Baptism is the Gate

Aaron recently celebrated his eighth birthday. We've been anticipating this birthday for a long time because it's a big one. In our church, we believe eight is when you reach the age of accountability (in other words, the ability to make good choices and take responsibility for your own actions) and are therefore ready to make the sacred covenants associated with the ordinance of baptism.

We've spent the last year, but especially the last six months, helping Aaron prepare for this important decision. We wanted to make sure he understood the eternal importance of the promises he'd be making. We've had many family home evening lessons on the subject, as well as some heart to heart chats (which, if you know Aaron, you can probably guess these were mostly one-sided), and Aaron has been more consistent lately with his personal prayers and scripture study.

Yesterday was the big day, and it came with mixed emotions from me. Of course I was so happy and so proud of him, but I also found myself feeling more hesitant than I was expecting, almost like I wasn't ready to let him take this leap. I guess I'm a little bit fearful of the increasingly significant decisions he'll be confronted with, the temptations he'll face, and yes, the mistakes he'll make. The stakes feel higher all of a sudden. His daily life is going to consist of more than just deciding which cereal to eat for breakfast.


But I keep thinking of the scripture in 2 Nephi 31 that says: "For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost. And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life." What a beautiful, absolutely perfect analogy. Baptism is the gate, the first step on that path of everlasting joy. Mistakes? Yes, they'll come. It's part of the learning process. But there's repentance, and his claim on the Savior's atonement will never run dry. He can repent again and again and again (and most likely, he will). But now he'll also have the gift of the Holy Ghost to guide and direct and protect him. There's absolutely no need for me to be fearful because he's in better hands than he's ever been before.

If you had seen him yesterday at his baptism, you wouldn't have been able to tell how he was feeling. Aaron keeps his emotions locked up tight. He's calm and stoic, and he rarely smiles in a new situation. (He's the complete opposite of Max who, during the special musical number with all the children, was up on the stand doing crazy things with his eyes and making us all giggle irreverently.) But I know he was excited. And I know he was glad to have the support of so many family members. And I know he understood, at least on a small scale, the significance of his decision. It was more than just being immersed in the water by his dad. It was symbolic of the sacred covenants he was making with his Heavenly Father.

I took some pictures of him a few weeks before his baptism. I ended up only using one of them for the invitations we sent out, so I hope you'll indulge me if I put a few more of them up here.

 

 

The Power of Everyday Missionaries: The What and How of Sharing the Gospel by Clayton M. Christensen

I don't normally post on Sundays, but this seemed like an appropriate review for the day.

If you know anything about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (i.e., Mormons), it might be that we focus heavily on missionary work. In fact, I don't know of another religion that devotes so much attention, time, or money on spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  No matter where you live, there's a chance you maybe have run into, or had your door knocked on, by Mormon missionaries.

The stereotypical missionaries are clean-cut young men in dark suits with name badges, but young women also serve missions and so do senior couples. It is expected that every young man who is worthy and able will devote two years of his life to sharing and teaching the Gospel. While young women are not under the same obligation, their service is still valued and appreciated.

Several of my family members have served missions: before my mom got married, she served in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mike served in the West Indies. One of my brothers served in Sydney, Australia. Another brother served in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. And I have another brother who is currently serving in Fresno, California.

 My brother, Gordy (on the right), serving in Australia

I did not serve a full-time mission. At that time, young women weren't able to serve until age 21 (the age has now been lowered to 19), and I got married when I was 20. However, all members of the Church are encouraged to share their beliefs with their family, friends, and acquaintances (David O. McKay, who served as prophet of the Church from 1951-1970, coined the phrase, "Every member a missionary.")

But sometimes it's difficult for me to share those beliefs because I'm worried about being overbearing or offending someone or even finding the right words to clearly explain some of our doctrines. Plus, I live in Utah where there is a much higher concentration of members of the Church, and so it's easy to assume everyone has already been asked a million times if they want to know more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I'm worried I might seem pushy, even though my motives for wanting to tell other people about my beliefs are pure (for more about why ordinary members of the Church want to talk about the Gospel, read or watch this excellent talk by Elder David A. Bednar).

