257: PEACE I LEAVE WITH YOU

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you:

not as the world giveth, give I unto you.

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." 

John 14:27

 

Here are a few photos from this morning. Instead of hiking in the mountains, I found a secluded place just east of a near by cemetery. I was accompanied by a dove who watched the sunrise with me. It was a beautiful morning. I find myself in at a time when I need to have more faith in the words of the Lord and to believe in Him.

 

256: CHRIST IS RISEN: EASTER MORNING

 Of all weeks in the year, from Palm Sunday to Easter Morning is the most sacred and holy. Unfortunately colored eggs, chocolate bunnies and candy baskets usually get center stage instead of the observance of the culminating events in Christ's life . For Christian around the world, this week is called “Holy Week.” As Latter-day Saints, we don’t use that term. We tend to focus mostly on just Easter morning and the Resurrection. However, I think it is important that we remember the entire week and not just the "finale."

 Here are a few highlights of Christ’s last week. 

Palm Sunday: The triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem when Palm fronds were waved. (Culturally, the Palm tree represents the Tree of Life).

Thursday: The Last Supper. Christ gives His final address to His disciples and washes their feet. (There is a misconception that the Last Supper was the Passover Meal. While Christ’s last supper with his disciples was a sacred meal, it was not Passover. If we remember, the Jews had to crucify him before Passover. Passover that year was on the Sabbath, (on Saturday.) That's why the Jews had to crucify Christ on Friday because they think His crucifixion would defile their Passover.)

Thursday evening: Christ’s atonement in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Friday early morning (still dark): Christ is arrested in the Garden by the temple guards (not Roman soldiers, but the paramilitary guard of the Sanhedrin)

Friday morning: The three trials of Christ take place (Annas, the High Priest and the Sanhedrin, judgment hall of Pilate

Friday afternoon: Christ is crucified.

Saturday: Christ's descent to hell to “spirit prison” (D&C 138)

Sunday morning: The Resurrection of Christ (before sunrise while still dark) and His Ascent.

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Many people have been looking in the heavens this week. Primarily to the see the full moon on Passover. Here is a suggestion of something beautiful to witness on Easter Morning this Sunday.

Photo taken at Sunrise on Easter morning on top of Hidden Peak in Little Cottonwood Canyon.

Suggestion to do on Easter morning:

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine asked me to attend an early morning sunrise service on Easter morning up on top of Hidden Peak at Snowbird in Little Cottonwood Canyon. All who want to attend can ride the tram to the top of the mountain for free. It's up in the mountains that you get a true sunrise, one where you see the sun rises on an equal plane with you or, in the case of being on top of Hidden Peak, rises below you.

For those who would like to attend this Sunday morning, the service begins at 6:41 a.m. The first Tram departs at 5:21 a.m. from the Cliff Lodge. The last Tram is at 6:21 a.m. It is important to arrive early to guarantee your spot on the Tram.

No matter what you do this weekend, whether you get up to see the sunrise up in the mountains or from your backyard.. We all would do well to think of Christ this Easter. Remember who He is,  Remember what He did.. and His relationship with each of us. He loves us of that I testify.

Full sun in Glory

Full moon over the Pfeifferhorn mountain as seen from Hidden Peak. Taken on Easter morn 2012
 

255: TIME TO FACE THE MUSIC

 When we need to confront or cope with a difficult situation we use the idiom, ‘Face the music’. To ‘face the music’ involves a situation where courage is required and most likely due to the unpleasant consequences of past actions.  There are several theories on the origins of phrase. One theory suggests that the saying derives from the theatre when the nervous actor must literally face the music from the orchestra pit when the curtain goes up. Others think that the origin is based on the drumming out ceremony in the military that accompanied dishonorable discharge.

However, I found the following to be the most profound theory.

 "Centuries ago, a Chinese man grew up loving music. It was his passion. He was jealous of those who could play and went to every concert he could just to hear music. Due to his own fear and insecurity though, he never sought to learn to play an instrument for himself, only to listen to others. 

When he became older, his love of music grew and his life’s desire was to be associated with music somehow. He devised a scheme in which he deceptively forged his way into being accepted into the Chinese National Symphony. He carried a violin with him everywhere and so deceived people into thinking he could actually play.

For years, he would travel and sit with the symphony during performances, never knowing how to play a single note. Until one year that the symphony played before the Emperor of China. He was so pleased with the performance that he requested that each musician come to his palace to play for him the next day…individually. 

The man was so distraught and overcome with fear that he went out that night and committed suicide, unable to “face the music”.

There are more phrases that we use in English. 'Wake up and smell the coffee' is used for telling someone that they need to pay attention to what is happening in a situation they are in, usually the situation is not good. The phrase, 'Pay the piper’, means to face the inevitable consequences of one's actions, possibly alluding to the story where the villagers broke their promise to pay the Piper for his assistance in ridding the town of the rats. And 'you make the bed you lie in’ which come from creating a difficult situation whose unpleasant consequences one must now endure.

In scripture, the Lord and his prophets uses the phrases like, ‘awake to your awful situation’ and ‘Awake and Arise.’

"Awake; awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that they are carried away captive down to the eternal gulf of misery and woe. Awake! and arise from the dust." (2 Nephi 1: 13-14)

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Personal sidenote:

This morning it was time for me to "face the music" in a small way. I got on the scale. I have been avoiding it for months especially after my annual accumulation of winter "insulation" around the waist from excess holiday eating and lack of exercise. This was a big small step in facing the music to my awful "physical state'. However, what is more concerning to me is my 'spiritual' state. The past few days after listening to words that have pierced my core, I realize that I am not as spiritually healthy as I need to be.  Heaven help me to know how to move forward and shed the excess "fat" that I have accumulated over the years.

