Last updated on August 5th, 2024 at 08:08 am
July 28, 2024
Here is the best thing I heard (What?), saw (Eye.), and read (Read.) this week, as well as the best idea (💡) I developed.
What?
followHim Podcast – Alma 32-35 – Dr. S. Michael Wilcox:
- “You want a testimony that you can’t shake. I visualize it as a pyramid.
“Now we’re going to take that pyramid and we’re going to divide it into three sections, the top, the middle, and the bottom. On the top we’re going to write faith, what I believe. This is what I affirm or attest to. This is the part that I say, ‘I believe Jesus is the Christ. I know that God lives. I have faith that Joseph Smith was a prophet.’ Whatever it is you’re affirming, you’re going to put it in that top third of the pyramid. This is what I am attesting.
“But faith has to have a foundation underneath it. … If you think that faith / testimony is based on emotion, emotion isn’t a very stable foundation. And I think a lot of people feel that faith is based on kind of emotional things. Joseph Smith said that the ministers were trying to stir up religious feeling. That’s not a real solid foundation. Faith is based on evidence. Paul also uses the word substance. And in the footnote, the Greek could also give it assurance. So in that second section of the pyramid, I’m going to write the words evidence, substance, assurance.
“Now in the lower one, what does evidence, substance and assurance rest on? … I’m going to write three things. … Substance is based on reason and authority and experience. So I would say my experience tells me, provides me the evidence that what I believe or affirm is true. I haven’t had the experience, but I trust the authority. We all have to trust the authority of other people that things exist and that things work well. And I haven’t had it, but I trust others’ experiences. My reason tells me. …
“If the top part of our pyramid we’re saying, ‘This is what I know or believe,’ the second and the third layer says, ‘And I know why I know.’ It’s often important for people to just sit down and say, ‘Okay, this is what I have a testimony of. Why? What’s the evidence in my life? What substance? What assurances hold that up, so that when things shake, it’s not going to fall?’ Yeah, you can roll a few stones off a pyramid. There are some things on our testimonies that don’t belong there anyway. So you can roll a few things off, but the building is going to stand because I not only know, I know why I know.”
Eye.
Elder Andersen (Instagram) inviting us to memorize five verses of scripture that we really, really believe:
- “Could I challenge you to do something? Look for five scriptures that you really, really believe. Not just that you think are famous. Not just that your mother taught you. Not just that your mother believes, but scriptures you really believe, and put them deep into the memory of your mind. Because when you believe it like that, do you know what happens? You say it with power, and the Holy Ghost bears witness of it to the people you’re speaking to. It’s not just something that’s coming out of a book. It’s something that’s coming out of your heart.”
Read.
“Family Conversations about Suicide“, Becca Aylworth Wright, July 2024 Liahona:
- “The Church’s resource guide for suicide prevention informs: ‘Talking about suicide will not make someone more likely to attempt suicide. In fact, talking openly about suicide is an effective way to help prevent suicide.’
“According to John Ackerman, PhD, suicide prevention clinical manager at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, ‘Creating a safe space to talk about suicide can save a child’s life.’ In fact, he adds, ‘if a child has been struggling with thoughts of suicide, knowing that a concerned adult is willing to have an open conversation is often a relief.’ …
“Open conversations about suicide can empower children to come to their parents and other trusted adults instead of trying to navigate suicidal thoughts on their own, should they ever arise. …
“Immediately after I discussed suicide with my own children, my nine-year-old son asked if he could speak to me privately. He told me about times he had imagined taking his own life, complete with how he would do it. I never could have dreamed he was having these thoughts. I hugged him, thanked him for his bravery in telling me, and told him that no matter what he ever did or ever thought, he was treasured and needed in our family. And I committed to myself to watch him for any further signs of suicidal ideation or mental illness.”
💡
Treat everyone as thought I knew them in the preexistence and, while there, we had covenanted to serve one another in such a way that we would help each other return to Heavenly Father’s presence.
- This was inspired by my preparation for General Conference Applied season 3 episode 15 (“God’s Intent Is to Bring You Home” by Elder Patrick Kearon).