Sunday School

I think that it is the sign of a great class when I learn something new. But probably, it is mostly the sign that I need to study my scriptures more often and more thoroughly. I learned some interesting things on Sunday, and I'm sorry it took me so long to write them down here. (All too often, the days just fly by, and, because of Mr. Stupid Foot, I am often exhausted by the time I get home, and I forget that I have cool things to talk about on the blog.)

So we were in the very beginning part of the Book of Mormon. Our teacher chose to approach the story of Lehi's family leaving Jerusalem by discussing each of the people in the story. He asked us to discuss what we knew about them, and what part they had in the narrative. The first thing I learned (or relearned, but I'm embarrassed to say that I honestly do not remember this...) was that Lehi saw a pillar of fire when he had prayed to to God on behalf of his people. He'd heard the prophets proclaiming repentance (see Jeremiah, and 2 Kings) and so he prayed to ask God for help. And a pillar of fire appeared to him. No wonder he quaked and trembled.

But, besides being a little dismayed that I had never noticed the pillar of fire thing before, I was struck by why Lehi was privy to this display. He was obviously a very seriously religious man. He didn't just hear something from the prophets and think "Tsk, tsk." He went out and asked God, with all his heart, to bless his people. He was concerned with their welfare, their fate. Of course, all of his concern only led him to go out and preach repentance himself, and then he was mocked, condemned and had his life threatened. Sigh.

The other part that was quite significant to me was reading a nuance about Nephi. These little subtleties are why it is good to be in Sunday School. People are asking questions; other people are adding their insights. Often this is when I'll read a verse in a different attitude than ever before, and I'll get one of those "Ah ha..." moments. I've always just thought that Nephi had gone along with his father because he was the "good boy." But, in chapter two of 1Nephi, I read a little differently this time, and I realized that he had chosen that role. He made a concious effort. Maybe I'm splitting hairs. Maybe I'm saying the same thing. But he states that he was "exceedingly young", and so he probably just went along with the parents because he was young. Maybe Laman and Lemuel were teenagers, and had more of a life, and so were more greatly affected by the seemingly bizarre idea to move into the wilderness.

But then Nephi goes on to say that he had "great desires to know of the mysteries of God" and he, too, went out to pray, like his father said he'd done. Nephi surely had heard his father's prophecies, and he'd seen him rebuke the older brothers, and he knew that something significant had to have occured to his father. Apparently, Nephi wanted to understand more. He hadn't just been naturally obedient (or maybe he was...) but he also wanted to understand for himself. So he asked, and he received an answer from God and his heart was softened and he "did believe all the words of [his] father.

So, why did this strike me as significant? I guess because if one of my heroes like Nephi had to go and pray and ask for himself and then get confirmation, then I surely had better follow that pattern, too. If I want to know the mysteries of God, I can find out. It's worked everytime I've tried it, too. I just need regular reminders to never stop searching for that understanding for myself. There is a continual need to update my understanding since there is a continual pattern of troubles that regularly come up in the world and in my life.