Before getting to the "meat" of this post I wanted to put another plug in for guest authors. I would love to have some different authors to give us new insights. My one request is to have the content come from the scriptures. Please send in your thoughts; I am anxious to read them! Okay, onto the "meat"-
I apologize for the slow motion of my brain, but I have still been thinking about Martha and I got my answer from the past (sorry if that's corny). Last week my mom gave a talk in church. She found an old talk given by my great grandmother who died roughly sixty years ago.
" . . . A mother with so many problems is more or less like a work horse with blinders on her bridle to keep her looking ahead. Ahead I could see dishes, beds, scrubbing, washing, ironing and always getting clothes ready for Sunday wear for 7 and when shift work permitted, 8 people. I have always felt that the Lord wasn't near as interested in the patched shoe as he was in the souls of my family."
photo from Wikimedia
I apologize for the slow motion of my brain, but I have still been thinking about Martha and I got my answer from the past (sorry if that's corny). Last week my mom gave a talk in church. She found an old talk given by my great grandmother who died roughly sixty years ago.
" . . . A mother with so many problems is more or less like a work horse with blinders on her bridle to keep her looking ahead. Ahead I could see dishes, beds, scrubbing, washing, ironing and always getting clothes ready for Sunday wear for 7 and when shift work permitted, 8 people. I have always felt that the Lord wasn't near as interested in the patched shoe as he was in the souls of my family."
photo from Wikimedia
What a profound statement about the soles vs souls! I think it is a beautiful sentence. On a quick side note, how grateful I am to have such wonderful ancestors, who continue to bless and teach me decades later. I think she is a "real" woman for lack of a better word. She dealt with the same kinds of issues as I do, but with more difficulty. She raised six boys in rural Utah with a husband who was out working much of the time and without many of the modern conveniences we take for granted.
Okay, I'm bringing it all together now I promise!! The answer is the blinders. Martha was wearing blinders when we first meet her. When we see her after her brother's death the blinders have come off. And lastly we see her serving again, but with her testimony the focus
rather than the "dishes, beds, scrubbing . . ." etc.
I think our blinders come from being mortal, not really from poor choices on our part. However, I think it is our choice to keep the blinders on. It takes courage to remove those blinders. What if I don't like what I see? What if I get startled and confused? Well, you probably will. But in the long run it is better to learn to adjust with them off rather than miss all of the rich, uplifting experiences to be seen with them off.
Circumstances in our lives are the catalyst for removing the blinders. God will not take them off for us, but He will help us as we do. Some of us have difficult circumstances that essentially rip the blinders off. Some of us peek out and then put them back on. I am peeking. I want to take them off, but I am afraid of the unknown. I hate to admit this, but I don't have enough faith or courage to take them off. I pray that the desire will come and I will reach that higher plane and be closer to my Father.
There are many scriptures that use the word "awake." I believe this is the call to take the blinders off. I will end with the prophet Nephi in one of my favorite chapters of scripture (specifically verse 15 to the end of the chapter). I feel my soul connecting with Nephi and his struggles. He was able to awake and I am ending with a hopeful determination that I will get my blinders off-
2 Nephi 4:27-28
Okay, I'm bringing it all together now I promise!! The answer is the blinders. Martha was wearing blinders when we first meet her. When we see her after her brother's death the blinders have come off. And lastly we see her serving again, but with her testimony the focus
rather than the "dishes, beds, scrubbing . . ." etc.
I think our blinders come from being mortal, not really from poor choices on our part. However, I think it is our choice to keep the blinders on. It takes courage to remove those blinders. What if I don't like what I see? What if I get startled and confused? Well, you probably will. But in the long run it is better to learn to adjust with them off rather than miss all of the rich, uplifting experiences to be seen with them off.
Circumstances in our lives are the catalyst for removing the blinders. God will not take them off for us, but He will help us as we do. Some of us have difficult circumstances that essentially rip the blinders off. Some of us peek out and then put them back on. I am peeking. I want to take them off, but I am afraid of the unknown. I hate to admit this, but I don't have enough faith or courage to take them off. I pray that the desire will come and I will reach that higher plane and be closer to my Father.
There are many scriptures that use the word "awake." I believe this is the call to take the blinders off. I will end with the prophet Nephi in one of my favorite chapters of scripture (specifically verse 15 to the end of the chapter). I feel my soul connecting with Nephi and his struggles. He was able to awake and I am ending with a hopeful determination that I will get my blinders off-
2 Nephi 4:27-28
27 And why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul? Why am I angry because of mine enemy?
28 Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul.
