Skip to main content

Ponderize John 6:60 - Spiritual Atrophy

Early in His mortal ministry, Jesus became concerned about the commitment of his followers and after feeding the 5000 he taught them doctrines of the kingdom.  However, some, on hearing Him and His doctrine, said,

“This is an hard saying; who can hear it?” (John 6:60).

We notice a similar statement by Laman and Lemuel when asked to go back to Jerusalem and get the plates from Laban.

"And now, behold thy brothers murmur, saying it is a hard thing which I have required of them; but behold I have not required it of them, but it is a commandment of the Lord." (1 Nephi 3:5)

This was a recurring theme with these two brothers.  Later they said:

"And now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had made an end of speaking to my brethren, behold they said unto me: Thou hast declared unto us hard things, more than we are able to bear". (1 Nephi 16:1)

So, what makes it hard?  We know from Matthew 11:30 that the yoke of Christ is easy and His burden is light.  Yet we consistently hear people preach from the pulpit how this life is meant to be hard or that we must do hard things.  Most people understand that sudden strenuous physical exercise while living a sedentary lifestyle initially feels difficult.  As we continue to exercise we start to label our workouts as a hard run, easy run, or a recovery day (for example).  This type of cycling through workouts is designed to develop muscular strength and endurance that eventually causes the workout that once seemed hard to be relatively easy.  
A painting by Arnold Friberg depicting Nephi standing near a stone fireplace with one arm outstretched, rebuking his brothers.


So, why do we often label spiritual things as hard?  In most cases I doubt that they are they physically hard.  So, what could it be?  Perhaps it is it that our spirits are so out of shape that we feel the pain of initial use similar to what you would experience when a atrophied muscle is stressed.  This idea of spiritual atrophy was mentioned in a talk by President Hinckley.    

" . . . make a habit of going to the house of the Lord. There is no better way to ensure proper living than temple attendance. It will crowd out the evils of pornography, substance abuse, and spiritual atrophy. It will strengthen marriage and family relations." (Gordon B. Hinckley, "Closing Remarks", April 2005 LDS General Conference)

To avoid this spiritual atrophy we need to exercise our spiritual muscles. Elder Quentin L. Cook gave us this advice.   

"We have approximately 230,000 young people who are currently serving as missionaries or who have returned from missionary service in the last five years. They have developed remarkable spiritual strength and self-discipline that need to be continually exercised, or these qualities will atrophy just like muscles that are not used."  (Quentin L. Cook, "Shipshape and Bristol Fashion", October 2015 LDS General Conference)

Have we turned our personal spirituality into a spectator sport?  Do we, like Monday morning quarterbacks, marvel at the demonstration of spiritual power during general conference by spiritual superstars and then go back to our old habits?  Spiritual sloth won't lead for spiritual power.  There will be no reserve of strength when the real spiritual trials come.  Without the kind of strength that comes from consistent personal spiritual preparation, even the smallest trials will seem to be a "hard thing".  

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Marking Scriptures in Gospel Library

The other day as I was reading my scriptures and using a few of the available colors to do some highlights when I realized that I wasn't fully utilizing the entire pallet of colors. In the Gospel Library app there are 10 colors available.  Each of these colors can be used in the underline, highlight, or text color mode.  I asked extended family what they do and one of my niece's responded with this color code: Red- doctrine Orange- clarifications or explanations of doctrine Yellow- commandments and specific instructions Purple- promised blessings and how to attain them Grey- power phrases Blue- favorites Dark blue- ones with a deeper meaning (I always attach a note with a dark blue)  Pink- examples of Gods love/charity Brown-specific for our day Green - Not used This "Come, Follow Me" color code seems to be all over Pinterest.  I'm not sure where it came from, but it is based on the 12 colors in a small box of crayons. Here is a color coding

No, I am not a vegan

Why I'm not a vegan (or a vegetarian for that matter).  After my previous post about the Word of Wisdom , I felt I should write an additional post covering this topic.  First, the word "vegetarian" means nothing.  There are so many levels, tangents, and offshoots of vegetarianism that applying the label to yourself or anyone only causes confusion.   Some vegetarians eat dairy, some don't.  Some eat fish, some don't.  Some eat eggs, some don't.  Some are weekday vegetarians, and some only honor meatless Monday.  And the list goes on and on.  Labeling yourself as a vegetarian is simply a label that brings on a confusing discussion.  So, I don't use it.   I'm not a vegan either.  You see, vegans typically fall into three categories: - They are in it for their own good health - They are doing it to be kind to animals, promote animal rights, avoid animal cruelty, etc.  - They are doing it do save the planet The trouble with many vegans

Bajio, Cafe Rio, or Costa Vida?

It is time for the showdown.  Which one is best: Bajio, Cafe Rio, or Costa Vida?  Or is it (as was my opinion) that they are all exactly the same? I decided to do a taste test.  Six people participated.  Three were salad testers and three were burrito testers.  None of the people who participated have any food judging experience although a couple of them have competed in cooking contests and have a couple of first place finishes to their name.   Each couple went to a different restaurant and picked up a Sweet Pork Salad and an Steak Burrito to go.  We ordered each salad with black beans and their creamy green dressing (whatever they happened to call it).  The steak burritos were ordered enchilada style with black beans. Then we all met at a central location and judged each dish on the following: Value Score = Weight (oz)/Cost($) Overall Appeal (visual appeal, aroma, garnish) Recipe (Cooking, ingredient combination, too moist or dry) Taste (Flavor combination, Seasoning, Texture