254: PASSOVER BLOOD MOON (the first of 4 in the tetrad)

The past 24 hours the skies over Salt Lake City have been completely clear. Not a cloud in the sky. This lunar eclipse was meant to be seen. Here are a few photos:

Before and After photos of the Lunar eclipse

 

The Earth beginning to cast a shadow on the moon.



A companion star next to the moon which had a bluest hue to it. The moon beginning to turn red.

Taken around 2:22 AM with the sun beginning to be cast on the moon again.



253: PASSOVER 2014

Photo taken of a bronze sculpture at Thanksgiving Point Gardens in Lehi.

...

For the past couple of years, our family has observed Passover or “Pesach” (which means “to Pass Over’). This important sacred feast is rich in symbolism and begins this evening at sundown. Most observe Passover by holding a Seder meal (a Passover Feast) which involves a retelling and discussing the story of the Israelites’ exodus from ancient Egypt and their deliverance from slavery. This ritualized Passover meal begins an eight day feast of unleavened bread; in which no leavened bread was eaten, symbolic of the Israelites’ need to flee quickly which did not allow enough time for bread dough to rise. In addition to eating unleaven bread, the feast consists of partaking of very symbolic food including marar (bitter herbs), charoset (apple and walnut salad), zeroa (shankbone), baytzah (eggs), chazeret (vegatables).


 Five days prior to this night, a family observing Passover was to select a lamb. The lamb was to be male, at least one year old, and without spot or blemish. The lamb was brought into the family home for 4 days. This gave time for the family to bond and have attachment with the lamb, making the sacrifice more poignant.  The lamb was to be sacrificed by sundown with no bones broken. They were to take the blood and “strike” it on 2 side posts and upper post, go inside, shut their doors and not come out until morning. This was done by using a Hyssop branch which is a healing herb that treats leprosy (a death and decaying disease). The instruction from the Lord to mark the doorposts of their homes with the blood was for protection from the destroying angels, and that spirit of the Lord knew to “pass over” the first-born in these homes.

Sidenote: A lamb is a very tender and loving animal. A friend shared an account with me about a butcher who had been asked to slaughter a family’s Passover lamb. The butcher anticipated a routine experience, as he had slaughtered many animals. He related how after slitting the small creature’s throat, the little lamb turned and licked the blood off of the butcher’s hands. This hardened butcher was deeply moved and forever changed. The tender licking of the blood from the man’s hand was a sign of unconditional love and forgiveness.



 In John 13 we read, “Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.”

Kneel down to serve and elevate the least.

 ...

Addendum:
Here is some symbols that we discuss as a family: 



 



 One more thing:
To observe the accompanying lunar eclipse/blood moon can look to the sky starting Monday at 11:58 p.m. The moon will move closest to the center of the Earth’s shadow at 1:46 a.m. and totality will end at 2:25 a.m. The moon will be clear of the Earth’s shadow at 3:33 a.m.,

252: RARE ASTROLOGICAL EVENTS: SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS



Alignment of Mars with the Earth and the Sun.

 

Mars, Earth and the sun aligned this week in a rare “opposition of the planets”.  I took a photo below with my zoom lens of the planet Mars rising in the East horizon. Every planet has a symbol that represents it. The symbol for Mars is the male symbol we use (the circle with an arrow) which represents the shield and spear of Mars, the Roman god of war. It is the red planet.  I find it interesting that this alignment of Mars, Earth and the Sun  comes six days before a full lunar eclipse or "blood moon", when the entirety of the moon is shaded by Earth and appears as an eerie reddish color.


 

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Four Blood Moons on Sacred Holy Days
 

The two most sacred Jewish holy days are Passover and the Feast of the Tabernacles. Both of these holy days always begin on a full moon. Passover is in the spring and begins on the night of the first full moon after the vernal equinox. The Feast of the Tabernacle is in the fall and begins the night of the full moon after the fall equinox.

This year and next year, there will be a lunar eclipse on these holy days occurring on April 15, 2014; October 8, 2014; April 4, 2015, and September 28, 2015.  An lunar eclipse during a full moon is also called a blood moon because the moon looks red.  During the lunar eclipse, the Moon passes fully into the shadow of the Earth and it’s no longer being illuminated by the Sun. However, a red light is cast passing through the Earth’s atmosphere reaching the Moon which makes the moon appear to turn to blood.

Having four consecutive “blood moons” occurring at approximately six-month intervals is a phenomenon called a tetrad. The most unique thing about the 2014-2015 tetrad is that all of them are visible for all of the USA.  People in North and South America will be able to see the entire eclipse, while sky watchers in the western Pacific can catch only the last half.

 

Prior blog post with more information



 Photo was taken March 16, 2014. The last full moon before the vernal equinox.
 



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Four Solar Eclipses

(including an Total Eclipse creating the Ring of Fire)

 

 Solar Eclipses occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth and directly blocks the light of the sun. Because the moon is located between the Sun and Earth the dark side of the moon is facing Earth and is in a New Moon phase. On April 29, 2014 there will be an annular eclipse visible in Southern Hemisphere and then on October 23, 2014 there will be a partial eclipse visible for all of North America. On March 20, 2015 on the Spring (Vernal) Equinox there will be a total Eclipse and then one more on September 13, 2015.

