Perhaps its ridiculous to admit this, but sometimes in my head I imagine how cool it would be to have a secret ability to climb up into the sky without anyone knowing and sit right next to God. Like side by side. Among the stars out in the universe- like without spacesuits or anything! I figure if we're in like that He would work some business where I would have magic capabilities to quickly access this seat next to Him without the interruption of a rocket or gravity laws and the like.
So He's all sitting there in a lawn chair for some reason and it's old and metal and I sit in the one next to Him. And I get to ask all these questions. We converse freely up above the earth with lemonade on the long grass and sprinklers with flip flops on. Because you can imagine outer space to be however you want if you are sitting next to God.
I imagine these scenarios frequently after I read my children The Book of Mormon (picture book version) in the morning. I send Zane off to school and Evan settles into cartoons and I clean up breakfast while Sylvia swings and starts her morning nap. I think of the things we read and lessons we are learning and connect them to present day life. And that's when I want to zoom up to my lawn chair and point down to the earth with a microscope and ask Him which of those things is happening for which reason. Which lessons are being taught right there with that? I imagine how He might see and discuss the way we interact on this earth and find heartbreak for all we cannot realize while we scurry around thinking money and things and stuff and selfish behaviors are important. While this earth He gave us is having some trouble. And lots of people on it are having trouble. And somehow we look at a tivo version of earth and we talk about natural disasters from history. I point to them one at a time and we talk about them and the scriptures at the same time. Only He probably doesn't need to look into the microscope when we talk. I bet he just has microscope-like eyes.
And we see and talk about some excellent things, too. Trees growing, birds singing, the healthy parts of our earth and the good people things going on all around. But it would be tricky to know so much, it would be tricky and make my head explode to see all we are not getting as humans on this earth. So much to the real purpose of being here that is so easily and quickly forgotton. And all the unlearned lessons unfolding around us.
In Helaman The Lord caused a famine. Because the people needed to be humbled. Which things are happening in our world/ society today to teach us to be humble?
Lots.
Helaman 12:1-3 When the Nephites were righteous, the Lord blessed them. When they were proud and forgot the Lord, he gave them problems to help them remember him.
I think even when we are most righteous we are not immune to problems. In times of spiritual strength, we just know how to handle them better. This was a powerful scripture to read and discuss as a family last week.
image from retro tavern
