The Greatest of These is Love

"It don't take money and it don't take fame

don't need no credit card to ride this train

Tougher than diamonds and stronger than steel

you won't feel nothin' till you feel

you feel the power, just the power of love

that's the power of love"

- Huey Lewis & The News

Well there you have it ladies and gentlemen, one of the most profound truths embedded within the movie score of a 1980's teenage-time-travel saga.  Who knew?  This song is definitely a hit in my book but I doubt Brother Lewis and his news crew intended to make any Bible references when they wrote it. So, I'll help them out with that.  ;) 

Amazingly enough, what most of the world describes as the "power of love" is just a drop in the ocean.  It hardly scratches the surface, especially when we are talking about God's love.  President Uctdorf said, "Think of the purest, most all-consuming love you can imagine. Now multiply that love by an infinite amount—that is the measure of God’s love for you."

Such love is hard for me to fathom because the "purest, most all-consuming" kind I have experienced in my life is already breathtaking and overwhelming. I am certain that I would not be able to stand in Christ's presence were I to see Him today.  I do not doubt that being near Him, I would lose all physical strength within me and I would fall at His feet, His beautiful feet.  Perhaps that is why the people in Lehi's dream "fell down" when they partook of the fruit of the Tree of Life.

Associated directly with this love is "joy" as the angel describes to Nephi, "Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father! .. it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things... Yea, and the most joyous to the soul." - 1 Nephi 11:22-23

When I think of joy, I think of the sun and the warmth of its rays on my face.  You know that feeling when you are out in the fresh open air, when the light of the morning breaks over the horizon... You cannot help but close your eyes and soak in every stream of warmth and radiance. There flows in you a sensation of new energy and that energy fills every part of your being.  It puts a spring in your step, an excitement for life, and you begin to feel that light of the sun bursting through you.  It's incredible!

We do not keep these glimpses of Heaven to ourselves.  They are meant to be shared.  When we come to understand "the power of God's love" so deep that it changes our heart, our very nature, there does not need to be any command to share it because it will happen so naturally.  We cannot restrain ourselves from doing this because it is in "the sharing" that the joy becomes magnified and infinitely limitless.  In return we feel a greater measure of His love and thus it propels us to grow "brighter and brighter until the perfect day."

Yes, "What the world needs now, is love, sweet love... it's the only thing that there's much too little of."  But Jackie DeShannon, I don't think there's "much too little" of it, I just think most people don't know where to find it.  And how do we help them find it?  We feast on the sweet Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Here pure love infuses joy, and pure joy creates light... enabling us to SHINE!  This is how we help others discover it... Shine so everyone can see what they so desperately need, shine so they can find the Tree for themselves and partake. There is plenty to go around.

In the entire world there is nothing that is greater. Yet one of the biggest lies ever told is that "you can buy anything in this world with money."  I refute that lie with this truth: Love "don't take money, it don't take fame, don't need no credit card to ride this train."  And Mr. Lewis...It's not that it "might just save your life", it IS LIFE and it's the ONLY way to save ours.  It has saved mine.

"Love.. ought to be at the center of all and everything we do in our own family, in our Church callings, and in our livelihood. Love is the healing balm that repairs rifts in personal and family relationships. It is the bond that unites families, communities, and nations. Love is the power that initiates friendship, tolerance, civility, and respect. It is the source that overcomes divisiveness and hate. Love is the fire that warms our lives with unparalleled joy and divine hope. Love should be our walk and our talk.

When we truly understand what it means to love as Jesus Christ loves us, the confusion clears and our priorities align. Our walk as disciples of Christ becomes more joyful. Our lives take on new meaning. Our relationship with our Heavenly Father becomes more profound. Obedience becomes a joy rather than a burden." - Dieter F. Uchtdorf "The Love of God"

-Alicia

Brightly Beams

When my younger brother joined the Navy, he went through dark periods of deep depression, all of which stemmed from a downward spiral of poor choices.  At this time in his life, I painted a picture of a lighthouse based off the hymn "Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy".  I also wrote a poem dedicated to my brother.

I don't think he ever knew at that time that I made it all with him in mind.

