Mormon 3:12-22

3:12 - Mormon has refused to be the Nephite commander anymore because the people were going to war for vengeance and Mormon knew that that went against the laws of God. But it's interesting because Mormon has an amazing gift, he tells us, "I had led them, notwithstanding their wickedness I had led them many times to battle, and had loved them, according to the love of God which was in me, with all my heart; and my soul had been poured out in prayer unto my God all the day long for them; nevertheless, it was without faith, because of the hardness of their hearts." I've had this conversation with some friends before, but for me, love is a difficult thing. Maybe it's just who I am, maybe I'm a cold, hard hearted person, but I have the ability to cut off my love for a person almost instantly, especially if they are close to me, and that's not a strength. I know when I first started this blog I prayed one day to be able to love other people, and I have grown in that way, I have the ability to love where I hadn't had it before. Mormon loved a wicked people, I love people who don't make the best choices, but as a whole society? I don't know, that seems a little bit abstract to me. The IM quotes Bishop Glenn L. Pace as teaching, "This prophet had Christlike love for a fallen people. Can we be content with loving less? We must press forward with the pure love of Christ to spread the good news of the gospel. As we do so and fight the war of good against evil, light against darkness, and truth against falsehood, we must not neglect our responsibility of dressing the wounds of those who have fallen in battle. There is no room in the kingdom for fatalism." I love the "dressing the wounds" analogy, in the army I was a medic, and I can see myself as a spiritual medic, dressing battle wounds, like self-loathing, despair, hopelessness, confusion, etc. I really like that, I feel like it fits me well. Maybe it's the mark of spiritual maturity to pray for your "people," I don't think that I've ever prayed for "my people," to repent or anything like that. The phrase Mormon uses "it was without faith," is an interesting one as well. I guess it's kind of like praying for the good fortune of someone, even though you know that they aren't entitled to the blessings because they won't repent, kind of bleak but yeah I can see that. I guess it's like, when you're a decent person, you don't want others to suffer, you don't want them to fail, but you know that the way to happiness and blessings is through keeping the commandments, and if they won't keep the commandments, then you can't have confidence that the Lord will bless them. So Mormon's prayers didn't change the outcome for the wicked people, and Mormon knew that, but I wonder if it was through the power of prayer that Mormon grew in love towards his people. Kind of like how they say, prayer isn't to change the will of God, it's to change you to God's will. Mormon couldn't change the destruction that was coming to the Nephites because of their wickedness, but maybe because he prayed for his people, he was able to more fully encompass God's love for them. Interesting. HN comments on Mormon's prayers without faith when he said, "They're not going to do anything without faith. Mormon was the rue hero. He was the true patriot, but he would not say, 'my country, right or wrong.' My country may not always be right, but my country right or wrong. He wouldn't say that. As soon as they were wrong, he said, i laid down my commission. I became a conscientious objector, an idle onlooker. I wouldn't have any part of it, he said. He went all out to make it right, but what can you do without faith? He says he had no faith here."

