Sunday, September 4, 2011

MY FATHER KNOWS ME

Archeologists and historians are trained to make judgments about the accomplishments of ancient and modern civilizations based on the artifacts and writings which have survived the ravishment and rusting of time. They label one very lengthy era as “Stone Age” because of a very few simple tools which have been uncovered, dated and categorized. They brand another “Industrial” to describe an era of time when humans began to desert their family farms and congregate together in cities in order to facilitate the production of goods. The premise upon which the judging and recording of the eras of our existence has been built and sustained, often brings uneasiness to many who view the accomplishments of men as more than the accumulation a few material droppings or scribbling’s upon stone or papyri.

How grateful we should be that our loving Heavenly Father is not confined to the restraints of diggers and compilers. We should give abundant thanks that He will never make sweeping generalizations of large groups of His children, but will always judge each child independently according to their understandings, efforts and accomplishments.

“Now it is better that a man should be judged of God than of man, for the judgments of God are always just, but the judgments of man are not always just.” (Mosiah 29:12)

Thus, we find Lot and his family being saved even though the inhabitants of the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah had reach the point of having their cup of iniquity full. The forward looking Lot escapes the fate of his wife who turned her gaze backward. This is a major component of the good news of the gospel. Even though we might spend our mortality during an era when mankind is practicing dehumanizing lifestyles, our worthiness for a place in God’s kingdom will be judged solely on how we personally have lived.

Long ago, Elijah invited the people of his day to choose between Jehovah and Baal. Likewise, we constantly find ourselves in circumstances where our priorities are demonstrated by our thoughts, words and actions. We can no more walk in two divergent paths in comfort than ancient Israel could serve both false and true gods and remain a covenant people.

We each must choose whether we are going to center our lives in the quest for gaining attributes of godliness or in inundating ourselves in worldliness.
We each must decide if “making the sale” is more important than remaining totally honest in our dealings.

We each must decide if we will allow vulgarism to become more dominant in our lives than purity.

We each must decide if we will speak the profane or the truth.

We each must decide if the social register is to become a more important gauge of our success than how well we are serving our fellows.
Joshua declared that these decisions were not to be tarried upon, but that they should be made today.

We need not fear the judgments of paupers and princes who see through darkened lenses as they stumble with us through mortality.

We need not fear that the success of our mortal passage will be determined by some future digger or compiler as they examine the plastics, polyesters and faded headlines which our generation has left in mountainous heaps throughout the land.

Our Father will never determine our level of advancement by inventorying our material belongings or by comparing us to another, but will scrutinize our souls individually to see how close we have come, given our individual circumstances, to emulating the attributes of our Celestial Parents.

One of the principles of the Good News which we should cherish most is that the judgment of our mortal passage will come from a loving Heavenly Father who will search our individual souls and be able to perfectly view the reality of what we have become.

13 comments:

  1. GRACIAS HERMANOS RILEY POR SUS MENSAJES QUE TANTO BIEN NOS HACEN AL REFLEXIONAR SOBRE ELLOS.

    Luis Enrique Perez

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  2. Gracias, Pdte por este mensaje, lo usare como discurso del Domingo.

    RICARDO ALEXANDER URRESTI ELERA

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  3. Another great assembly of words into concrete thoughts that ring forever true.

    Well done my friend.

    We should put together a collection of thoughts and images.
    we could do just like chicken soup for the soul, but we have
    ALL the truth. Canfield had good stories but limited truth.
    Words, Images and Sounds- "Ward Potluck dinners for the Soul."

    or Jello green salad for the soul. (probably already done)

    or The Cultural Hall of Famous Ward Members....

    your book could be titled the Bill of Rights...stories of people
    who made right choices at right times. or wrong times...

    just some crazy thinking this AM..

    back to fasting......

    have a great Sabbath

    how was subbing for Russ this past week?

    cheers,

    Clark Smith

    ps my son got called to serve in Columbus, Ohio.
    all his buddies went foreign. he was kind of hoping to also.
    his face didn't illuminate when he read Columbus, Ohio.
    any words of wisdom for a dad with his first son mission call.
    he reports to MTC on Jan 11th. I have to keep a socal surfing beach
    kid excited about going to Ohio, mid-winter, for next 4 months.
    Any ideas?

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  4. Let's have a laugh together. I'll laugh at me. You can laugh with me at me.

    I'm sure that when you were in So. Am., and perhaps here in good ole So. Calif. when you allow yourself out of your cocoon, the fortress of comfort we build for ourselves, you have experienced what I have: crude vulgar people.

    "We each must decide if we will allow vulgarism to become more dominant in our lives than purity."

    We are grateful that our exposure to vulgarity can be limited.

    So let us judge for a moment, but with "righteous" judgement. Otherwise wouldn't we be compelled to "judge not."

    Let's share. You should hear the way some of my in-laws speak. Raised in America, speaking no language other than English, you could hardly tell it. Their grammar and enunciation is often at a pre-school level.
    For some of my acquaintances, dare I say friends, there have been times when some of them have excused themselves to perform necessary body functions, you should hear what they said. My goodness, how vulgar! Were they raised in a barn? I eschew their company now!

    ("We each must decide if we will allow vulgarism to become more dominant in our lives than purity.")

    Now when I hear such language I just chuckle inside. It isn't really derision I feel, it's sympathy for their inadequacy, their vulgarity. They may be sweet, innocent people at heart after all who just don't know any better. How about you? How do you rationalize your judgements of others' vulgarity?
    “Now it is better that a man should be judged of God than of man, for the judgments of God are always just, but the judgments of man are not always just.”
    Life is so easy for most people to understand, but I wasn't blessed with that gift to transform the complex into the simple. While others discern truth clearly, I'm stuck in what seems in comparison to be a rudimentary state of development. Thankfully, hopefully, God will judge us by our use of the gifts He gave us rather than the number or level of those gifts. (Well, even at that, I can only pray for mercy.) But it still seems unfair that for the many the following presents absolutely no conundrum:

    1."We each must decide if we will allow vulgarism to become more dominant in our lives than purity."
    2. "We each must decide if the social register is to become a more important gauge of our success than how well we are serving our fellows."

