This week I'd like to talk about sheep. If you've been following the news and reading comments you, like me, have most likely seen someone say, "Stop being sheep!" or even funnier, "You are all sheeple!"
And it made me think. In the Bible, doesn't Jesus ask us to be like sheep?
And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. (Matthew 25:32-33)
As this parable continues, the Lord praises the "sheep" on his right, and condemns the "goats" on his left. Why? Because the sheep are the ones who listen and become Christlike -- much to their own benefit. And the goats are the ones who are stubborn, who go off on their own and do things the hard way. They end up missing the point.
So, this morning I did a little quick research on sheep. This website came up quickly about "Sheep 101." Some interesting points I learned:
Sheep tend to flock together for safety in numbers. Predators do not usually attack an organized herd.
Sheep do indeed follow other sheep without much thinking. This is due to that same hard-wired instinct that provides safety in numbers.
Some sheep are more intelligent than others and end up being leaders guiding the rest of the sheep.
Sheep hate being alone -- it makes them feel vulnerable.
When presented with conflict, sheep tend to flee and not fight.
Sheep are amazingly observant -- very wide angle of vision, able to direct their ears, and keen smelling.
So, when Isiah says "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way;" (Isaiah 53:6), he's referring to the nature of sheep to follow one another down dangerous paths. Jesus also refers to finding the one lost sheep out of a hundred (Luke 15).
Today when one says "stop being sheep," they usually mean that someone is following blindly without questioning? How accurate is this analogy? In the sense that sheep tend to follow each other without thinking, the analogy seems appropriate. This is sometimes called "herd mentality" in terms of people. I see it a lot, myself, among all kinds of different groups of people. As mammals, we're similarly hard-wired with some of the same instincts.
But in other respects, the analogy fails. Sheep will follow other sheep because of the built-in trust, but when it comes to all other animals, they are very skeptical. They run away from anything they see as a threat. Or they will flock together so as the threaten the potential predator with their numbers. So when it comes to leaders, sheep are very picky. This is not what I would call "following blindly."
Jesus says in John 10:
"To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers." (John 10: 3-5)
And yes, I admit it. In a sense, I'm a sheep. Throughout my life, I have gained intelligence and have specialized in certain areas of expertise. And yes, like everyone else in the world, there is a whole lot I don't know. But in those areas, I've learned to recognize leaders (with my intelligence) who can guide me through those uncertain paths. And once these leaders past my muster (another sheep term -- evidently), I will indeed follow them. It's not following blindly, but rather -- like sheep -- intelligently, only following those who gain my trust.
And I certainly do rely on the Lord a lot, who knows more than all of us combined. In John 10:27, Jesus says: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me," and I am one of those sheep. Are you a sheep?
To close out, I'll share this video of people failing to get sheep to follow them, and only one succeeds:
Today I'm going to talk about small miracles. Earlier, I had talked about big miracles: Jesus healing the blind and afflicted. But this time, I'd like to discuss the myriad of small miracles I've experienced in my life. I call them "small" because our faith tends to be small in comparison to what's possible, and miracles tend to be proportional to the faith. Or as you may have heard said: faith proceeds the miracle.
Possibly, if I had enough faith and someone else had enough faith to heal me, they could lay their hands on my eyes, and then I'd no longer have to wear these glasses. But I digress. I love the miracles that I've already witnessed in my life.
I've seen several miracles in the form of healing. In my church, we can perform a blessing of healing. This isn't meant to replace medical treatments, but rather to supplement them. As I perform such a blessing, I do my best to listen to the Spirit as to what to say. Sometimes I'm impressed to pronounce an unlikely outcome, and it happens. Sometimes I'm impressed to give comfort because it's time for that person to return.
Fresh out of college, I had no money and no permanent job. This also meant no insurance. We were living with my in-laws, and one very early morning, my wife woke us all up. Our newborn son had a dangerously high fever. One of us said that we needed to take him to the hospital immediately, but we wouldn't be able to afford the bills without insurance. Then one of us came up with a quick idea: perform a blessing of healing, give it a few minutes and see if the fever subsides. We did that and sure enough, within a few minutes, the fever had lifted.
On my mission, during my two-month training in Provo, Utah, I developed some kind of painful sty in my eye -- messing up my vision and concerning me. I asked for a blessing, and then when I went into the doctors office, he touched the sty with a Q-tip and it simply fell off. He said, "Hmmm ... that's strange. I guess it's fixed now."
As if accompanying the spiritual energy during my mission to Korea, I had plenty of these types of experiences. One time we were lost in the middle of the night -- an industrial section of Taegu where no buses or taxis ran, and we didn't know which way to walk to get back home. We stopped, said a prayer, and almost immediately, a bus came out of nowhere. He claimed to be done with the day and he was on his way home, and he was going near our apartment, so he gave us a ride. When got off the bus, I turned to my friend and we said how lucky we were the bus drove past. And then when we turned to look back at the bus, it was gone -- vanished! We had also remembered the bus number, but could not find it anywhere in Taegu. Whoa. (I'm sure to tell this story in more detail and others once I launch my series: "The Adventures of Elder Elder and Elder Benjamin.")
