L is for "Look Not Behind Thee"

"Look not behind thee." A phrase many of you will recognize as one used by the Lord to Lot and his family as they are fleeing the city of Sodom which is about to be destroyed by God.

Let's back up the story a bit though to how Lot came to be in this wicked city in the first place.

Lot was the nephew of Abraham. They traveled and lived together for a good stretch of time but the time came for them to settle and part ways. Lot had first choice of the land and it is said that he "dwelled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent toward Sodom." (Genesis 13:12). There's Lot's first problem, he has his tent set up facing the city of Sodom so that's all he sees everyday whenever he looks outside. We gain what we set our sights on so it isn't altogether too surprising when in the next chapter we learn that Lot has actually moved into Sodom. Skip ahead a few chapters and we learn that Sodom had become so wicked that the Lord has decided to destroy it, there were less than righteous people in that whole city (see Genesis 18). An angel comes and warns Lot to take his family and flee with the instruction "look not behind thee" (Genesis 19:15-17). And so they fled, "But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt." (Genesis 19:26). She was so focused on looking back that she lost the ability to move forward.

Here's this great video I found about what we learn from Lot's wife and how looking back prevents us from new beginnings:

 Okay great so we know we need to look forward and not look back but why do we continue to look back anyways? There are many different reasons but I think the main one is that we feel the need to hold on to something there. It might be guilt, it might be a friendship, a relationship, a loved one, a job, the list is extensive. For whatever reason though, something keeps us looking back wishing we could have done something different, wishing to be back where we were. Doing so will not be helpful to us though. Elder Jeffrey R Holland stated it this way:

The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead and remember that faith is always pointed toward the future ("The Best Is Yet to Be").

When we are full of faith, we are able to look to the the future instead of dwelling on the past. Like Elder Holland stated, there are valuable lessons to be learned from the past but these lessons are to help us learn and move forward, not to keep us looking back. There is some wisdom in the most recent Disney power ballad which proclaims, "I'm never going back, the past is in the past." We shouldn't desire to move backwards into the past but rather forward into our future. As we learn to let go of what holds us back, and we rely on the atonement, we will be able to become better than we were before.

Let me conclude with one of my favorite scriptures. It comes from the story of a people who were told to by the Lord to build barges that would lead them to a promised land. The barges had no sails and the Lord said this of it "ye shall be as a whale in midst of the sea; for mountain waves shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea; for the winds have gone forth out of my mouth, and also the rains and the floods have I sent forth" (Ether 2:24) The Lord here states that He is in control of the winds and the rains and that He was driving them "toward the promised land" (Ether 6:5). Our past, present and future are in the hand of the Lord and He is sending "ferocious winds" that will indeed blow us to our promised land, eternal life, to be in the presence of God again. We need only to endure and remember to look forward and "look not behind thee."

K is for Knowledge

Knowledge. There is knowledge in things such math, science, and literature and then there is knowledge in things pertaining to God such as faith, hope, and charity. While all knowledge comes from God, due to the nature of this blog, we'll be focusing more on the obtaining of knowledge of spiritual things. The Merriam-Webster dictionary informs us that it is "information, understanding or skill that you gain from experience" and that it is "the awareness of something". Knowledge increases our our understanding of the world around us and so heightens our spirituality. It is "one of the attributes of God...Knowledge of things of divine and spiritual things is absolutely essential for one's salvation" (Bible Dictionary "Knowledge"). Knowledge of God and his plan for us is what will help us in the eternal sense of things.

So how do we obtain this spiritual knowledge? The scriptures teach us "...seek ye learning out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith." (D&C 88:118). In other words, knowledge isn't going to just fall into our laps because we desire to learn, but rather we must seek to learn by studying the scriptures and then asking in faith if what we have studied is indeed true. We need to be active in the learning process in order to gain true knowledge. "As you study diligently, prayerfully, and with pure intent, the Holy Ghost will enlighten your mind, teach you, and help you understand" (Preach My Gospel: Knowledge). The Holy Ghost is a testifier of truth and so you will be able to feel of the truth of something through his influence.

There are those who would claim visitations of angels would help them to know of the existence of God. These people mistaken the process of obtaining knowledge. Such events can spark a person's desire to know of God but do not change their hearts, the change and desire must take place within us and cannot be forced by anyone. To illustrate this, allow me to compare three characters from The Book of Mormon: Laman, Lemuel, and Alma the younger.

Let's first look at Laman and Lemuel. The two oldest of, at the time, four brothers. Their father was a prophet and had brought their family out of Jerusalem because he had been commanded to do so by God (see 1 Nephi 2). Their father sent the four brothers back to Jerusalem to obtain a record that had their genealogy and the scriptures on it (see 1 Nephi 3). The youngest brother, Nephi, came up with a couple of different ideas to get the record and both fail. Laman and Lemuel become angry with Nephi and their other younger brother Sam and begin to beat him with a rod. An angel then appears and tells Laman and Lemuel to cease from beating their younger brothers and to go and fulfill the commandment that had been given them to obtain the record (see 1 Nephi 3:27-28). Now instead of being humbled and willing to be obedient after seeing an angel, the scriptures tell us, "and after the angel had departed, Laman and Lemuel again began to murmur..." (1 Nephi 3:31). They didn't gain anything from the encounter but rather remained exactly the same. They had no desire to change and did not take this opportunity to learn to be humble and slow to anger, they went back right to complaining about the situation.

On the other hand we have the account of Alma the younger, who in his youth was quite the rebellious soul. His father, whose name was also Alma, was the head of the church and yet he and his friends went about "seeking to destroy the church" (Mosiah 27:8-10). Alma the elder and the people of the church prayed that Alma the younger and his friends would be "brought to a knowledge of the truth" (Mosiah 27:14) and as a result, an angel appeared to them. The angel shook the ground they stood on and commanded them to repent (Mosiah 27:11-16). Upon the angel's departure, Alma the younger fell to the earth and was as if he were dead for two days. When the two days had past, Alma the younger arose and told all of how he had repented and from that time forth he did all he could to serve the Lord (Mosiah 27:19-32). Many years later, Alma the younger teaches of his conversion and shows us the true source of his knowledge was not from the visitation of the angel:

"Do ye not suppose that I know these things myself? Behold I testify unto you that I do know that these thing whereof I have spoken are true. And how can ye suppose that I know of their surety? Behold I say unto you they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know of these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit; and this is the spirit of revelation which is in me." -Alma 5:45-46

Alma the younger obtained his knowledge not because he had seen an angel but because he had fasted and prayed many days concerning what he wanted to know. Alma the younger put in his part and the Lord poured out His Spirit upon Alma that he was able to obtain that knowledge. The confirmation of truth that the Holy Ghost brings will be something that will linger, something you will never forget.

Acquiring spiritual knowledge does take effort on our part, we must study with diligence and then pray with sincerity. It is important to remember that knowledge will not come all at once but rather "line upon line; here a little, and there a little"(Isaiah 28:10). With each piece of knowledge, we will be able to grow to become closer and more like our Father in Heaven. We are promised though that if we seek that we shall find (Luke 11:9), so if we truly seek spiritual knowledge, we shall indeed find it.