The Beatitudes ~ Full Text

In September, we discussed the first three beatitudes and how they relate to the first seven steps of the twelve step programs. To review, they are:

 

Blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me; for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Step 1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.

Step 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

Step 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand Him. [In this blog, Jesus Christ]

We recognized our spiritual poverty and turned to our Savior; the first step to returning to His path which leads to a happier life now and the promise of a joyous life to come.

Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.

Step 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

Step 5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

We made a fearless and searching self-inventory, which made us keenly aware of the exact nature of our sins.  Guilt followed and we mourned our missed opportunities.  Talking honestly to God and to another human being brought is comfort and the promise of the atonement.

Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.

Step 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

Step 7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

We were humbled as we approached God and asked for his help, not just to take away the pain or even the sin, but to take away our sinful natures and to give us a new heart.
 

 

Here, briefly, are the rest of the steps of the twelve step programs, along with the beatitude that I believe most closely fits the intent of the step:

Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.

Step 8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and become willing to make amends to them all.

Step 9. Made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

You may wonder what asking for forgiveness and making amends to other has to do with being merciful.  It is because to be forgiven, we have to forgive others, including ourselves.  Only they will we obtain the mercy we seek.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled.

Step 10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

By the time we get to step 10, we seek only God and His righteousness.  When we recognize a fault, we repent quickly and take that sin to the throne of grace.  We do "hunger and thirst after righteousness" in every sense of the word.

Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God.

Step 11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge to His will for us and the power to carry that out.

Because Jesus Christ has created in us a new heart, and because we are quickly repenting when we sense we have sinned, our hearts are pure.  We see God all around us in our beautiful world, in our blessings, and in the faces of God's children.  Through the Holy Spirit, we can become aware of His will for us each day and through that same Spirit, have the strength to do it.

 

Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God.

Step 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics [and anyone else who needs Jesus Christ] and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

The only way to keep our new lives is to share our lives with others.  We don't attempt to force our experiences on anyone and we avoid a spirit of contention at all times, for contention is of Satan, not God.  People want to be around us because the feel a sense of peace and comfort and Christ-like love when they are with us. 

 

We have been given a precious gift: the unconditional love of Jesus Christ.  Now, we must share His love with others so that they can see His light in our countenances and seek that Light of Christ for themselves.

Text © 2012 Gebara Education

Posters from  Facebook.

 

Autumn Celebrated

 

Autumn. the year’s last, loveliest smile. ~ William Cullen Bryant

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf’s a flower. ~ Albert Camus

 

Autumn wins you best by this, its mute appeal to sympathy for its decay.  ~ Robert Browning

 

 

 

 

 

 

Change is a measure of time and, in the autumn, times seems speeded up.  What was is not and never again will be; what is is change.  ~ Edwin Way Teale

 

 

 

 

Delicious autumn!  My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.  ~ George Eliot

 

Ms. Eliot, I would go with you! What a beautiful way to see the world.
 

Picture of church in New England from www.bugbog.com

Picture of Temple Square in the fall from www.flikr.com 

Picture from www.quotesandsayings.com/quotes/autumn

Picture of Temple Square and Temple from www.panoramio.com

Picture of hawthorne trees from www.freebigpictures.com

Give, Said the Little Stream

 

Two great concepts defined Beed when by the time he was five: the Pledge of Allegiance and the song, "Give, Said the Little Stream."

As I've tried to think of funny Beed stories, I had a struggle.  Like most first borns, Beed was born thirty-seven!  He lived in a house of only adults until his was over three.  He was a fun child, but a serious child.

One fun story is about his long eyelashes.  He'd sometimes have trouble opening his eyes when he was a baby because his eyelashes would get caught in the creases of his eyelids.  He looked like a new puppy or kitten just old enough to see.  He outgrew that as he got older, but he never outgrew his beautiful eyes (just ask his wife!)

 

One of the first things Beed memorized was the Pledge of Allegiance and could say it perfectly before he began kindergarten.  It came out like "and to the republich for which it stands," but that was okay.  The farther he got along with the pledge the faster he would say it until the last few words were a blur!

