This is an open blog, to any and all that would like to share their thoughts on ways that you find strength throughout life.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Armed for Battle

My husband and I were reading in Alma 43 the other night, about Moroni leading the Nephites to defend against the Lamanites. I am inspired by many things in this chapter.

The fact that Moroni was only TWENTY FIVE YEARS OLD during this time that he led an army is amazing to me. It's an example to me that there is no age requirement, or limit, for standing and being an example of the Gospel. I know I have been inspired by many of all ages, especially the youth and what they go through today.

This chapter also really hit home with me for our day. I know the point of reading the scriptures is to liken it to ourselves and our day, but sometimes, its a deep dig to find the relevance. For this chapter, it spoke to me loud and clear. The Lamanites (who were a mixture of the rebelling decendents of the Nephites--the Amalekites and Zoramites-- as well as decendents from the priests of Noah), were coming against the Nephites, who were righteous, in battle. The objective of the battle, was to bring the Nephites into subjection, to gain power over them and bring them into bondage. If we all remember the Title of Liberty, we remember what the Nephites were fighting for; their wives, their children, their homes, their land, their rights, their priveleges, their liberty and right to worship God. An inspiring part of this chapter, is the description of their preparations for battle:

19 And when the armies of the Lamanites saw that the people of Nephi, or that Moroni, had prepared his people with breastplates and with arm-shields, yea, and also shields to defend their heads, and also they were dressed with thick clothing—

20 Now the army of Zerahemnah was not prepared with any such thing; they had only their swords and their cimeters, their bows and their arrows, their stones and their slings; and they were naked, save it were a skin which was girded about their loins; yea, all were naked, save it were the Zoramites and the Amalekites;

21 But they were not armed with breastplates, nor shields—therefore, they were exceedingly afraid of the armies of the Nephites because of their armor, notwithstanding their number being so much greater than the Nephites.

This really made me think of how we are spiritually preparing ourselves to come against the evil of our day. They may think that they are armed with all manner of weapons, as did the Lamanites, but they lack the armor to protect themselves from the weapons of the opponent. As followers of Christ, we have the opportunity to arm ourselves with spiritual breastplates and sheilds. The Lord gives us commandments and guidance to act as armor, and we must choose whether we are willing to take the necessary precautions to prepare for war.

Because, that's where we are. We are in a spiritual battle even today to protect what we believe in. Tell me verse 47 doesn't explain exactly, the fight we are fighting today:

47 ...Therefore for this cause were the Nephites contending with the Lamanites, to defend themselves, and their families, and their lands, their country, and their rights, and their religion.

Now, this blog is not meant to be political in the least, but right now our rights are in danger. As stated above, we are being forced every day to defend our families, our lands, our country, our rights and our religion. A specific battle that we are being called upon to fight in, is in the battle to protect marraige and family by supporting and educating others on Proposition 8. We are to be Christ-like and non- discriminitive in our efforts, but at the same time we can't sit by and watch everything we believe in be lost in battle. We have to arm ourselves with righteousness to battle for what we believe in, as did the Nephites. We were saved to be the army in these Latter Days, and I hope that I can prepare myself to be the warrior that Heavenly Father needs me to be.

11 comments:

Chino Blanco said...

I appreciate your dedication to defending our rights as free citizens of a great country, and so I hope you'll allow me to share a few thoughts with you.

I understand the importance of strengthening marriage and family (my wife of 12 years and our two kids are #1 in my life).

But Prop 8 is not about my family, or your family, it’s about families that you and I will most likely never meet, like Richard’s:

Just for the record, here in a northern California county, on January 27th, my beloved husband died. We were registered Domestic Partners with the Secretary of State. Had been since 2001. But Domestic Partners really is 2nd class - no it really is no class here.

He died at home so the Deputy Sheriff acted as Coroner. He refused to recognize me as next of kin. He insisted we call a blood relative in New York State to choose a funeral home etc. He wanted to remove all of my beloved’s possesions from our home and ship them back East … including his wedding ring. It was a Sunday night so I could not get the County judge or attorney to set things right (as I did on Monday) I had to lie and weasle to keep our stuff in our home. Because I did not count at all. Our family did not count. We were 2nd class - no class. Because we were not married.

Don’t tell me that Domestic Partnership is just as good as marriage. And don’t tell me that I was not married in my heart AND in my church to my husband. The Court just recognized what is a fact … he and I were married … and it is a civil right.

You have no idea how much it hurt … still hurts … that in 2008, in California, my family was ignored when I needed it to be recognized the most.


This is a political issue, not a moral one. Religious freedom is very well-protected in our country and nothing about Prop 8 either enhances or threatens that freedom.

Richard pays taxes just like you and me, but couldn’t get a marriage license. As a matter of fairness and equality before the law, that kind of discrimination is just plain unAmerican.

It saddens me that so many in the LDS church leadership are leading the members to believe that Prop 8 is about defending straight rights and straight marriages. Frankly speaking, nothing could be further from the truth.

Finding Strength said...

Chino Blanco,
Hi, and welcome to my blog. I had no idea I had readers that were so far drawn from my friends and family and their friends and family, etc. It leads me to believe, after looking at your blog, that probably you didn't find my blog until this post. I don't know if its that you have searched to find those that deal with this specific issue, but I'm assuming that's how you found my blog.
I see that you are very passioniate about your mission to educate others on Proposition 8.
I wrote at the top of my blog that I'm not going to debate religion, and that I would delete negative comments, but I didn't find your comment particularly negative...so even though we aren't necessarily in agreeance, I appreciate your opinion and what you have to say.

