God in Everyday Life

I had an interesting week this past week. A lot happened which I knew was going to happen but I wasn't quiet prepared for it to happen. And yes, I am trying to be ambiguous as possible. I just want to say that it was such a week that you feel that three months were packed into three days. But I survived and I feel stronger for it.

I want to write about this because I felt the power of God in my life during the last couple of days. He gave me little presents for which I'm very grateful. You know, those things that happen and they only happen because there is a God. It is unmistakable where such little things come from because they just don't happen. Something greater than us mortals on Earth has to make them happen. I hadn't talked to anyone about what was thinking or going through and yet God sent people to me that helped me through the last couple of days.

All that I can say is that God knows who I am. He has told me that I am of great worth. He cared enough about me to sent me people to me to help me because I prayed and asked for help. It is that simple!

The semester is going to end soon. I have about three weeks left. It is incredible how quickly time goes. I feel just yesterday, I was complaining because it was the middle of the semester and I had so much time left. Everyday is a new day. We can have a new beginning every day. We just have to wake up and say, it is a new day, lets see what I cam make of it. There is hope because God sent his son Jesus Christ. What a perfect plan.

Religious Art

This past week I went to the Museum of Art here on Brigham Young University campus. We looked at part of the religious collection that was on display. One of them was the this Carl Bloch painting of Jesus at the pools of Bathesda. Having been in Jerusalem, the pools were one of my favorite spots in the city. It is a peaceful place with little tourist traffic. There is a great church next to the pools that is simple and clean. It was under construction when I was there but it was still quiet.

It was interesing to contemplate what happened there. How many people would go to the pools for the market or to be healed? How busy was it? What was it like? Then there came a day when Jesus came. He told this invalid, take thy bed up and walk. Christ healed him.

How many times are we waiting at the pool and we can't get up? We all have problems, questions, distractions. We only have turn to the savior who is sitting there waiting to heal us.

Brigham Young University owns the original painting. Any reproduction has does little justice to the real painting. I would like to thank www.carlbloch.com for the image which is posted on my blog. What a wonderful painting by a gifted artist.

Trials of Life

Life is full of problems. I've seen many in my life. I've seen friends addicted to alchohol. I've had friends get pregnant in high school. I've seen get sick and die. There is no shortage of hard things in life.

In one of my classes, we've been talking about genocide. What causes people to murder others? Does that mean that God doesn't exsist? Does life get so bad that it is not worth it?

I would say God does exsist and life is always worth it. Unfortunately terrrible things happen, but we have a decision to make. We can use a bad situation to become bitter or we can grow and become better. Luckily, We have the Savior Jesus Christ, who is able to help us through our problems. We only have to pray to him. In the end, when we rely on Jesus Christ and pray to our Father in Heaven, we come to know them better. We can develop a true relationship with them. But like I said, we must first try and pray to them.

History Symposium

I attended BYU's Church History Symposium this past week. Being a history major it was interesting to see historians at work. The first breakout session that I attended was entitled "The Gensis of Mormon Historical Writing." I, being in a historical writing class, thought the discussion would focus on historical writing. I was wrong. It was rather boring actually. The next session I attended was about Andew Jensen. He was a Church Historian who traveled basically around the world gathering information about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was interesting. The last session I attended was about women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was more postmodernist in nature. It seemed to be more of the 'history' that I've been studying in my history 200 class.

One of the keynote speakers was Elder Marlin K. Jensen. He is currently the Church Historian. He said that history is inseperable from reality. He argued that we, as LDS Church members, cannot understand today and what the Church represents today without learning the past. That is why we, as members of the Church, should be students of Church history. Not bad for me who is already a student of history.

Another note from my life this past week. I had a nephew that was baptized. I was also able to study about baptism this past week. Baptism is an ordiance. It is an act, which we preform with true authority, to make a covenant with God. A covenant is a two-way promise. We promise God to follow His commandments and represent Jesus Christ while He promises us to have a remission of sins and the Holy Ghost. What an opportunity everyone has to make a covenant with God. We are able to see his power in our lives.