I LOVED THIS ARTICLE!!
And, Valorie Savage, your comment above was JUST what I needed to read. Thank you!
Valorie SavageDecember 9, 2015
The sacrifice you dread is the blessing you seek.
MaryDecember 6, 2015
Thank you for this thoughtful article. I agree with much that is beautifully written here. I do take issue with assumptions that seem to be made regarding the referenced 96 year-old convert. While I don't know what was written about her in the Facebook article, I struggle with the idea that if one isn't baptized into the church, it is a "fact" that "every important decision" in ones life is made "without support or peace of the Holy Spirit." It is implied that if one isn't a member of the Church we can assume said individual will watch friends and loved ones pass away without any knowledge of whether he/she would see them again. And lastly is the implication that one can only know how to access the power of the Atonement if one is a member of the Church. Would an infinitely loving God so consign billions of his children who have no opportunity to learn of the gospel in this life to such a limited experience in mortality? This is not what I observed in the life of my beloved grandmother who never learned of the restored Gospel before her death. Through no fault of her own her life, at times, was very difficult. Yet my sense was that she was blessed with the peace and support of the Holy Spirit as she did her absolute best to live a life of spiritual devotion and moral uprightness. She clearly believed she would see her friends and loved ones again after death. And, perhaps most importantly, I believe with her good and loving heart, when she erred, the ensuing sorrow and desire for forgiveness and change made it so she was able to access the power of the Atonement in her life. Do I believe in the essential nature of ordinances? Yes. Does that belief nullify the above observations regarding my grandmother's life? I don't think so. I've made many similar observations over the years as I've been blessed to associate with numerous friends and family who are members of other faiths. These observations strengthen my faith in the grand eternal principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They strengthen my desire to worship a God such as this.
SharonDecember 5, 2015
Thank you for your article I was a convert at 38 and now 70 I had to learn a lot like all of us but we are all tried and tested and maybe some of it is similar but none really totally alike.
Now in those 18 yrs while I was on a quest for truth, I did engage in things I wish I did not, but after I graduated and the world I prepared and grew up in the world flip it seemed overnight 1963.
Again thank you for your article
After I found the True Church years later I felt I was robbed thinking I might have done things differently, yet if we ponder more it is in all the Lord's wisdom why some of us receive the portion we do. I guess I was one of those who needed to learn humiltiy to understand those who are in a fallen state. I needed those lessons We are tried and tested in all things. Hope and Charity for all God's children.
I know my parent were good people even though they did not attend church nor aware of the True Church, they walk the walk the best they were aware of...
susan carrollDecember 5, 2015
Brilliantly written! Thank you for this wise insight. Good to remember.
Jo Ann OkelberryDecember 4, 2015
Excellent article. I appreciated your personal honesty about your feelings. I think the same way sometimes, and then I berate myself for those thoughts. It is just part of maturing in the Gospel.
Helene MatheeDecember 4, 2015
Wow. You do have a way with words. You are articulate and well read. Each and every one one of your topics that catches my attention leaves me all the better for reading it. Great article. Wonderful food for thought. And definitely worth sharing.
Steve DDecember 4, 2015
I was told an apperception one day that fits this topic. Think of a train on its tracks. If you remove one of the rails have you made the train more or less safe? Assuredly less! The same holds true for the commandments. If you take even a part of one away, you're much less safe.
StephenDecember 4, 2015
Very timely article. As a home teacher, I have had several less active brethren tell me that they can "worship just as well from a river bank fishing and enjoying nature as they can sitting in church." My contention is that they really need the blessings of the Sacrament to renew their covenants every week in order to keep in tune with the Spirit. Also, obeying the commandments is necessary in order to become more Christlike as well as truly enjoy the blessings of the gospel - again which is the peace and true joy that comes from the Spirit.
Rosemary WildeDecember 4, 2015
All I can say is.....ABSOLUTELY!!!!
RebeccaDecember 4, 2015
You have a gift for touching hearts. Thank you for touching mine. Gave me things to think about in a new way. Loved your insights and quotes.. Completely agree with CharlieBrown and Jennifer.
Robert StarlingDecember 4, 2015
Wow! For a minute there I thought I was reading a Conference talk by one of the General Authorities! Great job, especially for one so young (at least from my perspective). This is one article that I will definitely pass on to my friends and family. From the title I thought it was going to be about misunderstanding the meaning of certain commandments, but this is a great treatise on why we have commandments at all. It is when we reach the understanding that commandments are not meant to punish or restrict us but to help us reach greater joy that we will learn to cherish them as blessings, and as the signposts that guide us to safety as we walk through the minefield of our mortal lives. Thank you, very much.