    I have always lived my life by the guiding light of the "social register." No one had to tell me what it was; it has been almost a genetic endowment for me. If not, it has been so nurtured into me that my sense of social and mental conformity to it is unquestionable. I depend on it, not mindlessly, but instinctually for my sense of what is or isn't vulgar or crude.
    "Judge not, lest" but "Judge righteously."
    With rearing, religious training and instincts such as ours, pray tell, what judgment but righteous judgement could we exercise?
    “Now it is better that a man should be judged of God than of man, for the judgments of God are always just, but the judgments of man are not always just.”
    I would dare posit, only as a theory for your consideration, that the judgments of men are never perfect, but always flawed by a limited state in which they find themselves. So "righteous judgement" should be, must be "humble righteous judgement." We must judge with the understanding that our very best judgments, our most certain and righteous judgements, have some possibility, some probability of being erroneous judgments; for no other judgment of man is righteous.

    Remain open but Be Skeptical,

    Paul Maddox

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  5. Presidente, gracias por tan edificante pensamiento.

    edna liliana vega castrillon

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  6. gracias mil por los hermosos y profundos pensamientos.

    Abrazos

    Armando & Graciela Gomez

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  7. Presidente Riley: Que mensaje tan maravilloso... de verdad gracias.... algunos de los mensajes me han ayudado mucho en mis clases o en mi propia vida cotidiana. Estoy muy agradecida por tener aun contacto con usted. Ahora estoy enseñando Investidos de lo Alto y la Historia Familiar, soy muy feliz en la Iglesia y me esfuerzo cada dia por vivir como Nuestro Padre Celestial quiere que yo viva. Tambien doy gracias a Dios - aun - por haber tenido la oportunidad de servir en una mision y con usted como mi Presidente, le recuerdo mucho y sus enseñanzas nunca se me olvidan, cada dia las aplico en mi vida, con mi familia y en mis clases. Quiero que sepa que nunca me he alejado de la Iglesia, estoy fuerte en mi testimonio del evangelio y se que mi Padre Celestial me conoce como dice en su mensaje de hoy. Un abrazo.

    Monica López Montes

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  8. DR. R: Thank you. This is powerful….

    Bill and Sharron Ruffner

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  9. Bill, thanks for sharing this, I am using it for missionary work. Times are getting tough but alot of saints have there head in the sand. Glenn Beck says that we are experiencing a "sea change" in the world and it is going to "jolt" everybody to the depths of their soul. My opinion is that we are in the epoch of the events leading to a breakdown of all societies and nations resulting in anarchy. This will have to play out according to the Lord's schedule but things are just going to keep deteriorating with a few "rays of sunshine" intermixed such as a new president and Republican Congress in 2012; however, our financial problems are just to horrendous and can't be fixed w/o a complete breakdown of our financial system which is happening before our eyes. My business makes me priviy to information that most folks don't see and this info is very very grim Bill. There is no salvation for nations, only indvidual salvation.The Lord is testing us individually to see who has the guts to endure to the end. What is the solution? no soution only help. Go to the temple frequently and constantly...there is power there that will wrap around you a shield to protect you from the onslaughts of the world and help you face your individual challenges better. Yes, being active in the church and magnifying your calling is important but it will not protect you from the power of the destoyer like frequent and constant temple service....weekly endowments is living the law of sacrifice...you are doing something for a person that they under any circumstances can't do for themselves. The saints need to understand this more and more. The key point: The church is the fullness of the gospel; but the fullness of the Holy Ghost is ONLY found in the temple. I have had as much struggle as anybody in the last 12 years and I owe all of my "endurance" to my temple service. Marilynn and I are coordinators every Friday night in Medford and I do two Endowments every week and she does one per week. This service has been the "glue" and the "balm of Gilead" in our lives. I have no desire todo anything else, like travel etc. I will spend the rest of my days in temple service. In fact Bill, and don't spread this around because it is not a point of pride...I just finished my 1600th endowment last week. No pride, just humility and gratitude for the Lord's mercy in allowing me, despite my weaknesses, and worldliness to even work in His house. The more temple work I do, the more I realize that this is where the rubber hits the road.Bill, you were the best Bishop we ever have had.

    We love you and Sharron

    Jan Gardner

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  10. Muchas gracias, como siempre que buen artículo.


    JULIANA BARRIOS

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  11. I judge. The thermostat for my "degree of righteous judgement" is set far too high to merit the adjective, so when I counsel caution it is certainly myself which I most admonish. For me that adjective is a very subjective, highly rationalized "judgement" in itself; best reserved to govern my own behavior and not to permit me to render condemnation of others. God probably gets enough assistance with that task without me piling on.
    I am grateful when you bring smoldering thoughts within me to flame and are furthermore patient enough to allow me to respond (often for my own benefit) in whatever way inspires me at the moment.

    Remain open but Be Skeptical,

    Paul Maddox

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  12. Bro Riley,

    Thank you so much for this week's "Thoughts". I especially loved the insight, "Our Father will never determine our level of advancement by inventorying our material belongings or by comparing us to another, but will scrutinize our souls individually to see how close we have come, given our individual circumstances, to emulating the attributes of our Celestial Parents."

    P.S. I always save these emails and organize them by topic. Great to reflect on when i am studying for a lesson or in my own personal scripture study.

    Much appreciated,Scott Jorgensen

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