Life Lessons from the Book of Mormon ~ Walking in Circles

Last month, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wrote an article for the Church's monthly magazine, the Ensign.  It was titled: Walking in Circles. 

In that article, he cited a study done by psychologist Jan L. Souman to see if people really do walk in circles when they are lost.  Souman placed subjects in different locations (forest, Sahara Desert) and told them to walk straight.  The subjects had no compasses or other direction-finding devices.  Tracking the subjects using GPS technology, Souman found that on clear days with visible landmarks, the subjects walked in a relatively straight direction.  But on cloudy days or in conditions where there were no visible landmarks, the subjects walked in circles, often crossing over their own tracks several times without realizing it.  The findings of this and several other studies was that, without visible landmarks, human being tend to walk in circles.

In our study of the Book of Mormon last month, we learned that Lehi sent his sons back to Jerusalem shortly after arriving in Aqaba to get a set of brass plates from a distant cousin.  These plates contained a genealogy of Lehi's family, the five books written by Moses, and a few of the prophets who lived up to his day.  The older boys didn't understand and murmured.  Nephi also didn't understand, but did what he was asked with faith.  It was only after they got the plates that they realized their importance: without them, they would walk in circles.

Shortly thereafter, Lehi received another precious gift from God: the Liahona.  When they were righteous and living the commandment of God, the Liahona guided them as to the way they should go.  When they rebelled or got lax in their relationship with the Lord, the Liahona didn't work.  They found it to their advantage to live so as to receive it's direction.  They had learned that without it, they would walk in circles.

When the two groups split, the Nephites kept the brass plates and Liahona.  Because of that, they retained their culture, their religion, and their literacy.  The Lamanites, without these guides, degenerated as a society to the level of that of the indigenous people with whom they intermarried.  They passed on their hatred and murmuring to their children's children and, thus, hated the Nephites and walked in circles.

 

We have landmarks in our lives that can keep us from walking in circles.  First, we have the scriptures.  Like the brass plates, reading our scriptures and words from living prophets can keep us on the straight path that leads to eternal life.  Second, we have the guiding direction of the Holy Spirit if, as with the Liahona, we live worthy of His constant companionship.  If we begin to veer off course, these two landmarks can help us correct our course. President Uchtdorf invites us to make constant course corrections by reading our scriptures and living close to the Spirit.  In this way, as we walk as true disciples of Jesus Christ, we will know that we are on the path that leads us to Him.

See Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Walking in Circles," Ensign, June 2013, pp. 4-5
See Jan L. Souman, "Walking Straight into Circles," Current Biology, Sept. 29, 2009, pp. 1538-1542.

Text copyright July 2013, Gebara Education

Pictures;

Walking in circles from www.MkingArtist.com

The brass plates, from www.lds.org

The liahona from www.barriomiramar.blogia.com

Nephites and Lamanites from www.bookofmormononlinecom

The scriptures from www.moormonhomeeveningblogspot