Recognizing the Spirit

Last week I taught lesson 21 from the Gospel Principles manual in the Gospel Essentials class. I strongly felt that the most important part of the lesson to dwell on was Recognizing the Influence of the Holy Ghost. We started with a brief recap of exactly who the Holy Ghost is. I think sometimes the name or title we give him makes him seem so mysterious and supernatural that we forget that essentially he is a man - albeit without a physical body - and as such he has a personality and character. He is "one" with God the Father and Jesus Christ in such a way that - as their representative - he says and does what they would say and do.

A quote from David A Bednar:

The Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit who bears witness to the truth. The Holy Ghost also is referred to in the scriptures as the Comforter (John 14:16-27, Moroni 8:26), a Teacher (John 14:26; D&C 50:14), and a Revelator (2 Nephi 32:5). It is through the Holy Ghost that the revelations of the Father and the Son are given. The Holy Ghost is the witness of, the messenger for, and the testifier of the Father and the Son.

(David A Bednar, Ricks College Devotional 31 Aug 99)

So, knowing that the Holy Ghost (or Holy Spirit) has a mission to reveal truth, it is important to understand how he reveals truth. Conversely, it is important to learn to distinguish what is not revelation from the Spirit.

My experience tells me that there is a fundamental misunderstanding of what revelation from the Spirit consists of, even among long-standing church members. Perhaps because we often talk of "feeling the Spirit" we forget the most crucial part of what the Spirit does. Focusing solely on feelings makes it easy to mistake our emotions for revelation. Hence it's unsurprising when class members believe the spirit to be "good, warm feelings" and get confused when they think they're feeling the spirit during a soppy film, listening to a pop song, or praying about something they really want even though it may be at variance with the teachings of the gospel.

Joseph Smith clarifies matters:

When you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon; (i.e.) those things that were presented unto your minds by the Spirit of God, will come to pass...

(Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 151)

This is key. The Holy Ghost is a revelator and therefore true spiritual experiences are always accompanied by revelation. Feelings by themselves are not enough. When we "feel" the Spirit, it is in response to "pure intelligence" or "sudden strokes of ideas" - we are having a positive reaction to revelation from God.

The Lord tells us this in Doctrine and Covenants 8:2-3.

Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart. Now, behold, this is the spirit of revelation...

Again, it's emphasised that revelation occurs in both the mind and the heart - in other words, knowledge or thoughts/impressions accompanied by the feelings of peace, joy etc that Paul speaks of in Galatians 5.

Continuing Joseph Smith's above quote:

...thus by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus.

It may still prove difficult at times to distinguish between our own thoughts and feelings and those of the Spirit, but Joseph makes clear that this is something we learn, just like any other talent or ability, so we shouldn't be discouraged if our personal revelation seems to be a trickle rather than a flood. By recognising and acting upon the small things, we can in time "grow into the principle of revelation".

Cosmology and Joseph Smith

Our current understanding of the universe is that it is 4% matter, the substance of all physical objects. Another 22% is dark matter - nobody knows exactly what this is but its existence is inferred from observing the rotational speeds of galaxies. From wikipedia: "...matter of unknown composition that does not emit or reflect enough electromagnetic radiation to be observed directly." The Big Bang doesn't work without dark matter. The remaining 74% is dark energy. This energy permeates space and increases the expansion rate of the universe.

Now some quotes from Joseph Smith.

Doctrine and Covenants 131:

7 There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes;
8 We cannot see it; but when our bodies are purified we shall see that it is all matter.

To me, this seems to fit quite nicely with our understanding of dark matter. What Joseph Smith calls "spirit" is not the immaterial nothingness that perhaps other religious traditions associate with the word "spirit", but rather another form of matter that "does not emit enough electromagnetic radiation to be observed directly" - therefore, we cannot see it with our natural eyes.

Following on from this, if we look in Doctrine and Covenants section 88:

11 And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings;
12 Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space—
13 The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things.

These verses are speaking about what Latter-day Saints usually call the Light of Christ. This is the power that fills the universe, "the law by which all things are governed" - surely including the rate of expansion of the universe. Could what Latter-day Saints call the Light of Christ be akin to what science has named dark energy?

Using time wisely

Our combined Elders Quorum/High Priests Group lesson today was about effective time management.  I used a couple of talks by Elder Dallin H Oaks as the basis, "Focus and Priorities" and "Good, Better, Best".  This seemed to me to be one of the more successful lessons I've taught recently - the class responded well and I got some good feedback after.  Here's the lesson plan I used.  As usual I had far more material that I could use in 45 minutes!

Q.Over the past week, what have you done?