 

All of our children were taught patriotism at a young age and Beed was the first.  Our kids would stand for the National Anthem, even in a movie theater, and the boys learned very young to remove their hats and place them over their hearts when the flag went by during a parade.  I don't think parents are teaching their children about the founding and importance of this country much anymore and that makes me sad.

 

 

The song is one the children learned in Primary.  The first verse lyrics are:  Give said the little stream; give, oh, give; give, oh, give.  Give said the little stream as it hurried down the hill.  I'm small I know but wherever I go, the fields grows greener still.  Singing, singing all the day.  Give away, oh, give away.  Singing, singing all the day. Give, oh, give away. [1] 

 

The message of the song is that it is important to share with others as we go through this life.  Little streams who water the fields as they go are clear running and fresh.  Those that hoard their water become the Dead Sea.  Beed learned it well and to this day is one of the most unselfish and giving people I know. 

 

That is something else some parents today fail to teach their children.  Maybe that is why we have so many discontented people in the world.  They haven't learned that if you focus only on yourself you become brackish and stagnant of soul.  As C. S. Lewis said, in essence, you don't find joy when you try to horde it.  You must get busy looking outside of yourself to others and joy will sneak up and tap you on the shoulder.

 

[1] The little child singing the first verse even sounds like Beed!  "Hoe-wied down the hill." "Whew-evo I go."  I love remembering!  http://www.lds.org/churchmusic/detailmusicPlayer/index.html?searchlanguage=1&searchcollection=2&searchseqstart=236&searchsubseqstart

 

Text © 2012 Gebara Education

John Wayne poster  downloaded from Facebook.

Picture of stream from www.freebigpictures.com

Step 12 ~ Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics [and anyone else who needs it] and to practice these principles in all our affairs. 

A lot of people ask at this point in time, "How do I know I am there?"  The above poster really answers that question whether your addiction is a chemical, a behavior, or another person (i.e., codependent, which we will discuss in a later series of posts.)

I won't say a lot beyond the message of the posters, but I would like to make a couple of quick points:

• Sharing one's sobriety (for lack of a more encompassing word) is the only way to keep one's sobriety.  It's a perfect example of losing one's life to find it. (see Matthew 16:25)
• Other people, you will find if you don't already know this, are not anxious to be preached to.  I heard a riddle once and it went like this: "What is it?  Most people need it; most people give it; few people take it."  The answer is: advice.  So don't drag your soapbox down on Main Street and expect appreciation.
• The best way to share is to live the principles consistently and without guile.  Again, Jesus gave us the key when He taught: "Ye are the light of the world . . . Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 5: 14, 16)
• Pray for the teaching moments.  They will come.

 

Text © 2012 Gebara Education

Posters downloaded from Facebook.

Step 11 ~ Sought through [DAILY] prayer and [DAILY] meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge to His will for us [DAILY] and the power to carry that out.

This step seems pretty self-explanatory and it is.  The key to the step is the word [DAILY] which - if you hadn't noticed - I have added. Prayer, scripture reading, and meditation cannot be done on occasion or only when we are depressed or in trouble.  It has to be done every day and throughout the day - one day at a time.

If I can be personal (and when am I not?) I have found that as I have matured spiritually, that my tastes have changed.  I have always been conservative in terms of what I watch on television or at the movies, as well as the music I like.  But I find as I've gotten older (and, hopefully, wiser) things I might once have seen or heard comfortably now offend my spirit and hurt my heart.  Only you can decide what is or is not comfortable for you, but I strongly caution about not dumping spiritual mud into a newly sparkling soul. Remember, these steps have not been merely about one isolated addiction.  It is about a character formed by years of rationalization and projection and self-justification.  I repeat: it is not about repenting of sin; it's about repenting of sinning.

I will continue to sin because I'm human, but if I seek God's will daily, I won't get too far afield.  I once heard that a commercial airline is off-course most of the time, but because of it's automatic pilot, which makes constant course corrections, it arrives at the destination safely.  That's what we need to do: make course corrections so quickly along our walk through life that for all intents and purposes, we never leave the straight and narrow path.  Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit constitute our automatic pilot.

