Time out for a moment

The great joy I have found in studying the scriptures topically is the sense of awe and wonder I feel when I take time to acknowledge the Lord's hand. The Lord not only knows our needs but knows the best time and way for instructing us. I am reading for the fourth time "The Second Comforter, Conversing with the Lord Through the Veil" and was impressed to share the following quote:

"Truth and light are not acquired by study alone. If they were, the scholars would be the greatest among us. Scholars are often rebellious, proud, contrary and discontent. They question truth, bur rarely find it. You can find scholars among the least content people in the Church. Apostates include many scholars among their ranks. Scholars in our own day include Dallin Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve on the one hand, and D. Michael Quinn on the other hand. The one a teacher of righteousness, the other excommunicated. If scholarship alone could confer truth and light, we would not see this gross dichotomy. So scholarship is no guarantee of greater enlightenment. Often it is the guarantee of the opposite.
Truth and light are acquired by living a life in tune with the things Christ has asked us to do. The commandments are themselves revelations of God and His nature. By obeying them, you begin to resonate at the same frequency as He resonates. You begin to find harmony in His teachings. You begin to "see" things as they really are.
It is an odd thing, but it really works. The process is marvelously democratic. Anyone can receive the same results. All they need do is follow the same steps. Light and truth come to even the most uneducated, if they will heed Christ's commandments." ("The Second Comforter, Conversing with the Lord Through the Veil", Denver S. Snuffer, Jr., pg.284)

Presumably you are striving diligently to keep the commandments of God because they embody God's nature. To the extent we keep His commandments we acquire His attributes. The more obedient we become (out of love for the Savior and our Heavenly Father, John 14:15) the more we see and understand the mystery of godliness. Obedience to the commandments brings "truth" and "light".

Searching for truth and light in the scriptures is drudgery if you are not guided by the Holy Spirit. It requires perseverance at first until you begin to "resonate" with the Spirit. When you "feel" yourself resonate with the things of God we describe the experience as "edifying." People have often said they could never do what I do. Having experienced the edification of the Spirit, I reflect on their comment and wonder how could ever stop? I hunger and thirst for those experiences. I see the hand of God in the process, experience pure light flood my intellect and feel intense joy when God is willing to patiently tutor me. Once you know and feel this you seek every opportunity to experience it repeatedly. You never feel as if you have "arrived" because you always know more truth and light is just around the corner and you desire to access it.

In the introductory anecdote in chapter 14 ("Keeping the Commandments" (Reprised),pg.287-288) Denver alludes to his personal experience:

"I determined I needed to accept others, or at least attempt to do so, no matter what they did, thought, said or failed to do. I would attempt simply to accept them and leave it to them and God to decide what they ought to be doing. As for me, faith would be applied as an internal measure for deciding what I should do, should not do, and should change. Religion was, I determined, to be applied only internally, and not for external application.

I feared this new approach would be confining. I feared it might make me neurotic and insecure. Instead, I found it liberating. It was like dropping a great weight when I no longer needed to evaluate others. And when I applied it to myself, I found some things that troubled me before were petty and superficial and did not merit further consideration. Cultural things may be significant to others, but that is their concern. The real work that needed doing was within my heart. There was so much amiss, so little overall harmony, so little delight, that this faith of Christ's which had been so joyful at first had become a joyless burden. I could still recall the joy I felt as I converted. I remembered the excitement of new discovery and new learning through those first couple of years of membership. That was now lacking in my life.

I needed to recapture what was right in the Faith. To do so, I needed to return to where I was when I first joined the Church. I needed to go back to anxiously seeking for light and truth, wherever it was to be found, and without regard for the opinions of others. That was the happiest time in my life. Every day was alive with the new discoveries being made about the connections between Gospel concepts and doctrines." (The Second Comforter, Conversing with the Lord Through the Veil", pgs.287-288)

I have had a similar experience that feeds within me a constant desire to seek light and truth. It feels joyful and good. There is always a sense of wonder and awe when I thoroughly engage the process.

There is a significant difference between this approach and the scholarly approach. Note Denver's total disregard for the opinions of others, ("..., man shall not counsel his fellow man, neither trust in the arm of flesh.", D&C 1:19) The scholarly approach relies completely on the arm of flesh from deductive reasoning, peer review and political correctness. In contrast the Lord's way is intuitive. You "feel your way" to God. (Acts 17:27) Giving heed and diligence to your conscience (Light of Christ) will lead you intuitively to greater light and knowledge, eventually even to the presence of God. (D&C 84:46-51, 50:24)

Underlying this effort should be faith God will reveal to you what you need, when you need it. The scholar looks for the shortest distance between two points. His thinking strives to compel light and truth to form a strait line. Revelation from God tends not to be linear. The Lord describes His methodology for teaching us in section 121 of the Doctrine of Covenants:

"Let thy bowels also be filled with charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distill upon thy soul as the dews from heaven." (D&C 121:45)

Turning your application of doctrinal principles inwardly and seeking to evaluate your own heart allows you to more fully appreciate the challenges of others and cultivates within us patience and tolerance, evolving into a gift from God known as charity. When you find charity towards your fellow men, (and especially toward the "household of faith") God begins to impart light and truth to your mind and heart "as the dews from heaven." You never see dew from heaven. You simply wake up in the morning and it is there. It cannot be compelled to fall upon you. It is not subject to your control but to God's wisdom and mercy.

I was greatly impressed with the way the Lord led us yesterday to Deuteronomy 4. It may seem a coincidence to some, but to me, it was like manna that fell like dew from heaven, providing nourishment to the Israelite's. The experience distilled upon my soul and I never want to miss the opportunity to acknowledge the Lord's hand in this precious gift. (D&C 59:21) When we acknowledge the hand of God and give credit where credit is due, the Lord is more inclined to share light and truth with us. It should never be for our glory. The glory should always belong to our Heavenly Father for He has given us everything and it is through His tender mercies we exist and thrive.

I promise we will return to our study tomorrow.