List on the board activities as offered up by the class.  (Sleep, work, eat meals, watch TV, exercise, read books, etc.)  Ask the class to write down any that are relevant to them and their circumstances.  When the list is finished, have the class tally up next to each item how many hours they have spent on it in the previous week.

Discussion: Considering there are 168 hours in a week, what observations can you make about how we account for our time?

(This obviously varies from person to person, but making some assumptions about most people sleeping eight hours a night, working 42 hours a week, commuting one hour a day, and taking two hours a day for meals, we still had 49 hours of the week to account for.  Even adding in other activities, a lot of the class had more than 24 hours of the week that they struggled to account for.

"We are accountable and will be judged for how we use what we have received... [including] the precious hours and days allotted to each of us during our time in mortality...  Because of increased life expectancies and modern timesaving devices, most of us have far more discretionary time than our predecessors. We are accountable for how we use that time...

"The significance of our increased discretionary time has been magnified many times by modern data-retrieval technology. For good or for evil, devices like the Internet and the compact disc have put at our fingertips an incredible inventory of information, insights, and images. Along with fast food, we have fast communications and fast facts. The effect of these resources on some of us seems to fulfill the prophet Daniel’s prophecy that in the last days “knowledge shall be increased” and “many shall run to and fro” (Dan. 12:4)...

"Because of modern technology, the contents of huge libraries and other data resources are at the fingertips of many of us. Some choose to spend countless hours in unfocused surfing the Internet, watching trivial television, or scanning other avalanches of information. But to what purpose?" - Dallin H Oaks, "Focus and Priorities"

 Q. How does the Lord expect us to use our time?

Class members read aloud and discuss the following scriptures, and summarize the key points on the board:
- Alma 12:24 (This life is a time to prepare to meet God)
- D&C 60:13 (We're commanded not to idle away our time)
- D&C 58:27 (We should be "anxiously engaged" in a good cause)
- D&C 88:76, 77, 118, 121, 123, 124 (various points to be made, including commandments to "seek out of the best books" and "retire early and arise early")

Q. How can we avoid "idling away" our time? (We discussed the importance of planning - if you just aimlessly go on facebook you may idle away a few hours, but if you go on the Internet planning to spend half an hour on facebook, you're more likely to do what is most important in that time - replying to messages etc rather than aimlessly browsing.  It was also pointed out that there's nothing wrong in having some unstructured time for relaxing and browsing etc - but we shouldn't make a regular thing of it!)

"Our priorities are most visible in how we use our time...

"Consider how we use our time in the choices we make in viewing television, playing video games, surfing the Internet, or reading books or magazines. Of course it is good to view wholesome entertainment or to obtain interesting information. But not everything of that sort is worth the portion of our life we give to obtain it. Some things are better, and others are best. When the Lord told us to seek learning, He said, “Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom” (D&C 88:118; emphasis added)...

"Good choices are especially important in our family life. For example, how do family members spend their free time together? Time together is necessary but not sufficient. Priorities should govern us in the precious time we give to our family relationships. Compare the impact of time spent merely in the same room as spectators for television viewing with the significance of time spent communicating with one another individually and as a family.

"To cite another example, how much time does a family allocate to learning the gospel by scripture study and parental teachings, in contrast to the time family members spend viewing sports contests, talk shows, or soap operas? I believe many of us are overnourished on entertainment junk food and undernourished on the bread of life." - Dallin H Oaks, "Focus and Priorities" and "Good, Better, Best"

Q: How are our priorities visible in the personal lists we made at the start of the lesson?  Are there things we're not doing that we should be doing, or doing more of?  Are we doing too much of some things that have little or no eternal value?  Are we doing some "good" things at the expense of the "better" and "best" things?  (These questions may be better for personal reflection rather than class discussion)

"Sometimes when we are terribly busy and under a lot of pressure, with many commitments and involvements, we become neglectful of the only instruments or tools we have to do our work.  We think we haven't time to consider them.  In a sense we are literally saying, "I am too busy sawing to take time to sharpen the saw." - Stephen R Covey, "How to Succeed With People"

Q. In what ways can we "sharpen the saw"?

(The suggestions from Covey are to take an hour a day to do three activities: 1) get some exercise, even just running on the spot or round the block; 2) planning - set priorities, goals, objectives for the day; 3) make time for spiritual wellbeing - reading the scriptures and time for prayer.  Taking an hour to do these things will immeasurably improve the remaining 23 hours.)

Conclusion: Invite the class to review how they spend their time, and what they could do to make better use of the time they have in the week.  Privately set some goals to achieve this.