Inspiration works in curious ways. I don’t feel like I get inspiration. Whenever I ask about some serious real world decision I invariably get an answer that is something like, “Yep, you are right that there are pros and cons and risks. What do you want to do?” So it wasn’t with much expectation that I prayed for some guidance on what approach to take to the Book of Mormon this year. I didn’t get any answers other than that maybe I should ask. I asked some friends, got a few ideas, and then a day or so later got a clear out the blue bona fide inspiration. Its funny and typical that the inspiration had nothing to do with anyone’s suggestion but didn’t come until I got the suggestions.

Anyhow, the inspiration came, I don’t know why, since I have all of 5 readers here, but those are the only sorts of inspiration I seem to get sometimes, gospel insights that no one cares about, the Saints seem to prefer either pablum or scholarship or official sources and good for them, none of which I am.

Oh well. The Lord knows what He’s doing I suppose.

Anyhow, the inspiration was to look at the entire Book of Mormon through the lens of Lehi’s Dream. That’s what I am going to be trying to do this year.

Here’s the first fruits of that effort.

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Warning: this is a dream.

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There are two good ways to understand dreams.

The first way is as an allegory.  Things happen in sequence because they are some kind of over all natural progression of meaning and events.  We usually interpret Daniel’s dream of the statue this way, or the opening of the seven seals in Revelations.  Or else you treat the sequence as just the order in which the elements were revealed and ultimately the over all meaning of the dream is all of the elements and their symbolic meanings taken together.  A lot of cool paintings of Lehi’s Dream show it this way.

The other way is to interpret the dream as a series of flashes of images which can sometimes have the same meaning.  The Christmas Carol is more like that, each ghost essentially has the same message for Scrooge.  Hebrew writing is like this, but in dreams its not just the Hebrews.  Looping around a message or insight is just one of the ways dreams work.

When you apply this second dream approach to Lehi’s dream, you get some pretty cool insights into what enduring to the end means, and the importance of revelation.  More to come.

From a daughter:

I was thinking about how our God – who places such a high emphasis on individual agency – made the qualification for His highest degree of glory so dependent on someone else

And I remembered reading that in the Sermon on the Mount, the verse that says “be ye therefore perfect” is actually better translated as “be ye therefore complete/whole”

So… maybe we aren’t really ever complete by ourselves

Men and women compliment each other quite well – I would say men in general are more justice-oriented and women are more mercy-oriented.

But God is where justice, love, and mercy meet – he is perfectly just and merciful.

I was thinking that marriage is something also like where justice, love, and mercy meet.

So it’s the only way we can be complete (and therefore like God).

 Behold the gold, and the silver, and the silks, and the scarlets, and the fine-twined linen, and the precious clothing, and the harlots, are the desires of this great and abominable church.

And also for the praise of the world do they destroy the saints of God, and bring them down into captivity.

-thus 1 Nephi 13:8-9

In Joseph Smith’s day the idea of free lance enforcers entrepreneurially and opportunistically attacking dissenters from the world for social  media likes would seem bizarre, but nowadays it makes perfect sense.  In the attention economy, the carefully polished apple they give to teacher is the persecution of the saints.

“They” probably refers to the great and abominable church.  That church seems to be in charge so its odd that they church itself is trying to earn the praise of the world.   What this represents is that no one in really in charge, its just something mutable like “fashion” or “the consensus” and you have to keep scrambling to stay on top.  You never arrive, there is no there there.

But there is another  meaning of “for the praise of the world.”   The second meaning is that you are praising the world.  These are people who are impressed with the power and structure of the world and are angry that someone opposes it or gives it the lie.  They persecute the saints because they feel aggrieved by them.

Say what you will about the modern world, but the invention of the combined theater kid / front-row kid archetype is a world historic achievement.  You’d think these would be opposites.  You’d think the grey-suited organization man would be over there grimly checking his boxes while out the streets the hippy would be cross-legged on the corner strumming his mandolin. But no.  You clearly lack the breadth of vision and iron will of 21st century modernity.  What do we not dare!  Not only will we create this unholy amalgam, we will set it over us.

Is there a vice synthesis from a virtue chart peaking out at us? (more…)

To recap:

The people who taste the fruit of the tree of life and stay have 4 differences from those who don’t stay

1.  Mists of darkness are not mentioned for them.
2. They hold on to the iron rod instead of clinging.
3. They fall down when they get to the tree.
4. After eating they are not ashamed.

In 1 Nephi 11, Nephi has an extended vision in response to his question about what the tree  means.

Here’s one bit (v. 24)

I beheld the Son of God going forth among the children of men; and I saw many fall down at his feet and worship him.

