Sisters In Scriptures – Page 122 – A Scripture Class in the Salt Lake Olympus Stake

Audio November 18, 2014 Exodus 21-24; 31-35 by Nancy Baird

Scriptures
Exodus 21-24
Exodus 31-35

Quotes

“The root of religion is what to do with the feeling for the mystery of living, what to do with awe, wonder, and amazement. Religion begins with a consciousness that something is asked of us.” from Robert K. Greenleaf, Servant Leadership.

“What if all the ancient, recurring myths of the human race, all the yearnings of prophets and sages for the touch of God, for a visit from God, were not just the lies of poets, but the hints and rumors of another world? In this account our deepest, unsatisfied desires for joy, meaning and homecoming are not cruel jokes of nature. They are meant for fulfillment. What we desire most, said Lewis, is “the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.”

…And when we discover our true citizenship, [Lewis] says, it comes with a “happiness…so great that it even weakens me like a wound.”” from Michael Gerson, (quoting C. S. Lewis,) Deseret News, November 22, 2013, A13.

“In a field outside of Newburg, Scotland, the remains of the Cross Macduff stand on the Ochil Hills. This Celtic cross once marked the northwest boundary of the ancient “kingdom” of Fife, clan home of Macduff, thane of Fife. The cross was a “girth,” a sanctuary, or place of refuge from trouble, ordained and protected by charter of the king of Scotland…Anyone related to Macduff to the ninth degree could flee here to receive refuge from the law if they had been found guilty of unpremeditated slaughter. Only the base of this ancient cross remains, but it is enough; one can see how it would have risen on its high hill, majestic, stark, its carved face looking east…” from Nancy Baird, “The World at Its Gravest and Best,” BYU Studies, Vol. 39, Number 3, 2000, 105.

In the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus, the author talks about the artisans and craftsmen of a community: Ecclesiasticus 38:32-34 (Speaking of craftsmen and artists). “Without them a city would have no inhabitants. No settlers or travelers would come to it. Yet they are not in demand…But they maintain the fabric of this world; And in the handiwork of their craft is their prayer.” (Revised Version and New English version, p. 150).

“It is said that the composer Haydn, on hearing the first public performance of his work, “The Creation,” rose in his seat at the great choral refrain, “And there was light,” and cried out, “I never wrote that; that came from God.” Personal files of Nancy Baird.

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” Martin Buber, The Legend of the Baal-Shem, 1995 edition, 36.

Audio November 11, 2014 Exodus 20 by Diane Adair

Scriptures

Exodus 20

Quotes

“When we treat God’s commandments and our part in building His kingdom like something to check on a to do list, we miss the heart of discipleship…

For some of us, obedience to God’s commandments doesn’t always feel very joyful…we approach it with the enthusiasm of a child sitting before a plate of healthy but hated vegetables. Perhaps during times like these we might find ourselves asking, do we really need to obey all of God’s commandments?

I think God knows something…our Father in Heaven is an eternal being whose experience, wisdom, and intelligence are infinitely greater than ours. Not only that, but He is also eternally loving, compassionate, and focused on one blessed goal: To bring to pass our immortality and eternal life…

If you truly believe the great mission of our Heavenly Father is to exalt and glorify his children and that He knows best how to do it – doesn’t it make sense to embrace and follow His commandments, even the ones that appear difficult? Should we not cherish the light posts He has given that guide us thru the darkness and the trials of mortality?

By choosing Heavenly Father’s path, you lay a divine foundation for your personal progress…that will bless you throughout your life…We need to accept that the commandments of God aren’t just a long list of good ideas. They are divine counsel, based on eternal truths, given to bring peace in this world and eternal life in the world to come.”
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Living the Gospel Joyful,” Ensign, November 2014.

“The more we study, pray, and ponder the awesome Atonement, the more we are willing to acknowledge that we are in His and the Father’s hands. Let us ponder, therefore, these final things.

When the unimaginable burden began to weigh upon Christ, it confirmed His long-held and intellectually clear understanding as to what He must now do. His working through began, and Jesus declared: “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour.” Then, whether in spiritual soliloquy or by way of instruction to those about Him, He observed, “But for this cause came I unto this hour.” (John 12:27.)

Later, in Gethsemane, the suffering Jesus began to be “sore amazed” (Mark 14:33), or, in the Greek, “awestruck” and “astonished.”

Imagine, Jehovah, the Creator of this and other worlds, “astonished”! Jesus knew cognitively what He must do, but not experientially. He had never personally known the exquisite and exacting process of an atonement before. Thus, when the agony came in its fulness, it was so much, much worse than even He with his unique intellect had ever imagined! No wonder an angel appeared to strengthen him! (See Luke 22:43.)

The cumulative weight of all mortal sins—past, present, and future—pressed upon that perfect, sinless, and sensitive Soul! All our infirmities and sicknesses were somehow, too, a part of the awful arithmetic of the Atonement. (See Alma 7:11–12; Isa. 53:3–5; Matt. 8:17.) The anguished Jesus not only pled with the Father that the hour and cup might pass from Him, but with this relevant citation. “And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me.” (Mark 14:35–36.)

Had not Jesus, as Jehovah, said to Abraham, “Is any thing too hard for the Lord?” (Gen. 18:14.) Had not His angel told a perplexed Mary, “For with God nothing shall be impossible”? (Luke 1:37; see also Matt. 19:28; Mark 10:27; Luke 18:27.)

Jesus’ request was not theater!

In this extremity, did He, perchance, hope for a rescuing ram in the thicket? I do not know. His suffering—as it were, enormity multiplied by infinity—evoked His later soul-cry on the cross, and it was a cry of forsakenness. (See Matt. 27:46.)

Even so, Jesus maintained this sublime submissiveness, as He had in Gethsemane: “Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matt. 26:39.)

While bearing our sins, our infirmities, our sicknesses, and bringing to pass the Atonement (see Alma 7:11–12), Jesus became the perfect Shepherd, making these lines of Paul’s especially relevant and reassuring: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Rom. 8:35.)

Indeed, we are in His hands, and what hallowed hands!

The wondrous and glorious Atonement was the central act in all of human history. It was the hinge on which all else that finally matters turned. But it turned upon Jesus’ spiritual submissiveness!

May we now, in our time and turn, be “willing to submit” (Mosiah 3:19), I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen!” Neal A. Maxwell, “Willing to Submit,” April, 1985.