God, be Merciful to Me, a Sinner

Luke 18 gives us a parable of two men praying, one a Pharisee, the other a Publican. Publicans were looked down upon by everyone, and term "sinners and publicans" was used frequently, closing linking the two together. Pharisees, on the other hand, were holy religious men. They were showy in their devotion to their sect, and made sure everyone knew just how spiritual they were. The parable reads: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

I love the mental image this parable paints. I can just see the Pharisee, clothed in fine clothing, standing tall and proud, with a look of smug satisfaction on his face, looking towards the heaven and proclaiming his superiority, and thanking God for his selfish doings. Then, off to the side, probably even behind the Pharisee, stands the Publican. I picture him as a working man, hardened by physical labor, his hands calloused and dirty, his clothing humble and worn, his demeanor that of sorrow and remorse as he reflects on what he's done. He can't even lift his eyes up to Heaven, fearing the possibility of an upset Lord looking back at him, ashamed of the deeds he's done. He pounds his chest, showing his grief, and in pure humility, not justifying his actions, not glazing over his shortcomings, but begging for mercy. Asking the God of all, a perfect, exalted man, to look down on him, a lowly, despised sinner, made filthy in the eyes of the Lord by the ways of the world, with compassion and sympathy. To show forth mercy undeserved to this man. He recognizes his sin, he feels great distress, and he wants to be cleansed of the dirt the sin has smudged on him. It's different from the dirt that gets on his clothes from walking, or from working. It's a dirt that can't be seen by anyone but himself and the Lord, and it's a dirt that can't be cleaned with merely soap and water. It's a dirt that can only come off through the blood of the Lamb. He cries unto the Lord for forgiveness. He recognizes his fallibility as a human, knowing that he's far, far from perfect, and he goes to the only one who can make him whole again, his Heavenly Father. "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." In his humility, the Lord states, he will be exalted. Let us be as this Publican, this sinner: let us always go to our Heavenly Father and say to him "God, be merciful to me, a sinner."

The Lord is my Shepherd

Wow. So, thanks to a plug for my blog on the Mormon Times website, I've gotten a pretty good amount of views. I am incredibly grateful for that! But, it seems to kinda up the bar for me. I wrote something that received attention (which is way cool!), and now I feel pressed to write something really good to live up to my Nerd entries. Part of me considered doing another Gospel according to a Nerd entry, but I didn't want to overdo it (and frankly and pretty much out of ideas for that), so... Let's see what I can do!
In Luke 15, we see 3 parables given, that have a pretty common thread to them; they all deal with losing something of great importance, and finding it again. The first one we see is the parable of the lost sheep, where a man lost one of his sheep, and though it was just one of one hundred, he went off searching diligently until he found it, and rejoiced when he did. Now I'm not the biggest fan of sheep. They're kinda dumb and ugly and gross, but I would imagine that if these sheep were central to your livelihood, and if you spent as much time around them as this man did, you'd care a great deal about them, and would be very upset to have even one wander off, but incredibly joyful to have it back. The next parable is of a woman who loses a silver piece. The footnote to "piece" identifies is specifically as a drachma, which was a workers daily pay. That's a lot of money. Sure, she still has nine left, but ten is better than nine. She sweeps every corner of her house, looking and looking, until she finds it, and, like the Shepard, celebrates over finding it. The final parable given is the Prodigal Son, one of the best known parables. In it, a selfish son demands his inheritance, and leaves his father, brother, and home to live a riotous life. He soon realizes his mistakes when he gets so broke that it comes down to begging, or eating what the pigs eat. So, he decides that he'll return to his home, and offer to be a hired hand for his father. When he returns, his father runs out to meet him, hugs him, and puts shoes on his feet, a robe on him, and a ring on his finger. He then slaughters the best calf, and they have a large feast.
All three have closely linked meanings, but if you look at the details, you can see why Christ gave all three, rather than just summing it up into one: The sheep in the first one wandered off. Maybe he didn't mean to, maybe he was just misled, or curious, and misfortune struck in the way of him getting lost. The sheep was sought out and brought back to the fold. In the woman's case, through her own irresponsibility and lack of attention, she lost something very valuable to her. In searching for it, she found all the dust and cobwebs in her home, finding the dirties places and sweeping them out, making her home clean, then finding that which she cherished. In the Prodigal Son, the son willingly leaves, following his own desires and selfish wants, but then realizing the error of his ways, returns to what he knew was right.
These three exemplify many ways in which souls are lost from our Heavenly Father's fold. Some just wander off, out of curiosity, laziness, or a busy schedule. It's not that they're bad people, and that they're going against the church, they're just fall into unfortunate circumstances that take them away. Some people, however, lose sight of what matters most, through a worldly view and desires for something bigger and grander. They finally realize what wonderful thing they've lost, and in so searching for it, they discover all the dirty nooks and crannies of their souls, and clean it out, and in so doing find that which they hold most dear. And others, knowing full well what they have, willingly leave it in search of personal gratification and their own selfish desires. They often find themselves hitting rock bottom, and realize they have to go back to that life they abandoned if they want to be truly happy. What people in this situation often do is think that their Heavenly Father will be angry with them, and won't want them back, so they go hesitantly. They worry about judgments of others, and whether they'll actually be able to come back, but once they do, they realize that Heavenly Father isn't angry with them, and never was. He embraces them warmly, and welcomes them back into his fold.
We need always be aware those around us that are lost are still precious in the sight of God. He loves them all, just as He loves you and I, and we can help those souls return to the fold of our Heavenly Father, and if we do, we can rejoice right alongside Him over their return.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