Fay KlinglerDecember 4, 2015
Thank you for this beautiful article. Very meaningful.
RwhiteDecember 4, 2015
Beautifully written reminder this morning. Thank You!
Larry StayDecember 4, 2015
Commandments teach us to, "...live after the manner of happiness." That is, they teach us to live life as Heavenly Father and Jesus live it.
I think of pleasure as physical sensations, happiness as emotional responses, and joy as essentially spiritual in nature. The commandments provide a refuge where we can experience joy as we also experience pleasure and happiness. Joy gives eternal duration to happiness and pleasure.
Satan tries to tempt us to leave the refuge of the commandments. He wants to strip joy away from pleasure and happiness, leaving us incomplete and unfulfilled, always wanting more and never satisfied.
"Man is that he might have joy" speaks to the yearning that is in each of us. Everyone is searching for joy but they confuse it with pleasure and happiness. The Light of Christ leads us to obedience to the commandments, the only sure place to find that joy. Satan is satisfied to lead us away from the light and leave us only with episodic happiness or insatiable pleasure.
Again, the commandments teach us how to, "...live after the manner of happiness." Stand in holy places so we can have joy and have it more abundantly.
CharlieBrown2292December 4, 2015
Dear Mariah,
I usually look up to my Elders for wisdom and guidance, but this time I learned from someone who could be my daughter! Be assured that your insightful comments apply as much to Old-timers such as me as to people of the younger generation. There is indeed no time or age when one can safely let go of his/her spiritual guard, especially nowadays!
Jennifer K.December 3, 2015
Thank you for this thought-provoking and beautifully written essay. I've read several articles written by Mariah Proctor for Meridian Magazine and have always been so impressed with her exceptional depth, writing skill and maturity for someone so young. Her understanding of and ability to express complex spiritual concepts reflects a wise, deep heart and mind. She has her mother's gift of intellect and skill for expression. Keep writing!
Comments | Return to Story
VirginiaDecember 10, 2015
I LOVED THIS ARTICLE!! And, Valorie Savage, your comment above was JUST what I needed to read. Thank you!
Valorie SavageDecember 9, 2015
The sacrifice you dread is the blessing you seek.
MaryDecember 6, 2015
Thank you for this thoughtful article. I agree with much that is beautifully written here. I do take issue with assumptions that seem to be made regarding the referenced 96 year-old convert. While I don't know what was written about her in the Facebook article, I struggle with the idea that if one isn't baptized into the church, it is a "fact" that "every important decision" in ones life is made "without support or peace of the Holy Spirit." It is implied that if one isn't a member of the Church we can assume said individual will watch friends and loved ones pass away without any knowledge of whether he/she would see them again. And lastly is the implication that one can only know how to access the power of the Atonement if one is a member of the Church. Would an infinitely loving God so consign billions of his children who have no opportunity to learn of the gospel in this life to such a limited experience in mortality? This is not what I observed in the life of my beloved grandmother who never learned of the restored Gospel before her death. Through no fault of her own her life, at times, was very difficult. Yet my sense was that she was blessed with the peace and support of the Holy Spirit as she did her absolute best to live a life of spiritual devotion and moral uprightness. She clearly believed she would see her friends and loved ones again after death. And, perhaps most importantly, I believe with her good and loving heart, when she erred, the ensuing sorrow and desire for forgiveness and change made it so she was able to access the power of the Atonement in her life. Do I believe in the essential nature of ordinances? Yes. Does that belief nullify the above observations regarding my grandmother's life? I don't think so. I've made many similar observations over the years as I've been blessed to associate with numerous friends and family who are members of other faiths. These observations strengthen my faith in the grand eternal principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They strengthen my desire to worship a God such as this.
