How Stupid Can Someone Be?

(Reference: 1 Nephi 17)

Nephi was told by the Lord to go on the mountain, and there he was instructed to build a ship.

So - he began to make tools.

He didn’t ask anyone to help - he just went to do what he believed he should do.

Laman and Lemuel came along, and saw him making tools.  They asked him what the tools were for.  

When Nephi told them, they responded this way:

Nephi’s a fool.  He think she can build a ship.  (Essentially - how stupid can you get?)

But wait.

Did Nephi ask them to decide if he was foolish or not?  Did Nephi ask for their suggestions/advice/input as to his decision?  Did Nephi’s decision to build a ship and make tools in any way impact Laman and Lemuel at that time?

No.

So - why did they choose to respond to what he was doing?

Couldn’t they have chosen to simply let him do it?  What would have been the big deal?  

So many times that happens in life.  We’re happily minding our own business and someone comes and notices us.  They then decide the “right-ness” or the “wrong-ness” of whatever it is we are doing.

Who cares?  And why?

Laman and Lemuel were literally looking at Nephi to find any excuse to call his actions wrong.  

Not a peaceful way to live.

So - when situations like that happen in your life, remember this story.  Nephi had a right to do whatever he thought was right.  You do too.  Don’t buy into the idea that you are foolish because someone else decides what you are doing is “wrong.”  Don’t lose your perspective because of someone else’s opinion.  Recognize that for what it is.  Move forward with confidence.

Don’t let anyone else’s doubts about “what stupid is” change YOU.

Maybe The Goal Is Not Efficiency

Efficiency makes sense.  If we’re efficient, we get things accomplished, and have more time to do other things!

One day, however, it dawned on me that “efficiency” as I understand it may not be “efficient” in terms of how the Lord defines the term  Since I am sure He would do things in the best way possible, I began to wonder what being efficient means to Heavenly Father, and to Jesus Christ.  

Could it be that “my” view of being efficient is actually a philosophy of man?  Could my view of “being efficient” actually lead me away from the Lord?

In my view, I’m try hard to be efficient.  I think that is how I am supposed to be, to improve myself, and to become “more.”  So I try to think of ways to do things better, and often get frustrated when I can’t seem to be as efficient as I would like to be.  I’m the one who is multi-tasking, and who gets impatient if others aren’t as quick to respond as I would like.  

Consider a few scriptural examples.  Lehi was commanded by the Lord to take his family and leave Jerusalem, and to go out into the wilderness.  Of course, Lehi immediately obeyed.  However, it wasn’t too long until the Lord told Lehi to have his sons return to Jerusalem and get the brass plates.  But again, Lehi told the sons, and they return  to Jerusalem and obtained the plates.  

Again, though, the Lord told Lehi to have his sons return to Jerusalem.  This time they were instructed to talk to Ishmael, and request that he and his family accompany them back into the wilderness, to journey with Nephi.  Yes, this happened.

Wait a minute, though.  This wasn’t exactly “efficient.”  Surely the Lord knew right from the start that Lehi’s family would be establishing a new civilization, and would need the brass plates.  Surely He knew that they would need to have Ishmael’s family travel with them.

Why not combine trips?

As a mom, I’m always thinking about combining trips with my errands.  For one thing, I don’t want to have to get my kids in and out of the car for a zillion trips to town.  It’s much easier to just do everything in one day.  It’s more efficient.  I can get more done that way.

The Cambridge Dictionary says that efficient means:  to work or operate in a way that gets the results you want without any waste.

Surely the Lord is efficient.

And surely, the Lord does not waste anything.

So - what is the definition of waste?

According to the dictionary again, waste, the verb, means this:  to use or expend carelessly, extravagantly, or to no purpose.  Synonyms include squander, fritter away, or throw away.

So apparently, the number of trips Lehi told his sons to make back to Jerusalem were purposeful.  In addition to getting the plates and Ishmael’s family, what could the purpose be?

It’s interesting that the dictionary’s 8th definition of the word waste tells us that waste (of the human body) means that it becomes progressively weaker and more fragile and frail, gradually becoming emaciated.

Could it be that the Lord wanted Nephi, Sam, Laman, and Lemuel to become strong?  Surely the trip through the wilderness would be physically hard, meaning that physically, they would gain strength.  But there is also emotional strength to be gained by heeding the commandments of God, and figuring out how to obey.

