Mourning for the Wickedness Helaman 7:11-29

Helaman 7:11-29

Mourning

Sadness over things gone wrong. There is not greater sadness than a mother that has tried her best to love her children and see them choose wrongly. If you have ever put great effort and love into something that you hold passionately to your heart only to see it go awry, then you will know the mourning.

Wickedness comes when we chose anything over God. Wickedness comes when we seperate ourselves from the love of God, of family, of those that deeply care for us and have the ability to make us better people.

Words and Phrases

vs 11 mourning for the wickedness of the people - the people came to see someone cry out in anguish for their wrong decisions. The problem? They did not believe they were in the wrong. That's the problem of being in the wrong... you can't see it. You have to have someone who is in the light show you how to get back into the light before you can see the darkness you were once in.

vs 13 why have ye gathered yourselves? he hoped it was so that they could learn and discover God's word. But they gathered merely to marvel. A curiosity really. Is that what the love of God is? A marvel, a curiosity. To those who do not understand it, I suppose it must be so.

vs 14 exceeding sorrow of my heart - only those who know the taste of heaven can mourn for those who cannot know heaven. Only those who have lived the laws of heaven, have known the joy that comes from living the laws of heaven, can mourn for those who refuse to accept the love of heaven into their lives.

vs 15 yea are given away - what to we give away ourselves to? entertainment, vanity, laziness, greed, anything that does not lead us to heaven will give us away to what will not take us to heaven.

vs 16 ye have given way to the enticingg - bribery, luring, enticing words, aromas, anything that will keep us from doing the Lord's work.

vs 17 Why has he forsaken you? I believe the Lord does not forsake us. He stands ready to hear our every cry, but it us that forsakes him and draws away from his love and wisdom. We draw away from him. We draw away from his word, his laws, his love, his atoning sacrifice.

Sorrow comes to those who do not get their way. But real sorrow comes to those who do not follow the counsel of God's prophets, God's word, and allow his love into their lives. Mourning comes when we allow other things to steal away our hearts and forsake the wisdom that God has given us. The thing about God's love is that it is just that. It is love. It is there for us to take, to share, to accept, to help grow, and to help another being do the same. When we love.. when we truly love another being we learn to let the other things go... so that we can feel of God's love in our life. We don't always know what is right. But we can know of God's love. When we feel God's love then we can know what is right. When we feel his joy in our heart, then we can feel his love.

When we go against his love, his word, and his wisdom then we feel mournfully sorrow. When we see others do the same, we might feel this same sorrow. Why? Because we are connected to all other human life by the God who made us all. It is impossible for the sins of others in our community not to affect us.

When another in the community within which we live, choose to do serious wrong and we turn our heads and say nothing, we might be considered respectful to their private lives, but when this life begins to spiral out of control, who then pays the price.

I did not understand Nephi's lament yesterday when he remembered the time when his forefathers first came to the land and were happy because they kept the commandments. But today I do. It is a blessing to live in a town that prides itself on helping others in need, or works hard to see that everyone hears and knows the word of God in their own way. It is an easier way of life when everyone you live with honors and obeys the same God, the same laws, and the same ideals that surround these laws. But even if you do not, you can still help others see and know that God exists in your smile, in your joy, and in your faith. God lives in your life and he can live in everyone that you see and hear.