How will I know?

With so many faiths, so many denominations and churches, how can we know which will teach us to believe like God would like us to believe, to do what God would like us to do, to be what God wants us to be?

The pattern of multiple witnesses is one of the most frequently occurring, and most powerfully persuasive patterns God uses to teach us. It is one of the best indicators of true religion.

The Bible teaches and illustrates this pattern of God giving us multiple authorized witnesses. We see God, Christ, the Holy Ghost, humans, sacred writings, even objects and certain solemn actions identified as witnesses in the Bible. But it is the pattern here that is of most interest. Deity consistently uses multiple witnesses as something special—a sacred, solemn pattern.

The Bible itself is a source of multiple authorized witnesses. As a book, the Old Testament witnesses of God’s covenant with the children of Israel to make them, if they obey the covenant, a “peculiar” treasure—a nation of priests, or in other words, a nation of witnesses for God. As a book, the New Testament witnesses of the Great High Priest, Jesus Christ. John the Baptist witnesses of Jesus at Jesus’ baptism, as does the voice of God, and the sign of the dove. The New Testament apostles are called as witnesses of the name of Christ and of his resurrection. The New Testament teaches that the believers are to become priests—witnesses for God. The Old and New Testaments together are multiple witnesses of God.
The separate books of the Bible were written over thousands of years by dozens of authorized witnesses of God. In Genesis we learn that Adam and Eve were witnesses for God, teaching their children, and their children’s children for generations of their dealings with God. Enoch walked and talked with God. Noah witnessed for God. Abraham, Israel, Moses, Elijah, Samuel, and many others talked with and were authorized witnesses for God.

The Bible teaches the sacredness of proper witnessing by solemnly forbidding us to bear false witness, and teaching that by the mouths of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. Jesus himself taught and honored this sacred principle by his teachings about witnesses, and by deed when at important moments of his life other multiple authorized witnesses including His Heavenly Father, John the Baptist, inspired apostles, earthquakes, darkness, and the rent veil of the temple all helped to witness of His mission.

Of all the patterns of God in the Bible, one of the clearest is that he wants us to have multiple authorized witnesses. If we hunger and thirst after righteousness and light, we would do well seek after multiple authorized witnesses as one of the most consistent evidences of the dealings of God with mankind.

The Book of Mormon claims to be scripture. Joseph Smith Junior and three others solemnly witness an angel showed them the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated, and they heard the voice of God saying the plates were translated by the gift and power of God. Eight other witnesses testified they “hefted” the plates. The title page of the Book of Mormon says that one of its purposes is “. . . to the convincing of the Jew and the Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations . . .” It tells the story of some of the inhabitants of the Americas who were visited and taught by Christ shortly after His resurrection. One of the main purposes of the Book of Mormon is to serve as another authorized scriptural witness for God. The book itself has multiple authorized witnesses.

I invite you to ponder the significance of multiple authorized witnesses in Judeo-Christian scripture, to read and ponder the Book of Mormon, and to pray for guidance from God to know if it is part of His sacred pattern for dealing with mankind.

The Source of All Truth

Is Jesus of Nazareth the source of all truth?

In the Gospel According to Saint John there is a strong connection between Jesus and Truth. John explains the mission of John the Baptist was to witness that Jesus was “the true Light” (John 1:8-9). Saint John also says “. . . but life and truth came through Jesus Christ” (JST John 1:17). In John 14:6 Jesus declared, “ . . . I am the way, the truth, and the life. . .” It seems that for the seeker of truth, one of the best places to go for truth is to Jesus Christ.

The scriptures also teach that all things were created by Christ (John 1:3). So in a certain sense, all truth was part of the creation and once again there exists an unusually close association between Jesus and truth.

During Pontius Pilot’s questioning of Jesus he was told, “. . . and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice.” (John 18:37-38) Yet, in the very next verse, Pilot muses “What is truth?” Pilot was literally staring in the face the most important source of truth, and listening to the voice of the most honest and trustworthy source imaginable, and missed seeing and hearing what he had.

So, one of the goals of this blog will be to explore how each of us can better see, hear, and understand what God has set in front of us.