And now that I've told all that, you might not be surprised to hear that I would read a book called, The Power of Everyday Missionaries: The What and How of Sharing the Gospel. Because, let's be honest, even though I strongly believe in the doctrines and practices of the Church, there are appropriate and inappropriate ways to share those beliefs with others.

My brother, Ben (on the right), serving in Pennsylvania

Honestly, I might not have picked up this book if it hadn't been the assigned reading for a family reunion last month. In fact, I maybe began reading it a little halfheartedly. I think I was a little worried it was going to be really intense and make me feel guilty if I'm not delivering Books of Mormon to all of my neighbors.

But in fact, it did just the opposite. It talked about how to share our beliefs in as natural and authentic a way as possible (and let me tell you, knocking on my neighbor's door with a Book of Mormon in hand is not authentic or natural (at least for me).

Clay Christensen talked about including the tenets of our faith in normal, everyday conversations, which I definitely feel like I do both here on this blog and in real life. Going to church, reading the scriptures, and praying are so ingrained in my daily habits, it would be virtually impossible for me to censure myself and never bring them up. If I'm talking about my life, then I'm talking about my faith because I can't separate it from who I am.

I really appreciated Clay Christensen's emphasis on discovering the questions of interested family and friends. Missionary work is not formulaic; it is individual and personal. It wouldn't be productive or even helpful for me to launch into an explanation of temples if my friend is really just curious about why we don't drink alcoholic beverages.

 My brother, Steve (wearing glasses), in the missionary training center (he is now serving in California)

I also really liked his thoughts about keeping an open mind and never pigeon-holing people into prescribed boxes of "definitely interested," "probably interested," "would never be interested." Only the Lord knows peoples' hearts. And so it's important to live our lives authentically (as I mentioned before) and not hide that authenticity from those we think might be offended by what we have to say.

Within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have many organizations that present many opportunities to serve and teach others. For example, Relief Society is the organization for the women. Besides meeting together on Sundays, we have weeknight meetings approximately once a month where we learn a new skill, listen to a speaker, or participate in a service project. These meetings are a time for women of all faiths to come together and learn from one another, and I'm grateful that other women in my community are willing to share their talents and expertise in these types of settings. In this book, Clay Christensen devotes an entire chapter to the importance of asking for help from people outside of our faith. This gives them a chance to see what the Church is like from the inside and also gives us a chance to be blessed by other people in our community. He said, "Even though many prosperous, comfortable people don't feel like they need religion, almost all of them have a need to help other people."

For those individuals who are investigating the Church and taking the missionary discussions, I was really impressed with his counsel to thoroughly teach the practices of prayer, scripture reading, Sabbath observance, etc. He said, "When investigators repeatedly fail to keep . . . commitments [such as reading The Book of Mormon or praying], we and the missionaries are prone to conclude that the investigators really are not interested. But often investigators don't do these things because they don't know how." I feel like these principles of teaching, guiding, and showing are vital to all, whether we've been members of the Church our entire lives or not. In the Church, all positions are filled by volunteers, and sometimes I think we err on the side of less instruction instead of more. We assume people will know how to lead the music or teach Sunday School and so don't provide them adequate training.

With all of these points, Clay Christensen provided personal examples. These were not only enjoyable to read but also helped me see how to apply certain advice to real life situations.

 My mom (in the blue dress) serving in New Mexico in 1982

If you are not Mormon but have questions about the Church, I would encourage you to seek out an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (such as myself!) rather than searching for answers on the internet. Even if it's just to satisfy your curiosity on a certain point, I would love to hear and answer your questions. Feel free to send me an email: sunlitpages {at} gmail {dot} com.

