Peace in the Land through Gratitude Helaman 11: 17-22

Seven o'clock, time to wake. Time to get the son out of bed. Time to eat breakfast. Time to shower and dress. Time to go to school. Time to ...... What makes it all bearable?

Our lives run in cycles. One clear message of the Book of Mormon is that there are many cycles in our lives. Cycles of nature and cycles of human nature. Unlike nature that lives a course bound to preprogramed cycles, we have within us the ability to recognize the cycles and correct them, but only if we will heed the lessons of history, the lessons of scripture.

When my son looks up at me and says, "Good Morning." When he reaches out for that one hug that he needs to energize his determination. When my husband gives me one last snuggle before charging into his day. When I feel appreciated for all that I do, I feel peace. Gratitude brings the "energy of peace" to my life.

Gratitude is not a cycle of nature. Gratitude comes to us as a virtue. To garner it we must purposefully reach deep inside and seek it out. We must identify it, label it and then share it. We share it through smile, attitude, gesture, manners, kindness, selflessness, words, prayer, body language, and communication. We find it by receiving gratitude as it passes like a spark of electricity from one human to another.

Gratitude is something that tends to be easily forgotten in the day to day trials and responsibilities of life. Gratitude tends to be wrung out from us in the cycles of life, but it need not be. We can learn to balance our lives and find the daily joy that gratitude can bring. When we find the balance, we find peace.

The people of Nephi's time had lost all sense of their gratitude towards God and towards their fellow man. They had allowed the cycles of their lives to put them into holding patterns of "greed and need." Only when God intervened and helped them remember the importance of the basics of life did they once again find peace. Only when their lives were reduced to a form of basic functionality and almost death, did they remember to show gratitude first to God and then to one another.

Words and Phrases

vs 17 the Lord did turn away his anger - gratitude turns away anger. respect turns away anger. love for and appreciation for what others do for you turns away anger. service to others turns away anger. Remembering others turns away anger.

vs 18 the people did rejoice and glorify God, - They were happy to be alive. Happy to not have perished as did the thousands. Happy to have made it through a great trial of faith. But still they believe ... not because of Nephi's words, but because of his signs and miracles. I wonder how many years will pass before they forget? I wonder how convicted they are to the God who has saved them?

vs 18 they did esteem him as a great prophet - Look what he had to do for them before they would believe. I'm not so sure that Nephi should be happy with this, but he is and it is a good thing that they did not die by sword or famine. Finally he receives some respect and the people begin to see peace for the gratitude that is within their hearts.

vs 19 not a whit - not any less, not any lower than Nephi, but this is Nephi's story not Lehi's.

vs 20 began to prosper again - gratitude is a good thing... it brings blessings of esteem, respect, and honor to all people. Gratitude shares the wealth. Gratitude is about all people, not just one or one group. Gratitude teaches respect, honor, discipline, hope, love, communication, and understanding.

vs 21 exceedingly great peace - prosperity, gratitude, blessings, hope, = peace... no greed, no need, no stealing, not robbery, ... just a balance of life's cycle and gratitude.

vs 22 and also they had peace ... 3 years now they have known peace. 3 years of no grief, of no trial, of rebuilding their lives after the great destruction of famine. Three years? is that long enough? How do you keep the balance? Will they keep their gratitude? manners, respect, communication and love for one another.?

Seeking wisdom Ecclesiastes 1

Ecclesiastes 1

Mark 16:26

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Today I take a sidetrack from the Book of Mormon and read from the books of Solomon. Solomon is credited with three books from the Old Testament: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Psalms. All were very poetic in their verse.

How I read it:

• 1. I read it through one (two) times.
• 2. I went back and thought deeply about certain verses that jumped out at me and I asked questions?
• 3. I tried to imagine that I was the author. Why would I say what I said this way? What was his mood? (Somber) What was his intention?
• 4. I tried to remember something about Solomon to help me. What I couldn’t remember I looked up.
• 5. Finally, I was able to pull from it what was pertinent to me.

Life can be hopeless, if you let it. Wisdom comes to those who seek it, and when we find the knowledge needed to make us wise, it often brings us sadness. Why? Because, true wisdom does not come from knowledge (alone) of this earth which is cyclical, repetitive, and predictable. It is not until you add the element of God’s spirit into your life do you find something that will lift you above the mundane. Something that is able to help you make choices based not on pattern, but on truth that comes from an eternal source.

What is the difference in wisdom and profit? Why was Solomon bemoaning the fact that he could not have any real profit from doing his earthly labor? How you think Solomon saw profit? Did he include wisdom in his equation of profit? Wisdom is knowledge + spirit. Wisdom is knowledge + experience. Without a touch of experience to season our knowledge, knowledge is a valuable as vanity. Without the spirit to season our knowledge it brings us little gain. When you think of it this way, you can find a new understanding of Solomon’s words.

