What is the Distance?

This has been one of those mundane weeks.  All of us in the south end of the valley are fighting Spring time head colds.  Most of us had a short week.  Some shorter than others.  There were no polo games.  Evenings were spent doing our best to breath and stay awake.

Tall Man is down to 86 or 87 days, but who is counting.

The Professor started up a new class or two this week, so she does not get home until late 2 nights a week.

SnackPack is super focused on school and counting down to May 27th.

Yep, that is really the gist of it.  It was a wonderful Conference Weekend.  That is how we spent our Saturday and Sunday.

Yea, so that is it.

At the dinner table tonight, we talked a little about what we had picked up from conference.  Everyone got something different.  It is always amazing how the messages listened to all at the same time come out with a different message for each of us.

My pondering has been on the events of last couple weeks.  Especially since the scripture reference I chose this week was from Matt. 24:9-11.  I know that it is a sign of the times, but I just don't understand why.  What is it that drives people so blindly?  Are the follower of Christ really that bad?

These words stood out in my mind as I read and pondered:

• deliver to be afflicted
• killed
• hated of all nations
• offended
• betray
• hate one another
• false prophets shall rise
• many deceived

Does any of this sound familiar?  Have any of you read the papers, watched the news, or walked down the street in your Sunday best lately?

My thought really exploded as I was reading Alma 24 and 25.  It all kind of came to a head when I got to verse 9 of chapter 25; "and they are HUNTED at this day by the Lamanites..."  What just happened here?

Let's review:

A long, long time ago, there was a fight between brothers.  I think this was addressed this weekend.  Two had drawn close to the Lord and two had distanced themselves from the Lord.  Those who had distanced themselves or never taken the time to draw near to the Lord, felt cheated.  They saw what their brothers had and wanted it, but they did not want to do anything to get it.  I think the word used this weekend was about a sense of "Entitlement".  Two were older, they should have been given more in their eyes.  They did not see the afflictions of their younger brothers, but only the blessings and strength to endure those afflictions.  The started shouting that "F" word....FAIR.  

Nothing was fair in their eyes.  They were robbed, cheated, look down upon, and despised.  When in reality, they had the same opportunities as their young brothers, but alas, they did not do anything about it.  Hence a division started.  

Do you think of any of the words mentioned above in bullet point?

Years later, some of the descendants of the younger brothers wanted to reach out to the descendants of the older brothers and see if they could help them draw near to the Lord.  That is all they wanted to do, help them draw near to the Lord or in other words, "Come unto Christ".

After a period of time, there were many who did.  They learned, listened, and started walking with Christ.  (This is where I get lost).  Suddenly, those who did not became angry.  Why?  They had the same opportunities, yet they were offended, began to hate, and wanted to kill them. 

Summary: 

• they started killing them
• some felt the Light of Christ, felt bad and started learning, listening, and walking
• the remainder became angrier
• instead of killing the descendants of the older brothers, they decide to kill the descendants of the young (because that would make it all FAIR right)
• more felt the Light of Christ, felt bad and started learning, listening, and walking
• but there were some, though they felt the Light of Christ, did not feel as bad, but recognized that they were being deceived by false prophet (happened to be descendants of the younger, but not followers of Christ)
• they felt betrayed
• they felt that this small group was the cause of their affliction
• hate came into the picture
• hunting and killing ensued

My mind jumped back to Matt. 24:12 - "...because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold."

I began to wonder if newspapers were printed then, would they have read the same headlines that we read today?  All for the sake of one name: Christ.  Doesn't this sound so much like today?  Wars, afflictions, hatred, bombs, and more.  All because your beliefs don't match my beliefs.  Because you have an association or connection of some sort to Christ and someone, though not a true follower of Christ did them wrong at one point or another, so it best to just destroy all that would look like them.

I have reflected a great deal on the messages of the past few weekends.  I encourage you to find your own.  What did the Anti-Nephi-Lehis do?  What does the Savior ask us to do?(Matt. 24:13)  What have we been asked to do the past few weekends? 

In my mind, it all comes back to distance and how do we shorten the distance or help others do the same.