Blessed Are The Peacemakers

  Binding Babylon, Becoming Zion If we want to be Zion material, we have to bind the spirit of Satan inside ourselves. If we want Zion as a community, we have to bind the spirit of Babylon inside our collective life. There is no workaround. Zion cannot rise while we still cradle Babylon’s instincts. Isaiah’s prophecies about Babylon and Zion are not museum pieces about long dead empires. Nephi tells us that Isaiah “said many things that are hard for many of my people to understand, since they do not understand the method of Jewish prophesying,” and that his words “are valuable for mankind, very valuable to them in the last days.” Nephi copies whole chapters for his children and for us so we will know the covenants of the Lord and that “no other nation on earth would crucify their God.” In other words, Nephi stands between Isaiah and us and says, “Do not file this under ancient history. These words are about you.” Babylon is everything we build with fear and pride. Zion is e...

  Where Your Eyes Rest 3 Nephi 5:19–24,  Covenant of Christ Don’t accumulate treasures on earth, where moths damage, rust corrodes, and thieves break in and steal, but instead accumulate treasures in Heaven, where there are no damaging moths, corrosive rust, and thieves don’t break in and steal, because what you treasure reveals what’s in your heart. The light enters the body through your eyes. If, therefore, your eyes look to God, your whole body is full of His light. But if your eye looks for evil, your whole body is then full of darkness. Therefore if the light within you looks for the darkness, how overwhelming that darkness becomes. No one can serve two masters, for they’ll either hate the one and love the other, or at least they’ll follow the one and ignore the other. You can’t serve God and covet. Some scriptures feel like quiet instructions for the whole inner world. This one sits in that category. When you read the verses together, they form a si...

  The Bureaucracy of Heaven: A Tragedy in Three Acts I have gone back and forth about whether to share this. I do not want to offend anyone, and I have edited it more than once after talking it through with my family. We have reasoned together about how it might be received and how I could help the spirit of it come through more clearly. My hope was to write something true with a touch of humor, although my husband kindly pointed out that my humor sometimes sounds more like sarcasm. In the end, I decided to share it anyway. This little story reflects only my own understanding. I mean no harm to anyone, so I hope no one will take offense. The song I chose does not connect directly to the story, but it matches how I feel today. I am tired, I am worn, and I know the only one who can give me rest. In a small covenant village, the Lord gave the women three sacred charges: to plant a Living Tree, to build a bridge, and to keep love alive in their homes. The first command was easy e...

One Heart Before One Mind Reflections on harmony, conscience, and the sacred order of Zion “I would rather submit to the decision of the group than insist that my view be followed. For me, harmony between brethren is more important than getting what I think best to be followed. I believe harmony can lead to much greater things than can merely enforcement of even a correct view. I know how difficult it is to have a correct view, because of how often I have been corrected by the Lord. Sometimes I am humiliated by my foolishness when the Lord reproves me. Humiliation can lead to humility, but my experience is that the humiliation is accompanied by shame, whereas humility can proceed with a clear conscience.” “My experience with others leads me to conclude that if we can have one heart first, eventually we can likewise come to have one mind. But if we insist on having one mind at the outset, we may never obtain one heart together.” — Denver Snuffer ...