We may not fully comprehend because we are seeing through a glass darkly. But we have a Light to help us see better. And, no doubt, the philosophies of men may fill our ears with error from time to time, or may cause us to dismiss or even condemn truth. But if we want to be "of the truth," then we must hear the voice of Jesus, the Word of God, who is of primary importance as a starting point and measuring stick for truth to lead us out of error. (1 Ne 11:25)

Saints, nuts, and boats

We made the greuling 4.5 minute flight from Molokai's main airport down to the their tiny airport on the Kalaupapa penninsula. Everyone else rode mules down so BJ said we were the jet setters. Kalaupapa is the place where the Catholic priest Father Damien de Veuster originally of Belgium worked with the people of Hawaii to better the conditions for people with leperosy. We learned that only a few former patients are still alive, and when they die the National Park Service will take over the penninsula. We got to see the church where they will bury Father Damien's ankle when they officially declare him a saint in about a week. The patients have been allowed to leave since 1969 but many decided to stay where they are cared for with food and an allowance.

We also visited the Purdy Macadamia Nut Farm and bought some. BJ loves them raw, I like mine roasted. The Macadamia Nut tree is originally from Queensland Australia. You can havest and eat the nuts at any stage of developement. But mostly they just rake up whatever falls on the ground. Nuts develope and can be harvested all year around.

This Saturday is the big canoe race from Molokai to Oahu. We went down a dirt road to get to Hale Lono Harbor where they are getting the canoes ready for the race. BJ didn't like the dirt road but we suvived.

In the evening we went to the 3 mile long beach with beautiful sand, Popohaku, and had it all to ourselves for a while. This morning we went to beaches north and south of that and viisted a restored sugar mill, smallest on the Hawaiian islands. Our hostess says today is the hottest day all year so far.

Slow down, its Molokai

This the most rural of Hawaiian Islands, at least the most rural of those that tourists are allowed to visit, and the local rush hour is three or four cars at the stop signs in the middle of town. The trade winds blow to cool us off in the afternoon and pile up gorgeous clouds over mountaintops of Molokai, Lanai, and Maui which we can see in the distance. Our room in near the top of the mountain on Molokai. We have gotten to look down on Kaluapapa the penninsula where the leper colony was from the lookout only about a mile from where we live. It turns out that Father Damien is being turned into an official Cathoic saint in about a week and a half. BJ has lots of great pictures. This morning we went to Halawa Valley, a VERY tropical (muggy) lush green valley with a huge waterfall. The natives are trying to rebuild a taro plantation there. Then we just relaxed in the evening either at the public library or on the beach. We've driven from the west and the Hawaiian Islands biggest beach, to the other end of the island at Halawa Valley, a total of 30 or so miles, and might have passed maybe ten cars coming the other direction. As we came in from the airport the driver asked if we had come to Molokai to relax. That sounded like a good enough reason to visit to me. So we are learning from the local T-shirt, slow down, its Molokai.

A Moral Obligation

Do you and I have a moral obligation to be happy?

"Thou shalt not kill" is pretty obvious and imperative, and I've been exposed to that one since kindergarten Sunday School. It has taken me a little longer to understand a few of our other moral obligations. "Thou shalt not covet" always threw me for a loop because I couldn't figure out what was wrong with wanting something--at least not until I wanted that promotion so much it had become a sin. But some moral obligations are a little more subtle than commandments of God brought down from Sinai by the prophet Moses.

There are also civic moral obligations. It is a moral obligation to assist people in an accident, to vote responsibly, to report criminal activity, to serve on juries, and sometimes to serve in time of war (or by some folk's faith NOT to serve in time of war).

There are also good neighbor moral obligations, and moral obligations to those we love in our families. Fairness, tolerance, being supportive, even thoughtfulness are aspects of moral obligations to those with whom we associate.

But happiness!? Give me a break! It never crossed my mind that happiness could be considered a moral obligation until recently. Maybe it is because I thought of it as a state of being that I overlooked this one. One can be wet or dry, tall or short, sad or happy. It is just the way a person is--a state of being.

And yet, once I thought about it, I realized my happiness has an influence on my wife, my children, my parents, my co-workers and most of the people I meet. For their sake, if not my own sake, it is better to be happy than sad. Also, I can partially control my own happiness. Indirectly I can influence my own happiness by making godly choices that will sit well with my conscience, and also are likely to result in conditions that support happiness. But more directly, to a large extent, happiness is a decision. Abraham Lincoln taught that a man is as happy as he makes up his mind to be. Happiness is more of a decision than a state of being. By making that choice, even if many conditions are unfavorable, a determined person can find something about which to be happy. If we have control over that decision: and it is better to be happy than it is to be sad: and our decision influences others: then, I believe it is our moral obligation to choose to be happy.

