[Teachldsseminary] Section 76 - question about

[Marji]

Thanks for the information.  Unfortunately after I read things like this I
always feel lacking in some way, some times lots of ways!  
=============

Beth,

I've thought about your comment for a few days now.  I know your feeling.
There is a lot I could say - of comfort, of reassurance, of the Savior's
atonement, and the role and effect of divine grace in our lives...  We never
can truly cross the bridge by ourselves - only Christ's purifying power can
get us there, ever.  Our works will never be enough to save us, alone.
Remember the bridge.  Remember the last question of a temple recommend
interview:  "Do you feel worthy to enter the temple?"  The question is not:
"Did you do everything you should do?  Or, Are you perfect in every (any)
way?"  The emphasis is on worthiness, and the FEELING within your own heart.
Do you feel that acceptance from the Lord, and from yourself?  If so, then
you are worthy of the presence of the Lord.  And the small things we plant
here on earth will one day bear fruit in heaven, the temple being a symbol
of heaven.  I wanted to reassure you of that.  Discouragement is too
effective a tool of the destroyer to ever let our lofty goals seem
oppressive or unreachable.  The bridge is Christ - he fills the gap between
who we are, and our ultimate acceptance by the Lord.  Worthiness.  Purity.
The reach of our hearts - what did we love while on earth?  Where were the
treasures of our hearts?

Here's an interesting quote from C.S. Lewis, as quoted by Stephen Covey, in
"Why I Believe".

"Connecting with divine roots produces good things, including a deep change
in our nature. C. S. Lewis expressed it beautifully:

"When I come to my evening prayers and try to reckon up the sins of the day,
nine times out of ten, the most obvious one is some sin against charity, I
have sulked or snapped or sneered or snubbed or stormed. And the excuse that
immediately springs to mind is that the provocation was so sudden or
unexpected. I was caught off my guard, I had not time to collect myself. . .
. Surely, what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best
evidence for what sort of man he is. Surely what pops out before the man has
time to put on a disguise is the truth. If there are rats in the cellar you
are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness
does not create the rats; it only prevents them from hiding. In the same
way, the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man;
it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am. . . . Now that cellar is out
of reach of my conscious will. . . . I cannot, by direct moral effort, give
myself new motives. After the first few steps . . . , we realize that
everything which really needs to be done in our souls can be done only by
God."

Remember that:  "Connecting with divine roots produces good things,
including a deep change in our nature" -- "I cannot, by direct moral effort,
give myself new motives... everything which really needs to be done in our
souls can be done only by God".  

He is our Creator, our Maker, our Savior - the moving force of our lives.
This is why to save our lives we must lose them, giving our hearts over to
Him who has the power to seal us up.  He trusts us.  We must trust him.
Trust yourself and the power within you to overcome, meet the challenge, and
return to the Father pure, clean, and holy, and enter in to the rest of the
Lord.

With Love,
Marji
Poem by Carol Lynn Pearson, from her book A Widening View, Bookcraft, 1983.

URGENT TO MARILYN

Marilyn had a job--

Working out her salvation. 

It wasn't nine to five.

It was nine to nine

In twenty-four-hour shifts.

And there was no vacation,

And in case she should get fired 

Nobody else was hiring,

So Marilyn worked hard

And she worked fast

And she worked in fear.

The boss was away a lot

And Marilyn Wondered 

If he liked her work,

And not knowing, she worked harder.

She did everything on every list

Twice over to make sure.

She didn't have much fun

On the job.

It was more the retirement

Benefits she was there for,

The mansion, the glory.

On a typical day

She ran frantically

>From the visual aid department

To the wheat-grinding

And quilting department

Too the grow your own

Vegetables department

And the sew your own

Children's clothing department

And the physical fitness

Department.

She even stopped running 

Past the genealogy department

And locked herself in

Until she got something done.

And then she ran

To the food storage department,

Rand with scriptures

On cassette in hand,

Ran because there were 

Twenty-two minutes left to fill,

Ran past the boss's memo

On the bulletin board:

"Urgent to Marilyn:

Peace, be still."