 

 

Photo taken in 2012 at the Parowan Gap as the moon begins to pass in front of the sun before the Total Solar Eclipse forming a "Ring of  Fire" in the photo below.

Photo taken of the same Total solar eclipse down at Parowan gap in 2012.

I have shared this on a previous post but wanted to repeat:

 

"The Lord created the heaven. The Ancients viewed the heavens as being a testimony given to us on the earth. From the surface of the earth, the sun occupies a space, even though the sun is over a 100 times larger than the earth. The space of the sun occupies from the firmament of the earth is exactly the same as the space in the firmament that is occupied by the moon. Although the moon is one sixth the size of the earth. From the surface of the earth, they are identical in size, so much so that when you view them on the ecliptic that they are located, one can block out the other entirely in an eclipse. Because all these things were ordained by God to testify in the heavens about Him and about His work. And those things are bearing testimony. And they are telling you something." 

 

I believe with these rare astrological events are signs in the heavens. And yes, they are telling us something.

 

 

Sidenote: I thought this was an interesting symbolic image and story.  LINK

 

251: CONNECTION TO THE BREATH OF LIFE or Hā:

This past weekend, the members of the LDS Church gathered for their semi-annual General Conference. The Sunday session was on April 6th, an important date for many reasons.  In 1830, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized on this date.  The Church has come along way since then.

  

The purpose of the restoration was to once again connected man with God, and not necessarily to connect man to a Church. The main purpose in establishing a church is to gather and to teach others to connect with God. The church should be the means to the end, and not the end itself.

 

I watched all five sessions of General Conference. I find it fascinating to see what is spoken by those sustained as prophets, seers and revelators. I always pray that they will  magnify their callings. I take notes on what is said, and also what is not said. Here are a few thoughts:

 

The first speaker after President Monson's opening remarks was Elder Jeffrey R Holland. At the end of his talk he bore his testimony by saying “I bear witness of the Church, with a particular witness of restored priesthood keys.” I found the wording to be interesting. I compared that with the testimony given by Elder Boyd K Packer. Even though his testimony was pre-recorded, I appreciated Packer's testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I think this might be one of the last time we hear him speak, if not the last.

 

One of my favorite quotes from conference was given by Jean A Stevens, the First Counselor of the Primary General Presidency:

“Gospel is not weight, it is wings. It carries us. The Gospel is not a checklist of things to do, but rather it lives in our hearts. “

It is interesting to compare this quote that "the Gospel is not weight" to a talk given by Elder Bednar. He used the analogy of if you get "stuck in the snow", the solution is to pile on more weight (like a full load of wood in the back of 4x4 truck). The weight of this full load of wood would then help me free myself.

Also, I found it interesting that almost every talk mentioned how blessed we are to be led by our living prophet Thomas S Monson. He was prayed for, thanked, quoted, honored, and sustained and called beloved.  When he was introduced we were told that it would be our privilege to hear him speak. 

anyway.. I digress. I feel to share something else.

Early Sunday morning while everyone was still asleep, I headed up into the mountains before Conference. For me, this is where I can connect with God.. I am grateful for the connection I have with Him. I am also very grateful for friendships with those who I share this journey with. It is a blessing to me to have friends to teach me.  Here is one thing that I was taught on April 6th.

The Breath of Life:

When the Lord puts His spirit upon you, like the Lord breathing into Adam the breath of life, it doesn’t mean that he is making Adam's lungs work. It has nothing to do with that. It means that He is putting part of His essence into Adam. This essence of God enabled Adam to be able to progress, identify and connect with God.

In ancient times Hawaiians greeted each other by the “honi”.  The "honi" is when two people greet each other by pressing noses  and foreheads together and inhaling at the same time, essentially sharing each other's breaths. This is very symbolic since it represents the exchange of “ha”--the breath of life, and “mana” - spiritual power between two people.

When the foreigners ( or white man) came to the island of Hawaii, they were referred to as “Haoles”. This is because the white man wanted to greet the Hawaiians with a hand shake instead of with the sacred “honi”. The term "Haole" is derived from "ha-ole", literally meaning "no breath". The Hawaiians called the foreigners Haoles because the foreigners backed away and were uncomfortable with the "honi" greeting, and so the foreigners were described as "breathless." The implication is not only that foreigners are aloof and ignorant of local ways, but also literally have no spirit or life within.

The word  "Aloha" is also connected to the word "ha". Aloha is a very serious word and if you don't mean it, don't say it. You see, "alo" is of deity. It's like a forward call to deity. "ha" is the breath of life.  The direct translation is 'may you have ever-lasting breath.' The word has real deep meaning for the Hawaiians. It is common for the Hawaiians to say aloha and then greet each other with the honi so they could connect as they breathe in each other's breaths.

What I also find fascinating is that the translation of the word “Hawaii” is "ha-vai-`i...meaning “ha” - the breath of life and “vai” - the water of life... –“`i” -of the creator.

I love Hawaii. I love the people of Hawaii, and I am grateful to be taught by my Polynesian brothers.

 In further study since my experience on Sunday morning. I learned the following.

