On More of a Serious Note

There are many things I love in life, but one that will never change is reading. Love reading, especially when it is a thought provoking read. Next to reading, I love reflecting and talking to others about their thoughts.

Recently a friend sent me a talk Bruce C. Hafen gave called "A Disciples Life." As we are all hopefully trying to become disciples in our own life, you may enjoy the read:
http://magazine.byu.edu/?act=view&a=2232

Here are a few of my favorite parts from it, or at least the first read, and my thoughts.

Speaking on Opposition he says:
"Lehi said, "It must needs be, that there is an opposition in all
things" (2 Ne. 2:11). So wherever you are on your journey, there will
always be a reason not to go on. Don't wait until all obstacles
disappear. The purely rational mind will always find a good reason to
hold back, for Satan places those obstacles in our path. But
opposition can strengthen us. The skills of human growth are best
"learned slowly against difficulty."

Doesn't Opposition remind you of a tug of war? It is constantly pulling at you. What a powerful quote this is: there will ALWAYS be a reason, aka an excuse, not to continue on in what is the best thing for us, the obstacles. Making excuses for things is not a favorite for Jamie. I don't like to do it. Heavenly Father never promised that this life would be easy, but he did promise that it would surely be worth it. What better way for Satan to tempte us then by providing us with good reasons to sit a remain complacent--waiting for the hard time or times to be over. We could be waiting our WHOLE life for certain difficulties. Ahhh!! That sounds like a wasted life. Thank goodness we can learn to deal with, possibly learn to love that difficulty, to PROVE to ourselves we can do it. I like that. We, I, really can overcome the hard things, WHILE they are happening. Let me just repeat that last sentence, one of my favorites, 'the skills of human growth are best learned slowly and against difficulty.'


An Analogy to relaxing in an eternal rocking chair and the help of the Holy Ghost:

"Let's clarify a point here that we sometimes miss. Some describe the
entire spiritual-growth process as faith, repentance, baptism, and the
Holy Ghost—as if once we've received the Holy Ghost, the hard work is done and our exaltation is assured, so long as we don't do something seriously wrong. "Endure to the end," we say, as if that means relaxing in some eternal rocking chair. God will just reel us in, like
a fish hooked on a line. But it's not quite that simple.

On the contrary, receiving the Holy Ghost marks the beginning of our real spiritual growth, not the end of it. Baptism and the Holy Ghost only let us enter "in by the gate" (2 Ne. 31:18). Then the Holy Ghost leads us along the "strait and narrow path" (2 Ne. 31:19) of becoming
sanctified disciples—not as passive spectators but by our straining every spiritual muscle, drinking in the power of temple ordinances, and feasting actively on Christ's words to nourish us in becoming ever more holy (see 2 Ne. 32:3–6). And the long-term goal of that journey
is to become like Him."

This goes along so well with the first one, and I like the analogy of a eternal rocking chair. Oh how sometimes I wish my life could be an eternal rocking chair, but what good would that do? And would we really enjoy it when we were relaxing in it? For most of us, probably not, or at least not for long. How does that help us reach all of our long term goals to become more like Him?

I like the idea too that after we receive the Holy Ghost how that is the BEGINNING of our real spiritual growth. How the Holy Ghost helps us along the path where we become sanctified disciples though:
1) straining every spiritual muscle (hence my depiction through the runners above, it's what this made me think of.....)
2) drinking in the power of temple ordinances (and how good it tastes)
3) feasting actively on Christ's words to nourish us in becoming ever more holy (tantilizes my tastebuds....even more than those Luscious Lemon Bars)


If you don't get out of your comfort zone you won't grow.

"Many feel they have a right to indulge themselves: eating too much,
spending too much, and reveling in creature comforts. But, as one
friend said, if you don't get out of your comfort zone, you won't learn. And if you don't learn, you won't grow. And without growth, you
won't find joy. That's a high price to pay for self-satisfied
comfort—no growth and no joy."

Isn't joy what we are looking for? I mean Adam fell that man might have JOY! People love to be joyous, joyfull, and full of joy whenever possible. We'd like to skip the whole opposition in all things and go straight to the joy part. =)

Therefore we are once again reminded of opposition from earlier. Here Bruce C. Hafen is saying that we must get out of our comfort zone. Oh JOY! =) We all love that. Actually, I kind of do. It is nice to do, and the results of getting out of your comfort zone are usually positive. We learn something new, we meet someone new, we get a question answered, we experience something new. Of course there are the crash and burn 'getting out of our comfort zone experiences,' but those turn into some great stories down the road right? =) Infact, I was just speaking to a friend about this today.....lets be people to challenge our comfort zones!