Alter

Topics without scriptures: Alpha, Alphaeus, Altar.

When we were younger, my older brother decided to bake cookies. He followed the recipe just fine, but at the end he decided that waiting for one batch of cookies to bake, take them out and then put in a second one would be too much work. So he decided instead to just make the lumps of cookies dough on the pan larger so they would all fit in one batch. The result was not a plate full of individual cookies to dip into milk, but instead a sheet of one solid cookie that needed to be cut with a knife. Not a huge deal as it still tasted delicious, but a very clear and visual result of what happens when you try to alter recipes.

Just like my brother learned in cooking, we can learn that when we try to alter the commandments of God we do not get the results promised from obedience. In Psalms 89:34 it reads:

34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.

And later in 2 Peter 1:20 it reads:

20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

Though these and other scriptures are pretty clear about not changing what you have agreed to in terms of following God's commandments in the way they are laid out by His prophets, there is a form of alteration happening in Luke 9:29:

29 And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering.

Alterations can happen, but instead of it being man altering the things of God it is the things of God altering man.

Alone

In Exodus 18:18, Moses is trying to take care of the entire house of Israel (all several thousand of them) and handle all their daily problems by himself. In response to this, his father-in-law gives Moses this little piece of advice:

18 Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.

I am sure we have all been on that project team or that committee where even though there are five other members all the work ends up on your shoulders. This is a necessary trial that we will have to face at times, but God did not intend for this life to be a solo activity. In fact, I think he made working together a commandment while describing the city of Zion on Moses 7:18:

18 And the Lord called his people ZION, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.

Being part of the community that Christ would have the world live in requires that we help others. While I was in Barcelona, Spain my husband and I went to church and I heard this story:

Once there was a hive of bees that was different than most hives. All the bees inside were lazy. They would buzz around sometimes or would start bickering with each other, but the thought never really crosses their mind that they should be working. You see, they did not have to because one little bee, who loved his brothers and sisters very much, did all the work. This bee knew that someone had to work to get food, and everyday he selflessly and quietly went about doing it.

One day, the bees noticed that there was not any food. They were confused and started arguing to figure out what happened. Then a shout was given, and all the bees turned to find the one hard working little bee almost dead from over work. Now these little bees were not mean, just lazy, and their little hearts swelled up at the thought of their brother dying to take care of them. So they all started working, knowing that they needed to in order to save their brother.

A miracle happened! With ALL the bees doing their part the work was done every day so quickly and was so much easier than the bees had thought it would be. The bickering in the hive almost entirely disappeared, the little hard working bee became healthy again and everyone was happy. The End.

We may say "why didn't the hard working bee ask for help?" Though that is a very good question, I think it is because the hard working bee had no evidence to believe that the other bees would help him. The question to ask ourselves is "what evidence am I giving others that if they need help they can ask me?" Merely saying "if you need some help be sure to call me!" will probably get results in 2 in 10 times. If you really want to follow what Christ taught about sharing the load, show by your actions and your attitude that helping out and doing your share does in fact matter to you.

Almsgiving

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is usually celebrated with people remembering a great man, re-reading his memorable "I Have A Dream" speech and in general working on creating a more unified world. All these things are great and ways that I like to commemorate the day as well, but the university my husband attends adds a twist to this day that I think Dr. King would approve of. Every year, the university organizes service projects for students and staff in the surrounding community.

One such project was at a local inner-city youth center for homeless and troubled teenagers. Those who participated cleaned and organized the facility and sorted through donations. By the end there were boxes of hats and toothbrushes along with notebooks and hackie sacks, all brand new and all given in the hopes of making a life a little better.

While reading through the scriptures for this topic, the one that stuck out to me the most was Mosiah 4:26 which reads:

26 And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you—that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants.

One of the most prevalent and remarkable characteristics of Christ is his ability to think of others almost constantly. Even after he found out his cousin John the Baptist was killed and wanted to be alone for a little bit, he turned his attention to those following after him seeking his teachings. Even more amazing than that, during his crucifixion in the mists of pain and his near death, he thinks of the welfare of the souls of those torturing him.

When it comes to developing self-disclipline to do good like the Savior did, I think of two examples. The first was when I was a teenager at my family's cabin. My Uncle had brought up the teenage boys from his congregation for a trip at the same time I was going to be up there with my dad, which did not bother me in the slights. I mean, 10 cute boys? What girl would say no? During the second day there were some boys up in the loft area above the main living space where I was with another adult leader. While reading a book, the boy's conversation floated down to me with them unawares, and I heard some foul language coming from them. I guess my face looked pretty shocked that supposed good Mormon boys were speaking like that, because the other leader felt the need to look at me and say "This isn't girls camp" and went back to reading his book.

The second example is from the summer of my senior year. My Bishop (the man who leads our congregation) was playing basket ball with some other men from the congregation when his achilles tendon snapped. I have tried to imagine the pain that must have caused to have such an important tendon snap clear off, and it makes my skin crawl and I have to stop. A comment from one of the men who was there has stuck out in my mind. He said, "If it was me, I would have sworn up a storm. No one would have blamed him at all if he had sworn. It still amazes me and I can't conceive of how he didn't."

In the first example there was bad behavior and an excuse was made. In the second excuses were ready to be handed out but they were not needed. I feel like that is how it is with anything in our lives, but in this case with giving to the poor. There is a ready excuse for everyone, "we have so little", "our kid's getting ready for college soon", "we gave last month" when in reality we should be living our lives so the excuses people are waiting to give to us are unneeded. That's the way Christ was, and that's the way we should be as well.

Allure

According to dictionary.com, allure means:

1. to attract or tempt by something flattering or desirable.

2. to fascinate; charm.

With this definition in mind, 2 Peter 2:18 should be familiar to us today:

18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.

The phrase could be read as "by making the lusts of the flesh desirable, they attract the Saints." Or in today's phraseology "Sex Sells."

From unrealistic pictures of women to comedic TV shows depicting sexual conquests, in the world we live in it is impossible not to be affected at all by the preconception that throwing yourself into the sexual game is something you want. While sex in itself is not bad, this obsession with the focus on pleasure rather than connection with the other person is not just bad, it is condemning and demeaning.

Alluring people into sin is one of Satan's greatest tactics. We all want to be happy and if he can show us that what is despicable and soul destroying is actually in fact glamorous and desirable, then his job is pretty much done as people will crawl over each other to get at what he has to offer.

There is a better way. Satan can not make anything, he can only twist what God has created for his own purposes. That means that there is something better than lust, there is something better than base sex, there is something better than the glamor. Those things are love, intimacy and beauty - and they are gifts from God for our happiness.