I once saw a bumper sticker that said, "God is my co-pilot."  Then, I saw another one that said: "If God is your co-pilot, you need to change seats!"  I agree with the second.

Text © 2012 Gebara Education

Picture of airliner from www.prlog.org

Posters downloaded from Facebook. 

Step 10 ~ Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

I spent the weekend with my brother and sister-in-law.  We had a wonderful visit.  One morning, I woke up early.  The sun was just coming up and the house had that early dawn light.  As I walked back to my bedroom from the kitchen, I didn't notice a broom that had fallen from the side of the washing machine and wedged itself inside the laundry room door.  When I went to walk through, I caught my foot on the broom and fell.  I rolled into the room with a series of crashes, hitting legs, arms, feet, and hands.  I couldn't get up. 
 
My brother had gone to the store and my sister-in-law was still upstairs. I seriously thought about sitting there until one of them came and I prayed to know what to do.  The thought came to me that if I would scoot on my bottom to the guest room next door, I could pull myself up by holding on to the bed.  I do so and was soon on my feel again.  I still have the bruises to show that I fell, but I did not stay down there.  I got back up with God's help.

 

In the same way, I fall short of the glory of God on a regular basis. I live in a fallen world and have human weaknesses as a result. But when I fall, I don't have to stay down.  With prayer and inspiration, I can get up again - even when I am hurting.

 

Step ten is the beginning of a life-long journey of maintenance, to use a medical term.  In the beginning, it may feel a little awkward, but as we grow spiritually, it becomes almost automatic.  When we fall, we know it.  We feel the pain instantly, even if it is a short fall with slight pain.  We have learned in the our walk with Jesus that He is always at the window and, more importantly, that He loves us.  His atonement is infinite.  It is, to use the vernacular, a done deal.  It makes no sense to try to hide our fall from Him.  It is as obvious as a big woman splayed out on the laundry room floor! We quickly repent and He lifts us up.

 

Step ten is also a good time to revisit that two-column list we began in step four.  As we look back at our lists prayerfully, we will notice that some memories still trigger negative emotions.  But most of them will have begun to fade.  We remember the events, but without any pain.  In my own life, I know that I have fully repented and can forgive myself.  I can remember the harvest, but have let go of the sin.  On our list, we can remove the pain but keep the lesson.

 

In summary, I'd like to share the story of an ancient prophet who is teaching his son about his experiences with sin.  The prophet, when he was a young man, had rebelled against God in an egregious manner.  His father was a prophet and his behavior was so wicked that people were using him as an excuse for their own sins - sort of like the preacher's kid being the worst kid in the congregation. 

 

The young man, whose name was Alma, had an experience similar to Paul's on the road to Damascus.  His encounter with an angel brought him to the ground and he was comatose for three days.  But although he could neither see nor respond, his mind was harrowed up by his sins.  For those of us who are not farmers, I've included a picture of a harrow, which is drug over the ground to dig and tear the soil deeply so that a new seed can be planted.  When Alma used the words harrowed up he paints a compelling picture of his experience with the pain that precedes repentance.  Let's listen to his story in his own words:

 

But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins.  Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments. Yea, . . . and in fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror.  Oh, thought I, that I could be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged of my deeds.   And now, for three days and for three nights was I racked, even with the pains of a damned soul. 

 

And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, . . . Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.  Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.  And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more. 

 

And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain! Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy. .  .  .  But behold, my limbs did receive their strength again, and I stood upon my feet, and did manifest unto the people that I had been born of God.  (Alma 36: 12-21, 23)

 

I can say little to expand on Alma's incredible description of his repentance process.  In step ten, we are now here as well, born again through the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ.  The harrowing pain is behind us, the joy is around us, and Jesus is beside us as we walk forward with Him into our new life.

 

Text © 2012 Gebara Education

 

Poster of Jesus downloaded from Facebook

Picture of drag harrow from www.tractorbynet.com

Picture of Alma with the angel from www.lds.org 

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggedy Jig*

 

* Those in my world know my meaning.  'Nuff said!