As most of you know from my frequent Facebook posts, I have been participating in a musical titled
Children of Eden at CenterPoint Legacy Theatre. The show, while not intended to be a biblical representation of the Genesis accounts of Adam and Eve and Noah and his family, has become one in which I have found many hidden gospel truths.
Today's post is inspired by one of the truths pointed out to my by a dear friends and fellow cast member. Towards the very beginning of the first act are the lyrics: "There are things a Father knows a child does not." It's not a particularly emphasized point of the show, but for my friend (and in the following days for myself as well) it has come to draw much reflection.
As a man of faith I often reflect on what is truth and what are the different ways that we can know what is true. I recently spoke in Sacrament Meeting about the topic of knowing. It caused me to reflect on what it truly means to know. I have included it below if you're really interested (but be warned I didn't thoroughly proofread it, so you will likely find many errors)
What it Means to Know
May
25, 2014
In the fall of 2011 I
returned to BYU to resume my schooling. It was the beginning of my sophomore
year and I had yet to decide what I wanted to study. I was a declared Psychology
major, but had begun to reconsider and was looking into Public Relations. As I
frantically tried to arrange a schedule that would allow me to explore these
different majors I had packed my schedule with 18 credits, knowing I could
attend them all the first week and drop those I wasn't interested in. One of
these classes was Psych 210, History of Psychology. As the time came to attend class I seriously
considered just dropping it. As I sat there thinking about how boring and dry
the class I thought to myself “Why don’t I just save myself the snooze fest and
drop it now?”
But for some reason or
another I decided to attend class. As I sat down the professor introduced
himself and rather than talk about the syllabus, or the text he began to
discuss what it means to know. He scribbled three words upon the chalkboard:
‘Way of Knowing’ and began to discuss different ways that we can understand
different things. I was enthralled. Not only had I found a teacher that still
used a chalkboard in 2011, but I had found a mentor who would over the next few
years has helped mold and guide my path of knowing for myself.
Today I would like to
speak on what it means to know. I will begin by speaking of patterns of knowing
found in the scriptures. Then, explore the question, What do we do when we
don’t know? Finally, using the example of Nephi I hope to answer the question,
what it means to know.
Patterns of Knowing/How Can we know?
In the 11th
Chapter of 1st of Nephi, Nephi writes that he “desired to know the
things that (his) father had seen” (1 Nephi 11:1). The thing his father had
seen is what we characteristically call the vision of the tree of life. In his
desire Nephi outlines for us a four step scriptural pattern for how we can
know.
First step, desire. All
knowledge begins with desire. Countless examples from the scriptures indicate
that a desire to know preceded the giving of knowledge. Nephi first desired to
know the interpretation of his Father’s dream. Oliver Cowdry’s desire to build
the Church lead to the revelation known as Section 18. The Nephite apostles at
the time of Christ’s coming to the people of America desired either to be taken
speedily into his presence or to never taste of death (3 Nephi 28).
Desire is the first
step in the pattern of knowing.
Second step: believe.
It might seem as though this step is out of order. Shouldn’t we believe after
we’ve asked? And while I agree that that is true. Nephi, in seeking to
understand his Father’s dream, states that he believed on the words before he
asked to know.
Perhaps most personal
to me are the word of belief that the Savior give to his apostle Thomas. Many
of us know of Thomas as Thomas the doubter, or Doubting Thomas. But I think of
him differently. Thomas had doubts, there is no question of that. It seems
natural that when all of those around us have received a witness that we might
question our ability to do the work.
But how would we feel
if we were labeled and characterized by our weaknesses and trials? Have we not
all felt like Thomas at one time or another. Rather than viewing Thomas on the
road to apostateship, let us view him on the road to apostleship. A road that
was different than other apostles in its twists and bends but ultimately had
the same destination. A road filled with wondering, yearning and the constant
struggle between fears and belief.
Just as Thomas
ultimately chose belief, so must we.
Nephi states of his
desire that he was “believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto
me.” In the pattern of knowing, we must be willing to believe in the Lord, just
as much as we believe in His existence.
Third step, pondering. Listen
to excerpts from the account of Joseph Smith’s history.
“During this time of
great excitement my mind was called up to serious reflection and great
uneasiness… My mind at times was greatly excited, the cry and tumult were so
great and incessant… In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions,
I often said to myself, ‘What is to be done? Who of all these parties is right…
and how shall I know it?"
Joseph, after
exercising his desire and reading the scripture found it James 1:4-5 said this:
“I reflected on it
again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did, for
how to act I did not know… At length I came to the conclusion that I must
either remain in darkness and confusion or do as James directs: ask of God.”
From these passages and
from the life of the Prophet Joseph we learn that seeds of knowledge must be watered
and nourished through the pondering of their purpose and meaning.
Fourth step, ask. The
scriptures are full of examples of those who asked. Enos knelt before his
Maker, Nephi entered a high place and Joseph ventured into a grove of trees on
“beautiful, clear day early in the spring of 1820.
The Savior himself gave
this promise about asking:
“Ask and ye shall
receive, knock and it shall be made known unto you (Matt. 7:7).”
Just as the unknocked
door will never be answered, so will the unasked question.
Fifth step, listen.