Christ gave a parable of a rich man and a beggar. In it, the beggar, named Lazarus, sits at the gate of the rich man's house. He begs for food, and has no company other than the rich man's dogs. After they both die, no mention is made of Lazarus' funeral, but it mentions that the rich man was buried, certainly a grand occasion. However, in the afterlife, it's a much different scenario. Lazarus is in the bosom of Abraham (a common term at the time for paradise as used by the rabbis) and the rich man is in fiery torment. He calls up to Father Abraham, asking to send Lazarus down so he can dip his finger in water, and give the rich man just a drop to satisfy his parched tongue. Abraham says no. Then, the rich man, thinking of his family, his father and brothers, asks Abraham to send Lazarus to them, to warn them of what awaits them if they continue on the path they're on. Abraham responded, saying "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."
How true is this? Often, people will say "I'd believe if I saw an angel" or something along those lines. I've personally heard that multiple times. But that's not true. We have all the evidence we need: we have the Bible, we have the Book of Mormon, we have a Prophet and Apostles, and the testimony of them, as well as millions of members worldwide. We have enough evidence of the truth, and if people will turn a blind eye to that evidence, and still not believe, and rather go completely against it, then their hearts are so hardened that not even an angle, a resurrected being, or a loved on who has passed coming to them and telling them, in no uncertain terms, of the errors of their ways and what they should do to save themselves will convince them. They're set in their ways, and they aren't about to change, and not even angelic and divine messengers will change that.
We know what's what. It's up to us to take what we have, look into, study it out, and find out for ourselves if it's true. If we choose not to take that advice, or to ignore the answer we get, then it's on us. The truth is out there, and no heavenly vision is going to tell us, God doesn't work like that. It's up to us.

The Parable of the Bike

Once upon a time, a little girl was walking downtown with her dad. They had just finished up their shopping, and were going back to the car to head home. The little girl was quite bored after the long day, and was clutching to her dad's hand. As they crossed the street, a store caught the little girl's attention. It was a small store, with a large front window, and in that window was a bright, shiny pink bike, with a white basket, and tassels on the handlebars. The girl stopped abruptly and stared at the bike. She released her father's hand, and went right up to the window, gawking at it.
"Daddy!" she said. "I want that bike!"
The father looked at the glowing face of his daughter, then at the bike. He considered long and hard. He looked at the price tag. It wasn't too bad. But, he saw an opportunity to teach his young daughter a valuable life lesson.
"How about this, honey. I'll start giving you an allowance, and every time you do your chores, I'll give you money, and you can save up and buy the bike yourself."
The daughter thought about it for a moment. "Ok, daddy!" She said excitedly.
Over the next couple weeks, the little girl did every chore her mom and dad asked her to do, and kept her allowance money in a piggy bank she kept hidden under her bed. Every night, she would count it out.
Finally, a few weeks later, the little girl came running down the stairs.
"Daddy! Daddy! I have enough!" The little girl squealed with excitement. She was holding her piggy bank. "We can get the bike!"
"Ok, honey," her father laughed. They got in the car and headed toward the store. When they got their, the little girl was excited to see the bike still their. She ran into the store, her father right behind her.
"I'd like the pink bike, please!" the girl said to the man behind the counter. The man laughed and got the bike.
The clerk rang up the price, and the little girl spilled the contents of her piggy bank onto the counter. The man counted it all up. The grand total of the girl's savings was $5.75. The bike cost $40. The father looked down and laughed to himself. He apparently forgot to explain the purpose and value of money. The clerk also laughed, recognizing what was going on.
"Honey, you don't quite have enough money," the father began. He saw the smile disappear from his daughter's face. "But, I'll pay the difference so you can get it." The father pulled out his wallet and handed the cashier the money.
The little girl happily rode the bike all the way home, and continued to do all the chores her mom and dad asked her to.