Carborendum

VID_20240408_133952.mp4

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The "bar" has a footnote to Moroni 10. I noted that the "bar" (from Moroni 10) used in conjunction with "Eternal Judge" indicates that the "bar" spoken of is about the final judgement. Maybe, maybe not. I was thinking of "the bar" that is used in modern settings for the inner area in the courtroom for the judge and lawyers. So, I could see this referring to God as the ultimate judge. Therefore, we meet at his bar. The problem is that this usage of the word "bar" is of modern origin. It was far later than Moroni, and certainly later than Jacob. So, why is this "bar" used in these verses? It is easy enough to say that these were simply the best modern language equivalents to ancient figures of speech. And it could be. But I just don't feel right about it. Another answer didn't occur to me until I re-read the words: This isn't the bar of a modern courtroom. This is a scepter, either of the Egyptian Pharaoh or a Judge of Israel (or possibly some combination of the two). I prefer that dual symbolism of the Egyptian Pharaohs. The flail and scepter were double-dual symbols. The flail could punish disobedient servants, or it could be used to thresh wheat, thus providing for the people. The shepherd's crook was either a way to STRIKE down a criminal, or to bring a repentant soul into the fold. To say that the bar (staff, rod, etc.) was "pleasing", and then say that is striketh fear and dread, would indicate a dual symbol.

Joseph once said that he could reveal 100 times more about the degrees of glory than what was revealed in the various sections of the D&C, as soon as the Saints were prepared to receive it. Joseph knew. But he also recognized that the Saints were not ready to hear it. He said If it was that difficult for what might (in the Church) be considered "the greatest generation" imagine what our generation is prepared for? Are they the great and noble generation saved for the last days? Or are they the lost generation being tossed about by every wind of doctrine? When I look at the many youth in the four stakes I've been frequenting, I'd say "Yes."

Yes, it is as I said. You'll notice that he kind of pauses as he defines it as revelation. His eyes are going to different places. So, he's not reading it directly, but kind of paraphrasing as he goes. He glances at each of the prompts as required. But he is in no way reading it directly. Also notice that there are several other places where he uses different words than the written version. But I don't see anyone making a big stink about those.

There have been many times when I've heard one word or phrase in Conference, but saw the written version was off by just a bit. I finally realized that sometimes, a speaker knows his talk well enough that he doesn't need to read it off the teleprompter. This has been the case for me many a time. So, he speaks it as he remembers it. He may still glance up a few times so he doesn't lose his place. But for the most part, it just comes from whatever he remembers. Meanwhile, the original written version is what is published on the website and in the Liahona/Ensign. There really is no curating the similarities and differences between spoken v. written. Both are recorded. Both are official. Both mean the same thing. So, the written word vs the spoken word may differ in detail, without a difference in meaning. While I'm a fan and practicioner of exegesis, at some point, we must realize that the only "official meaning" of prophetic words is through the Spirit. And as long as your interpretation is within the reasonable limits of what has been spoken, then you have a credible claim to having revelation confirm the prophets' words. EDIT: BTW, I couldn't find the talk you referenced. I looked at the talks from Pres. Packer for both the April and Oct sessions from 2012 to 2015. None of them used the words you referred to.

I can't. Sometimes when we're given revelation, we're not allowed to repeat it. I was trying to simply point in a direction. But just as pointing in real life would require our eyes to be in the same location with reference to the pointing finger, we're not aligned. And you're seeing in a different direction than what I intended.

Ok..... So, that's what you got from what I said. ... I don't even know where to go from here. Good object lesson.

If I were to make a rough guess, I'd say that I've given close to 1000 blessings in my life. Healing, comfort, promise of blessings, & prophecy. Of those, I'd guess about 10% were very clear blessings where I KNEW there was power there. About 10% were clearly empty. I was "practicing the forms without the power." Finally, the great majority were something in between. I really couldn't tell. I didn't necessarily feel like there was power there. But it also didn't feel empty. As you can imagine, those where I clearly felt the power -- these were always fulfilled. Those where I knew were empty were never fulfilled. Of the remaining? Maybe 50% if I'm lucky were fulfilled. I think you can draw some parallels.

My mistake. You're right. I mixed up the two. But it does make my point in a different way. The fact that an angel had to teach him these things at around 74 BC says that the doctrine was not around at the time of the Brass Plates. i.e. It was not taught, nor was it found in scriptures.

Nothing has changed. And that is the problem. The Lord was FORCED to open up new doctrines and knowledge to the people of the earth. There is not time to wait any longer. Consider that Jacob 5 is not just the history of the apostasy and restoration. There is some very important information there for the last days. He COULDN'T wait any longer. But he only gave enough to give us a chance as individuals to learn more through the Spirit. Any more knowledge in the public arena would bring even greater condemnation on the Church and the earth as a whole. Take a wild guess...

There have been. But the population of the Church is not ready for them. And we're not going to publicly release new doctrine to the world if the Church itself (as a whole) is not ready for it. People have received personal revelation to answer specific gospel questions. These answers have never been written down. They have not been made public for a reason. The world is barely ready for the light and knowledge available to them as it is. The membership of the Church is not living according to the light we've already been given. How can we expect to learn more as a people if we treat lightly that which we've already been given? If the whole Church is under such condemnation, then why should we believe we're worthy of more? One more thing is that there are some higher level realities that can't really be conveyed in human language. They are concepts that have no words. They can't be written down in any mortal tongue. It is only discernible by and communicated through the Spirit.