And one more quick one before I wrap up. A couple of decades ago, my family lived in a first-floor apartment. And one night, I dreamt that I saw a spirit standing by our bed next to my pillow. I recognized him immediately -- a former Elder's Quorum president from when I was at BYU. He said he was protecting me from evil spirits that night. The next day, my wife had reported that we had left the sliding door unlocked the previous night. And then when I had gone to the internet to check up on that one Elder's Quorum president, I saw that he had died in a car accident. Yeah ... whoa again.
And yes, I'm full aware of what many atheists say. These stories were not miracles, but rather coincidences -- that we tend to remember the miracles that actually occur and forget the miracles that failed. I promise a more rigorous response to these concerns at a later time, but for now I'll tell you that I believe that they indeed were miracles -- because of my faith. I can feel that God intended these miracles for my benefit and that they occurred because of my level of faith -- not as proof that God exists, but rather that these miracles were needed at the time.
What small miracles have you enjoyed in your own life?
I'll use this week's spiritual thought to report on last week's General Conference -- again landing on Easter weekend. This is the third conference in a row held remotely, I'm starting to get used to it. They certainly get through the meeting a little faster with less time spent going up and down from the podium.
For those of you unfamiliar with our Conferences, here's a link to all events of last weekend. If you see something you like -- check it out -- watch a video or read a transcript ...
But I certainly miss the Tabernacle Choir and other visiting choirs -- and I was somewhat hoping we might hear some older not-heard-in-a-while arrangements. The ones used were still good -- I've just heard them a lot. We did get a couple of mixtures of different local groups singing from around the world -- that was fun. There was even a young Korean children's choir singing in the language I used to know (originally broadcast in 2014). So cute!
The April 2020 Conference was almost entirely on the uprising pandemic. October 2020 was almost entirely on rising political strife and our leaders' alarming concern.
And we come to April 2021, which still had some pandemic and political strife talks, but we got a lot more talks on Jesus himself -- appropriate for Easter, and also got to hear from a lot more international voices -- some really good stories as they discussed handling different situations in their own countries.
I did feel vindicated from a lot of the talks -- in particular, Elder Oaks' talk on the Constitution and political neutrality. He condemned (as I had done myself several times), the practice of judging fellow members of the Church solely on the way they vote. However, after some further introspection -- these talks would be meaningless if I didn't come out of it with my own "homework" -- something I need to work on.
So the biggest thing I got out of this conference: The same talks that seemed to vindicate me were also bringing to my attention that I am, myself, a part of the problem. In the case of the pandemic, I had become very judgmental and slightly antagonistic. Though I always try my best to speak "nice" words, there was still an underpinning of arrogance and self-righteousness. I may have been "right," but I was pushing away opponents instead of helping them to see the light. And the biggest part of it: I was judging them to be idiots, when I should be remembering that we are all rational and intelligent human beings.
Do not judge -- that's what I need to work on. I guess I haven't been that bad -- I don't know of many friends that I lost -- one had to go because the toxicity was unbelievably high -- but I'm still friends with many opponents who had said, "If you voted for <blah> unfriend me now." I guess because they still see the niceness in me even when I'm being a jerk. Either way, I need to improve. I'm still going to be loud, but I can certainly be nicer and remove all judgment.
Two years ago, our Stake President visited our ward on Easter Sunday. He gave (I believe) closing remarks, and he talked about how beautiful it was coming into church. He heard bells ringing everywhere. Some churches were holding outside morning services.
In my area, if I wake up early enough, I can catch the sounds of a distant Moravian brass quintet playing. I heard it one year when we camped in our backyard one Easter Eve. It woke me up, and it was beautiful. Here's one video showing a typical Moravian Easter morning ...
Our Stake President kept going on, talking about how united our churches were in praising Jesus and his triumph over death. It is indeed an event worthy of much praise. Jesus had risen. It is the greatest news of all that Jesus died for our sins, and made it possible for us to return to heaven.
After his talk, I was to finish with "He Is Risen" on the organ, and I did my best, using trumpet stops and other reeds, and swelling to a praise-filled crescendo. The singing was ... okay.
And I couldn't help thinking during the remarks -- if all the other churches were ringing bells, playing brass outside -- making a joyful noise -- then why weren't we? The best we could muster was a relatively timid rendition of "He Is Risen"?
Does not Psalms 150 state the following?
Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.