Yahweh is written in Hebrew letter as YHWH. or יהוה. The most prominent letter is H. To make the sound of the “H” you have a give a breath.  The sound/letter of H in Hebrew means wind, breath, spirit, or honor.   When you make a covenant with someone you share their name. So when the Lord said to Abram. I am going to make a covenant with you. The Lord takes that letter H from His name and puts it into his name Abram and and it becomes Abraham… Sara become Sarah. We can even see in the name Matt can become Matthew.

Visually the letter H in cursive even looks like wind, or breath.

 

 

Just a thought.. an ember can ignite again with a gently blow of  breathe. And the only way a fire can remain burning strong is to have the "breath or wind" constantly "blowing" upon it. If there is no air/wind, the ember will not ignite and it will eventually go out.

 

250: BRINGING DOWN MORE LIGHT AND TRUTH

This is the 250th post on this blog. Ever since the Spring Equinox, I have been asked to share things on this blog that will "bring" down more light, instead of primarily "bringing to light" the hidden things of darkness.  Light is what brings life. It is what sustains hope. Darkness destroys life, and perpetrates despair.

If one is filled with enough light and truth they will be unaffected by the evil all around them. We read in the Book of Mormon that prior to the destruction of the people, men like Mormon and Moroni still could abide the wickedness of the world around them. They lived during a time that could be rated as a violent NC-17 movie, yet they remained unaffected.   I believe that it will be essential for us to gather as much light and truth in the days ahead in order  to combat the onslaught of despair and evil that will continue to encircle around us.

I recently read that our bodies have a dural tube inside our spinal column that vibrates within it. The lower the frequency the sicker and weaker the body is. Conversely, the higher the frequency the healthier and more vibrant the body. The cerebral spinal fluid comes out of the Pineal gland and runs down the Dural tube into the lower extremity. Pineal Gland is associated with our ability to receive revelation and inspiration.  Raising our frequency is essential in order for us to receive light and truth and ultimately receive and endure the presence of the Lord.

 With the right frequency, we can abide the day.

Today is the national "Find a Rainbow Day", so what better day than to post about light.  Rainbows are created from light, and are basically colored light. They are created when the light is refracted by moving from one medium (air) to another (water).

 Rainbows have always had symbolic significance, serving as a sign of peace, beauty, hope, happiness, love and fortune.. but most importantly the rainbow signifies a covenant between God and man.  Covenants are never meant to be broken, neither is the token of that covenant. Covenants are eternal, like a never ending circle. What's interesting is that we tend to think that rainbows are only a semicircle/arch... but actually if the earth didn't get in the way, the rainbow would be a complete circle.

Rainbows are made up of primarily seven distinct colors. I wanted to share a little bit about the a few colors and the associated symbol.  A few days ago I visually could see the Star of David associated with color.  The primary colors (red, yellow and blue) created the triangle the pointed down from heaven. The secondary colors (orange, purple and green) made up the triangle the pointed back up heavenward. The two triangles combined forming the Star of David and a Color Wheel. Below is a my feeble attempt to illustrate this.  Each color has important symbol associated to it.




A symbolic chart that I visualized with the Star of David and the two inverted triangles .

For example. The color Red. The Hebrew word, Adam (אדם) literally means "red". Adam means to show blood in the face, rosy, or ruddy. He was the first man.  Dam is the "red" blood,  adamah is the "red" ground, edom is the color "red" and adam is the "red" man. So Red has significant meaning of Blood, Adam, Red Earth/Clay. It basically represents the Natural Man.

The color blue is symbolic for the Priesthood, and God's Presence. It is the color of the Sky that is over all. The color blue was used on priestly robes or prayer shawls as a sign of the priesthood. The ribbon tassel that the woman touched to be healed was said to be blue. Thus the color is also associated with healing.

If you mix the color Red (Adam, Man) with the color Blue (God's Presence, Priesthood, Healing) you get the color Purple. The Color Purple is a color of royalty, and the color of kingship. It is symbolic of God's Power, and the Royal Priesthood.

The Color Yellow is symbolic of Gold and the Refiner's Fire. It corresponds to trials. So if you mix the color Yellow ( trials, refiner's fire) with the color Blue (healing, Priesthood, God's presence) you get the color Green. The color Green is symbolic of new life, resurrection, growth. Also the color yellow is symbol of the sun. The color blue is associated with water. You mix sunlight with water you get growth and new life in plants.

The color Orange is associate with Brass and Judgment. You get the color Orange by mixing the color Red (natural man) with color Yellow (trials). So our judgment usually comes from how we as natural men respond to our trials we face.  Here is a quick chart to better visualize this:

 

the mixing of primary colors to get the symbolic secondary colors

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The primary color and the secondary colors only make up 6 of the 7 colors found in the rainbow. There is a seventh color which has the shortest wavelength and the highest frequency. It is the color Violet. You get violet by mixing white and red. What is interesting is the white and red are the colors of the Atonement. Symbolically by applying the Atonement to the already highest frequency of the color purple (indigo) you get the color violet. The highest vibrating color.



..

The number seven (the seven colors) is symbolic of completion. We talk about the Jacobs ladder to have seven rungs. Joseph Smith stated that " When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the gospel--you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave." HC 6:306-307

 

In the Words of Joseph Smith he said, " I would make you think I was climbing a ladder when I was climbing a rainbow.--who ever revealed it."

 

 

 

 

Sidenote: It is interesting to note that the same-sex marriage movement has usurped the symbol of the rainbow. However if you notice, they only use the six colors and not seven. The seventh color being created by the adding the Atonement colors of red and white to get that higher frequency color of violet.

