122: Precious, Part 2

This is Part 2 of a special series exploring the commandment and need for us to become precious to each other. Transcript STEPHANIE: Enos 2 & 3 says: Now it came to pass that when I had heard these words, I began to feel a desire for the welfare of my brethren the Nephites; wherefore, I did pour out my whole soul unto God for them. And while I was...struggling in the spirit, behold, the voice of the Lord came into my mind again, saying, I will visit thy brethren according to their diligence in keeping my commandments. I have given unto them this land, and it is a holy land; and I curse it not, save it be for the cause of iniquity. Wherefore, I will visit thy brethren according as I have said, and their transgressions will I bring down with sorrow upon their own heads. And after I, Enos, had heard these words, my faith began to be unshaken in the Lord. And I prayed unto him with many long struggling for my brethren the Lamanites. And it came to pass that after I had prayed and labored with all diligence, the Lord said unto me, I will grant unto thee according to thy desires because of thy faith. And now behold, this was the desire which I desired of him: that if it should [be so] that my people the Nephites should fall into transgression, and by any means be destroyed, and the Lamanites should not be destroyed, that the Lord God would preserve a record of my people [that] the Nephites, even if it so be by the power of his holy arm, that it might be brought forth some future day unto the Lamanites, that perhaps ​they might be brought unto salvation. For at the present, our strugglings were vain in restoring them to the true faith. And they swore in their wrath that if it were possible, they would destroy our records, and us, and also [our] traditions of our fathers. (Enos 1:2-3 RE, emphasis added) In Helaman 4:2 [RE], it says: And it came to pass that in this year Nephi did cry unto the Lord, saying, O Lord, do not suffer that this people shall be destroyed by the sword, but O Lord, rather let there be a famine in the land to stir them up in remembrance of the Lord their God, and perhaps they will repent and turn unto thee. And so it was done according to the words of Nephi, and there was a great famine upon the land, among all the people of Nephi. And thus in the seventy and fourth year the famine did continue, and the work of destruction did cease by the sword, but became sore by famine. And this work of destruction did also continue in the seventy and fifth year. For the earth was smitten, that it was dry and did not yield forth grain in the season of grain; and the whole earth was smitten, even among the Lamanites as well as among the Nephites, so that they were smitten that they did perish by thousands in the more wicked parts of the land. And then we move on to Nephi—and just as a side note, I'm pretty sure Nephi did not love his brothers, k? I just don't think he did. They were abusive; they were violent; and they were fratricidal, okay? But this is what he does— Nephi 2:4: And it came to pass that when I, Nephi, had spoken these words unto my brethren, they were angry with me. ​[Yes, so what's new? They were always angry with him.] ...But it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord, saying, O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren? And it came to pass that when I said these words, behold, the bands were loosed from off my hands and feet, and I stood before my brethren and I spake unto them again. ...And it came to pass that ​I did frankly forgive them all that they had done, and I did exhort them that they would pray unto the Lord their God for forgiveness. ...And after they had done praying unto the Lord, we did again [a] travel on our journey towards the tent of our father. ​(Nephi 2:4 RE, emphasis added) Genesis 11:4-9—again, another story of fratricide, k? Pretty sure Joseph didn't love his brothers, and his brothers certainly didn't love him—because 4-9, ​And a cert... Genesis 11:4-9, And a certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, What do you seek? And he said, I seek my [brothers]; tell me, I pray you, where they feed their flocks? And the man said, They are departed from here, for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren and found them.... ​[And when he comes, they see him, and they conspire against to slay him,] And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer comes. [They don't even call him by name, okay? And they have so much contempt for Joseph that they just call him “the dreamer.”] ​Come now therefore and let us slay him and cast him into [the] pit, and we will say some evil beast has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams. ​And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands and said, [Let’s] not kill him. And Reuben said...Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit... [That's great—we’ll just cast him in this pit...Verse 7:] ​And it came to pass when Joseph had come unto his brethren...they stripped Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colors that was on him, ...they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty, [and] there was no water.... And they sat down to eat... ​[And lo and behold, they see] ​a company of Ishmaelites [coming] from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery, and balm, and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. And Judah said...[Hey,]​ What profit [it is] if we slay... and conceal his blood? ​Come...let us sell him to the Ishmaelites...let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh. ​[Well, that's nice. We don't hate him enough to kill him, but we just sell him to this band of Ishmaelites.] ​And his brethren were content. [So, they sell him for 20 pieces of silver. Reuben went back to the pit; Joseph wasn't in it.] ​He rent his clothes. And he returned [to] his brethren and said, The child is not; and I, where shall I go? And they took Joseph's coat, ...killed...the [goat], ...dipped the coat in...blood. And they sent the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father and [they] said, [Oh, oh, oh, it's so terrible!] (Genesis 11:4-9 RE) Okay, so you know the story. Lots of stuff happens, and then this—Genesis 11:39&40, Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him, and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me! And there stood no man with him while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph. Does my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him, for they were troubled at his presence ​[because, yeah, what happened to you?]​. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph, your brother whom you sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that you sold me here, for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years has the famine been in the land, and yet there are five years in which there shall neither be plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve your posterity and the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me here, but God. And he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and [a] lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land[s] of Egypt. ​[And more happens and more happens] ...And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept. And Benjamin wept upon his neck. [And] he kissed all his brethren and [he] wept upon them. And after that, his brethren talked with him. ​(Genesis 11:39-40 RE) The foregoing scriptures illustrate that forgiveness, intercession, and relationships do ​not have to be based on love, as we culturally define it here. So let's get back to who our neighbors are. We're going to start with the most intimate relationships and work out from there. At the top should be my relationship with the gods, which is not always my focus, but ideally, it should be; and then we go partner/spouse, family/children, extended family (aunts, uncles, in-laws), friends/co-workers/religious community/work community/neighborhood—blah, blah, blah—until we get down to our enemies. The makeup of these relationships might look different for everyone. Some of us may have all of them, and some of us may have only a few. But we all have intimate and significant associations or relationships, and we all have enemies. So, how do we do it? How do we love them? (So, as a side note, I would like to make a distinction here—​service is not love​. It can be ​motivated by love, but there's a difference, because serving is actually quite easy—dropping off my gently-used clothes, tithing, dollar bills, blankets, granola, water bottles, taking my old “but I'm getting a new washer/dryer” to someone in need, plant a garden, make a casserole, take a salad or a dessert—don't get me wrong; these are great. We should engage in these. These are really nice things to do. However, they can be done at an arm's length—no conversation, no association, no relationship, no love, no risk. Relationships are where the real work takes place. Relationships are difficult ​and effortless. They are risky, and they are safe. They are uncomfortable, and they are comfortable. They are rich and rewarding; and they ebb, and they flow. They are ​the vehicle wherein we move through and into love, charity, sanctification, and ultimately, salvation. To be a part of the family of God up there requires us to create a family of God down here.) When I read an article or hear a news story about some tremendous act of forgiveness on the part of someone who has given absolution to another person for some grievous offense, I think, So what? The dad who forgives the drunk driver who killed his entire family; the woman who forgives t