Wasted Son

So today in church we learned about the prodigal son. I don't know what it is about this parable, but I absolutely love it and find so much meaning in it. Echoing my Bishop, I believe that at one point we are each the father, the prodigal son and the other son. We experience deep and profound forgiveness for others, we receive forgiveness from others and we are guilty of judging others when we believe that we are with out sin. That is quite possibly the worst sin there is and one that I know I am guilty of.

Luke 15:18-19, shows the ideals of how to be repentant, "I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants."

He gets the strength to call on his father, confess his sins, confess his unworthiness and asks for just a little more than he already has; he stays humble. This is probably the prime example as to how we approach our father when we need to make amends in our lives.

I love the next part. The father runs to his son. He doesn't wait for him; he doesn't prepare a lecture. He runs because of compassion. At Christ's time, this would be a very unconventional thing for a father to do; He treats his son as an equal and not as a son or a sinner. Yet every time forgiveness is granted, there are others who will find it wrong or stupid that the person forgave another.

And then the father takes it one step further and we understand our Heavenly Father so much better. He gives his son the best robes, rings, shoes, and a calf. These are things that the son probably had wasted away in prior years, yet it seems as if the father does not even realize that. To me he seems to be taking a huge risk giving this to the son that has failed him and has hurt him, yet because he has forgiven completely, he just gives it as he would someone that had never betrayed him. And that is what makes Christ's atonement so amazing. When it is forgiven, it is forgiven and he trusts us to have what we originally had. God is happy and wants to welcome back and give everything to those who had betrayed him

As humans, I want to argue that we too are to forgive completely, but perhaps, in some cases not forget because forgetting may put us in danger. What do you think?

I think this passage also teaches true charity. When the brother speaks, he uses the word 'I' countlessly, yet seems kind of miserable. When the father speaks, he speaks of joy and little of himself. We know at the end of the passage that the prodigal son is no longer prodigal but whole again, and that the father is happy. Yet the son who had been doing everything right becomes the tragedy; after doing the right thing, he becomes prideful and resenting and we don't know what happens afterwards. Of course, the reader almost becomes the other son after judging him for judging his brother and we learn how easy it is to fall short just as he did. The good news with all of this is that no matter what happens to the sons, they can always come back to a loving father who is willing to give to them entirely.

Forward with Faith

I am guilty of being one of those people who is scared about the future. I look at myself, in my 21 years, and realize I have only started living, though I feel like I have felt, thought and experienced a lot. Then I have the realization that life is going to be so different. I have come to the conclusion that I am an idealist, and as such, I experience a lot of disappointment when myself and others do not live up to my ideals. Thus, as a natural result of my idealism, I am also a pessimist. I get scare of failure, of change, of anything that people get scared of. Indeed I am guilty of living in fear.

But I guess I want to make this post not just for you, but also to teach myself that I have little to fear. In his conference address this last April, Elder Russel M. Nelson taught about how my faith now will effect my posterity's faith later. And I guess conversely, how my fear will effect my children's fear. Yeah, I definitely want to stop that.

So what am I to do about it? I will include an outline and then reiterate Elder Nelson's promises and challenge you and myself to follow those promises. Indeed everywhere we look there is reason to have concern. But the way we combat the sadness and evil starts with our families.

1. Teach of God, Christ and the Holy Ghost to our children with deep conviction.

2. Teach the plan of salvation.

3. Warn children that people will choose wicked things and pick and choose to live certain commandments.

4. Teach obedience to God through our own obedience and that it provides physical and spiritual protection

5. Pray with your heart. If we keep an eternal perspective, we can be confident that God hears them. Which I interpret as being patient for God's blessings.

6. To develop faith, being a full tithe payer is essential. Teach tithing to children

Elder Nelson then points out that the reason we need all these things is because "Rarely in the future will it be easy or popular to be a faithful Latter-day Saint." That can be kinda scary to me, especially as I look to raise kids. I want my family to be faithful. This is the only way I can have any hope that they do and it starts with me.

I keep noticing how he uses the word "faithful Saint." This goes to show that there is a difference between being just a member of the church and someone whose faith is in entirely. He says, "You faithful Saints do not have to fight life's battles alone. Think of that! The Lord declared, 'I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.'"

I want to quote President Monson with,

“I testify to you that our promised blessings are beyond measure. Though the storm clouds may gather, though the rains may pour down upon us, our knowledge of the gospel and our love of our Heavenly Father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us and bring joy to our hearts as we walk uprightly and keep the commandments. My beloved brothers and sisters, fear not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith."

This gives me strength that as I build my faith, I will have little to fear and that God will help my husband and me and our children as we teach and practice these things. I guess what I want to challenge myself and others is to better live those six things he described and so we can know of our security in the future.

http://lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/face-the-future-with-faith?lang=eng