The lessons of Zion’s Camp seem to show us this same pattern.  Zion’s camp was a 900-mile journey led by Joseph Smith.  The Saints traveled from Kirtland, Ohio to Clay County, Missouri.

Their purpose was to regain the land they had lost when the Saints had been expelled by the mobs in Missouri.  

They did not achieve their purpose, nor their goal.  Zions camp was disbanded.

Efficient?  Hardly.

But wait.  The dictionary  said that being efficient means that you aim to get the results you want without any undue effort or waste.

Oh.  It’s about results.  Of course.  

Many times what I want is simply to check off the box that says, “Done.”

What I may need, though, is to realize that “done” may not be the goal.  The goal may be growth.  Maybe I need to develop a character trait. After all, patience is probably not going to be developed at the same time as I become “efficient.”  Maybe I need to change how I view different experiences.  Maybe I need to be more humble, and to ask God what He would have me do, and how fast He would have me run.

Elder David A. Bednar, an Apostle of the Lord, said this:

"As individuals and families, we too will be tested, sifted, and prepared as were the members of Zion’s Camp.  The scriptures and the teaching of the Brethren are replete with promises that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the making, honoring, and remembering of sacred covenants, and obedience to God’s commandments will strengthen us to prepare for, to face, to overcome, and to learn from the trials and tests of mortality."

https://www.lds.org/liahona/2017/07/on-the-lords-side-lessons-from-zions-camp?lang=eng&_r=1

So - when I get frustrated, and bemoan my lack of efficiency, maybe I would do well to ponder what the word “efficiency” means to the Lord.  Efficiency may mean that the purpose of something may be to gain faith, or to build resilience or trust in the Lord.  Efficiency may mean that I need to focus lesson “reaching the goal,” and focus on more on “who I am becoming” en route.  Maybe I need to give up my pre-conceived expectations that tell me I have to get things “done,” and focus instead on “accomplishing what the Lord would have me accomplish.”  Maybe it’s much more about the intent of my heart, and my desire to keep on the path that leads to Him, rather than efficiently trying to wish the path were shorter and less of a bother.

Maybe I can learn to be calm, and hence, more efficient in heart, regardless of how many times I have to backtrack, start over, pull myself up again, and regroup.  Maybe that is being more “efficient” than I thought.

Do You Suppose...

Do you suppose……?

When something happens, our mind goes to work to interpret it.  This gives meaning to the event.

Our emotions assign value to what happened.   It’s how we interpret things that make the difference.   

There is a Book of Mormon story that clearly shows how this works.

Previous to this chapter, Lehi had asked his sons, Nephi, Laman, Lemuel, and Sam, to return to Jerusalem.  They were to ask Laban, a powerful ruler, if he would give them the Brass Plates.  This was no small task.  Why would Laban want to give them the plates?    Nephi had the unshakeable faith that they would be able to accomplish this, because he knew that this was a commandment of the Lord.  Laman and Lemuel were not convinced of this, but they had all gone to Jerusalem.  

In Chapter 5, we find that the brothers had returned to their parents, and had obtained the plates due to Nephi’s faith and diligence.   Lehi and Sariah (his wife) were very glad.

The verses tell us, though, that while the boys were gone, Sariah had mourned.   

Verse 2 says:  For she had supposed that we had perished in the wilderness; and she had also complained against my father, telling him that he was a visionary man; saying:  Behold, thou hast led us forth from the lands of our inheritance, and my sons are no more, and we perish in the wilderness.

Sariah’s “supposings” were very  logical.  The wilderness was very dangerous.  Laban was a very powerful man, and not  a righteous one.  He wouldn’t willingly give her sons the plates just because they asked for them, and Sariah knew this.  He would probably have her sons killed just because they dared to approach him about it.  The boys had been gone a long time.  She supposed they were dead.  It was logical that they would die, too, in the wilderness.

She “supposed” wrong.

Contrast that with Lehi’s “supposings”.

Verse 5.  For behold, I have obtained a land of promise, in which things I do rejoice; yea, and I know that the Lord will deliver my sons out of the hands of Laban, and bring them down again to us in the wilderness.

Lehi’s “supposings” were totally different.  They surely were in the wilderness, not in a land of promise - and yet to him, the land of promise was as real as if they were already there.  It had been given to him, and he knew it.  He also knew that his sons were coming.  He might not see them now, but they would return.

We can use this in our lives to help us keep faith, be strong, and to be full of courage.  What do we “suppose”?  Do we “suppose” with the eye of faith - or with the “logical” thinking of the world?  

It matters.