I was preparing a
Sunday School lesson about the printing of the Book of Mormon, when a
particular scripture caught my attention.
In 1983, when the book of Mormon was about to be published, Joseph Smith
received a revelation that was primarily for Martin Harris. Martin had committed his farm as collateral
for the printing. I am sure there must
have been a lot of criticism at this point as Satan was likely doing everything
in his power to stop this work from coming out. Martin was nervous that he
would lose his farm. So, the Lord told
Martin not to worry and to give of his farm freely. I am sure it was a great
relief to have the Lord tell you everything would be ok. Martin ended up selling a portion of his farm
to cover the printing of the first copy of the Book of Mormon. Many of those first copies were given to the
Elders of the Church who were going overseas as missionaries. It is likely that missionaries who contacted
my family in both England
and Scotland
were carrying one of those original 5000.
So I am very grateful that Martin Harris was willing to sell his farm
for the printing.
As I was studying my
lesson, I came across verse 30 of section 19.
It says, “And thou shalt do it with all humility, trusting in me,
reviling not against revilers.” It was
“revile not against revilers that caught my attention.[1]” I pondered that scripture and the meaning of
it, and thought about how it applies to us in our lives today.
Just the day before, I
was reading about how HBO was planning on showing a television program that
depicted our sacred temple ceremony. There had been a lot of commentary on this
issue. I had seen people commenting on
this on the internet and arguing back and forth, being hurtful and even
insulting to each other.
On 9 March, 2009 the Church news department
published a statement. “As Elder M.
Russell Ballard and Elder Robert D. Hales of the Council of the Twelve Apostles
have both said recently, when expressing themselves in the public arena,
Latter-day Saints should conduct themselves with dignity and thoughtfulness.
Not only is this the model that Jesus Christ taught and demonstrated in his own
life, but it also reflects the reality of the strength and maturity of Church
members today.” The statement goes on to
identify examples of other controversies and how little affect it has on the
Church and it’s continued growth around the world.
This little controversy
seems to me to be a very minor thing, but it is just another example of
controversy and disharmony big and small all over the world.
When I was in India on January 22nd, 2007
there was a riot between Hindus and Muslims. The protests by thousands of
Muslims against the execution of Saddam Hussein in Iraq sparked these riots. Just the night before, there I went with my
driver to a local market not far from my hotel. At first, my driver and friend
Steevan stayed by the car, but after a few minutes he came to me and said that
he was worried that I was not safe. I
did think much of it at the time. We
spent a few hours walking around the shops, sampling some local fruits and
generally just enjoying the evening. The
next night, it was in these markets that the riots began. I stayed in the hotel and didn’t really hear
much about the riots except what my friends emailed to me. The next day, on the way to work I saw a
burned out bus but it didn’t sink in on me that this was a result of the
riots. I have since seen the pictures of
the riot including a burning motorcycle in front of the office building where I
worked. As I browsed through the
pictures of the riot on the internet, there was one particular picture that has
remained with me. It was of a Hindu
woman and a Muslim woman walking down the street holding hands. It was a symbol to me of the unity that could
take place even amidst the disharmony of the current events.
So how do we handle
discord and disharmony when it arises? It
seems to me that the right course of action is to follow the revelation received
and not “revile against the revilers”. Jesus has taught us, “Love your enemies,
bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them
which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”[2]
I believe that were I
“reviled” against because of my religious beliefs, I would know how to act, but
this counsel of “revile not” applies in other areas as well. Suppose at work,
someone is unjustly criticizing you or has over-reacted to a certain
situation. The advice of our leaders
would be to act with dignity and thoughtfulness, strength and maturity, not to
respond back with anger or criticism. Think of how we respond when we are
driving and see another driver who makes a mistake or who expresses anger. Do we honk our horn or call them an “idiot”,
even to ourselves?
Think of how this
applies to our family life as well.
Suppose that someone has had a bad day and says something with
negativity, anger and criticism. The
appropriate action is again to respond, not with the same anger and criticism,
but to respond with patience, thoughtfulness, and love. If we have the Holy Ghost with us at all
times, this is clearly the way we would behave.
We should be striving for a sweet spirit of love, unity, and peace to fill
our home.
President Henry B. Eyring talks about unity and one way that
we can be a peacemaker. “Happily I am seeing more and more skillful peacemakers
who calm troubled waters before harm is done. You could be one of those
peacemakers, whether you are in the conflict or an observer. One way I have
seen it done is to search for anything on which we agree. To be that
peacemaker, you need to have the simple faith that as children of God, with all
our differences, it is likely that in a strong position we take, there will be
elements of truth. The great peacemaker, the restorer of unity, is the one who
finds a way to help people see the truth they share. That truth they share is
always greater and more important to them than their differences. You can help
yourself and others to see that common ground if you ask for help from God and
then act. He will answer your prayer to help restore peace, as He has mine.”[4]
We can all increase our efforts to insure our own family
unity and to “Restore peace” whenever it is needed. By learning to “revile not
against revilers” we are following the example of Christ which ultimately is
what we want to do in every aspect of our lives. It is only by doing this, that we can expect
to return together as a family and live with Him again.
[1] Doctrine
and Covenants, section 19, verse 30.
[2] New
Testament, Matt. 5:44
[3] Book of
Mormon, Mosiah 18:21
[4] Our
Hearts Knit as One, President Henry B. Eyring, Conference October 2008