Sunday School lesson about ongoing revelation

Were you in my ward and I didn’t even know?

I read your blog and I appreciated your words…”emotionally battered”. It is completely frustrating to sit in a room where you seem to be the only one who thinks or feels that way. I have found myself making comments I feel are really “normal” and they are not. Then I realize I am not at StayLDS or NOM, back in the real world. Very discouraging.

Your post got me thinking that I have always appreciated differing comments/views in SS. I haven’t attended in several years due to a calling but I feel it is good for a person to think. I imagine no one ran up to you and appreciated your thoughts, but I am sure a few ran home and checked or likely they will recall your comment another time. I always did. Especially based on quotes and not full of anger.

If your Bishop is backing you up as WML, go for it. The members of our ward who have been pestered and harassed would have loved to have you in your genuine and sincere mannerlisten to them. You are needed and it gives me some hope that a Bishop somewhere may “get it”, certainly not either of the last two we had.

When someone suggested we are the only people in the world with revelation I couldn’t let it slide. I quoted:

I remember a BOM lesson about there being only two churches, one of the devil and the other of the lamb. It was talked about how the church of the devil inculded many things – even entire systems of government. I asked if the church of the lamb might similarly include more than just the Mormon faith. It didn’t go very well. I had thought that it was a very reasonable question.

I attended a different ward yesterday, and the lesson was about correlation. The teacher asked why we have correlation in the Church, and, after a couple of generic answers, I raised my hand and said:

I always hear people say that it’s to make sure the converts in other parts of the world don’t teach from their own religious traditions but stick to the core Gospel instead, but nearly all of the really wild speculation and outlandish stuff I’ve heard in my life has been in wards like my own here in the United States from people who talk about politics and their own doctrinal hobbies. We tend to blame others for things, but we just as often are the reason for policies and practices like correlation.

I said it with a smile and a chuckle, in a ward where only my in-laws knew me, and I got knowing nods, smiles and chuckles in response. Sometimes, “outsiders” can get away with saying what’s hard for “insiders” to say – but the smile and chuckle go a long way to help acceptance, as well.

When someone suggested we are the only people in the world with revelation I couldn’t let it slide. I quoted:

I remember a BOM lesson about there being only two churches, one of the devil and the other of the lamb. It was talked about how the church of the devil inculded many things – even entire systems of government. I asked if the church of the lamb might similarly include more than just the Mormon faith. It didn’t go very well. I had thought that it was a very reasonable question.

I gave a lesson a couple of years ago, while a TBM, about how the church of the lamb is clearly not the Mormons. It’s a state of mind, an attitude. I made the point that we can start the day being part of the church of the lamb and finish the day very much not.

The origin of the word “church” is germanic, meaning “house or power.” In greek it goes back to the word “gathering” or to be “called out.” In Hebrew there is no word for church. For a TBM audience the word could be speculated on the plates as being the Hebrew “kahal” [קהל- ka-HAL], which also means “gathering of people” or “community.” There is no Hebrew word for Church, it’s a modern, Christian concept. The word does not mean “denomination” and never has, but is often understood that way.

So you can make it “there are save but two powers, the power of the devil and the power of the lamb” or “the gathering of the devil and the gathering of the lamb.” I love that perspective. I also love that it says “the lamb.” While we of course take that to be Jesus Christ, I think it can be more universal than that. The influence/teachings of Confucius, Buddha, the Dalai Lama etc are all the teaching of “the lamb.”

I’ll have to see if I can dig the lesson out. I didn’t realise how “middle-way” I was sometimes.