3:13-19 - Mormon says that he has delivered his people three times out of "the hands of their enemies, and they have repented not of their sins." And it's when they "had sworn by all that had been forbidden them by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that they would go up unto their enemies to battle, and avenge themselves of the blood of their brethren, behold the voice of the Lord came unto me, saying: Vengeance is mine, and I will repay; and because this people repent not after I had delivered them, behold, they shall be cut off from the face of the earth." It's getting pretty serious now, the Lord is clearly pulling away from the people, or rather, the people are running away from the Lord. Mormon's inability to command the armies in good conscience is discussed in am April 1989 general conference address entitled "Irony: The Crust on the Bread of Adversity," in which Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught, "Our planning itself often assumes that our destiny is largely in our own hands. Then come intruding events, first elbowing aside, then evicting what was anticipated and even earned. Hence, we can be offended by events as well as by people. Irony may involve not only unexpected suffering but also undeserved suffering. We feel we deserved better, and yet we fared worse. We had other plans, even commendable plans. Did they not count? A physician, laboriously trained to help the sick, now, because of his own illness, cannot do so. For a period, a diligent prophet of the Lord was an 'idle witness.' Frustrating conditions keep more than a few of us from making our appointed rounds." This is really an excellent talk, I'm going to have to listen to it later. But this must have been how Mormon felt, the ultimate Nephite commander, taking the role of conscientious objector? If anyone could exact revenge on the Lamanites, it was him, but he refused, and his heart hurt because of it. So instead of engaging in this wicked warfare, Mormon wrote words of caution "unto you, Gentiles, and also unto you, house of Israel... yea, unto you, twelve tribes of Israel, who shall be judged according to your works by the twelve whom Jesus chose to be his disciples in the land of Jerusalem." He kind of gives a breakdown of who will be judged by whom, which is kind of off topic, but let's roll with it. The IM quotes Elder Bruce R. McConkie as teaching, "The reality is that there will be a whole hierarchy of judges who, under Christ, shall judge the righteous. He alone shall issue the decrees of damnation for the wicked." Very interesting, I have never considered that the apostles will only judge the righteous, and Christ himself will judge the wicked. When I objected before to being judged by the apostles, I was looking at it from the perspective of having my faults examined and my worthiness to progress evaluated by someone who didn't know me personally. I guess it's in line with the kind of church hierarchy that we have here, the bishop and stake president know me but they don't really know "me," not like Jesus does, but they still are able to grant me a temple recommend, they know what I need to do to repent and progress spiritually, so they are like guide posts pointing the way and instructing and upholding the standards, not condemning wickedness or anything like that. Interesting point. The IM also quotes President John Taylor as teaching, "Christ is at the head... It would seem to be quite reasonable, if the twelve apostles in Jerusalem are to be the judges of the twelve tribes, and the twelve disciples on this continent are to be the judges of the descendants of Nephi, that the brother of Jared and Jared should be the judges of the Jaredites, their descendants; and, further, that the first presidency and twelve who have officiated in our age, should operate in regard to mankind in this dispensation." I really like that, in fact, I was just thinking, "I would like to be judged by President Monson, I trust him to make good choices for me." It's interesting because way back when we were studying about priesthood callings being valid in this life and the next, bishops here still are bishops there, and so forth, it would make sense that the leadership would still be held by those who held it in mortality and that the structure would be similar. I think the apostles just seem so abstract to me, I don't relate to them at all, but the current church leadership, I've come to know and love and trust. Here is a chart the IM included, as a screen shot.

3:20-22 - Mormon now gives us the Book of Mormon thesis statement, "therefore I write unto you all. And for this cause I write to you, that ye may know that ye must all stand before the judgement-seat of Christ, yea, every soul who belongs to the whole human family of Adam; and ye must stand to be judged of your works, whether they be good or evil; And also that ye may believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, which ye shall have among you; and also the Jews, the covenant people of the Lord, shall have other witness besides him who they saw and heard, that Jesus, whom they slew, was the very Christ and the very God. And I would that I could persuade all ye ends of the earth to repent and prepare to stand before the judgment-seat of Christ." The IM quotes President Gordon B. Hinckley as teaching, "This scripture of the New World, is before us as an added witness of the divinity and reality of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the encompassing beneficence of His atonement, and of His coming forth from the darkness of the grave. Within these covers is found much of the sure word of prophecy concerning Him who should be born of a virgin, the Son of the Almighty God. There is a foretelling of His work among men as a living mortal. There is a declaration of His death, of the lamb without blemish who was to be sacrificed for the sins of the world. And there is an account that is moving and inspiring and true of the visit of the resurrected Christ among living men and women in the western continent. The testimony is here to handle; it is here to be read; it is here to be pondered; it is here to be prayed over with a promise that he who prays shall know by the power of the Holy Ghost of its truth and validity." I had a really good conversation with a friend today, who said that she was thinking of converting to Judaism, I bore my testimony of the gospel as the way to truth and happiness. I told her that I've lived life on both sides of the line and that I know that there is nothing except Jesus who can heal our hearts and mend our broken spirits. I told her to come to Christ through the gospel, and be healed. It was incredibly powerful and faith affirming for me.