A couple of days ago, Kenneth called me.  We talked for nearly 2 hrs!  I love where he is now in his life.  Everything is so much brighter!  We attend different churches but we share the same belief in God and prayer.  Of all my siblings, he is the one I can relate to most because he is religious and openly passionate about his feelings.  Both of us are not afraid to show emotion, especially when that emotion is rooted in genuine love and testimony.  It was music to my ears to hear him share with me his personal experiences with prayer lately and how the Lord is currently guiding him back to the faith he was raised in.  We laughed together, we cried together, and I wanted to reach through the phone and just hug him.  I love him so much!

Last year, I took my niece with me to Texas to visit my brother and presented him with another painting as a gift.  This was one he specifically requested. He wanted it created after the famous "Lone Sailor" statue that you see at many naval bases.  On the print made of it he requested the scripture, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."- John 15:13  I appreciate the fact that my Navy brother was born on Pearl Harbor Day... How fitting now that he has this tribute hanging in his home.

Yesterday in church, one of the hymns was "Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy" and it made me think of Kenneth.  I thought of the lighthouse painting I dedicated to him years ago, where he was at that point in his life.  My mind flashed forward to our recent conversation over the phone and how far he has come from those dark days.  He is seeking the Lord, praying for guidance as a husband and father, wanting more than anything to create a home where his daughter can learn faith and know what it means to feel God's love.  It made me smile.  I'm so proud of him!  I am forever grateful that we have always been close.  It's amazing how such a deep bond has only grown stronger and stronger through all these years.

I made a little slideshow for his birthday last year.  I love to watch it and contemplate the years we've had and the years we will have together.

-Alicia

The Way to Judge

When we hear the word "judge" we may initially think of the counsel Jesus gave in Matthew 7:1, "Judge not, that ye be not judged."
Or...
A different scripture may come to mind and we may think of Mormon's words, "I show unto you the way to judge."

So which is it?  Are we to judge, or not to judge... "that is the question."
I think the answer is: both.

One day at the laundromat, I was mastering my "one-arm skills" as I carried my newborn baby girl while simultaneously sorting dirty clothes into the washing machines .  My other three children were playing across the room together  when suddenly they erupted into a panic.  They were screaming as they ran to me,  I thought something terrible must have happened.  In unison, they shouted and pointed to a man who had just walked through the door carrying his own basket of laundry, "Mommy, it's a kidnapper, a kidnapper!"
My face went red as I tried to quiet them.  I looked at the man they were pointing at.  He was dressed a little grubby and had tattoos up and down his arm, but there was nothing alarming about him to me.
I bent down and tried to hush my anxious children from talking so loud.  I was certain he had already heard their first outburst and was slightly embarrassed.
"Why do you think he is a kidnapper?" I asked quietly.
"Because he has tattoos on his arm, look mommy!"
"Oh no," I said, trying to keep them at a whisper, "No... just because someone has tattoos that does not make them a kidnapper at all." I reminded them that both of my brothers have tattoos, that they were very nice guys and reminded them of all the other nice people they knew who had tattoos.  I wasn't quite sure why they had chosen to react in such a way about this guy but after talking with them they felt better and resumed playing as before.

I thought to myself, "Man, I really need to work on helping them judge a dangerous situation and at the same time avoid judging because someone looks or dresses differently."  If it had been a real kidnapper, I would have wanted them to know.  I would have wanted them to scream and run. But that afternoon in our little situation, there was no threat and I wanted them to be able to recognize that.  There is wrongful judgment and righteous judgment.

One of my favorite stories about righteous judgement is in Moses chapter 1, where Moses had just seen God face to face and after that glorious and wondrous experience, he then had this experience with Satan:

"And it came to pass that Moses looked upon Satan and said: Who art thou? For behold, I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten; and where is thy glory, that I should worship thee?

 For behold, I could not look upon God, except his glory should come upon me, and I were transfigured before him. But I can look upon thee in the natural man. Is it not so, surely?

