- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
I do my best to figure it out, but I also try to do whatever “good thing” pops into my head out of nowhere. Iow, I try to live by both my head and heart / spirit. I win some; I lose some – but I’m at peace with my soul either way. Well, I get win some, lose some, but I don’t want to listen to something which gives me bad advice on a regular basis, I mean, what’s the point? On the other hand, I’ve had inspiration about one or two things, which I really do not believe could have come from myself, because I was ignorant of what was coming.
Could we not just say Joseph had a much more active imagination and charisma than his latter brethren. I mean it explains a lot when you take the whole supernatural aspect out of it and compare them as just men. We could, Cadence, but I also think there is an element of “traditional prophets” that gets classified and medicated into submission in our current society. I’m not convinced at all that there wasn’t something going on with Joseph that would have him diagnosed, dismissed and medicated now – and, while I believe strongly in necessary medication, I also believe strongly that those whose minds and “imaginations” are unlocked a little more than the rest of us actually are, in many cases, able to tap into something fundamental and elemental and profound that gets covered up in everyone else who is “normal”. I don’t know if he was very high functioning autistic or borderline schizophrenic or anything else – but I do believe in the power and potential of “unlocking the visionary”, and I think many of the greatest leaders throughout history shared some kind of commonality that is deeper than just traditionally defined “imagination” (making things up) implies. In fact, I think a HUGE part of “seership” and “prophecy” can be described fairly well as the ability to see what others can’t see and “imagine” (with NO negative connotations whatsoever) what will happen in the future if things do or do not change – and a combination of those two.
Brian Johnston wrote:My point in quoting JS was to show that he acknowledged that even HE got bad ideas in his head and wrongly believed at times they were from God; finding out later that the results went horribly wrong.
GBSmith wrote:I guess I just assumed that if you were a prophet you’d know when God was talking to you and wanted you to do something.
Old-Timer wrote:GB, that’s a common assumption, but it doesn’t match our actual scriptures very well.
Found an interesting quote by GBH on how imperfect church leaders at all levels need support and encouragement – not to have their mistakes hashed, rehashed, and shouted from the rooftops.
Quote:There is rampant among us a spirit of criticism. Perhaps it is a part of the age in which we live. We are constantly exposed to the writings of newspaper columnists and the opinions of radio and television commentators. Their major objective, it seems to me, is to find fault. They are critical, sometimes viciously so. They are critical of political figures. They are critical of church leaders. None of us is perfect; all of us occasionally make mistakes. There was only one perfect individual who ever walked the earth. Men and women who carry heavy responsibility do not need criticism, they need encouragement. One can disagree with policy without being disagreeable concerning the policymaker.
Full talk can be found here:
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1981/10/charity-never-faileth?lang=eng Cadence wrote:Could we not just say Joseph had a much more active imagination and charisma than his latter brethren. I mean it explains a lot when you take the whole supernatural aspect out of it and compare them as just men.
Actually I’d call it inspiration rather than imagination. Whether you consider this of divine origin is another question. I actually think he did have some divine inspiration in some things… not all things. He made mistakes and sometimes admitted this.
I think this distinction is quite evident in the Old Testament. After the return to the promised land, the Hebrews had high priests who officiated in the temple rites, and they also had prophets. Sometimes the high priest was also a prophet – like Samuel. Sometimes there was both a high priest and a prophet, but not the same guy. Oftentimes there were prophets who were not temple priests – Elijah, Elisha. I often wonder if our modern prophets don’t fill both roles; some of them are much more prophetic and transformative, while others serve more simply as the symbolic head of the church. I second Kumahito on this. I often look back to Old Testament prophets for my model. Moses was this massive prophet, he brought down tablets – not once but twice – manna fell from heaven, he inspired valor, etc. As the torch passed through to the prophets that followed many of them were smaller in deeds and more of the reminder prophets.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.