 

249: SACRED BALANCE/UNION ON THE SPRING EQUINOX

Last week was the Spring Equinox. Next Sunday is April 6th. Two weeks after April 6th,  we will celebrate Easter. Here are a few more insights about the significance of the Vernal/Spring Equinox.

The spring equinox represents the renewal of life and the time balance and unity. It begins the time when our days progressively getting longer with more sunlight. symbolic of light overcoming darkness. This is the time of year when we observe the Easter holiday and we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. Easter is celebrated around the world with eggs and bunnies, all symbols of life, fertility and rebirth and renewal. Spring is usually a time of fertility for animals. It is a time of the beginning of life, or conception. I have recently learned that the Spring Equinox is not only a time of balance of equal light and dark, but a time of creation and union of  male and female.

In Ancient Egypt, there was a festival on the Spring Equinox. It was called the Festival of Isis and Osiris, where ceremonially the union of the female and male Gods brought fertility to the earth. It was also a time of receiving enlightenment from the God. 

On the morning of equinox, it was customary to face East on the Spring Equinox to witness the rising sun with prayer and praise. The Priests of the Temple of Solomon, The Egyptians Priests, and the early Christians would meet before dawn and wait for the rising of the sun. Their temples were oriented geographically so that the rising of the sun on the day of the equinox would enter in through the two front pillars.  

The rising sun was viewed as representing, symbolically, the Son of God. One of the Egyptian titles for the Son of God was "Lord of the Horizon." . As the sun rose above the horizon, the Early Christians would shout "Agerthe!" (Greek meaning "He is risen”). It was thought that one joined with the Gods on the horizon at the rising sun. This was a holy time of union with the Gods, and especially on the day of the equinox

The actual moment of equinox represents the absolute balance between light and dark, the moment of time that light and dark are equal this spring equinox was 10:57 AM. From that time forward, there will be progressively more sunlight as the days get longer until June 21st, the Summer Solstice. A symbolic time period of the triumph of light over darkness for three months. 

Here is a few photos I took on a hike on the Spring Equinox. They represent the symbols of the union and balance of the male and the female.

Male and Female Flowers:

 

 

The only two flowers that I saw were the purple Rockcress flowers and the yellow Daffodil. It is interesting to note that the color Purple and the color Yellow are opposite in the color wheel. In another post I hope to explain more color symbolism. The Purple Rockcress has four petals.  The number four is Symbolic of the square, and forms the four corners of the earth, The Daffodil is symbolic of  life, rebirth and creation. It has six petals which represents harmony, balance, love, and truth. Six is also the number of sides for the geometic shape, the hexagon. We see the hexagon used by the bees in the forming of the honeycomb. All associated with the female.

 

Here are a few more photos from the hike:

Male and Female Rock Shapes

 

Side by side Male and Female rock symbols 

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Previously posted photos taken on the Spring Equinox 2014 morning.

 

 

 

248: VERNAL EQUINOX 2014: Light begins to conquer Darkness.

Photo taken last year at sunrise on top of Mount Timpanogos

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Today is the last calendar day of Winter. Tomorrow, March 20, 2014, spring begins as we observe the vernal equinox here in Utah. At 10:57 AM will mark that special moment when the sun crosses the celestial equator going from south to north. The word equinox is derived from two Latin words–aequus (equal) and nox (night). On the equinox, the length of day, and the length of night will be close to 12 hours each. Depending on your location the sunrise and sunset will be around 7:40 AM/PM.

Early Christians observed the Vernal Equinox by greeting the rising sun on the morning of the equinox by going outside, facing east and shouting three times: "Christos Agarthe" (Christos Ah-gair-thay) which means “Christ is risen."

Spring is a time of rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal, resurrection, and regrowth. It is a time to gather, search, learn, receive and share more light. Light is becoming a more important, essential commodity to have in our life.

It is light, primarily from the Sun, that cause living things to ripen. The word ripen means to bring to completeness or perfection, or come to maturity. We often use the term "ripen" with fruit. In general when fruit is ripe, it is sweeter, softer and malleable. 

Interesting to note, there are two ways that you can speed up the ripening process.

You can allow the fruit to mature by placing the fruit in direct sunlight out in the open air. This process will make the fruit more sweet.

or

You can place the fruit in a closed bag (like a brown paper sack), control the environment and “suffocate” it with restricted air and little light. In this process, the fruit will be less sweet and eventually becoming rotten.

The fruit ripen by light will be gathered, the second fruit will be usually be destroyed.

...

247: WHAT INFLUENCE ARE WE UNDER?

Today is St. Patrick's Day.. Since this is a holiday where many people get drunk...after tonight, a large percentage of people (especially if they are Irish)  would answer "Alcohol" to the question "What influence are you under?"

 If only we all could answer the question that we are under the influence of The Spirit of the Lord. If we truly are keeping our Sacrament Covenants by being willing to take upon us the Name of the Christ, always remembering Him, and keeping His Commandments, we are promised to have His Spirit to be with us.. ALWAYS.

However, if we fail to live up to our covenants, we are under another influence. From the chapter "On the Sacred and the Symbolic" from Hugh Nibley's book, Eloquent Witness, Nibley writes:

    "What is the result of failing to live up to our covenants? It is to be under Satan's influence; there is no other alternative, for you cannot "serve two masters" (Matthew 6:24)....