I have known quite a few older people in my life. I watch these older people. Why? Because I want to see if they have found the secret of life, or are they tired, lonely and angry. The ones that are happy, really happy with a smile that burns through to your soul, are the ones that have kept a higher law. They are not shy about telling you so. They have an energy about them that draws you to them. And when you are around them, you feel alive, full of hope and you begin to cultivate a desire to have wisdom. I think that we have a choice in life to choose to be a battery charger or a battery drainer. When we choose God, we become a charger.

I once met an older man at a social gathering. When his son introduced me to him, it was like plugging into a battery charger. He was in his late 80’s, but carried the demeanor of a much younger man. His smile spoke volumes about his faith. I knew from knowing his son that he (my friends father) was a man of great faith, but I didn’t have to be told that. His faith was apparent in his aura, in the way he treated others, in his smile and his consideration for others. He was happy! No he was full of joy! Happy comes from earthly experience, Joy comes from God.

When we get our energy from something “above the sun”, when we find our wisdom from keeping God’s commandments we forego the frustrations of life. We forego the difficulties and the seemingly endless cycles of life that “run into the sea” and “return again”.

You can read this with a touch of pessimism as many have, or you can read the first chapter of Ecclesiastes with a touch of optimism. It does get rather boorish listening to Solomon recount the reasons that life without the spirit does not bring profit, but I believe he is trying to emphasis these points so that he can help us understand where exactly our focus should be if we want to have true profit from our lives.

(Words and Phrases)

Vs 2 Vanity.. all is vanity. Vanity: worthless, pride, narcissistic, egotism. Basically anything that you can't take with you when you die.

Vs 3 What profit our work for this life? When we die do people really remember what we did or didn’t do to make a living? I have done a great deal of genealogy work and discovered that when we die we are most remembered for whom we lived with, where we lived, and the families that we bore. Sadly, we are also often remembered for the “skeletons” we create. The best way to be remembered in this life is to be kind. To be forgiving. To love another human being. When we become too caught up in our work, in ourselves, in our vanities… then we become part of the life cycles that never end, and never change. We must live a higher law.

Vs. 4 One generation passeth away.. another cometh. The families of man are born. They die. And the earth on which we live abides.

Vs. 5 A day.. a cycle in the time we have here on earth. A small circle of time in the larger span of time in our existence here.

Vs. 6 according to its circuits – even the wind has its patterns. Meteorologist know the patterns of wind. They are daily, seasonal, and patterned. Forever

Vs 7 all the rivers. – the cycle of water it comes from the rivers, to the sea, and back again. It is a never-ending cycle of moving water.

Vs 8 full of labor – No matter what man does for his labor, he will never be satisfied. There is not contentment in a world where the cycles of life are never ending.

Vs 9 no new thing - Elements. We are made of elements. The world within which we live is made of elements. There is no new thing. It just all gets transferred from one phase of the cycle to the other.

EXCEPT WHEN we show kindness, show love. This is new. To the soul that receives it, it is new. Spiritual truths, spiritual gifts, spiritual kindness always brings newness. New ideas, renewed hope, understanding. When the spirit has gone out of us, when we loose hope then we are merely elements awaiting our cycle to turn its course.

Vs 11 no remembrance of former things – I believe this is a reference to the veil. We cannot remember our lives before. When we are on this earth, we must be content with the elements that exist. We cannot know what is to come (after this life)

Vs 13. I GAVE MY HEART TO SEEK AND SEarCH OUT BY WISDOM -

Enough said. Give your heart to know wisdom. Wisdom comes from God.

Vs 14vexation of spirit – Solomon is frustrated because he wants more. He was the king over Israel. He does not understand the prophets, the hope the promise. Or if he does he still wants more and God will not give it to him.

Vs. 18 he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow – knowledge alone will not bring us joy or lift up our spirit. Knowledge used for vanity brings sorrow. At the end of the book Solomon will tell us that knowledge used for service of God brings joy

.

As I read this first chapter of Ecclesiastes, I was reminded to consider that a life lived for oneself is vanity. Vanity is worthless and meaningless. There can be little joy in labor that does not serve a higher purpose.

But wisdom can be found within the cycle of life. It comes in keeping God's commandments and learning to understand God's ways.

One of the greatest gems I received today was the realization that the spirit of giving renews us all. We all have a spirit of goodness within us. We all have a spirit of God. We can choose to ignore it and live a life of drudgery, or we can choose to embrace it and help bring a new spirit to those we meet, we work with, to those we love. We can do this by giving our heart to search out wisdom.