Spiritual Insights...and other stuff

What happens to you when you're hungry? I usually start losing focus on whatever I'm doing, maybe get a headache. I try to eat before I get too frustrated, but sometimes circumstances don't allow it. While reading my scriptures this week, I found all kinds of ways people reacted to hunger and it was rather intriguing, so I decided to make a list. First, I read about when Giddianhi got hungry in 3 Nephi 4. He went and laid siege on all the Nephites to try and murder them and steal their food. Here's what Mormon's abridgement of that says: 4 Therefore, there was no chance for the robbers to plunder and to obtain food, save it were to come up in open battle against the Nephites; That is what I call, "extreme hanger." Turns out it didn't work so well for Giddianhi and his gangsters: they were all slaughtered or imprisoned. None escaped. But still, I went ahead and wrote on my list: try to kill someone for their food Then I read about the widow ...

Have you ever tried explaining something to somebody and they just don't get it? You try saying it slowly, reordering the words, maybe in exasperation you try a different language, and they STILL don't understand. Things are warming up, and before you know it, you are practically livid and on the verge of exploding into conniptions because they can't comprehend this one thing. Finally, you say it as plainly and simply - and as loudly - as you can, and voila - they understand. I imagine our Heavenly Father and the Savior sometimes feel this way about us. Remember the time when Christ visited the Nephites after his resurrection? He commanded them to do away with contention and specifically admonished them that there be "no disputations among [them] concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been" (3 Nephi 11:28). They weren't understanding. There had been prophet after prophet teaching them the doctrine of Christ and they still didn't get...

While reading in 1 Nephi 9 with my wife - I mean, my lovely wife -, I came upon those two tender verses at the end (v. 5-6) where Nephi explains that the Lord has commanded him to make these plates "for a wise purpose...which purpose I [Nephi] know not." Now, think about it. Here we are reading the account of Nephi and he tells us that he didn't even know why he was writing it. He's writing The Book of Mormon , for crying out loud - this is the most correct of any book on earth, it contains the fullness of the gospel, the knowledge contained within is essential for our eternal exaltation. And here we have good 'ole Nephi engraving in his spiritual record for God knows why. Now, given the rest of Nephi's writings, I'm guessing he wasn't 100% ignorant of what would become of his record. However, in these verses he shows his willingness to do whatever the Lord commands him to do, whether or not he knows why. Nephi has total trust in the Lord; he might ...