    "The ordinances must be kept in the way God appointed: otherwise their priesthood will prove a curse rather than a blessing. There is no margin for rationalization or manipulation; "the moment we revolt at anything which comes from God, the Devil takes power." (TPJS, 169)" ...

 Good questions to ask ourselves.. What master do we serve? Have we changed any of the ordinances from the way God appointed them? Do we rationalize this changes if any change has been made? Who is in control our lives? Who has taken over power?


Furthermore in Nibleys' book he writes:

    "Many have noted the strong tendency of Latter-day Saints to avoid making waves. They seem strangely touchy on controversial issues. This begets an extreme lack of candor among the Saints, which in turn is supported by a new doctrine, according to which we have a Prophet at our head who relieves us of all responsibility for seeking knowledge beyond a certain point, making decisions, or taking action on our own." pg 414-415.

    "When the extremists take over, and the ambitious corporations prevail, when the whole earth groans, who is to be trusted in such a world? "The world always mistook false prophets for true ones," said Joseph (TPJS, 206); and he noted that loyalty oaths and protestations are actually signs of desperation and mistrust.  In the end any solution given "without revelation, without commandment, would prove a curse" (TPJS, 256).

...

 

SIDENOTES:

 

I received a few interesting emails today that I wanted to share. In answering What influence are we under? One of the answers is Money and Wealth.

Here is a 9 minute interesting video:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuqGrz-Y_Lc&sns=em

 

EMAIL 2:

 

The LDS Church tearing down beloved school, homes near the New Zealand temple — and building a Legacy Park. The plan is for 100 new homes on the site, but they would be more expensive. "It feels like Americans came in and saw that our community was run-down and said, ‘This is not good enough. We need to put some sparkle on it,’ " Nin says. "If they had really looked at the people, they would know there is already something special here."

SL Tribune Article on New Zealand Temple

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EMAIL 3:

With permission, a friend sent me an email that contained part of a letter that was written to the Presiding Bishop.


This letter is written to express the concerns of my wife and myself. We identify ourselves as active Mormons, being lifelong members of the church, current temple recommend holders, faithful tithing payers, with callings in our ward, attending our meetings as frequently as health and work permit.

I am not sure to whom to address this, as this is written primarily out of concern for church spending, especially when it comes to tithing and other sacred offerings. Local leadership certainly can’t provide all the answers, as all tithing funds are funneled centrally to Salt Lake, to be spent as the general leadership sees fit. So it is to you I address this letter. If you feel this is out of your jurisdiction, please forward to the appropriate office.

It is my understanding that the church invests our tithing funds, using the earnings in projects/business ventures that aren’t necessarily projects that tithing funds are to be used for. Is this true? Does the church invest these sacred funds for profit? If it is so, I am concerned…since I believe that any money earned from investing tithing is still the Lord’s to be used with prudence.

The church has made some rather large investments recently. One was in the news last week: the purchase of land in Florida for over half a billion dollars. The other: City Creek shopping center. My wife and I really started to become concerned about church spending since news of City Creek reached our ears. We have not ventured to the mall, but we are in awe of such a building project that cost more per square foot than any other building project ever. I have read that the funds did not come from tithing, and that it was built using funds from the church’s “real estate arm”. Were those funds augmented with earnings from tithing investments? The church offers no transparency when it comes to finances, and as a member it is impossible to know where funds arise from, and where they are spent.

In a recent conversation with a friend, who happens to be an architect with one of the firms that the church uses to build temples and to maintain the Salt Lake temple, we learned about the high cost of planning and building a temple. We learned of the process of planning, making renderings of the rooms, each rendering costing tens of thousands of dollars. If the plans were not approved, the firm had to start over, and all that cost leading up to that point would have to be absorbed by the church. What a wasteful and careless process it sounds like! I know our temples are sacred edifices, but certainly the Lord doesn’t require custom furniture, custom rugs and carpets, fine gold and crystal furnishings. Doesn’t He care more about what is in our hearts than how we are adorned? If that is true for man, shouldn’t it be true for temples?

This architect friend informed us of a recent bathroom remodel in the Salt Lake temple that we had the privilege of using while waiting to attend a temple sealing. The bathroom was impressive, with solid onyx slabs partitioning the stalls and lining the walls, fine woodworking throughout, and beautiful hardware and fixtures. We were told the price to complete this project was $500,000. Did that come from tithing funds, since it was a temple project? How many poor members might have benefitted from those funds? How many temple trips might have been realized by members too poor to afford transportation to their nearest temple? How many mouths might have been fed?

My wife and I were recently made aware of starving LDS children in South America and southern Asia. It is estimated that up to 900 LDS children will die from starvation/malnutrition this year, while 90,000 will receive inadequate nutrition. Is church headquarters aware of this? The group that informed us about these children is called Liahona Children’s Foundation. This group is attempting to raise money to provide nutrition and education to these children and their friends. If what they claim is true, can’t more of our offerings be sent to ensure our brothers and sisters in third world countries have enough, and then some to spare? Especially since we are so richly blessed as members in North America.

I am reminded of a scripture in 2 Nephi 28: 12-13. I think as a church we need to heed all warnings from the Book of Mormon, as though they are directed towards us individually and as a church. We will certainly learn more that way.

“12 Because of pride, and because of false teachers, and false doctrine, their churches have become corrupted, and their churches are lifted up; because of pride they are puffed up.

 13 They rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries; they rob the poor because of their fine clothing; and they persecute the meek and the poor in heart, because in their pride they are puffed up.”

