2013 Theme

As I was trying to come up with my theme, I realized that all the mutual themes have posters (and sometimes they have many posters) so I decided that mine must have a poster as well (perhaps someday I will invest in some real software like photoshop). The themes also have theme songs and full albums, so stay tuned for that!!

But seriously, part of what I wanted to introduce this theme with is a talk by Elder Jeffery R. Holland called "Remember Lott's Wife".
Apparantly the second shorted verse in all scripture is when the Savior counseled his disciples to "remember Lot's wife" (Luke 17:32). What exactly did they need to remember? Elder Holland says it nicely:
"The original story, of course, comes to us out of the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, when the Lord, having had as much as He could stand of the worst that men and women could do, told Lot and his family to flee because those cities were about to be destroyed. “Escape for thy life,” the Lord said, “look not behind thee . . . ; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed” (Genesis 19:17; emphasis added).
With less than immediate obedience and more than a little negotiation, Lot and his family ultimately did leave town, but just in the nick of time...
Then our theme today comes in the next verse. Surely, surely, with the Lord’s counsel “look not behind thee” ringing clearly in her ears, Lot’s wife, the record says, “looked back,” and she was turned into a pillar of salt.
In the time we have this morning, I am not going to talk to you about the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah, nor of the comparison the Lord Himself has made to those days and our own time. I am not even going to talk about obedience and disobedience. I just want to talk to you for a few minutes about looking back and looking ahead."

Waiting on the Lord is looking ahead. I've been thinking the past several days about looking back and looking ahead. True, our human experiences create in large part who we are. This is part of why Adam and Eve had to leave the garden of Eden, they needed a full human experience with all of its opposition. They could not become without the experience. And neither can we. But how do we separate, and sometimes reconcile, looking back and looking ahead?

For Lot's wife "it isn’t just that she looked back; she looked back longingly. In short, her attachment to the past outweighed her confidence in the future. That, apparently, was at least part of her sin.
So, as a new year starts and we try to benefit from a proper view of what has gone before, I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone, nor to yearn vainly for yesterdays, however good those yesterdays may have been. The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead, we remember that faith is always pointed toward the future. Faith always has to do with blessings and truths and events that will yet be efficacious in our lives. So a more theological way to talk about Lot’s wife is to say that she did not have faith. She doubted the Lord’s ability to give her something better than she already had. Apparently she thought—fatally, as it turned out—that nothing that lay ahead could possibly be as good as those moments she was leaving behind."

"We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences, but not the ashes." Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ we have the beautiful opportunity to come to this mortal life and have all the experiences, the good, the bad, and the ugly (and some people get a lot more bad and ugly than others!) but only retain those glowing embers of light and goodness (because we all get some of those too). The Atonement makes it possible to come to this fallen world but not stay in a fallen state.

"Faith is always pointed to the future." Waiting on the Lord means not doubting the Lord's ability to give me something better than I already had. Waiting on the Lord means believing that things which lay ahead can be as good as moments left behind, and in many instances better than what's been before.

Faith pointed to the future does not include being tied to past mistakes (your own or those of others). Repent and forgive, with sincere and whole-hearted repentance and a belief that people can change and improve.

I often find myself asking, "Is there any future for me? What does a new year or a new semester or a new major or a new romance hold for me? Will I be safe? Will life be sound? Can I trust in the Lord and in the future? Or would it be better to look back, to go back, to go home?"

"To all such of every generation, [Elder Holland] call[s] out, “Remember Lot’s wife.” Faith is for the future. Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us and that Christ truly is the “high priest of good things to come.”

Wait on the Lord: Be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine heart: Wait, I say, on the Lord.


Themes are not without planned activities...
1. Read the entirety of Elder Holland's BYU devotional "Remember Lot's Wife"
2. Read 2 Nephi 2 from the perspective of looking back and looking ahead
3. Record your thoughts
4. How do you demonstrate faith in your everyday life? Decide how you will be conscious about your efforts to develop/use faith.

The Theme

I have a friend who recently described to me that each year she creates a theme for herself. This is something I would like to try this year. I personally think that New Year's resolutions are a bit over rated as they usually run out of steam almost as fast as they are decided upon. I'm all for setting goals, so it isn't that, but I'm also realistic when it comes to goal setting, and I think goals should be SMART.

Its funny because a lot of things that I, and people in general, want to achieve aren't usually something that follows the above pattern. Usually it is Measurable and Time-Bound that kick things out, but that is the beauty of a theme. A theme can be a foundation behind some of the goals I set for myself this year. A theme can actually encompass those immeasurable and timeless things like having greater charity, learning to love, learning to forgive, being more kind, etc.

Picking a theme took careful thought. What do I want to focus on for a whole year? And what is something I can have enough stamina for through the course of a whole year. I want to be more grateful, I want to learn from my mistakes and stop repeating them, I want to get married, I want to have a family, I want to do something meaningful and important, I want to matter to people in my everyday life, I want to be good, I want to feel the love of my Heavenly Father and my Savior, I want to be happy. How do you put all that in a theme?

After careful thought, reading through several talks, some studies on gratitude, heart, and strength, and reviewing some of the mutual themes and activities for those themes, my heart settled on Psalm 27:14:
"Wait on the Lord: Be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine heart: Wait, I say, on the Lord.
 
I plan on doing a lot with this theme. And you are invited to read and complete suggested activities throughout the year. Better yet, come up with a personal theme for yourself and focus on it for a whole year!