Kent was asked to speak in church today. Yesterday at dinner, I asked if he was finished with his talk and he said, "Yes, but I think I'm going to write another." What an overachiever! I was sneaky during church at took his picture while he was on the stand and at the podium, but I promise, I really listened. Here are both pictures and talk.
Complexity
The book of Mormon is filled with stories of the Rise and Fall of great societies. It's the Pride cycle---the people go through trials that humble them, then God Prospers them, then things go off the rails and the people believe that they are smart and more clever than their poorer brethren.
We live in a very complex society. The details of which are very hard to navigate. Computers, houses, laws, finances, health. and even our worship can become very complicated. Our society, the whole world, is at the conclusion of one of these cycles.
I have an advanced degree in complexity--no matter how simple the problem, give me about 30 seconds and I make up a complicated solution involving multitudes
How Can We Simplify our Lives, Especially our Worship
Elder Uchdorft October 2010 Conference
After his customary story about flying an airplane and the need to slow down to the proper speed to handle turbulence, he compares this to our complicated lives.
"This is a simple but critical lesson to learn. It may seem logical when put in terms of trees or turbulence, but it’s surprising how easy it is to ignore this lesson when it comes to applying these principles in our own daily lives. When stress levels rise, when distress appears, when tragedy strikes, too often we attempt to keep up the same frantic pace or even accelerate, thinking somehow that the more rushed our pace, the better off we will be.
One of the characteristics of modern life seems to be that we are moving at an ever-increasing rate, regardless of turbulence or obstacles.
Let’s be honest; it’s rather easy to be busy. We all can think up a list of tasks that will overwhelm our schedules. Some might even think that their self-worth depends on the length of their to-do list. They flood the open spaces in their time with lists of meetings and minutia—even during times of stress and fatigue. Because they unnecessarily complicate their lives, they often feel increased frustration, diminished joy, and too little sense of meaning in their lives.
It is said that any virtue when taken to an extreme can become a vice. Overscheduling our days would certainly qualify for this. There comes a point where milestones can become millstones and ambitions, albatrosses around our necks."
There is a beauty and clarity that comes from simplicity that we sometimes do not appreciate in our thirst for intricate solutions.
For example, it wasn’t long after astronauts and cosmonauts orbited the earth that they realized ballpoint pens would not work in space. And so some very smart people went to work solving the problem. It took thousands of hours and millions of dollars, but in the end, they developed a pen that could write anywhere, in any temperature, and on nearly any surface. But how did the astronauts and cosmonauts get along until the problem was solved? They simply used a pencil.
Leonardo da Vinci is quoted as saying that “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
'The search for the best things inevitably leads to the foundational principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ—the simple and beautiful truths revealed to us by a caring, eternal, and all-knowing Father in Heaven. These core doctrines and principles, though simple enough for a child to understand, provide the answers to the most complex questions of life.'
Enoch Sees God Weeps
Moses 7: 28 And it came to pass that the God of heaven looked upon the residue of the people, and he wept; and Enoch bore record of it, saying: How is it that the heavens weep, and shed forth their tears as the rain upon the mountains?
29 And Enoch said unto the Lord: How is it that thou canst aweep, seeing thou art holy, and from all eternity to all eternity?
30 And were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy creations; and thy curtains are stretched out still; and yet thou art there, and thy bosom is there; and also thou art just; thou art merciful and kind forever;
31 And thou hast taken Zion to thine own bosom, from all thy creations, from all eternity to all eternity; and naught but peace, justice, and truth is the habitation of thy throne; and mercy shall go before thy face and have no end; how is it thou canst weep?
32 The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency;
33 And unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood;
How Can we simplify our lives and our worship?
1. Choose God to be our Father.
2. Follow Jesus
3. Serve our families, including our ancestors in the temple.
4. Serve our neighbors.
5. Slow down. Psalms 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God.”
6. Be as a little child, humble submissive to our father in Heaven
We are headed for an apocalypse--apocalypse simply means a change. The signs of evident on every side. The Devil and his slaves are desperate to destroy--WB Yeats wrote a poem (Second Coming) that captures part of this contemporary condition well, although I don't agree with the conclusion of this poem, these lines have stayed with me:
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
But the apocalypse will fix all this horror and will be magnificient and healing--the Lord will come in power and glory, nothing will be lost, no good thing forgotten, all that is right will be restored.
Be of Good Cheer, Fear Not
D&C 68:6 Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I cwas, that I am, and that I am to come
“In nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things.” Doctrine and Covenants 59:21
Elder Renland April 2020 "The Savior loves to restore what you cannot restore; He loves to heal wounds you cannot heal; He loves to fix what has been irreparably broken; He compensates for any unfairness inflicted on you; and He loves to permanently mend even shattered hearts.'
Revelations 21:24 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
We can all do this, together, as a family, as a ward, as cherished children of our Father in Heaven.
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