When Christ came to deliver a message to the Nephites but
they were too dark in their minds to receive the message He came to preach, He
said to them,
"I perceive that ye are weak, that ye cannot
understand all my words which I am commanded of the Father to speak unto you at
this time, therefore go ye unto your homes and ponder upon the things which I
have said and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand and prepare
your minds for the morrow and I come unto you again." (3 Ne. 8:1)
He had a message. He was commanded of the Father to deliver
the message and he did that. But recognized their inability to understand, so He
told them to go home and mull it over in prayer and meditation.
Joseph said on one occasion,
"We have reason to believe that many things were
introduced among the Saints before God had signified the times; and
notwithstanding the principles and plans may have been good, yet aspiring men,
or in other words, men who had not the substance of godliness about them,
perhaps undertook to handle edged tools. Children, you know, are fond of tools,
while they are not yet able to use them.
Time and experience, however, are the
only safe remedies against such evils. There are many teachers, but, perhaps,
not many fathers."
Many teachers indeed. Not many fathers indeed.
He also said,
"had I inspiartion [inspiration], Revelation &
lungs to communicate what my soul has contemplated in times <past> there
is not a soul in this congregation but would go to their hom[e]s & shut
their mouths in everlasting silnece [silence] on religin, till. they had learnd
somethi[n]g. why be so certain that you comprehend the things of God. when all
things with you are so uncertain." (Discourse, 13 August 1843–A, as
Reported by Willard Richards)
Things with us are uncertain. We do not understand the words
that Christ delivered to us in the Answer. Like the Nephites and early Saints,
we should shut our mouths and go back to our homes and spend time in prayer and
meditation until we have learned something.
If you just thought "I already do that; I don't need to
do that" you're the one that needs it the most.
We know even the original scribe, Enoch, was slow to speak.
(Gen. 4:2) Are we better than Enoch?
It's said in the epistle of Jacob that we should, "let
every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of
man works not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay aside all filthiness and
excess of wickedness, and receive with meekness the grafted word, which is able
to save your souls. But, be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving
your own selves, for if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like
unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror; for he beholds himself and
goes his way, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was. But whoever
looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues therein, he being not a
forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his
deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridles not his tongue
but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. Pure religion and
undefiled before God and the Father is this: To visit the fatherless and widows
in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the vices of the
world."
Perhaps if we went about doing this, we'd know what to do
after a couple years. Fact is, we don’t know what to do. This process could be
much more organic than we want it to be. You can’t force a tree to grow. Just
happens as you nourish it. Then about five years later, you enjoy some orange
juice.
I know that there are people who are printing and
distributing their preferred document. What if we just let that process play
out? Perhaps in a year or two of time and experience and seeing how certain
documents work we’d all end up agreeing on and using one. And in five years we
could add it to the scriptures because everyone would already agree on it and
be using it.
I know people are worried about some imaginary time
constraint because the Lord said "[...]if you cannot [agree upon a
statement of principles] you will be unable to accomplish other works that I
will require at your hands."(A&C, p. 8). But nothing in that statement
puts a limit on the amount of time we can take to accomplish this task.
Imagination can be a tricky thing and we would do well to remember, "A
fanciful and flowery and heated imagination beware of; because the things of
God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and
solemn thoughts can only find them out."(TPJS, p. 137)
Why not just be still?
Here are some relevant wisdom quotes from the book of
Proverbs:
He that has knowledge spares his words;
a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.
Even a fool, when he holds his peace,
is counted wise; he that shuts his lips, a man of understanding.
A fool has no delight in understanding,
but that his heart may reveal itself.
A fool's lips enter into contention,
and his mouth calls for strokes.
A fool's mouth is his destruction, and
his lips are the snare of his soul.
The words of a tale-bearer are as wounds,
and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.
He that answers a matter before he
hears, it is folly and shame unto him.
Death and life are in the power of the
tongue, and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
The poor uses entreaties, but the rich
answers roughly.
The tongue of the wise uses knowledge
aright, but the mouth of fools pours out foolishness.
Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue
keeps his soul from troubles.
He that keeps his mouth keeps his life,
but he that opens wide his lips shall have destruction.
The heart of the righteous studies to
answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.