Behold the Lamb of God
Our discussion in Relief Society today was led by a PhD candidate in literature who recently joined the ward because she turned 30. She is a lovely human being that I am always glad to be around. I have yet to regret that she had opened her mouth in a discussion at church. And we cleaned the chapel together this week.
We had an interesting discussion about the sacrificial lamb (Exodus 12) and the scapegoat (Leviticus 16). This afternoon I was reflecting on the children of Israel marking the doors with blood to protect them from the destroying angel. The way we mark ourselves now is by baptism and renewing baptismal covenants during the sacrament every week. But the mark isn't so much about the mark. Doing those things are necessary tokens, but not sufficient. It isn't about doing the things that are a type and symbol, a way to access the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The thing that has the power to save us from destruction is internalizing the Atonement of Jesus Christ in such a way that destructive forces have no power over us. It's about being changed in our being. Lately I keep coming back the name I Am. Christ is who He is, irrespective of what anyone else does. He had the power to save His own life and laid it down for our sake, for my sake. And now He is so entirely Himself that He can withstand any force raised against Him. I want to be more like Him, to become more fully myself.
We also had ward council this morning. We don't have a Young Men president right now, so the numbers were down a bit: 6 men in attendance and 4 women. That's about as good a ratio as you can ever expect in a ward council meeting. The question the bishop wanted to discuss with respect to the youth was "How can we help them see through the deceptions and half-truths of today’s world?" I was a little put off by the question when I read the agenda in advance, but we had an excellent, inconclusive discussion. It isn't that there's nothing we can do to work in that direction, but that there is a limit to our scope. Personal agency is real, and it is the intended design of mortal experience. When people of any age exercise it ways we do not prefer, it isn't ours to "fix." It's ours to continue to be the loving people we have decided to be. Truthfully, though, mortality functioning as designed stinks sometimes.
We had an interesting discussion about the sacrificial lamb (Exodus 12) and the scapegoat (Leviticus 16). This afternoon I was reflecting on the children of Israel marking the doors with blood to protect them from the destroying angel. The way we mark ourselves now is by baptism and renewing baptismal covenants during the sacrament every week. But the mark isn't so much about the mark. Doing those things are necessary tokens, but not sufficient. It isn't about doing the things that are a type and symbol, a way to access the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The thing that has the power to save us from destruction is internalizing the Atonement of Jesus Christ in such a way that destructive forces have no power over us. It's about being changed in our being. Lately I keep coming back the name I Am. Christ is who He is, irrespective of what anyone else does. He had the power to save His own life and laid it down for our sake, for my sake. And now He is so entirely Himself that He can withstand any force raised against Him. I want to be more like Him, to become more fully myself.
We also had ward council this morning. We don't have a Young Men president right now, so the numbers were down a bit: 6 men in attendance and 4 women. That's about as good a ratio as you can ever expect in a ward council meeting. The question the bishop wanted to discuss with respect to the youth was "How can we help them see through the deceptions and half-truths of today’s world?" I was a little put off by the question when I read the agenda in advance, but we had an excellent, inconclusive discussion. It isn't that there's nothing we can do to work in that direction, but that there is a limit to our scope. Personal agency is real, and it is the intended design of mortal experience. When people of any age exercise it ways we do not prefer, it isn't ours to "fix." It's ours to continue to be the loving people we have decided to be. Truthfully, though, mortality functioning as designed stinks sometimes.
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