Wise Yet Harmless
I was just reading this section of the Doctrine and Covenants.
How interesting that the "grand keys" the prophet refers to are for the purpose of discernment in communications with non-mortals, but do not involve listening to any confirming spirit. Rather, the prophet provides a means of obtaining hard evidence as to the nature and origin of a messenger.
I guess that means that discernment involves more than sensitivity to the Holy Ghost.
How interesting also that this instruction was considered important enough to include in canonized scripture. I'm not going to ask if any of you have ever had cause to apply it, but doesn't its inclusion seem to imply that it will be needed by various members? Perhaps we should be trying to cultivate the ministering of angels. We do, after all, have the keys.
How interesting that the "grand keys" the prophet refers to are for the purpose of discernment in communications with non-mortals, but do not involve listening to any confirming spirit. Rather, the prophet provides a means of obtaining hard evidence as to the nature and origin of a messenger.
I guess that means that discernment involves more than sensitivity to the Holy Ghost.
How interesting also that this instruction was considered important enough to include in canonized scripture. I'm not going to ask if any of you have ever had cause to apply it, but doesn't its inclusion seem to imply that it will be needed by various members? Perhaps we should be trying to cultivate the ministering of angels. We do, after all, have the keys.
Comments
Don't let that stop you real people from posting. You can bypass them with no difficulty.
Well, I guess I'll save my comment on Dr Theric's great new site about peanut butter for another time.
But I think we do underunderstand the ministry of angels. Time to reread Elder Holland's recent talk on the subject and Elder Oaks's from about a decade ago.
I only have one question: creamy or chunky?
As to your other hints, I'll have to look into those too.
Thanks.
And at 16 years old, I don't blame them. I think of myself as their age and, admittedly, I wasn't thinking about angels much either. But I do think if we're going to revolutionize our thinking about and access to angels in the Church, we should probably start with the Aaronic Priesthood--as it seems to be one of their chief opportunities or responsibilities (or stewardships?). Just thinking...
Oh, and here's an older talk from Elder Holland (1996) that has some good discussion on angels:
http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=63b2de3e3559b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
PS: Thanks, again, for your blogging advice. As of yesterday, I'm trying to get back into it...
http://tylerinprogress.tumblr.com
We talked a bit about ministering angels and Elder Holland's talk in Priesthood this past Sunday. I found the discussion to be rather insightful but more particularly the words of the Apostle that suggests we're not fully recognizing those experiences. Since we certainly have the keys of the ministering of angels, we should be seeking to fully utilize those promises inherent to those keys.
It is significant to understand that "the devil" can appear "as an angel of light" - deception at the greatest height. I think this point is just as important as whatever else is discussed in this section.
Jake
My response ran a little long, so I posted it here. Thanks for the inspiration...
Anyway, I agree completely, NecroDancer. I know people who have claimed to see ministering spirits of one variety or another. I personally have felt the influence of others from the unseen world. Contrasting your comment with Tyler's (the first Tyler), I wonder why the ministering of angels apparently is so relevant, but doesn't seem to be to some of us. I particularly appreciate your point about not fully recognizing such ministrations (I have a project on the backburner that deals with this subject from the perspectives of both the minister and the ministered to). What "grand keys" are there that can help us in this regard?
Since this posted, my EQ did Elder Holland's talk on angels for Teaching for Our Times and in response, I posted this.
And now I'm off to read Tyler.
(Note: I prefer chunky in most circumstances, but the beautiful new creamy we buy has won me over.)
P.S. I'm a chunky guy, too. Don't read too much into that. :)