Cultural Iceberg

 I thought this would be useful to share. You can find more versions of it here.







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Lehi's Covenant

I consider this the most important post I've written thus far. Most scholars believe Lehi was born between 660-640 BC. These birth dates are based on the information and clues we get from 1 Nephi that: (1) Lehi lived in Jerusalem his whole life (2) he lived there during the first year of king Zedekiah's reign around 600 BC (3) he was already married at that time with at least four kids (some of whom were old enough to be married) and (4) after eight or so years of traveling in the wilderness he and Sariah were considered "old".  For the sake of argument, let's say Lehi was born at the earliest accepted date, around 640 BC. This means by the time king Zedekiah began his reign around 600 BC, Lehi was about 40 years old. Again, for the sake of argument, these dates are give-or-take a couple years.  If Lehi was born around 640 BC, this also means that he grew up during king Josiah's reign, which was from 640-609 BC ( 2 Kings 7:5-12 ). For those who need a quick re...
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The Heart of Our Matters

This morning, I was reading the Gospel of Matthew, where Christ tells His disciples not to worry about providing food, drink, or clothing to keep his commandments. He explains that if they think they can't keep his commandments because of a lack of worldly possessions, it's because they're actually seeking  to excuse themselves: "Why is it that you murmur among yourselves, saying, We cannot obey your word, because you have not all these things, and seek to  excuse  yourselves, saying that after all these things do the gentiles seek?" (Matthew 3:38). This line of questioning is exactly what I would expect from our Lord because he loves us enough to reveal our character defects, loyalty, and trust in him.  So I did a word search on the different ways "seek to excuse yourself" is used in scripture, and below are the results. I plan to apply these in my own life but hope it's helpful to you, as well.  I don’t wish to  excuse  myself because of other men...
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Summer Solstice

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The Summer Solstice is in two days.  A typical understanding of the Summer Solstice is that Jesus Christ is the fullness of light and most glorious of us all because it's the longest day of the year. Other representations of this sacred moment are the 'perfect day' of coming into his presence, the light we can obtain, and the fullness of light followed by a period of waning darkness. The Summer Solstice is the complete opposite of the Winter Solstice, which was just six months earlier and was the shortest day of the year.  In some cultures, the Summer Solistice is celebrated by wearing a wreath on one's head and holding hands while dancing in a circle around a large fire. Obvious symbols there. But as to these wreaths, men might wear a handmade wreath or, better yet, a crown of oak leaves, and women a crown made of flowers.  These wreaths or crowns represent many things, including ascension, gaining light, and victory over battles.  But the noblest battles are not ju...
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