 Blessed be the name of my God, for his Spirit hath not altogether withdrawn from me, or else where is thy glory, for it is darkness unto me? And I can judge between thee and God"  - Moses 1:12-14

As a mother, there is nothing I desire more than to teach my children to learn to judge righteously, to recognize the Spirit because, "the Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really care, and of things as they really will be." - Jacob 4:13

I want them to be able to discern between right and wrong, between truth and error.  I want them to actively seek and choose those people and those things that will edify and inspire them to be better.  I also want them to recognize when they are in danger and know when to run, when to leave a party, shut a movie off, or get out of a certain situation.

Basically, I want them to constantly seek, recognize, and pursue after those things we believe in the 13th Article of Faith, for "anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy." 

Moses  recognized Satan for who he really was because it was "darkness unto [him]."  There is truly something to be said about the relationship between "discernment" and "light."

Jesus taught, 
"Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light." - John 12:35-36

Mormon taught his son Moroni,
"For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night."

"For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God..." 

"...Ye know the light by which ye may judge, which light is the light of Christ, see that ye do not judge wrongfully; for with that same judgment which ye judge ye shall also be judged.  Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ." - Moroni 7:15-16, 18-19

Our Spirits are "children of light." It is hardwired within us to know the difference.  "The glory of God is intelligence or in other words light and truth." - D&C 93:36  We are to "search diligently in the light." We are commanded to "bring up [our] children in light and truth."  

My prayer for my children is that as they learn to discern between good and evil, darkness and light, that they will seek out and discover the incredible magnificence and wonder of these eternal truths:

"intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom receiveth wisdom; truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light; mercy hath compassion on mercy and claimeth her own; justice continueth its course and claimeth its own; judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the throne and governeth and executeth all things."- D&C 88:40

"That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day." - D&C 50:24

"Since we are what we are by the impacts of those who surround us, those who surround themselves with the highest will be those who change into the highest.  There are some men and some women in whose company we are always at our best.  While with them we cannot think mean thoughts or speak ungenerous words.  Their mere presence is elevation, purification, sanctity." - Henry Drummond 

It is an eternal and fixed principle that when we receive light, everything about us and in our lives will grow brighter and brighter!  It is imperative we understand that in the light we will see so much more clearly, we will be able to have the gift of discernment that we so desire and as we shine this Light we will help others see clearly too.

This is the way to judge!

-Alicia

Knowledge > Understanding > Intelligence

I'm half-way through a wonderful book by, David A. Bednar called "Increase In Learning".  I love everything about it so far and this particular section where he speaks of "Knowledge > Understanding > Intelligence" is especially meaningful to me. In my mind he illustrates so perfectly the seed planted in the good ground in Matthew 13.

He teaches that to be fully converted and changed into "new creatures in Christ" we must move from just knowing the Gospel in our minds to feeling it and understanding it in our hearts and then when our hearts are changed,  "the glory of God" which is "light and truth" will be what we have become and intelligence will flow through us, shining in all that we do.

He says it so much better:

"You and I may know the right things to do, but intelligence involves more than just knowing.  If you and I are intelligent, we will consistently do the right things.  Knowing that the gospel is true is important, good, and necessary.  Intelligence is consistently being true to the gospel that we know.

Knowing that the principles of the gospel work in our lives is a good thing.  However, intelligence is consistently working to apply the principles of the gospel in our lives.

We may know and understand that we should be active in the Church.  Intelligence is living in such a way that the doctrines of the Church are active in us - an active and integral part of who we are, and what we are, and what we do, and what we think." 

- David A. Bednar

Jesus is the living Christ and...

"Appropriately seeking for knowledge, understanding, and intelligence is essential for each of us to become a living member of the Savior's living church."
 -David A. Bednar

Knowledge > Understanding > Intelligence  =  Mind > Heart > Action

This intelligence, this light and truth which is the Glory of God, is the evidence of true conversion.  It is a very real and visible light.  I have witnessed it for myself in the countenance of others.  They cannot hold it back, it radiates out from their entire being.  No doubt that there is nothing more beautiful in all of creation!! If "light and truth" is what we sincerely desire and seek to become, no wonder our souls long to be around such people who feel the same.  It is the natural order of heavenly law.

