apparently, when a Prophet has such an experience, he is shown certain images, but (unless there is some angelic being along his side, to explain to him the meaning of what he is seeing, such as Nephi gets later in this book) it is up to the Prophet to interpret the meaning of what he is seeing.
It is, of course, the nature of our mortal experience, to see through a glass darkly, and to develop faith in a place of uncertainty, and perhaps this verse demonstrates that this remains true for Prophets to the same extent as for the rest of us. Or perhaps Lehi didn't want to speak overly confidently of something that approached that level of sacredness, and his reticence to declare with firmness exactly what he (knew? he) had seen has more to do with reverence than with uncertainty.
In either event, the word shows a remarkable degree of humility on Lehi's part. He has had a visionary experience. He has been compelled to share it with others. But even in doing so, he is not willing to divulge more than he feels he can, in confidence, and with certainty, express. It's an interesting insight into Lehi's character. And a level of appropriate humility worth keeping in mind when we share our own spiritual experiences with others.
A SYMBOL
I've always been intrigued by the idea of Lehi being given a book to read in the middle of this vision. He's having a vision! Why isn't he just shown what the Lord wants him to learn instead of having him read about it in a book within the vision? I'm really not sure, but I think there's a great symbol here of the importance of seeking out knowledge on our own. Even in the midst of a vision, Lehi is not allowed to be passive, but is required to be a participant. He is asked to learn something by doing something. And the effect of reading the scriptures is demonstrated by what happens next: "as he read, he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord." And then when he awakes, he shares what he has seen and what he has learned. This is a compelling pattern, mirrored in much of what we do in the Church today: learn, feel the spirit, act, feel the spirit, grow, become, feel the spirit, share with others to help them feel the spirit (see, e.g., the Duty to God Program).
There is something about reading, putting into your mind a line of thought which was first thought by someone else, which has always fascinated me. It's an incredible process when you think about it, which works across time. I believe there is something about the act of reading written words that transforms us. I'm fascinated by those studies which have shown that when we read something in a physical form (on a piece of paper, or in a physical book) we are more likely to remember it than when we read the same information on a computer screen (though I still love my Kindle). I loved the recent movie Arrival, where learning to read the aliens' language alters the main character's sense of time. I wonder if reading the scriptures has a similar effect, transforming the synapses in our brains in a way that has a real world effect on those brains, and therefore the bodies connected to those brains, making us more apt to lean towards spiritual things and service to others.
A (SPECULATION ON) DOCTRINE
I may be wrong, but it seems to me there are at least two types of revelatory experiences which we use the word "vision" to describe. One such type, the kind that Lehi seems to be have experienced in this chapter, might be called a "Harry Potter Type Vision" (for that great line in the final HP book when Dumbledore says, "of course this is all happening in your head Harry, but why on earth should that make it any less real" or words to that effect). I may be wrong, but it seems to me that no actual beings appear, in physical tangible form, to Lehi, in this vision. Rather, he has seen images in his mind, or been given an experience, in his mind, which he now remembers as though he had lived through it, with respect to events and persons which are symbolic in nature, or which will happen in some (to Lehi) future time frame. The best analogy would be to a dream (and indeed Lehi and Nephi sometimes use this word to describe what he has experienced) although I imagine the experience would be much more vivid, much easier to remember, and much more certainly brought into our mind by an outside source, than a dream.
By contrast, other visionary experiences might be called "tangible visions." For example, it is my understanding and belief that when Joseph Smith had what we now call his "First Vision" that God the Father and Jesus Christ were in fact physically and tangibly present ("in reality" to use Joseph Smith's phrase from his account in the Pearl of Great Price), occupying the same geographical space and time as Joseph Smith was occupying, in that same moment, in that same grove, a few feet above his head. Ditto for other appearances of resurrected beings to Joseph Smith, especially when they interacted with him, such as at the restorations of the Priesthoods, though other visions, like that of Doctrine and Covenants 76, might be more of the HP type.
But here's the thing: whether a Prophet is having a tangible or an HP vision, he's still experiencing it "in his mind" in the sense that our senses ultimately transmit all of our experiences into our mind, where we in fact experience them. Joseph Smith compares his experience to Paul's who had in fact "seen a light and heard a voice" Joseph Smith History 1:24. Joseph too saw certain things with his eyes and heard certain things with his ears, which eyes and ears would then have transmitted that information to his mind, just as our senses do with all of our experiences. Thus, the experience of an objectively occurring "in reality" vision, such as the First Vision, might not be materially or significantly different than a vision such as Lehi was having in First Nephi 1. A lesson? What we put in our mind matters, whatever its source. It can transform us if we let it, for good or for ill, and if we feed our minds words of faith, Christ can make us mighty.
No comments:
Post a Comment