A Dream

I posted this on facebook a couple of days ago:

Alright, well I had a three part dream in the summer of 2012.

I found myself high up in a massive, dead tree. It was bleak outside, and the tree stood in the middle of a large field. In the tree with me were a few people, meek in countenance, and humble followers of Christ. We determined that we needed to get out of the tree, but upon our attempt to climb down, we were met by a raging whore at the bottom, dressed in scarlet, who would scare us back up into the "safety" of the branches. We attempted escape a couple of times when we thought it was safe, and were unsuccessful each time.

At one point, when I couldn't see the whore at the bottom, I climbed down and stood at the base. I stood there for a second, then turned. As I turned, I found the whore standing behind me, raging and furious. I ran as fast as I could to the west, away from the tree, and as I ran, the massive, dead tree fell at my heels, close to the border of the large field.

This was the end of the first part of the dream.

I asked for the interpretation the next day and it was given to me, but I don't feel like I need to share that here.

Please study your scriptures. Study them prayerfully. Think on them day and night. There will come a time when every organization and institution will disappoint you. Some of the institutions that fail and are made low will cause a major crisis of faith. We can't attach our faith in the Lord to any man, woman, building, or organization because it will certainly disappoint us. It doesn't mean we can't serve our brothers and sisters within those institutions. It doesn't matter that they (the organizations) will fall. It is actually ok that the things which are high and lifted up will brought low(1 Nephi 22:23; 2 Nephi 12:12). This is a good thing. But your faith in Christ must not fail. No matter what happens. No matter if your best friend dies, your parents abandon you, you make so many mistakes that you think you're worthless, or your favorite institution is built on nothing but air - wait upon the Lord. Watch as His work unfolds. Wait longer than you think you can. You can wait longer than you think.

It is interesting to me how closely falsehood can look to be truth. It is a fine line we walk while down here. A narrow path. It is hard to know who to listen to when both Warren Jeffs and Enoch are known as wild men(Moses 6:38), but one is righteous forever and the other is in prison for life. It's hard when you are standing in front of a man who was supposed to be the savior of the world, but won't even save himself from the bondage of a cross. When the guy who you thought was a prophet, and would bring Zion was just murdered and no one was left to pick up the pieces. I get that. I have spent over 2,500 hours the last seven years studying history and scripture to sort these things out in my mind(and I know that's small potatoes compared to a lot of other people). I have often been confronted with difficult questions and had to wait a long time for an answer. If Adam can wait 900 years for an answer, you can wait your whole life(although I doubt you'd have to). Stop being a baby. God knows what He is doing and you can have faith in that.

Here are some things you can believe no matter what goes on around you:

- The book of Mormon was brought to us by God through Joseph Smith

- Joseph was who he said he was

- Joseph was not involved in polygamy (I don't care what "history" you have read. Go read contemporary, first-hand history, not someone else's commentary on history. The Joseph Smith Papers Project is awesome. Use it. I think the essays can safely be ignored though.)

- God is working a great work right now. Find out what He wants you to do. If you don't hear Him, wait and do good to those around you.

- We live in a day where people deny the Holy Ghost and rely on the arm of flesh(2 Nephi 28: 4, 14, 31). Don't be one of those people.

- We are the Gentiles (Book of Mormon, Title Page; D&C 109:60)

- God will speak directly to you. Don't make any person your idol.

I hate the fact that I felt the need to share this on facebook. I think it is embarrassing. I think facebook is a terrible venue for thoughts and discussion. I think that of the maybe twenty people who will read this, two will be people who I actually want to read it. And probably neither will think anything of it. I don't enjoy sharing personal things with the world. Those things, I feel, are reserved for loved ones who I know I can trust. Nevertheless, there it is.

K. Cool.

Temple and Cosmos pt. 2 b

In an old text called "The Ascension of Isaiah" Isaiah is taken from earth and led by a heavenly guide from heaven to heaven, through the seven heavens, to the throne of God. (You can read that here)

In the book of Abraham in Abraham ch. 3 you get this:

"And I, Abraham, had the Urim and Thummim, which the Lord my God had given unto me, in Ur of the Chaldees; and I saw the stars, that they were very great, and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God; and there were many great ones which were near unto it; and the Lord said unto me: These are the governing ones; and the name of the great one is Kolob, because it is near unto me, for I am the Lord thy God: I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest. 

And the Lord said unto me, by the Urim and Thummim, that Kolob was after the manner of the Lord, according to its times and seasons in the revolutions thereof; that one revolution was a day unto the Lord, after his manner of reckoning, it being one thousand years according to the time appointed unto that whereon thou standest. This is the reckoning of the Lord’s time, according to the reckoning of Kolob.