And if you are Mormon, then I would definitely recommend this as a great resource to help you reach outside your comfort zone and share those beliefs that you hold most dear and precious.

The Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox

Early last year, I read a wonderful book entitled, The God Who Weeps by Terryl and Fiona Givens. It touched my heart and strengthened my belief in Jesus Christ, and I always intended to write about it. But I found it a difficult book to write about because I didn't exactly know what it was I wanted to share about it. And then, since it was a religious book, I couldn't decide whether I should try to explain things about my religion at the same time or if I should just dive in as if everyone knew exactly what I was talking about.

And so, in the end, indecision made the decision for me. It has now been far too long since I finished it, so unless I reread it (which I very well might), I won't be writing a review of it.

As I came to the end of The Continuous Atonement, I could sense the same kind of hesitancy. I reread over all of my favorite quotes and narrowed them down, and I still had two pages of material from the book alone, not including any of my own thoughts.

Obviously, that’s too much for one post, even for me. So instead, I decided to focus on five specific topics that really touched my heart and broadened my thinking. I’ll try to keep explanations/definitions to a minimum, but if something doesn’t make sense or you’d like to discuss a point in greater depth, feel free to do so in the comments.

But first, a word about why I decided to read this book. In my Church, we have a monthly publication known as The Ensign, which includes inspirational and doctrinal messages from leaders, teachers, and other individuals. In the September issue, I read an article by Brad Wilcox entitled “His Grace is Sufficient.” I read it a couple of times before I decided I wanted more and went to the original speech from which the article was taken. I read (and then watched) the entire speech and then noticed that Brad Wilcox had actually written an entire book on the same subject. So I expanded my reading even further.

Originally, I was a bit hesitant to read anything by Brad Wilcox because he is so connected with youth conferences and EFYs from my teenage years. I almost felt like his writing would be too juvenile (this from the girl who loves to read picture books and middle grade novels). But while I did find his writing (and especially the speech itself) influenced and marked by his many years working with teenagers, I didn’t find the concepts themselves to be juvenile in any way.

The book is a commentary on the Atonement of Jesus Christ: the depth and breadth and scope of it as well as how we can use and apply it every day in order to return to Heavenly Father. But even more than that, it is about just how much the Savior loves each one of us.

First, I learned about the long-suffering nature of the Atonement. Every Sunday, we have the opportunity to partake of the sacrament. Before the bread and water is passed to the congregation, a priest says the words of the sacrament prayer. These words are recorded in the scriptures and are supposed to be said without error. If the priest makes a mistake in the words, the bishop asks him to begin again. Brad Wilcox said, "Although the sacramental prayers had to be perfect, and that expectation could not be lowered, the priest was given a second chance, and a third--as many times as it took. There was no trapdoor that opened up once he had gone too far. The bishop simply nodded and the young priesthood holder started over until he finally got the prayer right. No matter how many mistakes were made and corrected along the way, the final outcome was counted as perfect and acceptable [emphasis added]." I love this analogy. It demonstrates that the Savior does not expect us to be perfect right away, but he does expect us to keep trying and improving. It is wonderful to realize that if we continue to grow and change, all of our mediocre past efforts will be forgotten in favor of who we have become.


Second, I learned that the Atonement is a continual source of good. Sometimes Mormons are criticized for placing too much emphasis on works rather than the grace of Jesus Christ. It's not that we don't believe that we are nothing without His grace. We know that we cannot return to Heavenly Father without His help. But we also think it is important for us to demonstrate our faith in His grace through our works. This scripture is quoted often within our church: "For we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do" (2 Nephi 25.23). This makes it sound as if Christ's power to save does not come into effect until our own efforts have been exhausted. But Brad Wilcox said (and I believe this is true), "Christ's power is not an emergency generator that turns on once our supply is exhausted. It is not a booster engine once we run out of steam. Rather, it is our constant energy source. If we think of Christ only making up the difference after we do our part, we are failing to keep the promise we make each Sunday to remember Him always."