If one were to drive by our church on Easter, they might think, "Where are the church bells? Where is the brass? Where are the morning services? Do Mormons believe in Easter?" As far as I know, our standard church buildings don't come with a church bell -- I think mainly because of costs more than any doctrinal issue. We don't as a rule do outside morning services, but there's nothing stopping us from doing so (wouldn't be surprised to hear if this does occur in some areas).
But brass in our sacrament meetings? Oh boy -- if you ever want to ruffle feathers, just ask that question in church, and watch the fireworks. I can't tell you how many times I've heard music chairpersons talk about wanting to do a rousing Easter musical sacrament meeting only to have the bishop veto the idea.
I was pleasantly surprised a few years ago, when I went with the music chairperson to ask the bishop if we could do a French horn and trumpet duet for Christmas, and the bishop actually allowed me to audition. However, when I played my trumpet for him in an empty chapel (shortly after we had removed the absorbing burlap off the walls), the sound reverberated throughout the room. It was beautiful, but I knew what was coming next ... it was too much sound. And it ended up being a French horn, flute, piano trio. But getting a French horn to play was a major concession on its own!
Anyway, the church handbook, since 2002, has said: "Instruments with a prominent or less worshipful sound, such as most brass and percussion, are not appropriate for sacrament meeting." This is actually a little more lenient than the pre-2002 era where all brass was expressly forbidden. Some wards in my church today are taking advantage of the purposefully vague wording to allow trumpets to play at Easter and Christmas. Basically -- it's all up to the local bishoprics as to what instruments and what music is played in sacrament meeting. And ultimately, that's the way it ought to be. But overall, the sense is that brass and percussion is typically not allowed in sacrament meeting because they aren't "reverent."
Just this morning, there was a cymbal roll in a rendition of "I Am a Child of God" in our Easter General Conference broadcast -- hardly noticeable at all, but we musicians caught it. One person asked, "Does this mean we can use percussion now in sacrament meeting?" Another person responded, "The rules are different when the sacrament [Eucharist] is involved." This whole sentiment is ingrained within the majority of the membership of the Church. Brass and percussion = bad.
I do know exactly where this ban comes from. In earlier talks, 40-50 years ago, church leaders talked about their experiences in their travels where they would hear a brass band playing raucous music at functions they were attending. They would note how distracting the music was -- how the beat caught your attention and brought attention to the music itself. They would also notice that it wasn't uplifting -- nothing "worshipful" about it. And being the non-musicians they were, they associated this non-uplifting feeling to the instruments rather than the music itself. So, it was decided -- no brass or percussion in our weekly church services.
I fully understand -- if you ban these instruments, then they can't be misused in sacrament meetings. It's like a "Law of Moses" type thing for people who can't handle the "Higher Law." Perhaps these church leaders visited different wards and heard some really bad trumpet playing, and nixed it for everyone.
Here, it's appropriate to bring back Psalms 150: "Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals." The Bible itself identifies the trumpet, psaltery, harp, timbrel, stringed instruments, organs, and cymbals as all being capable of praising the Lord. In other words, they have a worshipful sound. That one cymbal roll we heard in General Conference? It looks like it's covered. If it's okay with the scriptures, it should be okay in our sacrament meetings (occasionally).
If you need any further evidence, just watch this rendition of "He Is Risen" that I saw the same exact Easter Day I heard my Stake President talk.
As you listen to this music, can any of you tell me that the trumpets, drums, cymbals, and bells did not have a worshipful sound? Rather, these instruments enhanced the whole experience as the congregation joined in singing. In other words, they increased the amount of praise and worship. They helped to bring it to a much higher level.
Likewise, I have a trumpet, and I'm not afraid to use it. I believe that I could use it to enhance worship -- to bring a joyful sound and invite the Spirit into our weekly services in a way others can't. I have a testimony, and I feel like I'm not allowed to share it because of the medium. If it's reverence one is concerned about -- I can achieve that as well with a trumpet -- it can make a beautiful reverent sound if played correctly.
I am enheartened to hear reports of more and more brass instruments being used in sacrament meetings. I also hear rumblings that changes coming shortly may give us more of a "Higher Law" in the area of music (in which we would be given more leeway with less restrictive "Law of Moses" rules, but the bishop would still be in charge) -- but we'll see.
As the Tabernacle Choir video shows, we, as a church, are very capable in our ability to praise the Lord during the Easter season. And these capable musicians are not restricted to Temple Square alone. We are all spread out among the world, and we are ready and more than willing to share our musical testimonies and help to raise up the level of worship in our services. One Easter Sunday, I was invited to play trumpet at a friend's church (of another denomination), which was a fun experience. I'm not sure if I agreed with the sermon, but the music was fantastic and full of praise.
What my Stake President heard on his way to church two years ago would sound ever so much sweeter if he had heard our church joining in as well. We do as well as we can in the confines imposed on us, but there is so much more, and this I believe would be a major improvement to the better.