And the Lord said unto me: The planet which is the lesser light, lesser than that which is to rule the day, even the night, is above or greater than that upon which thou standest in point of reckoning, for it moveth in order more slow; this is in order because it standeth above the earth upon which thou standest, therefore the reckoning of its time is not so many as to its number of days, and of months, and of years.

And the Lord said unto me: Now, Abraham, these two facts exist, behold thine eyes see it; it is given unto thee to know the times of reckoning, and the set time, yea, the set time of the earth upon which thou standest, and the set time of the greater light which is set to rule the day, and the set time of the lesser light which is set to rule the night. Now the set time of the lesser light is a longer time as to its reckoning than the reckoning of the time of the earth upon which thou standest. And where these two facts exist, there shall be another fact above them, that is, there shall be another planet whose reckoning of time shall be longer still; and thus there shall be the reckoning of the time of one planet above another, until thou come nigh unto Kolob, which Kolob is after the reckoning of the Lord’s time; which Kolob is set nigh unto the throne of God, to govern all those planets which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest. And it is given unto thee to know the set time of all the stars that are set to give light, until thou come near unto the throne of God.

Thus I, Abraham, talked with the Lord, face to face, as one man talketh with another; and he told me of the works which his hands had made; and he said unto me: My son, my son (and his hand was stretched out), behold I will show you all these. And he put his hand upon mine eyes, and I saw those things which his hands had made, which were many; and they multiplied before mine eyes, and I could not see the end thereof. And he said unto me: This is Shinehah, which is the sun. And he said unto me: Kokob, which is star. And he said unto me: Olea, which is the moon. And he said unto me: Kokaubeam, which signifies stars, or all the great lights, which were in the firmament of heaven.

And it was in the night time when the Lord spake these words unto me: I will multiply thee, and thy seed after thee, like unto these; and if thou canst count the number of sands, so shall be the number of thy seeds.

And the Lord said unto me: Abraham, I show these things unto thee before ye go into Egypt, that ye may declare all these words. If two things exist, and there be one above the other, there shall be greater things above them; therefore Kolob is the greatest of all the Kokaubeam that thou hast seen, because it is nearest unto me."

Of this instance, Denver says:

"We have infantile “mysteries” we banter about. I’ve heard speculation about the typography of Kolob, for example. By the way, that whole thing about Kolob is mangled! Kolob was the name of a star Abraham could identify. Kolob was a star within sight from the vantage point of the earth. The entire astronomy revealed to father Abraham was geocentric. It was entirely earth based, looking upward. From the vantage point of the earth, looking upward in Abraham’s day, the astronomy oriented Abraham. In our day, because the precession of the equinoxes, the alignments of stars have changed. Abraham already knew the name of the star. God said to Abraham, You see that star? From where you sit, looking there, the Throne of God is in that direction. It was like saying, Okay, from where my thumb is, looking that way, Shay is sitting by my thumb. That doesn't mean Shay is on my thumb! He's some considerable distance from my thumb! Tim is in the direction of my index finger. He's not on my index finger! He's some considerable distance away from it, but that's the direction. Because it was “nigh” to God, it is located among what is called “unchanging” stars, because they never set. They are continually in view from the earth. Therefore they “govern” those below them. They move “more slowly” because their revolutions and movements take thousands of years from our vantage point. 

Even if you know the typography of Kolob, you still don't know where God resides. Where He resides is in a place hidden in the North. If I were identifying where the throne of God is located today, I would refer to a different star. In our day it has a different name. In our day it has a slightly different alignment because of the precession of equinoxes. The Throne of God is out there, but is in a place that is hidden in the North. It will require the heavens to be rolled like a scroll 36 before you finally see past the veils now in place. But by that time, if you are unprepared, it's too late. Because the glory will be such that you cannot abide it. 

When the Lord appears, preliminary to rolling together the heavenly scrolls, He will first appear in an unveiled opening. The glory of God will be visible around and behind Him, along with concourses of angels. 

Now if you can discover what that alignment is then you can figure out where the Throne of God is presently located. But that is up to you. I've been given no such obligation or permission. But I can tell you there is a specific location. God exists. Abraham was walked through the geography of heaven, reckoned from the vantage point or viewpoint of the earth. When you leave here, one of the obligations you have is to find your way back. In finding your way back, you need to be able to avoid those spirits who seek to bring you back into captivity.39 If you're brought back into captivity, you may find yourself again in a Telestial kingdom, or, as the temple narrative puts it: “the world in which you presently reside.” That's a rather unpleasant thing to think about. You may find yourself a casino in Las Vegas, talking about things that really matter, in a place in which such things are not at all treasured." (40 Years in Mormonism,  Talk 8,  Denver Snuffer)

Cooool!