I don't for a moment think this means it is possible to always at every second of life to be happy. And it seems appropriate to occasionally express sadness or grief to a friend or loved one. But on reflection, I do believe that for the long run, at most times, even in trying circumstances, we are morally obligated to make the choice to be happy, or to at least act happy.

I am grateful to Dennis Prager, radio talk show host, for pointing this out to me. I encourage you to visit his "Prager University" and listen to his excellent 5-minute lecture on this topic, Prager University: Happiness is a moral obligation.

The scriptures also seem to support the idea that a measure of happiness is an obligation in a variety of situations:

• . . . but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. John 16:33

• . . . rejoice before the Lord. Lev. 23:40
• . . . rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto . . . Deut. 12:7
• . . . rejoice in every good thing . . . Deut. 26:11
• Rejoice, O ye nations, with this people. Deut. 32:43
  
• . . . let all those who put their trust in thee, rejoice. Ps. 5:11
• Serve the Lord with gladness. Ps. 100:2
• . . . a merry heart doeth good like a medicine. Prov. 15:13
• . . . Every man . . ., to rejoice in his labor. Eccl. 5:19
• . . . live joyful with the wife whom thou lovest. Eccl. 9:9
  
• (if men revile you) . . . Rejoice and be exceeding glad . . . Matt. 5:12
• . . . be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee. Matt. 9:2
• . . . be of good cheer, it is I. Matt. 14:27
• Be of good cheer, Paul . . . Acts 23:11
• . . . be of good cheer, for I believe God. Acts 27:25
• . . . sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. Rom. 12:8
• . . . Kingdom of God is . . ., joy in the Holy Ghost. Rom. 14:17
  
• . . . fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace . . . Gal. 5:22
  
• Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, rejoice. Philip 2:16
  
• God loveth a cheerful giver. 2 Cor. 9:7
• Rejoice evermore. 1 Thes. 5:16
• . . . count it all joy when ye fall in diverse temptations . . . James 1:2
  

• . . . men are that they might have joy. 2 Ne. 2:25
  
• . . . cheer up your hearts. 2 Ne. 10:23
• Lift up your head and be of good cheer. 3 Ne. 1:13

• . . . be of good cheer, little children. D&C 61:36
• . . . be of good cheer, and do not fear. D&C 68:6
• . . . be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. D&C 78:18
• Let thy heart be of good cheer before my face. D&C 112:4
• . . . rejoicing and lifting up thy heart for gladness. D&C 19:39
• . . . do these things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts. D&C 59:15
• . . . let us cheerfully do all things. D&C 123:17
  

• . . . come to Zion, singing with songs of everlasting joy. Moses 7:53

Introduction

"Where are we going, and why am I in this hand basket?"

At first glance, that's a good way to sum up my position on topics like politics, the stock market, the economy, religion, and how things are going at work. "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" says my favorite T-shirt, a wonderful Christmas gift from my insightful children. Thanks to talk radio, I sometimes get wound up about some apocalyptic aspect of life or death on this planet. My wonderful and wise wife, BJ, flees the room if I start talking politics or theology with anyone. So it seems I come across as a tad bit gloomy.

And yet . . .

Life is good! It's not just that God is in heaven, and all will eventually be worked out according to His plan. Life is good right here, right now, too. Even much of the bad stuff can be fixed if we put our minds and backs to it, and trust in God, and ask for his help when our efforts fall short.

Mission Statement: The intended point of this blog is to discuss those controversial (and sometimes gloomy) topics I find so interesting, and to shine a light on the good things along the way, and propose solutions for things that need fixing.

How This Blog Came to Be. I love reading my children’s blogs, especially my daughter’s, Ki, who blogs more frequently than the others. Her nearly daily blogs are fun because I learn about her and her family. (Hey, I know I’m a proud grandpa!) But I found I was yearning to read more from her occasional “more serious” blogs especially about religion. So she is my main inspiration for wanting to write a blog of any kind, but especially on “more serious” topics. Thank you, Ki, for leading by example. And thank you, BJ, my wife, who has shown me with her daily photo blog, there are many paths to a blog.

Dennis Prager, radio talk show host, likes to give talks at high schools telling the students they are morally obligated to be happy. (Click the previous link, and select Happiness is a Moral Obligation for details.) For a guy like me who (happily) savors “We’re all gonna die!” topics this is a profound concept. It resonates. I believe it resonates because I often wear a gloomy looking mask, but at the core there is an optimist trying hard to break out. Thank you, Dennis Prager, for leading by example.