Sunday, September 13, 2015

1 Nephi 5:1

Chapter 5
The question had never crossed my mind before, but why didn’t Lehi go with His sons back to Jerusalem?  He was obviously told not to go back but only to send his sons.  Still, though, the question remains:  why did the Lord only send the boys instead of the prophet who would be more capable and knowledgeable as to the obtaining of the plates?  I think, at least in part, that there comes a time when the youth must be proven and taught thereby preparing them for things to come.

1  AND it came to pass that after we had come down into the wilderness unto our father, behold, he was filled with joy, and also my mother, Sariah, was exceedingly glad, for she truly had mourned because of us.
     “she truly had mourned”
            -even though it was a sign of weak faith, it is difficult to charge a mother with tender motherly feelings of concern.  These were her boys, they were sent on  a very difficult assignment.  The degree of faith required by her and Lehi might have surpassed that which was required by their sons.  At least the boys had some control over their situation whereas the physically detached observers had only faith and mental energy to rely on.  Often it is the ones acquainted with those who are in the storm of the trial whose faith is most severely strained  -those who have no direct control on the outcome.  Like Lehi, Sariah and our heavenly parents, parenthood demands a sizeable reserve of faith.

            -one of the primary burdens of parenting is the emotional and mental anguish of watching as your children are put through difficult, unfair and painful uncertainties.  These come with a level of knowing that life is frought with uncertainty, with injustice and with sadness.  As much as a parent would like, they cannot guarantee that all will be well; they cannot remove the discomfort or dispatch the adversity.  To watch your child in pain and be entirely impotent to relieve, remove or comfort is one of the darkest places to walk in mortality or in eternity.

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