More of My Babbling

 We are twenty-nine days away from electing our next president, and eleven days into our countdown.  

How many of you are worried about the state of affairs in our country and our world?  Today, I woke up thinking about the brother of Jared, a figure in the Book of Mormon that was 'highly favored of the Lord' (Ether 1:34) who fled the tower of Babel with family and friends, being led by the Lord to a land 'choice above all the lands of the earth' (Ether 1:42).  He too was consumed by the culture of his countrymen.  
Let me set the scene.
You and everybody you know have traveled west to settle a land called Shinar.  Living in a different place might be scary, but "the whole earth [is] of one language, and of one speech" (Genesis 11:1) so that makes the adjustment easier. Everyone gets to work settling the land.
The people in Shinar want to make a name for themselves, and they worry that if they don't they will be scattered to and fro (lost), so they commence plans on a project to build a city and a tower "whose top may reach unto heaven" (Genesis 1:4) using burned bricks and bitumen (a black, tarry substance, burning with a bright flame that occurs as an abundant natural product in many places, as on the shores of the Dead and Caspian Seas) for mortar.  There's only one problem: the people have failed to notify the General Contractor about their intentions, and when He gets to the construction site He does not like what He sees. The materials are common, the design is flawed and the workmanship shoddy. His opinion was neither sought nor regarded, and it pains Him to see that their eagerness to complete this project has them compromising building standards and code. It isn't that He begrudges them a unique name or an edifice to 'reach heaven'--it's the fact that He wasn't included in the process. He's been doing this a long time, and He knows how to do it right.
This concerns Him so because He recognizes that if they have built once without Him they will do it again, and if they continue to build in such an unstable manner, their safety and security will be compromised.  Knowing this, He sets up a meeting with the Financier whose been backing the people and updates Him on the current state of things.  Sadly, the Financier cuts the line of credit extended to the people of Shinar.  In turn, the General Contractor has to fire the construction workers and they leave off the tower to work on the city.  Confounded, many have to leave the area in search of new work. Sounds familiar, right.

This brings us to Jared and his brother.  As they watch everyone get caught up in this asinine affair, they worry about the influence their 'babbling brothers' will have upon them, their family and their friends.  Jared asks his brother to "Cry unto the Lord, that he will not confound us that we may not understand our words." He does and the Lord hears his plea.  "Then Jared said unto his brother: Cry again unto the Lord, and it may be that he will turn away his anger from them who are our friends, that he confound not their language." (Ether 1:36)  Again, the brother of Jared importunes the Lord and He grants their request.
Yet again, "Jared spake again unto his brother, saying: Go and inquire of the Lord whether he will drive us out of the land, and if he will drive us out of the land, cry unto him whither we shall go. And who knoweth but the Lord will carry us forth into a land which is choice above all the earth? And if it so be, let us be faithful unto the Lord, that we may receive it for our inheritance." (Ether 1:38) We know what happens.

Sounds like a lot of crying to me, and that's okay; in fact, it is a commandment.  Heavenly Father wants us to

"cry unto him for mercy; for he is mighty to save. . .Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks.  Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening. Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies. Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness. Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them. Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase. . .and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you." (Alma 34: 18-27)

Sometimes we cry for a long time.  My sweetheart and I have been crying for five years for something.  I would venture that you have been crying just as long or longer for something too.  Everybody has things they worry about, things they struggle with.  All of us find ourselves at one point or another down on our luck, and down on our knees pleading at the pavilion of our problems for Heaven to lend a hand.  "O God, WHERE ART THOU?" we cry out in the anguish of our souls.  

Joseph Smith asked this in Liberty Jail: "How long shall thy hand be stayed, . . .Yea, O Lord, how long shall [thy people] suffer these wrongs and unlawful oppressions, before thine heart shall be softened toward them, and thy bowels be moved with compassion toward them?" (D&C 121:2-3) 

And how does our Heavenly Father respond?

“My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.” (D&C 121:7-8)

It wasn't, "Hey you" or "It's okay, you'll be fine! Don't worry".  It was "MY SON".  The Lord wasn’t mocking Joseph or minimalizing his suffering.  He was helping him remember who he was and re-frame his experience to see the bigger picture.  'You are my child, and I love you.  Right now yes, it is awful, but you are not alone.  MY ONLY BEGOTTEN SON has felt everything you are enduring.  Hold on to Me and I will carry you through this. Look unto me in every fear.  Doubt not--fear not!"

It's always ironic to me that what takes a few verses to recount in the scriptures actually takes place over an extended period of days and years in the lives of those who lived it.  Such is the case with the Brother of Jared.  Read the last verse of chapter 1.  This is the Lord speaking:

". . .[I will] meet thee, and I will go before thee into a land which is choice above all the lands of the earth." (Ether 1:34) And there will I bless thee and thy seed, and raise up unto me of thy seed, and of the seed of they brother, and they who shall go with thee, a great nation.  And there shall be none greater than the nation which I will raise up unto me of thy seed, upon all the face of the earth.  And thus I will do unto thee because this long time ye have cried unto me." (Ether 1:42-43)

I testify to you that our Heavenly Father is aware of you and He hears and answers your cries, but He does so on His timetable and in His marvelous way.  He has promised to meet us as we come unto Him, and go before our face.  He knows we love Him, and our families, and our country and He will not confound us if we do not compromise ourselves.  So keep crying and keep working.  Don't give up, and please don't give in.

Have a good Monday.