-This
verse describes the cup Lehi was called upon to drink. I doubt it was sweet or otherwise pleasant,
but he had covenanted to drink of his own bitter cup. These things are his sacrifice on the alter
that the Lord required. Really think
about what he and his family did. They
left everything and they had much!
Read one way, it seems to be a metaphor for what happens when we
die: “he took nothing with him save it
were his family…” What an eternal
perspective! Our challenge is to live in mortality in the same way, manner, and means that we will live in eternity. The more our mortal life (even with the demands of earning a living, changing kid's diapers, fixing the car, paying utility bills, etc.) comports with the terms of an eternal existence, the closer we are to our true (divine) identity.
"... departed into the wilderness. And left his house, land, inheritance, gold,
silver... took nothing with him..."
-recognize
the scale of Lehi's sacrifice (it is all his temporal possessions:
consecration)
SYMBOLISM: there is not much difference between what
Lehi is here having to leave behind and what must be forgone at birth and
death. Lehi is going through a death
experience (morning, separation, pain, discard of peripheral things, etc.) and
being "born" into a new life.
-this
symbolic relinquishing of everything of temporal value –which is the exact
thing that will occur to us when we trade mortality for the next life- was as
easy or as difficult as the lense by which Lehi and his family viewed the
world. If they saw though eternal
“lenses” than this was not a tremendously difficult thing, in fact it was an
ineveitable thing happening sooner rather than later. If they saw through mortal “lenses” than this
was a great tragedy and a source of tremendous inconvenience and hardship. They would feel cheated out of things and a
lifestyle that they deserved.When we see through an eternal perspective even in
this temporal existence, the world will appear very different and our long term
vision will keep us focused on the right things. What we value is profoundely different for
those focused on eternity than those focused on mortality.
“and took
nothing with him, save it were his family”
-within
this verse is an amazing dichotomy and illustration of that which is important
and eternal and that which is not (that is, not important and not
eternal). It is a choice that every
mortal makes. The choice is frequently
so subtle that we don’t know we are choosing between the two but as we
aggregate life and look at trends or longer periods of time (weeks or months as
opposed to seconds and moments) then we can see where we are placing our
value. We can reflect upon and ask
ourselves, “what activities claimed my time last week? Did I spend my time in activities with my
family or in front of the television or at the office? The tragedy of mortality is that we make
decisions in the context of the moment, not against the context of a week or
even the entire day. The moments dictate
what we choose and moments, by their very nature are transitory, passing and
tend toward the immediately urgent.
Those things of larger, longer and lasting value are often neglected
because they must be purposely planned… but we are too busy taking care of the
immediately pressing. We are eternal
creatures living in a world built on quickly passing time and the demands of
such. This is a fundamental
contradiction and provides a perfect systemic conflict where we must choose if
we are to be creatures of immediacy or creatures of eternity. Lehi chose the latter and paid a price for moving
against the “tide” of a temporal world that rewards those who abide by the
terms of the world.
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