Temple and Cosmos pt. 2

In one spot, Nibley mentions how the temple is a scale model of the universe.

What I am going to say next is based completely off of speculation that me and my best friend talked about in a conversation about the subject.

So if you look at the a top-down drawing of what we think the temple of Solomon would have looked like, you get this:

You'll notice an "outer" court, an inner court, a holy place, and the Holy of Holies.

If you look at what we know about the Milky Way Galaxy, and our position within our galaxy, it looks like this:

You'll notice that our Sun's location is about where the "inner court" is at. Then there is a part beyond that where the "outer court" would be. Then you move in a few thousand light years to the "holy place" then a few thousand light years more to the "Holy of Holies" or the place where God resides.

It is said that at the center of our galaxy there is a massive black hole. We know that the gravity of a black hole can have such a huge affect on light that it pulls it in. Imagine that. Light is actually controlled by large amounts of gravity. We know that God is a being of Spirit(Lectures on Faith, Lecture Five) and that Spirit is Light (D&C 84:45). So you could, in theory, have a being composed purely of light if they resided in a place of such gravity that it held their light(body) together.

Interesting!

Temple and Cosmos pt. 1

I have been reading the book "Temple and Cosmos" by Hugh Nibley. I am only in chapter two, but have learned quite a bit.

In one spot Nibley talks about the Ancient Egyptians and their belief that their mental exertion had an effect on the world around them. It was strenuous and took a lot of focus. They needed something to excite their mind and give them the energy to continue upholding their way of life through thought day to day.

The symbolism of the temple was supposed to do this for them. The things they learned through those symbols excited their minds. It gave them power, or light, or truth, or the word of God to their minds and their hearts to be able to uphold those things around them by mental exertion.

In the Lectures on Faith, it is explained that,

"when a man works by faith he works by mental exertion instead of physical force: it is by words instead of exerting his physical powers, with which every being works when he works by faith—God said, Let there be light, and there was light—Joshua spake and the great lights which God had created stood still — Elijah commanded and the heavens were stayed for the space of three years and six months, so that it did not rain: He again commanded, and the heavens gave forth rain,—all this was done by faith."(LoF, Lecture 7)

I have been taught that faith to move a mountain can take on many forms. Grab a shovel and start digging until it's gone, get some help from friends, use explosives, etc. But it seems that what is said in the lectures is that when we work by faith, the faith that saves anyway, it isn't by physical force. We "speak"(and I put that in quotations because if you think about the last time you "heard" God's voice, did you hear it with your ears, or with your mind and your heart?) according to that which excites our minds and then things around us are affected by our "words".

"Now Melchizedek was a man of faith, who wrought righteousness; and when a child he feared God, and stopped the mouths of lions, and quenched the violence of fire. And thus, having been approved of God, he was ordained an high priest after the order of the covenant which God made with Enoch. It being after the order of the Son of God; which order came, not by man, nor the will of man; neither by father nor mother; neither by beginning of days nor end of years; but of God; and it was delivered unto men by the calling of his own voice, according to his own will, unto as many as believed on his name.

For God having sworn unto Enoch and unto his seed with an oath by himself; that every one being ordained after this order and calling should have power, by faith, to break mountains, to divide the seas, to dry up waters, to turn them out of their course; to put at defiance the armies of nations, to divide the earth, to break every band, to stand in the presence of God; to do all things according to his will, according to his command, subdue principalities and powers; and this by the will of the Son of God which was from before the foundation of the world. And men having this faith, coming up unto this order of God, were translated and taken up into heaven." (Joseph Smith Translation, Gen. 14) 

It was said of Enoch that,

"so great was the faith of Enoch that he led the people of God, and their enemies came to battle against them; and he spake the word of the Lord, and the earth trembled, and the mountains fled, even according to his command; and the rivers of water were turned out of their course; and the roar of the lions was heard out of the wilderness; and all nations feared greatly, so powerful was the word of Enoch, and so great was the power of the language which God had given him."(Moses 7:13)

Something that I think is important to consider is that "he spake the word of the Lord" and "so great was the power of the language which God had given him."

These people have power, by faith, to do things NOT according to God's will. They COULD freelance. But they only do what the Lord tells them. Moses did not follow exactly as the Lord commanded when quenching the thirst of the children is Israel, and he was not allowed to enter into the promised land with his people.(Numbers 20: 7-12) It is no minor thing to do things against the will of God. Especially when He has tutored you into this kind of power. A power where, if given to the wrong kind of person can divide the earth to get gain, may put at defiance the armies of nations for his pleasure, can persuade the hearts of men to do wickedly.  These are sons of perdition and to these comes no forgiveness in this world nor the world to come. 

But if a person attains to these things and does the will of the Lord, then they can have eternal life.

Interesting book anyways.