Lessons from Alma
In a phone conversation with my military son after he had deployed to the Middle East, he indicated some regret about not having served on a full-time mission. He was NOT saying his military involvement was unwanted. Instead, he was saying he wished he had done both. I indicated to him that he needed to just keep moving forward and not worry about the past.
Later, I sent the following in a letter to the Middle East:
You never need hang your head because you did not serve a full-time mission. There are many other ways to serve missions. Serving in the military is a great thing.
Instead, resolve to learn the gospel like a returned missionary. You have so resolved. All you need to do is apply your study skills to LDS Doctrine, and then you will make great progress. You have already begun this process.
Perhaps you can serve a mission with your wife, later in life. There are so many possibilities and ways to serve.
Fighting for one’s country is a noble endeavor. So many prophets have been warriors of one kind of another – Moses, Nephi, Helaman, and Moroni come to mind. There were plenty of others. You remind me of the prophet Alma the Younger (Alma the son of Alma), the author of the Book of Alma. Among many other skills, he was a warrior. When it came time for him to defend his nation, he found himself in battle, praying as he fought. Read the following:
Alma 2: 29-31 [Note his prayer, underlined]
29 And it came to pass that Alma fought with Amlici with the sword, face to face; and they did contend mightily, one with another.
30 And it came to pass that Alma, being a man of God, being exercised with much faith, cried, saying: O Lord, have mercy and spare my life, that I may be an instrument in thy hands to save and preserve this people.
31 Now when Alma had said these words he contended again with Amlici; and he was strengthened, insomuch that he slew Amlici with the sword.
He taught many lessons that all soldiers should know. One of the great contributions of the Book of Alma is its emphasis on righteous desire. For example, with respect to gaining a testimony:
Alma 22: 16 [emphasis mine]
16 … If thou desirest this thing, if thou wilt bow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest.
According to Alma, our righteous desires affect our salvation:
Alma 29: 4-5
4 I ought not to harrow up in my desires, the firm decree of a just God, for I know that he granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills, whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction.
5 Yea, and I know that good and evil have come before all men; he that knoweth not good from evil is blameless; but he that knoweth good and evil, to him it is given according to his desires, whether he desireth good or evil, life or death, joy or remorse of conscience.
Alma makes it clear that we are judged on both our works and our desires!! The Book of Mormon Reference Companion (BMRC, p. 680) says, “the Book of Mormon illuminates with clarity the doctrinal truth that judgment will also be based on the desires of one’s heart.”
Alma 41: 3-6
3 And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good.
4 And if their works are evil they shall be restored unto them for evil. Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame--mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption--raised to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God, or to endless misery to inherit the kingdom of the devil, the one on one hand, the other on the other--
5 The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh.
6 And so it is on the other hand. If he hath repented of his sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness.
Let me repeat verse 6: “If he hath repented of his sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness.”
Therefore, DESIRE to improve your life. Yes, you will stumble from time to time, but the general direction of your life should be upward. Repent and desire to improve – that is about all we can do. True righteousness comes from the enabling powers of the Christ’s atonement, not from our feeble efforts. Desire, and then rely upon God.
Further note to reader: When one is in a war zone, soldiers talk an awful lot about God. Although the Army prohibits religious proselytizing, the doors are wide open if another soldier asks you about your Church or beliefs. Within the rules of the Army, my son found that he could represent LDS perspectives to numerous soldiers on numerous occasions. His desire to serve a “mission” came true.
… And in ways that only soldiers understand, as he followed his general orders to always be armed when outside of his living quarters, he found it amusing to attend church services with a pistol strapped to his leg. Somehow, I think Alma and Helaman would approve, but that’s just me.
Copyright 2008 S.Faux (Email: foxgoku54 [at] gmail [d0t] c0m; URL: http://mormoninsights.blogspot.com). Readers may distribute this post for noncommercial purposes provided such distributing is of the entire post, including author's copyright and contact information. All other rights reserved.
Please feel free to give my blog site a "Blogged.com" rating and review by clicking here.
Support Mormon Insights by making a COMMENT.
0 comments:
Post a Comment