Like I said, though, because I will not debate religion or politics, I have simply stated my personal beliefs and if you'd like to read more about them you can visit http://protectmarriage.com or www.lds.org. As stated in The Family: a Proclamation to the World http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=e1fa5f74db46c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=1aba862384d20110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=true
I believe, "The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity."

I have a testimony of the divinity of marriage, and that it is ordained of God.

It's probably pretty clear that neither of us will convince each other that the others views are correct, and that's okay. I appreciate that others feel differently than I do. We should all fight for what we believe in...we should all be actively striving to make our world a better place and a place where we can feel safe. I respect that you are doing that in the way that you know how, and driven by your beliefs. I can't ask for you to do anything less than what you believe.
Thank you for sending me that story. I truly feel for people in that situation.
I invite you to read other posts that I have done, to see that my heart, as well as many of those of my faith, is in the right place. We are all striving to be better people, and strengthen our beliefs. I'm not sure if you agree, but the world we live in today is tough. It's hard to find hope in a lot of things, and so I started this blog to connect to others in order to find strength.

I am so glad that I am able to connect to others of different faiths to find strength, and even though you and I don't agree on this issue, I find strength in the fact that you are passioniate about your beliefs, about rights as an American. I hope that you continue to tune into my blog. I'm sure that there are some things that we probably could agree on and I'd love to hear your thoughts on future posts! Thanks again!

Sara Marie said...
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Sara Marie said...
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Sara Marie said...

I just want to say that I think both "Chino" and "finding strength" are a couple of class acts. I believe it is okay to disagree and that it can be done without fighting (as they have shown). I found Chino's story about Richard very sad. It is sad the the Deputy Sherriff didn’t uphold Richards rights as a domestic partner. Because as a registered domestic partner in California they do have many or most of the same rights as a married couple. I personally have many gay friends whom are great people that I love dearly. I'm glad they have the domestic partnership available in this state that give them so many rights. But like "finding strength" , I also have a testimony of family and that it is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan.

I also think the scriptures you’re talking about relates to so much more than prop.8. There are so many things going on in the world today. "Wars and rumors of wars". A couple weeks ago in church every member was handed a emergency prepared list. It included a bunch of information on food storage as well as instructions on how to get a HAM radio license and instructions on what to do if there is a catastrophic event in which we are unable to get to church. Our ward has been sectioned off into areas so if we can’t get to the church we have a home in our area we repot to. The bishop has given the priesthood holder in that home the authority to hold a sacrament meeting in case of an emergency. Now if that’s not a sign of things to come I dont know what is. I think it is vital that we prepare ourselves for any emergency and have our food storage ready. The peace of mind alone makes it worth it. I hope I never have to use my food storage for its intended purpose, but just in case, it's there. No matter what your faith I think there is great wisdom in being prepared for the future and all of its unknowns. So that if the time comes when we have to defend and protect our families we will be ready. The thought of a major event happening and not being able to feed my child kills me. That was a wonderful, thought provoking post. I really appreciate this blog and the many things it leads me to think about. Thanks!!!

Sara Marie said...
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Sara Marie said...

umm, sorry I had to delete so many of my comments..haha. It posted my comment twice then I realized I didn’t spell check it, and I couldn’t have it posted all illiterate so I had to delete and repost again. Ha!

Chino Blanco said...

Hi,

Thank you for your kind reply. Yes, we disagree, but I wish you all the best. If you'd like an idea about why I'm so passionate, well ...

According to Frank Schubert, 'Yes on 8' campaign manager, the mobilization of LDS (Mormon) volunteers could save his campaign up to $26 million in costs related to micro-targeting persuadable voters.

Micro-Targeting Mormons

So much for campaign finance rules.

Unknown said...

Stacy-
I love everything you said in this post. It's so funny because Bro. Rodgerson came to our ward today and spoke about exactly what you did...the title of liberty and everything! You guys must be totally in tune! This is such an important issue and something that people are very passionate about (for a good reason!) I am so grateful that your blog is dedicated to remaining positive! There are so many things out there that are negative and focus on that. It's nice to come to your blog and know that you won't find any of that! Thanks Stacy!

Finding Strength said...

Brittany,
It definitely is something that we as a nation need to be studying and learning about right now. Sunday School schedules have coincided nicely as well, as we are studying Alma in the war chapters, where they fought for their liberty.
There is so much negativity to find in the world...so many places we can be negative, especially on the internet. I started this blog because I need positivity and strength in my life. I want to keep that that spirit of it, and it has honestly helped me see everything in a different light. A positive one. Because when you are trying to think positive in one area, it trickles into your whole life. I'm so glad that you can find a little bit of that here too. Thank you so much for reading!

Finding Strength said...

Sara,
You are absolutely right...this issue stretches far beyong Prop 8. I meant for that to just be an example, not the purpose of this post. EXACTLY, there are things we as a world are already dealing with in these days, that deal with so much of the last days. We are at war, there is famine, there is evil abounding. If we look at the big picture, politics even seems like one of the smaller battles. Emergency Preparedeness is a big issue as well...I was thinking about that at church as they talked about the cannery...I felt so unprepared, and the same thing, I felt that fear of watching my baby cry out of hunger and I have nothing. Thanks for that reminder that we need to do that!