Appeal

This is one of those choice topics that has a total of one scripture. This is a blessing because now I can look at it in detail. The scripture is Acts 25:11 which says:

11 For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Cæsar.

A little background - Paul was preaching in Jerusalem towards the end of his life. The Jews were mad at him for preaching Christianity and wanted him dead. However, because Paul technically had Roman citizenship, he had the right to appeal his case to be tried by Roman law in Rome.

Why does this matter? Well, for Paul it meant that he was not subject to the Jews pushing their Roman Overlords around to have him killed like they did with Jesus. The Romans cared a lot about how their own official citizens were treated and Paul was guaranteed as fair treatment as could be expected at the time by playing his Roman card during the trial.

Why does this matter to us? We can take a lesson from Paul about moving forward with our work against resistance. Before this return to Jerusalem, many people tried to keep Paul from going because of the danger. More than that, Agabus prophesied that if Paul went back to Jerusalem then he would be imprisoned (Acts 21:10). But Paul knew what he needed to do, and made it work. He actually more than just "made it work" as he had the opportunity to preach to kings and great rulers as well as write four epistles while in prison that we still have today.

We need to remember to not always depend on things going smoothly just because we're doing the work God has called us to do, or that angels will swoop in to save us - but that one way or another we too can "make it work."

Apparel

The scriptures for this topic cover clothing and it's significance. Modesty is not talked about in all these scriptures, and if you want to see more of my thoughts on modesty go to my entry on Adorn, Adorning.

What is different about these scriptures is that I feel like they go deeper into why clothing is important from a spiritual perspective. It isn't something you really think about or notice on a regular basis, but can clothing be spiritually significant? Just a little blurb on clothing, I was told as a teenager that how you dressed was a reflection of how you felt about yourself and other people. In the church's pamphlet on standards For the Strength of Youth under the section on Dress and Appearance it states:

"Your body is God's sacred creation. Respect it as a gift from God, and do not defile it in any way. Through your dress and appearance, you can show the Lord that you know how precious your body is. You can show that you are a disciple of Jesus Christ."

The first scripture in this section describes the first clothing ever used, and that was by Adam and Eve in the garden in their attempt to cover themselves (Genesis 3:7). They had partaken of the fruit, and knew that they were naked and did not want the Lord to see them that way. This brings up questions in my mind such as "What made them care now?" and "Why do they think God would care now?" I don't know the answer, but I do know that they acted because of how they felt. That is where we can begin.

What came next was God clothing them himself before sending them out into the untamed world (Genesis 3:21). The pattern I want to point out is that clothing came when there Adam and Eve got their knowledge, and that Adam and Eve's attempts to clothe themselves was not enough. They had to be cover by Christ.

In D&C 29:34 it says that there are no temporal laws but that all laws are spiritual. I believe this is true, and I believe that how we dress has a direct impact on our spirits.