Have you ever had a moment when you had an appointment, or had scheduled something, and you don't think about it until two minuets before you're supposed to go? "Oh my goodness! I just remembered!" you cry as panic and frustration fill your mind and you struggle to get out the door.
Or have you ever been asked a question you don't quite know the answer to? "I don't remember... " you feebly mumble as you try to bear the shame of the many pairs of eyes that seem to be judging you.
Is this really what remembrance is?
How can you remember something you don't know the answer to in the first place?
What is true remembrance?
In John 14:26 it says:
But the Comforter, which is the HolyGhost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
So maybe the key to true remembrance is to do the things that bring the spirit. For the spirit brings true remembrance.
Don't we covenant every week to always remember Him?
Moroni 4:3-
O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it; that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.
O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it; that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.
Remember is more of an action word.
It requires diligence in keeping the commandments and taking His name upon us.
I believe that in order to truly take Christ's name upon us, we need to be worthy to be a representative of Him. To do that we must walk in His path and follow Him.
Remembrance is more than just having a recollection. It is humbly showing God we put Him first in our lives by doing things that show our love for Him.
The purest remembrance is love.
When we worship Him ( in thought, word and deed) we are showing Him our love and remembrance.
It is my hope that we can apply the true essence of remembrance in our lives, and not just take the word lightly.
Constantly having Christ in our mind requires doing the things that are worthy of the occupancy of Him in our thoughts.
To remember Christ, we must do what he did.
Imagine what a glorious, joyful, liberating, thing it would be to have Him at the center of our thoughts always! Imagine the good we could do if we try to do what it really takes to remember, and physically act on our faith. Imagine the lasting impact we could have on society if we chose to honor the covenants that allow us to always remember Him and have His spirit. Imagine the beautiful way of life we could obtain and help others obtain if we chose to live in accordance with true remembrance.
Now let's stop imagining, and let's go DO!
Oh, and because I love questions, here's a question for you:
Why is it that physically acting on or doing something helps us remember more?
Like going to the temple, being baptized, or taking the sacrament? Those are all commandments that require us to act in a physical way. Why?
Please post your thoughts in the comments below!
Why is it that physically acting on or doing something helps us remember more?
Like going to the temple, being baptized, or taking the sacrament? Those are all commandments that require us to act in a physical way. Why?
Please post your thoughts in the comments below!
Cassia,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your thoughts. You are definitely your mom’s daughter.
I suggest to you that you think of alternate reasons for behaving morally. Jesus taught many good things and if you are constantly remembering his teachings you will surely benefit mankind. Many of his ideas are not unique to him and he is not the primary source for morality for many good people. Much of mankind’s morality is biological and serves an important purpose in society. There are examples of altruistic morality in the animal kingdom.
One problem I see from LDS youth is that the thing that is keeping them from making bad choices is that they focus on the religious consequences of their actions and not the societal and personal consequences. You will meet people as you get older that will stop believing in the LDS church and then immediately proceed to make bad choices because they have not explored morality from any other perspective. I don’t see you in any danger of leaving the church given your upbringing, but there are good reasons to explore alternate reasons for being friendly, kind, helpful, hard-working, caring for your family and the unfortunate. This will also arm you with appreciation for other people’s perspective.
Another benefit of finding alternate sources for your religious perspective is that it will make you less judgmental. I’m not saying you are judgmental, it is just that if you come from the perspective of “the only true and living church” and the source of all goodness, it has the potential to color the way you see the world.
To answer your question Cassia, I think that one of the reasons we must physically act and do something is because then we create that memory, and that experience helps us remember what we are learning. If all we ever did was sit around and think of things, they would slip out of our memories too easily. The act of doing gives us something more to hold on to. I know that sometimes all I have to do to remember something, is to tell someone else to remind me about it, and then I remember, I don't even always need them to remind me. (But sometimes I still do!) Action is a necessary part of life for our growth in so many ways!
ReplyDeleteI think it's definitely important to remember that the Spirit works mostly by bringing things to our rememberance, not necessarily by just giving us revelation all the time. You can't just go up to give a talk in church without being prepared and expect the Spirit to help you, because preparation is what brings the Spirit. I think that's the main focus of the Spirit: to help us remember what we know.
ReplyDeleteI love how you said this: "Constantly having Christ in our mind requires doing the things that are worthy of the occupancy of Him in our thoughts." Thank-you for your words, they were very inspiring.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your uncle Spencer that it is good to examine a wide range of motives for being good. It is important to see things from a variety of perspectives and to understand that there are good people that are motivated to be good for different reasons. Fortunately, you are blessed that being judgmental isn't one of your natural temptations, and your great love for people helps you naturally seek to understand them - you will bless a lot of people as you keep nurturing that love, and like Spencer said, it will continue to give you an appreciation for their perspectives.
I also think you are spot on about what a "glorious, joyful, liberating, thing it would be to have Him at the center of our thoughts always." I am working on it and it truly is an amazing feeling - it fills everything you do with love and light. I am sure that the more you do it, the more deep is that love and the more bright is that light. "Remember" truly is a remarkable word.
It's true, though! I was just thinking today, actually about how much I can improve on remembering! 'That we may "always" remember Him'. But how many people actually "always" are remembering Him? I know I don't! When I'm alone, I focus on Him, but I'm not usually alone, or at least I'm usually distracted. Is it possible to still focus on God with distractions and people around us? How do we always remember Him?
ReplyDelete