Where is the Love in Power? Where is the Power in Love?

D&C 121 is one of the mind-shattering revelations of these latter days.  I find it impossible to read it through without welling up with emotion as it crescendos to its end.

The Holy Ghost shall be

thy constant companion,

and thy scepter

an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth;

and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion,

and without compulsory means

it shall flow unto thee

forever

and ever.

Amen.

If I may toot the JG horn here a bit, probably the best thinking you will see about D&C 121 has been done right here on this blog.   Now that we are no longer studying it in Sunday School and there’s no danger of mass interest, I’m summarizing the content.  Searching the blog for “dominion” yields three pages of results, you are welcome.

What “reproving with sharpness” means.  Righteous dominion = natural authority.

D&C 121 implies unconditional love and conditional love (glory) map to womanhood and manhood respectively.

Unrighteous dominion has dominion as its goal.  Governance is not the means but the end.  Righteous dominion has government as the means to a righteous end.

D&C 121 implies a duty to follow when being led by persuasion, long-suffering, gentleness, etc.  Also, how do we reconcile D&C 121 with the reality that we do have priesthood authority?

To be dominant is good, if you hearken unto God.  And speculation that the problem is “a little authority?”

“The problem with delusions of grandeur is the delusions, not the grandeur.

Most heroic narratives fail by being insufficiently heroic.  Yours should be broader in scope, further in time, higher in height, than you dare to imagine.”

More dominion, more love:  “Satan was going to reign in Heaven or in Hell, either way.  Heaven didn’t even really require his submission.  What Heaven required was love. Satan chose a much smaller dominion so he wouldn’t have to love.”

“One of God’s titles is Endless or Everlasting.  We see in D&C 19 that there is quite a bit of mystical significance tied to that. I think unrighteous dominion is an example.  Unrighteous dominion literally means dominion that does not last.  Righteous dominion is endless dominion.”

“The true model of all power and righteous dominion is fatherhood.  The burden and the glory are one.  The true crown is the crown of thorns.”  You will want to read this one to the end.

“Righteous dominion is power + love.”

Righteous Dominion is a synthesis between two virtues.   “You will never achieve righteous dominion if you avoid dominion.”

Glory=goodness+power=righteous dominion (from here)