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The statement \u201call that the Lord has spoken we will do\u201d seems kind of obvious in a sense. If God is saying to do it, how can we gainsay? But, of course, we don\u2019t actually do that \u2014 we all fail to do the things we should do, the things that God has asked, and commanded, us to do. So what are we saying when we repeat this statement?<\/p>\n
In one sense, it\u2019s a kind of commitment or intention. We want to be able to do what the Lord asks of us, and we will try to do so, even covenant to do so, as an indication of what we want to do. We know (and He knows) that we won\u2019t make it. But, given the atonement, our intention and sincere efforts are enough. He will make up the difference.<\/p>\n
This idea appears later in the lesson, in the section about covenants, which indicate our willingness to obey God\u2019s law. In this sense, the covenant is about our sincere intentions\u2014and recognizes that without the atonement the only option is failure.<\/p>\n
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Traditional belief in God often says that humanity is nothing in comparison to His power and glory. But such a bleak understanding of life must lead to the question of why human beings were created at all? Our, LDS, thought raises humans to a level much closer to God, seeing Him as our Father and humanity as His principal concern. So naturally we are \u201ca treasure to Him.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the following song, Emily Hill (later Woodmansee) is rapturous about being in Zion, where the people \u201cBelieve God is our friend\u201d and know that \u201cHis people he’ll defend,\u201d because they are a treasure to Him.<\/p>\n
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by Emily Hill Woodmansee<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
1857<\/p>\n
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Like the title of the whole lesson, this section\u2019s title seems obvious to us today\u2014something that we have been taught for decades in Church. Of course, we need to prepare so that we are ready when sacred experiences come, expected or not.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the idea is so obvious that our poets haven\u2019t explored it much\u2014I had to work hard to find poetry that treated personal preparation for the sacred. This poem gets there, but not as clearly as I would like. Here, Quayle reacts to attending the groundbreaking for the London Temple, a place then made holy by the dedication, and hearing the Prophet (in this case David O. McKay) urge the members there to \u201cPrepare \u2014 do not delay.\u201d<\/p>\n
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by Gladys Quayle<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
1954<\/p>\n
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Personally, I prefer to think of this idea as \u2018obedience brings the blessings you truly need,\u2019 instead of a particular blessing. I think I\u2019m often blind (perhaps willingly so) to what I actually need, so I\u2019m not sure I always recognize the blessing that I get for my obedience as a blessing \u2014 at least not immediately.<\/p>\n
I think the author of this poem, E. T. Woolley, agrees, since he reads the book of James as saying \u201cyou shall receive according to need.\u201d<\/p>\n
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by E. T. Woolley<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
1886<\/p>\n
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I think there\u2019s a kind of paradox here. Covenants are supposed to be very serious commitments to keep commitments, but, again, we know that we won\u2019t do so. And I think this commitment worries many people, who worry that they won\u2019t be able to keep their commitments. I don\u2019t think this is significantly different from the relationship of the atonement with the commandments\u2014somehow we take the atonement as an aid to keeping the commandments, making up for when we fail, but also not encouraging us to ignore what we have been commanded to do.<\/p>\n
Some of this difficulty is covered in the following poem by Mary A. Briggs Farnsworth, who wonders at the sacrifices required to obey the commandments and meet our covenants. She asks \u201cis it now thy holy will \/ That I should bear another cross, \/ That daily grows more weighty still, \/ To cleanse life’s gold from dross?\u201d<\/p>\n
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by Mary A. Farnsworth<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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1899<\/p>\n
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Understanding sin is difficult, because it is so often connected with shame and despair. I often hear it re-defined as \u201cmissing the mark\u201d or \u201cturning away\u201d as a way of relieving the shame and seeming permanence of recognizing that we have done wrong. I think its more often helpful to move our focus from the sin to the subsequent repentance and change.<\/p>\n
Turning back to the British LDS poet Emily Hill Woodmansee, her treatment of the story of the prodigal son in the following poem focuses on the repentance more than the sin.<\/p>\n
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by Emily Hill Woodmansee<\/p>\n<\/div>\n