The Mountain of the Lord

Today, I caught up with my Scripture reading goals.  Along the way, I came across Genesis 19:17, which says, in part, "...Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed."  Chris looked at me and said "So...you want to move to Utah???" 

Let me explain.  I have a hard time moving beyond the past.  My inability to forgive myself has been my greatest stumbling block as a Saint.  I have tried and tried to distance myself from the person I was before I became converted to the gospel, but she crops up every now and again, reminding me of some particularly loathsome trait or grievance committed, or bades me look back and leave the faith I have embraced.  Lot's wife looked back and became a pillar of salt.  In Matthew, Christ says "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men."  I certainly don't want to be good for nothing!

When I visualized the plain, I saw the iron rod pictured in Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life.  The plain was vast, though, and many found it easier to let go of the rod and wander off.  To me, this symbolized complacency.  The restored gospel is not something about which one can be complacent.  In having faith and exercising that faith, we strive to be better than ourselves.  We reach heavenward, enduring all manner of suffering and pain in this life so that we may have everlasting joy in the next. 

As Latter-Day Saints, we are asked to make and keep sacred covenants.  It is here, in the temple, the mountain of the Lord, that we make these holy promises.  I can testify to you that more than once I have escaped for my life to the temple!  It is a refuge from stress and worry where I can think clearly without the distractions of the world getting in the way.   I am my best self there, the woman of faith and hope that I strive to someday be at all times and in all places. 

This week, make an effort to get to the temple.  If you aren't there yet, make a plan to get there!  I promise you, the peace you will find there in the presence of your Heavenly Father is better than anything this world can offer you.