SharonDecember 5, 2015
Thank you for your article I was a convert at 38 and now 70 I had to learn a lot like all of us but we are all tried and tested and maybe some of it is similar but none really totally alike. Now in those 18 yrs while I was on a quest for truth, I did engage in things I wish I did not, but after I graduated and the world I prepared and grew up in the world flip it seemed overnight 1963. Again thank you for your article After I found the True Church years later I felt I was robbed thinking I might have done things differently, yet if we ponder more it is in all the Lord's wisdom why some of us receive the portion we do. I guess I was one of those who needed to learn humiltiy to understand those who are in a fallen state. I needed those lessons We are tried and tested in all things. Hope and Charity for all God's children. I know my parent were good people even though they did not attend church nor aware of the True Church, they walk the walk the best they were aware of...
susan carrollDecember 5, 2015
Brilliantly written! Thank you for this wise insight. Good to remember.
Jo Ann OkelberryDecember 4, 2015
Excellent article. I appreciated your personal honesty about your feelings. I think the same way sometimes, and then I berate myself for those thoughts. It is just part of maturing in the Gospel.
Helene MatheeDecember 4, 2015
Wow. You do have a way with words. You are articulate and well read. Each and every one one of your topics that catches my attention leaves me all the better for reading it. Great article. Wonderful food for thought. And definitely worth sharing.
Steve DDecember 4, 2015
I was told an apperception one day that fits this topic. Think of a train on its tracks. If you remove one of the rails have you made the train more or less safe? Assuredly less! The same holds true for the commandments. If you take even a part of one away, you're much less safe.
StephenDecember 4, 2015
Very timely article. As a home teacher, I have had several less active brethren tell me that they can "worship just as well from a river bank fishing and enjoying nature as they can sitting in church." My contention is that they really need the blessings of the Sacrament to renew their covenants every week in order to keep in tune with the Spirit. Also, obeying the commandments is necessary in order to become more Christlike as well as truly enjoy the blessings of the gospel - again which is the peace and true joy that comes from the Spirit.
Rosemary WildeDecember 4, 2015
All I can say is.....ABSOLUTELY!!!!
RebeccaDecember 4, 2015
You have a gift for touching hearts. Thank you for touching mine. Gave me things to think about in a new way. Loved your insights and quotes.. Completely agree with CharlieBrown and Jennifer.
Robert StarlingDecember 4, 2015
Wow! For a minute there I thought I was reading a Conference talk by one of the General Authorities! Great job, especially for one so young (at least from my perspective). This is one article that I will definitely pass on to my friends and family. From the title I thought it was going to be about misunderstanding the meaning of certain commandments, but this is a great treatise on why we have commandments at all. It is when we reach the understanding that commandments are not meant to punish or restrict us but to help us reach greater joy that we will learn to cherish them as blessings, and as the signposts that guide us to safety as we walk through the minefield of our mortal lives. Thank you, very much.
Fay KlinglerDecember 4, 2015
Thank you for this beautiful article. Very meaningful.
RwhiteDecember 4, 2015
Beautifully written reminder this morning. Thank You!
Larry StayDecember 4, 2015
Commandments teach us to, "...live after the manner of happiness." That is, they teach us to live life as Heavenly Father and Jesus live it. I think of pleasure as physical sensations, happiness as emotional responses, and joy as essentially spiritual in nature. The commandments provide a refuge where we can experience joy as we also experience pleasure and happiness. Joy gives eternal duration to happiness and pleasure. Satan tries to tempt us to leave the refuge of the commandments. He wants to strip joy away from pleasure and happiness, leaving us incomplete and unfulfilled, always wanting more and never satisfied. "Man is that he might have joy" speaks to the yearning that is in each of us. Everyone is searching for joy but they confuse it with pleasure and happiness. The Light of Christ leads us to obedience to the commandments, the only sure place to find that joy. Satan is satisfied to lead us away from the light and leave us only with episodic happiness or insatiable pleasure. Again, the commandments teach us how to, "...live after the manner of happiness." Stand in holy places so we can have joy and have it more abundantly.
CharlieBrown2292December 4, 2015
Dear Mariah, I usually look up to my Elders for wisdom and guidance, but this time I learned from someone who could be my daughter! Be assured that your insightful comments apply as much to Old-timers such as me as to people of the younger generation. There is indeed no time or age when one can safely let go of his/her spiritual guard, especially nowadays!
Jennifer K.December 3, 2015
Thank you for this thought-provoking and beautifully written essay. I've read several articles written by Mariah Proctor for Meridian Magazine and have always been so impressed with her exceptional depth, writing skill and maturity for someone so young. Her understanding of and ability to express complex spiritual concepts reflects a wise, deep heart and mind. She has her mother's gift of intellect and skill for expression. Keep writing!
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