Travel there was not too bad. Google rerouted us a couple of times to shorten our travel. Instead of the predicted 2:30h trip, it was about 2:50. We stopped by the Target for a pit stop. The bathrooms were fine. The parking lot was normal -- nowhere near full. It was about what you'd expect on a Monday morning. We went to a city park just south of the freeway from there. The parking lot was nearly full. But we managed to park two cars. Plenty of room to layout and get a table. I got several shots at different stages. And I got the perfect video of the totality. I'll post when I'm at an appropriate interface. The cloud cover was actually the perfect level for photography. I happened to switch to video just as the last crescent was showing. Then the totality. The red dot was, indeed a solar flare or sunspot. There was a professional eclipse chaser at the park about 40 ft from our table. My 12 y.o. liked his scope setup and got curious. They traded contact info and now, this man ("Lloyd") is going to be a distance mentor for my son on the subject of astronomy. The trip home was horrendous. We thought we'd miss rush hour. But there were major accidents on every route home. That delayed us long enough that we hit rush hour. Then that slowed us down to get us home in 4 hours. But that was soon enough to get my visiting BIL to the airport, just in the nick of time. My wife had told me that the few minutes of totality would be like nighttime. Not really. It was like late twilight. But it was dark enough that the park's automatic lamps turned on. I often wonder why there is a difference between seeing photos or video vs actually being there in person. The actual event as a memory frozen in time is no different to me. But the overall experience is different. When we were there we had to deal with the clouds on again - off again behavior. We were afraid that the 3 to 4 minutes of totality would be denied us. But there was a happy medium that was better than we expected just as the totality occurred. That slight layer of clouds made it perfect. Then there were the interactions we had because "an event" was happening. We simply wouldn't interact that way if it was just a photo or video.

No, there is some evidence in the BoM that they didn't even teach the doctrine of the Spirit World (a time after death but prior to judgment). Alma theorized of such a place/state. But he taught it as his opinion, not doctrine. It may be that it was taught before Noah. But after Noah, the people were no longer allowed to have that much light. Consider how many people in the Church today believe they will be perfectly happy in the Telestial or Terrestrial. They simply don't want any more than that.

I was surprised to hear of the new temple in South Houston. (The current on is on the north side of Houston). Temple presidencies have told our stake that we were pretty much the reason we were the reason the temple stayed open. Our percentages are that high. The saying was that if all the stakes in Houston alone (let alone the outlying regions) would have attendance rates as high as ours, we'd have to have four temples. So, now we will have a second one. I guess we're growing.

We don't live that far away. We're just day-tripping it. We have no reservations. We're planning on coming home later in the evening. The total eclipse will be over by 1:40 or so. Give it two or three hours to get people going and traffic to wane. We'll be home by 10:00pm easy. We'll have a bunch of munchables for food. Boys won't have problems with bathrooms. But we'll have three or four females with us. It's more difficult for them. And, yes, we will have buckets and shovels with plenty of water and an ice chest. So, the worst thing that can happen is that we're going to view it on the side of a road between Killeen and Temple, instead of a parking lot or anywhere more convenient. Copperas Cove is about as dead center in the path of totality as you can get. But if it is as tight as things seem to be, we might only get to Temple. Our main concern is gasoline. We are going to stop at College Station for a fill up. Then we should have enough to get back to College Station on a single tank with plenty to spare for traffic jams.

A bit like hearing someone sing Hallelujah in Sacrament Meeting. I heard it happened.

So, my family is going to see the eclipse this coming Monday. We're just a few hours away from the path of Totality. We're planning on heading out right near @Ironhold's stomping grounds. We have no idea what the popularity will be. But if it is the nearest spot for me, you can bet that most of the eclipse chasers (out of 4 million people in Houston) will want to go to the same location. Texas is fortunate since the duration of the total eclipse will be longer with a decrease in latitude. We'll get nearly four minutes of the total eclipse. With the roads clogged, we may have difficulty returning. I hope we don't run out of gas. Or we'll be the only idiots driving out in the middle of nowhere looking at an event for just a few minutes only to returrn home with a memory. We can't really take pictures... can we? But memories will be what makes and breaks this family.

Wow. I just realized that I haven't seen any TV or movie in a while. But just this last weekend, the little lady and I went to see Dune Part II. It was interesting to compare it to the 1984 version and contrast them both with the book. Empress had not seen the earlier version, nor red the book. So, it was nice to have a captive audience for me to share my thoughts about it all.

Not sure what you mean. Can you elaborate?

Why didn't you ask about Pinochle? I said shoot the moon.

Some people wonder why the three degrees were not preached in earlier dispensations.

Once all is said and done, I believe it will be brought to our full understanding just how much our free will was what got us to our final destination. We can moan all we want about our circumstances and all. And we can even point to things about our bodies, brains, etc. And they all certainly had an impact. But at the end of the day, I think we'll find it difficult for us to deny in the face of the Lord's perfect understanding that we were the ones who chose our path.

Can you provide a link for this? I'm not saying you're wrong. It just seems out of character for Biden. I haven't heard anything on that from the Biden Admin. But it would seem that his MO would tend to be: No, we can't harvest the lithium there because it is a natural landmark and we can't desecrate that with putting mines there. A-hem! We already have salt mines there, duh! -- but don't let that dissuade him. Besides, we can't do something that would lessen China's profits.

Me, personally? No. At the same time there may be a Church policy, but I'm not aware of one.