My wife and I are striving to know our Savior. We are trying to teach our children to know Him, and serve Him. We continue to pay an honest tithe, and it is our hope and prayer that the leaders of this church are being honest with those tithes. If there is a system of accountability of church leadership to the members who provide the tithes and offerings, I am unaware of it. In any corporation, there needs to be checks and balances, and I am curious if there are any checks in the church. Perhaps financial transparency would be a wise initiative, so that as members we can retake our privilege of consent, even common consent, for church expenditures.

We know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, that he restored wonderful truths to the earth, and that we may become the beneficiaries of wonderful blessings if we seek after our Savior and do as He commands. At this time we find ourselves confused at the direction the church is moving, which feels ever closer to Babylon, rather than fleeing in the opposite direction.

If you have the time and ability to answer any of these questions, we would greatly appreciate it. We have no plans of leaving this church. We are part of this church, and it is a part of us. There is not one part that ought to be esteemed greater than the other, as every member is a member of the body of Christ. It is with this thought in mind that we submit this letter to you.

........................

Response Letter:

Email 4:

It was the announcement of the 2014 recipient of "The Pillar of the Valley" Award which is one of the highest awards given to man in Utah Valley.  This award is given at Utah Valley's premiere business gala event. If you want to attend the event as a capstone sponsor" it will cost $10,000 (not including the cost of the tuxedo.) The event is advertised as "This is a black tie-optional event that is first class in every way. ". Billboards can be seen in Utah Valley along the Interstate 1-15 announcing the winner.  Here is the website to see who will be receiving the award. WINNER.


BTW: An Electronic Billboard can be seen driving North on the east side of I-15 between 1600 North Orem Exit and Pleasant Grove Exit of the recipient as well. Here is a small cell phone photo:





 

 

And Lastly: New Scout lodge to be named for LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson. The lodge will be named the Thomas S. Monson Lodge in honor of the longtime Scouter and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The lodge will be the centerpiece of the Hinckley Scout Ranch (named after the father of Gordon B. Hinckley), which is home to several separate campsites including Tomahawk, Frontier, Ridgeline and Sunrise. The nearly 23,000-square-foot lodge will feature conference rooms, restrooms, a Scoutmaster area with Wi-Fi access, a full-service kitchen, a dining patio, and program pavilions.   LINK

246: MORMONOPOLY: BUILDING "ZION" ONE PROPERTY AT A TIME

When I was a little kid, sometimes instead of a lesson for Family Night Evening, we would play board games. One of my favorite games was Monopoly. It is a game where the players move around the gameboard buying properties, developing their properties by building housing and then collecting rent from their opponents.  For the LDS market, I had an idea for a new variation of the game. I would call it Mormonolopy.

 

All of us are very familiar with the non-profit side of the Church with the buildings of Temples, churches, and the missionary program, but most are not familiar with the LDS Church for-profit companies. I thought it might be good to have fun playing a game with some of the properties that the Church owns. These are investment properties and companies that are income-producing assets. One would assume that these properties are helping with the Church's 3 fold mission, (actually I think there are four missions now.) It was announced recently the additional 4th mission: To Care for the Poor and the Needy.

Many might be surprised to know that the LDS church is the largest non-governmental land owner in the US. It is not unusual for the Church to buy land. It normally does so through its primary corporate entity, the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  news article

 

In a recent fireside at our stake, a Church employee spoke and shared with us that the Church builds more square footage in United States than Walmart. I don't know what the Church's exact square footage is, but as of January 31, 2014,  Walmart  has built almost 1 billion square feet. ( 723,385,669 square feet to be exact) stats 

Last week,  Suburban Land Reserve (one of the real estate arms of the Church) met with the City Council to propose a preliminary Planned Unit Development (PUD) in Herriman.  The LDS Church owns 300 acres in Herriman approximately at 6801 W 11800 South.  and hopes to get approval to subdivide the land into 2,549 home building lots. (Minutes to the City Council Mtg.)

A few years ago, "The Mormon Church has purchased a major chunk of undeveloped property in overbuilt Maricopa from two major home builders. Property Reserve Inc., a real-estate holding company owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, paid home builders Fulton Homes Corp. and Shea Homes for Active Adults a combined $72 million in October for about 1,900 acres of virgin land in the Pinal County city, 35 miles south of Phoenix." LDS Purchases Maricopa land from builders in Arizona

While a developing land to subdivide into home lots is one thing, when I learned that the Church has land with plans to develop an entire new city, I was really surprised. Here are some specifics of developing the Elberta/Goshen area. For those who are not familiar with this area, this is the land that is being used to film all of the New Testaments Bible videos for the Church.

http://www.utahcounty.gov/Dept/ComDev/Planning/UtahCountyGoshenValleySpecificAreaPlan.pdf

 

 

A few other purchase of the Church within the past 10 years:

International Corporate Park in Orlando bought by LDS Church's Surburban Land Reserve.
http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2007/08/27/daily52.html

• Suburban Land Reserve announced late Friday that it has bought the International Corporate Park in east Orange County for an undisclosed price.  Scott Dean, a vice president with the Utah-based firm, says work with Orange County and the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority will begin immediately to complete the development and construction of the Innovation Way interchange at the 528 Beachline.

