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.

Crandall Printing Museum

I went to the Crandall Printing Museum this week. I've heard about it over and over again while I've been here at BYU. I finally went. It was really good. Take a look at the website:

http://crandallmuseum.org/

They have three presses. They have a working model of the Gutenburg press. They even demonstrated how he made the letters. I think that was my favorite part.

They also have a replica of Benjamine Franklin's press. They discussed the power that printing had in the colonies. Franklin was able to print some 500,000 copies of Paine's "Common Sense." There were only two million colonists at that point. That means that one out of every four people could read "Common Sense." They argued that without the press the American Revolution would have never occured. It unified the colonists.

Next we saw a press that is a replica of the press that printed the Book of Mormon. The museum showed us the entire process of printing the Book of Mormon. The printer printed 5,000 books in seven months. It was extreamly fast. The museum said they reset a new page every two minutes. It was incredible that they printed that many books that fast.

We take books and printed material for granted. It is so easy to hop onto the web and learn something. But do we really learn? What power books have in our lives. I'm greatful for the Book of Mormon. It is one book that has changed my life.

Joseph in Jail

First, I must say that this has been an awesome weekend. Valentine's day was perfect, I did go out with that special someone and I didn't have school on Monday. Let me just say it was hard to go to school this morning.

This past week, we have been discussing Joseph Smith's experience in Liberty Jail. He was incarcerated for about five months. He was being held on faulty charges. It was a very trying time for him, and for all the members of the early church. There is one passage which I would like to quote.

"If the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he? Therefore, hold on they way,, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannont pass... fear not what man can do for God shall be with you forever and ever." (Doctrine and Covenants 122:7-9)

God was comforting Joseph in a time when Joseph felt nothing was going right. We too must have faith and trust in God. Only then will we be able to make it though, because we are linked with God by the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

What is a Temple?

Any ancient civilizations had temples. The Greeks, the Egyptians, the Romans, the Israelites, and I'm sure the list could go on. I had a civilization course last semester, and we discussed how temples connect men with God.

Latter-day Saints also have temples. Just as in ancient times, Latter-day Saint temples connect us with God. There, in the temple, we are able to learn what blessings God has for us, as his children. Temples give us direction. Temples give us a refuge.

Under the direction of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the early Mormon Saints built the Latter-day temple in Kirkland, Ohio. They later built a temple in Nauvoo, which was later burned. We now have over 120 temples.

Two weeks ago, I was able to go to the Draper Temple open house with my family. It was a beautiful building. The temple reminds me that I can be sealed with my family for eternity. What a wonderful blessing.

Here is a link to the Draper Temple Openhouse. Anyone can get tickets and see it.

http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/draper/

What is heaven really like?

This last week we had a test. I hope there aren't tests in heaven. That is all I can say. We have been discussing the life after this one. To me, it is an important question. I'm sure there is not a human being alive that hasn't thought about what is after death, if there is anything. I think it is natural for people to think about such things.

Joseph Smith was reading in John 5:29. John writes that the good, meaning people, shall come to a resurrection of life, and the evil will come to a resurrection of evil. Joseph Smith thought about this and had some questions. He asked God and recieved revelation which is now in the Doctrine and Covenants section 76.

We believe heaven has three degrees of glory. We will be resurrected to one of these glories. 1 Corinthians 15:40-42 puts it this way, "There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrrestial but the glory of the celestisal is one and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead."

We believe that after we are resurrected, we will live in different glories, some people comparable to the sun, some to the moon, and some comparable to the stars. It is up to us, to do what God has commanded so we are able to reach the highest glory.