4 Nephi 1:4-11
1:4-5 - With the new social order in place after the Lord's departure, many things are new and exciting things going on here. There was peace and prosperity in the land "and there were great and marvelous works wrought by the disciples of Jesus, insomuch that they did heal the sick, and raise the dead, and cause the lame to walk, and the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear; and all manner of miracles did they work among the children of men; and in nothing did they work miracles save it were in the name of Jesus." I love the topic of miracles because I believe in miracles, my own life is a miracle, I was an angry, hateful, bitter person and now I'm happy and love Jesus and my fellow man. Even though I'm still a major work in progress, the difference in who I am vs. who I was is honestly a miracle, I never could have made that change myself. Jesus has healed my heart, I've tried my best to follow his commandments and asked him for help, and he's done the rest, honestly, it's a miracle. I've also seen this same miracle worked in the lives of so many other people in similar situations, my dad, friends, other family members, many people. There have been so many miracles in my life, so many times when the Lord has stepped in on my behalf and protected me, usually from myself. There have been so many times when he's opened and closed doors for me in order for me to thrive in a way that I never could have done for myself. There's been so many times when, literally, time has stood still while I was able to catch the bus home or make it in time for work so that I wasn't late, he did that for me today actually. Those are miracles to me, the beautiful sunsets, the kind words from others, the way that my daughter was able to change her attitude towards her brother. But mostly the way things work out despite my best efforts to make my own plans. HN commented on human nature "You don't know what you really need after all, so Khadir is always telling you. In this case, the Lord knows what would make us happy and what's good for us, but we have the three-wishes motifs, as Solon said. Remember, we have our wishes, but we never wish for the right thing... Now the Nephites trusted God to know what was good for them." When we are waiting for the big, miraculous healing or vision or something like that, we miss the remarkable, small miracles that show us that God loves us and that we are so valuable to Him that he will coordinate events so small and minuscule that most of us probably don't even recognize them. When we thing about the idea that we are all children of God, to me, nothing shows more of our individual worth than small miracles done daily in our behalf, to include the change of heart that can be ours if we utilize the atonement. The IM quotes President Spencer W. Kimball as eloquently giving perspective to "Miracles in the Name of Jesus," when he says, "We do have miracles today- beyond imagination! If all the miracles of our own lifetime were recorded, it would take many library shelves to hold the books which would contain them. What kinds of miracles do we have? All kinds- revelations, visions, tongues, healings, special guidance and direction, evil spirits cast out. Where are they recorded? In the records of the Church, in journals, in news and magazine articles and in the minds and memories of many people." I love that, there are so many miracles worked constantly for our benefit and if we overlook the small ones waiting for the big ones, then so much of the love of God is lost to us.
1:6-11 - All these conditions set the stage for "the Lord did prosper them exceedingly in the land." There's a really interesting facet to this statement that I hadn't considered before and HN presented it when he taught, "Now, here we have another interesting question. Well, prosper is a good word here. Prosper is a favorite word of the rich. John D. Rockefeller always used to use that word. When on of his crooked deals was successful, he said, 'we were prospered.' The Lord prospered us. He gave the Lord credit for it, but (said) we were prospered. But here the word prosper is used for a society in which there are no rich. apparently you can prosper as a society, as a group." Now this is something I'd not considered before, if the word "prosper" is used in describing the status of a society that doesn't have rich or poor, everyone is financially equal, that begs the question, if prosperity isn't measured in money, what was the way in which the Nephites considered themselves doing well? The following verses might give us a little bit more insight, "they did build cities again... the people of Nephi did wax strong, and did multiply exceedingly fast, and became an exceedingly fair and delightsome people. And they were married, and given in marriage, and were blessed according to the multitude of the promises which the Lord had made unto them." So they considered prosperity being "fair and delightsome," being healthy (wax strong,) multiply exceedingly fast (many children,) having safe and sturdy homes (did build cities again,) having happy marriages (they were married, and given in marriage,) and recognizing the hand of the Lord in their lives (blessed according to the multitude of the promises which the Lord had made unto them.) It's interesting because so much of this revolved around family, which is what much of the treasures of heaven are. Happy families, that's what it means to prosper, having your basic needs met but not overindulged, these are the things that matter most. There's an interesting blurb about what it means to be "fair and delightsome" by HN who says, "Does it mean that they had to have perfect bodies, and we're always aware of that fact? Not a bit of it. When a thing is fair, it is as it should be. You talk about fair play, a fair game, a fair proposition, a fairly good way of doing it, a properly good way of doing it, a fairly good job. etc... But to be fair is the way we imagine it should be. This is the way St. Augustine picks it up from Plato, for example. Plato himself says the fair is the kalos k'agathos. Kalos is right, proper, every way it should be. Agathos is good. To be fair and good. Of course, it's aesthetically pleasing as well. In the Euthydemus he says a hold bowl can be as ugly as a dung basket is beautiful. The dung basket is simply designed, functional, etc. It can be a beautiful object, where a golden bowl with all sorts of fancy Victorian frills and geegaws on it can be absolutely hideous. It's the function and the rightness of it. When you look at a thing, you know that's right." It's interesting because when he said, "To be fair and good. Of course, it's aesthetically pleasing as well," it made me think, why in our society today do we have things that are not pleasing to the eye? Is it because things are just naturally more ugly now then the were in the Nephite times? No, that doesn't make sense. Does it mean that all the people who were born at that time into that society were shockingly beautiful? That doesn't make sense either. Does it mean that righteous people are beautiful and wicked people are ugly? No, that would negate our agency. The reason we have so many "ugly" people today is because we have a set definition of beauty in our society in which we judge others physically. If there's no standard, then there's no good or bad. If there's no focus on physical attributes, then there is no criticism, there is no judgment. So if we think about it, our society has a lot of ugly people today because we place so much value on the physical appearance. If we, as a society, were to value good character, work ethic, and genuinely loved each other as children of God, we would never think "he's ugly," or "she's fat," I guarantee that we would never be so hurtful and petty as to judge, ridicule, or even observe the physical "flaws" of another person. They say that a person can become more or less attractive to you the more you get to know them, that their personality and who they are changes them in your eyes. HN continues, "Delight is enjoyment without lust. That's the difference, a great thing here. Again, it's a platonic idea, isn't it. In your feeling toward nature, you are drawn toward what is lovable, what is endearing, what is rightly proportioned, what is pleasing, what is beautiful, what you've been looking for, what delights you. And with no desire to ravage and exploit with lust, vandalism, power, gain." If we are truly Christ-like people we see people the way Christ does, and he only sees the good, the beautiful, the amazing. So being a "fair and delightsome" people doesn't have anything to do with the physical appearance of others, it has to do with our inner ability to see others as Christ does. Very interesting insight there.