Third, the Atonement has the immense power to change us in unexpected ways. Brad Wilcox said, “Christ’s arrangement with us is similar to a mom providing music lessons for her child. Mom, who pays the piano teacher, can require her child to practice. By so doing she is not attempting to recover the cost of the lessons, but to help the child take full advantage of this opportunity to live on a higher level. Her joy is not found in getting her investment back but in seeing it used. If the child, in his immaturity, sees Mom’s expectation to practice as unnecessary or overly burdensome, it is because he doesn’t yet share her perspective. When Christ’s expectations of faith, repentance, covenants, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endurance feel trying to us, perhaps it is because, as C.S. Lewis put it, ‘we have not yet had the slightest notion of the tremendous thing He means to make of us' [emphasis added].” This is probably my favorite analogy in the whole book. It strikes a personal chord for sure since so much of my life has been devoted to music lessons, so it's easy for me to translate that perspective to this much more magnificent example.

Fourth, I learned about the singular nature of the Atonement. I think this was perhaps the most eye-opening part of the book for me. It made me consider things I never have before, such as, "If Jesus had not performed the Atonement, would there have been another to take His place?" If I had really thought about such a question, I think I would have known that, no, there was no one else who could take His place, but I had just never really considered such an idea before reading this book. It made me understand why one-third of Heavenly Father's children could reject the Plan and follow Satan. Brad Wilcox put it this way:  "Can't you almost hear Satan saying, 'Are you really going to put all your eggs in one basket? Are you really going to put all of your faith in one person?. . . Everyone knew Lucifer's alternative plan provided no chance for eternal growth or progress. So perhaps one of the reasons he was successful in convincing so many to follow him was by instilling doubt in God's plan."

It was in this chapter that Brad Wilcox told this amazing story about his brother-in-law who, as a young 12-year-old boy, fell off a steep cliff and was literally saved by a single branch that was growing out of the cliff. He fell 60 feet before being caught by the branch, where he was then suspended over fifty more feet. Brad Wilcox likened this lone branch to the Savior, who is our One and Only Chance to return to Heavenly Father. He is the Only One who can save us.
That would be like a boy falling off a vast cliff and then expecting to be saved by one branch.'

Finally, the Atonement is about LOVE. As I read this book, I felt that message again and again, ever more strongly. Brad Wilcox said about the Savior's accomplishment of the Atonement: “Did He avoid eternal punishment? Yes. Did He receive eternal rewards? Yes. But those were not his motivation. They were simply natural consequences that followed His choice at a higher level. Did He fulfill His birthright obligation? Yes. Did He please His father? Yes. But those were natural consequences as well, not motives. What motivated Jesus was the greatest motivation of all—pure, perfect, infinite love [emphasis added].”

I will say that for all the many things I loved about this book, Brad Wilcox's style of writing was not always my favorite. I felt like he used a lot of contrived one-liners, like this one: "Christ’s requirements are not so that we can make the best of the Atonement, but so that—on His generous terms—the Atonement can make the best of us." And this one: "In that moment, we realize we do not earn the Atonement. The Atonement actually earns us." While there is not anything wrong with these statements per se, they were just overused. They probably sound great if you're speaking, and you want to end your talk with one of them, to deliver that final punch. But over and over again in the book, it just started to feel like I was reading the words of a motivational speaker (which, I guess I kind of was).

I read this book as part of my daily scripture study. I would read two or three pages and then look up all of the scriptures that were referenced during those pages. This meant that the book took me two months to read,  but I felt like I got so much out of it because I turned to the scriptures to enlighten and increase my understanding, and I spent a lot of time pondering the words I read.

I know this review is much too long for anyone to have any interest in actually reading it. I really spent so much time writing it for me. I wanted to remember the things I learned and felt while reading this book. Writing helps me internalize what I read, and I wanted to internalize as much of this book as possible.