I dreamed that I was pursued into a great  hall by enemies.  It was a lovely hall, all brass and wood and high windows and a great roaring fire.  Comfortable elegant furniture all over. Highly polished.  I started to climb up the walls to get away from them.  They tried to throw things at me.  One of them climbed after me and when I pondered what to do I was reminded that I was a prince of Amber.  So I put points into climbing and acrobatics (I guess I was an RPG sort of prince of Amber), quickly scaled the wall, grabbed an enormous tasseled cord and swung across the wall, and willed that there be a secret entrance there and then through the entrance a roof exit there . . . a scaffolding . . . a rocky outcropping . . . a sheer granite cliff strung with vines . . .

It was fun.

We have done a surprising amount of work on Lehi’s Dream.  Here are the links to enhance your reading this week and next.

Comparing the  Great and Spacious Building and the Emperor’s New Clothes

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It was April 1998 that I sat at dinner next to a future member of the House of Lords. (more…)

Yesterday we mentioned that the interior of the building is hidden while the tree is open to view.

Today let’s talk about another difference.   The building experience is superficial–literally superficial, it happens on the superficie of the building–and relies on the non-building world to be meaningful.

When the building first comes to our attention, its because of all the people on balconies or windows in it mocking and pointing.

And I also cast my eyes round about, and beheld, on the other side of the river of water, a great and spacious building; and it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth.

27 And it was filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and their manner of dress was exceedingly fine; and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit.

When people go into the building, they quickly appear on the exterior mocking and pointing too.

And great was the multitude that did enter into that strange building. And after they did enter into that building they did point the finger of scorn at me and those that were partaking of the fruit also;

Whatever secrets are in the interior of the building, they are apparently too boring and meaningless to occupy anyone for long.  There is nothing to do there other than to point fingers at people who aren’t.  What is hidden inside the building is almost literally nothing.  The physical building is founded on little to nothing.  The building experience is also founded on little to nothing.  There is no there there.

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Let’s think about the basic symbolic differences between a fruit-bearing tree in a field and big building in a field.

There’s a whole lot to say, so lets focus for now on the different view when you are standing outside.

The tree is open to view.  Whatever is going on at the tree you can see from pretty far away.  There may be problems with your visions–there may be fogs or obstacles–but none of them are intrinsic to the tree.  It is open to view.

The building, however, is concealed on the inside.  The outside observer does not know what is going on in there and that’s the nature of a building.  A building’s basic functions of protection from elements and defense against outsiders mean that it also offers concealment.

In Lehi’s dream, both concealing mists and the building are associated with evil.  Hidden works, concealment, secrets, and cover ups are key to their work.  Whereas the tree is open.

But you can’t know everything about the tree until you go there yourself.  You can see that there is fruit.  You can see that the people who eat it really like it.  But you can’t  know the taste until you taste.

The building is secret.  The tree is sacred.

I’m getting back to the basics on symbols.  Just asking kindergarten questions like, what does this thing look like?  What does it feel like?  What does it do?  I started with the Book of Revelations.  I’m now applying it to Lehi’s dream.

I had a thought about why clinging to the iron rod is a bad thing.

Here’s the context: two years ago we discussed a puzzle in Lehi’s dream.  Those who *cling* to the iron rod eventually fall away.  Those who *hold on* to it don’t.  Huh.  You guys had some interesting thoughts, particularly Annie and Books.  Nothing definite.  Elder Bednar mentioned the two groups in General Conference but didn’t explain it.

As I sing “Let Us All Press On,” I often think of the people in Lehi’s vision pressing forward on the path that led to the tree of life who were not merely “clinging to” but were “continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree.”

So two days ago I was thinking about iron rods.

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The people of the Church of Jesus Christ usually interpret the Great and Spacious Building as having no foundation.  Me too.  The scripture we rely on implies that but doesn’t state it out right.

And I also cast my eyes round about, and beheld, on the other side of the river of water, a great and spacious building; and it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth.

-thus Lehi’s dream, 1 Ne. 8:26.  later verses saying that the building falls and that it represents “vain imagination” help complete the picture of a building without foundation.

The alternate explanation is that it has a foundation, it just looks like its in the air because of how tall it is.  This interpretation implies that the building is toplofty, i.e., that it has an inadequate foundation.  For interpretive purposes, having no foundation and having an inadequate foundation are not much different.

Let me suggest a 3rd explanation.

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Is the hidden-in-plain-sight esoteric meaning of the Word of Wisdom that we should embrace conspiracy theories and health fads?

he said puckishly while ducking and running for cover.

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There probably is value in taking seriously those parts of the Word of Wisdom.  Maybe some day.