I know all four of you are surprised, but, I am writing anyway. I was reading through a magazine tonight trying to get some inspiration for my work and I read about a blogger by the name of Andrea Lampman. She said her goal for her blog is: Honesty above all else, and whining is not an option. I have really been thinking about that this evening and thinking what a great sentiment it is. Especially in conjunction with the scriptures. I was reading from the Book of Mormon in 1st Nephi again tonight (yes, because I am starting over again) and in the very first verse I was reminded of something. Nephi says, "having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days...". I love the fact that he states very matter-of-factly first that he has seen many afflictions. No whining. In fact, almost proudly. Then followed up immediately by the fact that he is highly favored by the Lord. This is a guy who gets it. He understands that is is because the Lord loves him and has big plans for him that he has seen many afflictions. It is so easy sometimes to forget that. It is the refiners fire.
I like the analogy of the sword. The process of making a Japanese Samurai sword is very complex, but the part I like refers to the making of the outer skin of the blade. This is an excerpt I found on Wikipedia. "...the outer skin of the blade, is produced by heating a block of high quality raw steel, which is then hammered out into a bar, and the flexible back portion. This is then cooled and broken up into smaller blocks which are checked for further impurities and then reassembled and reforged. During this process the billet of steel is heated and hammered, split and folded back upon itself many times and re-welded to create a complex structure of many thousands of layers. Each different steel is folded differently to provide the necessary strength and flexibility to the different steels." I love the visuals of the layers of the sword. Without that process, the sword would be less flexible, less strong and more prone to breaking in battle. Today, as we battle for our spiritual lives constantly, it is nice to know that the Lord loves us and that we have our trials because we are "highly favored". And, if we persevere without whining, actively looking for the lessons and the principles the Lord would have us learn, our blade gets stonger and stonger. Our learning increases, our love increases and we become more able to serve Him and his children.
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My dad told me that once about the process of tempering steel. He explained that by the time the heating, cooling (which is sometimes done by plunging the steel into icy cold water)and repeating are done the chemical make-up of the steel has been changed. I agree with you that this is the same thing Heavenly Father is trying to accomplish with us. He wants us to become "new creatures in Christ" and sometimes he achieves His ends by subjecting us to high heat and bitter cold. I love your thoughts, Jay. I'm looking for more like this from you. Love you.
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