LDS church transfers Northwest Quadrant to Kennecott
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/52567975-90/kennecott-development-church-lake.html.csp

• Most of the quadrant has been owned by the LDS Church for decades, once serving as a welfare-era farm during the Great Depression. Duke, with the LDS Church's real-estate arm, notes PRI now holds 2,000 acres there, 1,000 of which is the city's former landfill.  Firmage says the LDS Church was "frustrated" by the inability to make a return on its sprawling investment. He says the housing market makes it too risky to develop, so he hopes to see an easement or the like to protect the land as open space." 

For those that are interested, here is a partial list of some of the other LDS for-profit companies and  property holdings.

 

• Deseret Management Corporation 
• Property Reserve, Inc.
• Suburban Land Reserve, Inc
• City Creek Properties
• Beneficial Financial Group 
• Bonneville International 
• Bonneville Communications 
• Bonneville Interactive Services
• Bonneville Satellite 
• KSL Radio Station as well as other affliates.
• Television Station (KSL)
• Deseret Book 
• LDS Motion Picture Studios
• Deseret Morning News 
• Hawaii Reserves 
• Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) 
• La'ie Shopping Center
• La'ie Park
• La'ie Cemetary
• Hukilau Beach Park
• La'ie Water Company
• La'ie Treatment Works (sewer)
• Temple Square Hospitality 
• Joseph Smith Memorial Building 
• The Inn at Temple Square 
• Lion House Pantry 
• The Roof Restaurant 
• The Garden Restaurant 
• Passages Restaurant 
• Zions Securities Corporation 
• Farm Management Corporation 
• Deseret Land and Livestock
• Sun Ranch (Martin's Cove)
• Deseret Ranches of Florida (Orlando)
• Deseret Farms of California
• Rolling Hills (Idaho)
• West Hills Orchards (Elberta, Utah)
• Cactus Lane Ranch (Arizona)
• Deseret Trust Company
• LDS Family Services
• Property Reserves Inc. (PRI)
• Ensign Peak Advisors - 
• Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators 
• Brigham Young University (BYU) 
• BYU - Idaho 
• BYU - Hawaii
• LDS Business College
• Agreserves Australia 
• Deseret Ranches of Alberta, Canada
• Agreserves LTD Cambridge,England
• AgroReservas, S.C. Los Mochis, Mexico
• Deseret Farms of CA Woodland, CA
• Deseret Farms of CA Modesto,CA
• Deseret Farms of CA Chico,CA
• South valley Farms Bakersfield, CA
• Deseret Security Farms Blythe, CA
• Naples Farms Naples,FL
• Deseret Cattle & Citrus ST. Cloud, FL
• Deseret Farms of Ruskin Ruskin, FL
• Kewela Plantation O'ahu,HI
• Rex Ranch Ashby, NE
• Riverbend Farms ST.Paul, OR
• Deseret Land & Livestock Woodruff, UT
• Wasatch-Dixie Farms Elberta, UT
• Agreserves Cottle CO.,TX
• Agrinorthwest Kennewick, WA

 

  

I would be interested in know how these companies and properties fulfill the missions of the Church, and with "hastening the work". It might be my lack of understanding but, it seems to be a lot of business as usual.  Large land parcels of several thousand acres for agriculture seems like a good thing.. but long-term development, mixed use projects, office, industrial, high rise condos seems more like Monopoly.

Sidenote:

Genesis 11:4–6
"And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and they said, "Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, with its top in heaven, and let us make us a name". And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one. . . Let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand . . . and the Lord scattered them."

 The Gospel of Thomas, 64:1–12
 "Buyers and merchants will not enter the places of my father."

245: ILLEGITIMATE PRIESTHOOD

A descriptive banner from the Dead Sea Scroll Exhibit currently on display at the Leonardo in Salt Lake City. 

....

 

Salt Lake City is one of only six cities in the United States to display a collection of the Dead Sea Scrolls. On display is one of the largest collections of the priceless 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls and can be seen at the Leonardo Museum through April 27, 2014.

 Discovered by a shepherd in the Qumran caves in 1947, the Scrolls contain the oldest known copies of the Hebrew Bible. Qumran, was home to a community of a religious group called the Essenes, who devoted much of their time to writing and preserving sacred texts. The Essenes refer largely to those people who left Jerusalem after the destruction of Solomon's Temple and  went into the desert to continue to practice the ancient temple religion.

Part of the Dead Sea Scroll exhibit on display is the War Scroll popularly known as "The War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness," is one of the seven original scrolls discovered in Qumran in 1947. The scroll sheds light on the New Testament Book of Revelation, in which a final war is described between earthly and heavenly forces.

Above is a photo of one of the banners above the War Scroll display. I found the information contained on the banner to be really interesting. It reads:
 
"The authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls were intimately familiar with Jerusalem. It is likely that some of them lived in the city at one time. Many scrolls mention both the contemporary city and messianic visions of it in a perfect future age. For these writers, the city was polluted and profane. It was  place from which they had spiritually and physically withdrawn because of its religious corruption, "the city in which the evil priest has undertaken abominable actions so as to render the Temple impure." 

The Temple was the seat of an illegitimate priesthood, which would be delivered into the hands of the Kittim, probably the Romans. At the same time, the scrolls speak of Jerusalem's future restoration, it would again be worthy of the divine presence at the end of days, when God would build a perfect Temple there."

I think this is the first place I have read the words " illegitimate priesthood." The word illegitimate means not authorized or in accordance with accepted principles or standard. It is not recognized as valid or sanctioned.  A question to think about is... what makes the Priesthood illegitimate?  Some answers can be found in D&C 121.