1:6-11 - All these conditions set the stage for "the Lord did prosper them exceedingly in the land." There's a really interesting facet to this statement that I hadn't considered before and HN presented it when he taught, "Now, here we have another interesting question. Well, prosper is a good word here. Prosper is a favorite word of the rich. John D. Rockefeller always used to use that word. When on of his crooked deals was successful, he said, 'we were prospered.' The Lord prospered us. He gave the Lord credit for it, but (said) we were prospered. But here the word prosper is used for a society in which there are no rich. apparently you can prosper as a society, as a group." Now this is something I'd not considered before, if the word "prosper" is used in describing the status of a society that doesn't have rich or poor, everyone is financially equal, that begs the question, if prosperity isn't measured in money, what was the way in which the Nephites considered themselves doing well? The following verses might give us a little bit more insight, "they did build cities again... the people of Nephi did wax strong, and did multiply exceedingly fast, and became an exceedingly fair and delightsome people. And they were married, and given in marriage, and were blessed according to the multitude of the promises which the Lord had made unto them." So they considered prosperity being "fair and delightsome," being healthy (wax strong,) multiply exceedingly fast (many children,) having safe and sturdy homes (did build cities again,) having happy marriages (they were married, and given in marriage,) and recognizing the hand of the Lord in their lives (blessed according to the multitude of the promises which the Lord had made unto them.) It's interesting because so much of this revolved around family, which is what much of the treasures of heaven are. Happy families, that's what it means to prosper, having your basic needs met but not overindulged, these are the things that matter most. There's an interesting blurb about what it means to be "fair and delightsome" by HN who says, "Does it mean that they had to have perfect bodies, and we're always aware of that fact? Not a bit of it. When a thing is fair, it is as it should be. You talk about fair play, a fair game, a fair proposition, a fairly good way of doing it, a properly good way of doing it, a fairly good job. etc... But to be fair is the way we imagine it should be. This is the way St. Augustine picks it up from Plato, for example. Plato himself says the fair is the kalos k'agathos. Kalos is right, proper, every way it should be. Agathos is good. To be fair and good. Of course, it's aesthetically pleasing as well. In the Euthydemus he says a hold bowl can be as ugly as a dung basket is beautiful. The dung basket is simply designed, functional, etc. It can be a beautiful object, where a golden bowl with all sorts of fancy Victorian frills and geegaws on it can be absolutely hideous. It's the function and the rightness of it. When you look at a thing, you know that's right." It's interesting because when he said, "To be fair and good. Of course, it's aesthetically pleasing as well," it made me think, why in our society today do we have things that are not pleasing to the eye? Is it because things are just naturally more ugly now then the were in the Nephite times? No, that doesn't make sense. Does it mean that all the people who were born at that time into that society were shockingly beautiful? That doesn't make sense either. Does it mean that righteous people are beautiful and wicked people are ugly? No, that would negate our agency. The reason we have so many "ugly" people today is because we have a set definition of beauty in our society in which we judge others physically. If there's no standard, then there's no good or bad. If there's no focus on physical attributes, then there is no criticism, there is no judgment. So if we think about it, our society has a lot of ugly people today because we place so much value on the physical appearance. If we, as a society, were to value good character, work ethic, and genuinely loved each other as children of God, we would never think "he's ugly," or "she's fat," I guarantee that we would never be so hurtful and petty as to judge, ridicule, or even observe the physical "flaws" of another person. They say that a person can become more or less attractive to you the more you get to know them, that their personality and who they are changes them in your eyes. HN continues, "Delight is enjoyment without lust. That's the difference, a great thing here. Again, it's a platonic idea, isn't it. In your feeling toward nature, you are drawn toward what is lovable, what is endearing, what is rightly proportioned, what is pleasing, what is beautiful, what you've been looking for, what delights you. And with no desire to ravage and exploit with lust, vandalism, power, gain." If we are truly Christ-like people we see people the way Christ does, and he only sees the good, the beautiful, the amazing. So being a "fair and delightsome" people doesn't have anything to do with the physical appearance of others, it has to do with our inner ability to see others as Christ does. Very interesting insight there.
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