AND SHE SHALL REST

A few weeks ago as I was returning upstairs to finish my getting ready for the day preparations, Kathleen asked me if I had felt it. When I responded in the negative she said that we had had another earthquake. Later in the morning the news verified that there had been a quake of 4.5 magnitude centered in Banning, California.

Living in California, quakes of this minor magnitude cause little disruption in one’s daily routine. However, when I hear of clusters of quakes taking place around Reno, Nevada, where we lived for 20 years, it comes as a bit of a surprise to me. It brought to memory a talk Dallin Oaks gave a few months back where he referenced some data about the increase of earth quakes of a magnitude of 7 or greater in the current century. He used his data to emphasize the commotion which would be happening on the earth prior to the Second Coming of the Lord.

The quaking of the earth can be disruptive and stressful, especially when that quaking causes destruction and devastation, but Moses’ writings bring to our attention an unrest of Mother Earth which seems to be even more catastrophic to Heavenly Father’s Plan than the quaking which attends her periodic physical adjustments.

And it came to pass that Enoch looked upon the earth; and he heard a voice from the bowels thereof, saying; Wo, wo is me the mother of men; I am pain, I am weary, because of the wickedness of my children. When shall I rest, and be cleansed from the filthiness which is gone forth out of me? When will my Creator sanctify me, that I may rest, and righteousness for a season abide upon my face? (Pearl of Great Price 7:48)

Every time I hear someone yearn for days that were simpler and more righteous, it makes me wonder what days they might be talking about, since so many centuries ago Mother Earth was already bemoaning the heaviness of having to bear the weight of the wickedness of those who wandered upon her surface.

Through the magic of literature I have had the privilege during my life of being able to indulge in a rather in-depth investigation of the evil manipulations which the imaginations of men have wrought upon one another throughout the centuries. I have often wondered if there have been any new innovations brought about by the current generations which didn't exist in days of yore.

I can report the following:

There is no such thing as a newly created way to break the laws of God.

One of the realities of the modern era is that breaking the laws of God has become affordable to everyone.

We no longer have to go to a den of iniquity to break the laws of God, but this can now be accommodated in the comforts of our own homes.

Possibly like no generation before, we have developed the ability to change that which God calls crimson into white.

The gulf between what is best for the whole of society and that which is practiced on a daily basis has widened exponentially.

The definition and interpretation of the meaning of the laws of God have been relegated to the interpretation of individuals and competitive groups.

The problems of the poor among us have been substantially removed from the backs of the haves and relegated to the have nots.

The slave masters have subtlely disguised the chains with which they bind the enslaved.

Most instances of the breaking of God’s laws have removed individual accountability and responsibility and have relegated causes into categories of heredity, environment, disabilities, diseases and dysfunctions.

Definitions been changed so radically that the patriarchs of old would be hard pressed to recognize what constitutes family, father, mother, child, husband or wife.

As educational materials become more abundant, the ranks of the uneducated grows significantly.

All of these sophisticated ways in which we of the modern world have found to live with the dramatic adjustments we have made to God’s laws seem in some ways to be diminutive when compared to the dichotomy I find most perplexing.

Why is it that a world which seems determined to move toward annihilating ills of violence, over-emphasis on illicit sexual activity, uncontrollable substance abuse and destructive selfish-ness based relationships, has a propensity towards debunking those who attempt to look to the living of the laws of God as a solution to these problems.

But then again, I am quickly reminded that that ancient prophet Isaiah called attention to those of his day who would call evil good and darkness light.

I guess in all our up to date innovations on how to break the laws of God, we still fall under the curtain of certainty that there really is nothing new under the sun.

Maybe someday Mother Earth will no longer mourn the wickedness of Her children.

Maybe someday we will no longer war against the One who was sent to establish peace to bring righteousness upon Her face.

Maybe someday we will cease to struggle against His words which would right wrongs and bring Her rest.

Maybe someday we will accept Jesus the Christ as the Way, the Light and the Truth and She shall be cleansed from all filthiness.