While this step isn’t explicitly listed in the passage it is important that we
remember to take time to listen to what the Lord has to say to us. Just as you
wouldn’t ask your friend a question and proceed to walk away from the
conversation. So, while kneeling in prayer asking the Lord for answers we ought
not proceed on with our day without giving adequate time to pause and listen to
answer the Lord is ready to provide.
What do we do when we don’t know?
Just as it is important
for us to know what we know, we must also consider what we must do when we
don’t know. Even in this the dispensation of the fullness of times the Lord in
his omniscient wisdom has not replaced each question mark with periods or
provided A’s to all of our Q’s. Such is part of the purpose of mortality for us
to face uncertainty with faith in Christ.
While there are many
options of what we can do when we do not know, using a talk by Elder Anderson,
to outline three principles we can embrace when we just don’t know.
Principle 1: Stick to what you do know
Principle number one:
Stick to what you know. As Elder Uctdorf recently put it, “Doubt your doubts
before you doubt your faith.”
When uncertainty arises
in our lives there is a tendency among us to catastrophize and begin to
question everything we have ever been taught to be true. As Elder Andersen puts
it:
“There are days when we
feel inadequate and unprepared, when doubt and confusion enter out spirits,
when we have difficulty finding our spiritual footing. Part of our victory as
disciples of Christ is what we do when these feelings come…. In our days of
difficulty, we choose the road of faith.”
Faith is a decision and
one we must continually make as we are tossed to and fro in the whirling
buffets of the adversary.
Principle 2: Reach out to the Savior
Principle number two
comes from the New Testament.
When a ruler of the
synagogue comes to Jesus pleading that he heal his daughter the Savior was
followed by a crowd to the man’s house. On the way, the Savior and his apostles
and thronged by a crowd, and after walking the crowded streets of Jerusalem
last summer I can sympathize with the question of the disciples when the Savior
asks “Who touched my clothes?”
Really, they ask, who
touched you? We are in the middle of a post workday Jerusalem rush-hour crowd
and you want to know who touched you. Trembling in the corner was the woman
with, what the Bible calls, an issue of blood, fearing abuse that she was
already so familiar with. Gently the Savior knelt to her side and spoke:
“Daughter, that faith hath made the whole; go in peace.”
This woman, after
having suffered many things of many physicians sought only to touch the hem of
the Master’s garment to be made whole of her worsening condition. What did she
do when she didn’t know, she reached out to the Master.
Principle 3: Remember, Jesus will make everything all right
To explain principle
three Elder Anderson uses the story of Hadley, a young girl born with a hearing
impairment that even after extensive surgery allowed for only limited hearing.
As a result, her parents and worked tirelessly to help her learn to speak.
“Once, when Hadley was four, she
was standing in the checkout line at the grocery story with her mother. She
looked behind her and saw a little boy sitting in a wheelchair. She noticed
that the boy did not have legs.
Although Hadley had learned to
speak, she had difficulty controlling the volume of her voice. In her louder
voice, she asked her mother why the little boy did not have legs.
Her mother quietly and simply
explained to Hadley that “Heavenly Father makes all of His children different.”
“OK” Hadley replied.
Then, unexpectedly, Hadley turned
to the little boy and said, “Did you know that when Heavenly Father made me, my
ears did not work? That makes me special. He made you with no legs, and that
makes you special. When Jesus comes, I will be able to hear and you will get
your legs. Jesus will make everything all right.”
Principle number three
of what we do when we do know is to remember: Jesus will make everything all
right.
In recap, when we don’t
know we can, 1) choose the road of faith 2) reach out to the Master 3) remember
Jesus will make everything all right.
What it means to know
What does it mean to
know? From school we come to know facts and data about various topics such as
Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 or If Mary has five marbles and John has
three that together they have eight.
But as Elder Maxwell
has stated, “All knowledge is not of equal significance… (Inexhaustible Gospel)…
without divine guidance, our cerebral calisthenics, though often fascinating to
engage in, can be empty exercises. (Smallest Part, 9).
As we strive to fulfill
the commandment to continue to study and learn, we are implored to do so from
the best books. But in an ever digital world we are acutely aware that not all
knowledge come from books, some of our greatest knowledge comes from
relationships.
Perhaps we can view
knowledge from the perspective of the following quote from educator Parker
Palmer’s best-selling book To Know as we
are Known.
“The act of knowing is
an act of love, the act of entering and embracing the reality of the other, of
allowing the other to enter and embrace our own. In such knowing we know and
are known as member of one community, and our knowing become a way of reweaving
the community’s bonds”
-Parker
Palmer (To Know as we are Known)
Let me read that quote
one more time, this time inserting our relationship with Christ as the basis
for knowing.
“The act of knowing is
an act of love. It is the act of entering and embracing the reality of Christ
and allowing Him to enter and embrace you. In such knowing you are known as a
disciple of Christ, and you are woven together as you become whole in Him.”
Conclusion
What it means to truly
know is not to know the meaning of all things to but know that God loveth His
children and to remember that that means YOU. It is a statement that is both personal
and universal, sincere and simple, profound and precise.
God loves you.
When at times we forget
what we know and make poor choices let us choose to remember the faith that has
burned within us rather than choose to forget the source of our joy.
While we continue to
seek to know the meaning of all things we can ALWAYS rest assured that like
Nephi we know that God loveth His children.