"For intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom receiveth wisdom; truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light" -D&C 88:40

When we are converted our motives are not out of duty but out of love:  Love for His word, love of communion with Him through sincere prayer, love of serving without need of recognition, love of learning more of Him, and love of keeping and holding sacred our covenants.

May we always receive the word into our minds and hearts and let it change us into new creatures of a Celestial sphere, so that the pure light, truth, and glory of God always shines through us.

-Alicia

They That Wait

"They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." - Isaiah 40:31

For the last few days this scripture continues to impress upon my mind.  I've been pondering what it means to "wait upon the Lord".  Perhaps the reason I've been thinking about this is related to the two funerals I've attended in the past week.

Waiting is woven into the fabric of our daily lives.  It helps us develop the glorious virtue of patience.  But it can be oh so painful... especially when that waiting means we will be separated for a time from someone we dearly love, either in death or in the necessary paths of living.  It's a truth, "The only way to take the sorrow out of death [or parting] is to take love out of life." -Russell M. Nelson -  Hearts sewn together with threads of the purest kind are bound to feel sorely torn at parting. This pain, however, is as needful as the prize.  For we would never know the sweet if we did not taste the bitter. "Time goes by so slowly and time can do so much." - Unchained Melody

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." - Psalms 30:5
Those who wait are those who hope even despite all odds, They stay because they truly believe in what will come.

Yes, "time can do so much" for it is that channel all things must flow through in order to grow and progress. Time is the essence of mortal life but it is only to be passed through for we are not bound to it.  We are creatures of eternity.

Night must fall and trail our sky
Before the dawn of each new day.
The shadows of the eventide
Break and fade from morning ray.
A seed that's planted in the ground
Pushes through black of soil,
Through time, through love, and faith unbound,
Through sweat, and tears, and toil
Springing forth, grown to a tree,
Its branches touch the sun.
And time is now a memory
Within this story spun.
- Alicia Rawlins
 
Waiting upon the Lord means promising never to forget Him.  It means keeping Him always and forever in our hearts, always anticipating the day we will again see him face to face and feel His loving embrace.

Those who wait are those who keep hope alive, even despite all odds.  They stay the course, never drifting, because they truly believe in what will come.

"Test and trials are give to all of us.  These mortal challenges allow us and our Heavenly Father to see whether we will exercise our agency to follow His Son.  He already knows, and we have the opportunity to learn, that no matter how difficult our circumstances, 'all these things shall [be for our] experience, and... [our] good." 

Does this mean we will always understand our challenges?  Won't all of us, sometime, have reason to ask, 'O God, where art thou?' Yes!  When a spouse dies, a companion will wonder.  When financial hardship befalls a family, a father will ask.  When children wander from the path, a mother and father will cry out in sorrow." - Robert D. Hales

When I think of being carried as "on the wings of eagles", I think of the strong steady shoulders of my Father in Heaven.

This song "Shoulders" by, "For King and Country" is absolutely beautiful and gives me strength.  Its message is true and because I know this, I can humbly accept the Lord's will and timing in my life whatever it may be.

"Shoulders" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40wYfjv6yt8

"When confusion's my companion
And despair holds me for ransom
I will feel no fear
I know that You are near
When I'm caught deep in the valley
With chaos for my company
I'll find my comfort here
‘Cause I know that You are near
My help comes from You
You're right here, pulling me through
You carry my weakness, my sickness, my brokenness all on Your shoulders
Your shoulders
You mend what once was shattered
And You turn my tears to laughter
Your forgiveness is my fortress
Oh Your mercy is relentless
My help is from You
Don't have to see it to believe it
My help is from you
Don't have to see it, ‘cause I know, ‘cause I know it's true"

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." - Philippians 4:13

-Alicia

"He is the Light"

What a beautiful song this is, I just discovered it!  I may just play it over and over today :)  The Lord has taught us "Let your light so shine" but like the moon, we cannot shine on our own.  We need the Son.  It is His glory, not ours.  He has said, "I am the light which ye shall hold up."  3 Ne. 18:24