no one ever wants to be alone.
when people say they do, they're lying.
they don't want to be alone.
they want to be alone with themselves.
they want to be alone with their thoughts.
they want to be alone with nature.
they want to be alone with god.
they want to be
alone with.
* * * * * * *
one of the most important things for anyone to ever know about me, is my obsession with
moses 7. i adore this chapter. and i believe within it you can find everything you'd ever need to know about God, His nature, and His plan.
i first discovered this chapter in the midst of the winter of my mission, and subsequently gushed over it to every companion, at the very least. and everything i did and was, was influenced either directly or indirectly by that which i learned therein. then as my mission was approaching its close, sister lochhead (my mission president's wife) brought a love of moses 7 with her. at my last zone conference, she gave a presentation on it--a presentation i would entitle: "this is the God we worship."
i discovered this treasure not from a study of enoch, the new jerusalem, or zion, but from that which follows the famous declaration of joseph smith and sidney rigdon's witness of the savior standing on the right hand of God--the witness that He lives. most people tend to stop there after the proclamation
that by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God. (
d&c 76:22-24)
these verses are beautiful, they are stunning. in fact, i'll come back to their statement later. because after the many testimonies given of jesus, the testimony that He lives, the resurrection that gives him life--this is '
the most glorious of all messages to mankind.' but what about the verses that come directly after that?
and this we saw also, and bear record,
that an angel of God who was in authority in the presence of God,
who rebelled against the Only Begotten Son
whom the Father loved and was in the bosom of the Father,
was thrust down from the presence of God and the Son, and was called Perdition,
for the heavens wept over him-
he was Lucifer, a son of the morning.
and we beheld, and lo, he is fallen!
is fallen, even a son of the morning!
the heavens wept. with the fall of satan, the heavens wept. at this time in my mission, there was a woman we were teaching who would sometimes say: «мне жаль за дьявола.» ["i feel sorry for the devil."] and the thing is, i do too. even the devil himself was once good--all beings are inherently good. darkness doesn't exist, but is only the absence of light--light that has been lost. and so i made a slight study of satan. and found these verses. and these verses led me to moses 7. and from the first reading, i fell in love. and the more i read and studied, the more my eyes were opened. and so, just as is said inside moses 7: look.
the thing that really changed everything in this was when i stopped reading the verses and saw the story i was reading in the verses instead. the words in themselves are beautiful and good of their own accord, but there's so much more when they're coupled with context.
 |
| birth of christ, carl bloch |
zion is taken up into heaven, and enoch is high and lifted up, beholding all the nations of the earth. as enoch looks upon the remainder of the earth, he also sees the power of satan, holding a chain in his hand that veils the earth with darkness, with him there rejoicing in the suffering of all humanity.
from this stems an interaction between enoch and the God of heaven--a dialogue, if you will. and the most stunning part is the shift that takes place. as enoch and the God of heaven look down from this high place, God weeps.
He wept; and Enoch bore record of it. and from his zionistic existence, from a place that is not so much arrogance as it is ignorance and lack of full understanding, enoch turns to God and in astonishment at his tears asks,
how is it that the heavens weep, and shed forth their tears as the rain upon the mountains?
in slightly different words, enoch essentially then says,
why are you weeping? you are the most glorious and omnipotent being in the universe. the earth is a speck of dust in comparison with the total collection of all your creations. furthermore, you've taken our little united zion of the righteous up into heaven--we're here and safe with you. you are infinite truth, justice, and mercy. with an existence like this, why on earth are you crying at a time like this? (
moses 7:29-31)
with patient tenderness and gentle understanding, the Lord begins to open not only enoch's eyes, but also his heart. the Lord helps enoch to come to understand his grief.
behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands,
and i gave unto them their knowledge in the day i created them;
and in the Garden of Eden, gave i unto man his agency.
He gave a commandment to love one another, but in human frailty, the stories of history prove the lack of affection--the refusal to choose God. and so He weeps over that which is the workmanship of His hands as he looks upon them with His piercing eyes.
in His omniscience, God knows there must be order. the prices of justice must be paid, and there are consequences for wickedness. with the gift of the Savior is redemption and mercy, but until that day, they are in torment. and so the heavens weep. (
moses 7:33-37)
this passage:
verses 28-40 alone, these 13 verses of moses seven--they teach more about the true nature of God and His plan than almost any other place, especially in such a concise manner. because our God is compassionate and loving, tender and wise. this is the God we worship: the God who weeps.
* * * * * * *
there's more, though. He doesn't just explain to enoch why He weeps--He teaches enoch what it means to mourn with those that mourn. He tells enoch of all the works of the children of men. the Lord leads enoch to see, and He leads enoch to
know.
wherefore enoch knew, and he looked upon their wickedness and their misery,
and wept and stretched forth his arms, and his heart swelled wide as eternity.
He sees the salvation through noah's ark, but now he's also seeing the residue of the people--that part of the story that often remains in obscurity. lost in the excitement of arks, floods, and rainbows is what that flood actually meant: the destruction of their wicked brethren.
and as enoch saw this, he had bitterness of soul, and wept over his brethren,
and said unto the heavens: i will refuse to be comforted;
but the Lord said unto enoch:
lift up your heart, and be glad; and look.
what does He do? God tells him His plan--He talks to enoch about Jesus. enoch hears the grief in the voice of the personified earth and pleads with the father to have compassion on the earth. so the father continues on, telling of the coming of Jesus to the earth, and as He shares the crucifixion of the Savior, enoch weeps all over again, crying unto the Lord in the middle of this story he's being told--pleading for a happy ending, pleading for the earth to be given rest. (
moses 7:45-58)
at the start of it all, enoch is a little bit haughty, a little bit removed. now, though. now he's kneeling directly at the Father's feet, watching with rapt attention on baited breath. because now he sees, now he knows, now he cares.
enoch sees our day too, leading to the second coming, the new jerusalem, a fullness of redemption, and a fullness of joy. and only now with seeing the happy conclusion does enoch receive a fullness of joy. (
moses 7:67)
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| the descent from the cross, brian kershisnik |
in the tenth poem of her
requiem, anna akhmatova wrote of the crucifixion of Jesus--but more specifically she described that part of the story that often remains in obscurity: the people left behind on earth when Jesus gives up the ghost. (in its native russian is better, but the translation will have to do.)
CRUCIFIXION
‘Do not weep for me, Mother, having seen in the grave.’
I
Angelic choirs praise the mighty hour,
And heaven confused in the fiery deep.
To the Father: ‘Why hast thou forsaken me!’
But to the Mother: ‘O, do not weep…’
II
Magdalene beat her breast and wept,
The beloved disciple turned to stone,
But there, no one looked, no one dared
Where the Mother stood, still, and alone.
there was weeping and grieving.
but brother, how we must atone before we turn to stone. (ingrid michaelson,
turn to stone) and following the moment of grief, there is a plan. a sunday to follow that dark friday of crucifixion. of all the things we know, of all the messages brought by
the restoration of the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is the resurrection that is named the most glorious of all messages to mankind.
 |
| garden tomb, j. kirk richards |
because
the resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate foundation of hope. a revival and dawn that came following one of the darkest moments the earth has ever witness--a moment that caused enoch to weep and cry out. but because of Jesus, because of the Savior, because of the resurrection--hold onto hope. because He lives, there is always a foundation for hope. as
rosemary wixom said in conference last week, when everything had become
like a pile of ashes, [when] it had all burned down. all that remained was Jesus.
and because of Him, we'll never be alone. and though our hearts at times may swell wide as eternity, there will always be reason to lift up your heart, and be glad; and look. because He lives.
