D&C 1 was given by revelation to the prophet Joseph Smith as a preface to the Book of Commandments (i.e. later called The Doctrine and Covenants) (D&C 1:6). D&C 1 was written after most D&C chapters had alrecady been written. The D&C 1 preface basically explains that apostasy caused confusion in the world and the Lord would now be restoring the gospel of Jesus Christ through a called prophet, Joseph Smith, and through a book, the Book of Mormon (See D&C 1:1–33). This preface chapter to the D&C then explains that untilmately “peace shall be taken from the earth.”
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READ: D&C 1:34–39―
“Peace shall be taken from the earth”
“Satan shall have power over his followers;”
“Christ shall have power over his people”
OUR HOME TEACHER, BR MCLAUGHLIN asked what we thought was the message from General Conference: I responded that I felt it was that peace is being taken from the earth (to which he agreed), and that we must choose your campwith the righteous so that we can be guided and protected through life’s coming conflicts.
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Miss Congeniality (Sandra Bulloch)? What did every beauty contestant want? World peace.
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If world peace is such a sought after commodity, why is peace being taken from earth?
QUOTE: ELDER RICHARD G. SCOTT DEFINES PEACE:
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Quote #1: Peace of conscience is the essential ingredient to your peace of mind. Without peace of conscience, you can have no real peace of mind. Peace of conscience relates to your inner self and is controlled by what you personally do. Peace of conscience can come only from God through a righteous, obedient life. It cannot exist otherwise.
A troubled conscience, is unrelenting, ever present, a constant reminder of the need to correct your past mistakes, to resolve an offense to another, or to repent of transgression. Oh, a disturbed conscience can be temporarily masked by physical stimulation of the mind and body where one yields to the temptations of alcohol, drugs, pornography, and worse. All this at the cost of an increased appetite for false efforts to calm an aching conscience with the risk of incurring unrelenting addictions. There is a better way to restore peaceof conscience.
The ability to have an unsettled conscience is a gift of God to help you succeed in this mortal life. It results principally from the influence of the Light of Christ on your mind and heart. The Light of Christ is that divine power or influence that emanates from God through Jesus Christ. It gives light and life to all things. It prompts all rational individuals throughout the earth to distinguish truth from error, right from wrong. It activates your conscience. Its influence can be weakened through transgression and addiction and restored through proper repentance. The Light of Christ is not a person. It is a power and influence that comes from God and when followed can lead a person to qualify for the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
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Quote #2: Peace of mind is most often affected byexternal forces such as concern for a wayward child, economic pressures, real or imagined offenses, deteriorating world conditions, or more to do than sufficient time to do it. An unsettled mind is temporary, transitory. Peace of mind is restored by resolving the external forces that disturb it.
Your understanding of the causes can relieve much of the pressure they generate. As your personal life conforms to theteachings of the Lord, you can seek His help in resolving the troubling issues. Thus your faith in the Lord and in His teachings will yield peace of mind. Your efforts will be stepping–stones to greater personal growth as Spirit–guided solutions are found. In addition, as they are resolved such challenges can often bring blessings to others when their needs have caused the disturbed feelings in your mind.
QUOTE, Teacher: “In summary, you can regain peace of conscience by repenting of personal transgressions that cause you internal turmoil. Then peace of mind can be secured by resolving the external pressures that cause you temporary anxiety, worry, and distress” (Richard G. Scott. General Conference , October 2004).
PEACE OF CONSCIENCE IS A NO BRAINER TO FIX, REPENT and receive the peace that has already been promised and paid for through the atonement of Christ!
So we are going to concentrate on Peace of Mind.
APRIL ENSIGN: The Bubblegum machine mentality (April 2014 Ensign). If you put in coins of righteousness (read scriptures, say prayers, go to church, pay tithing, attend temple) out comes the bubblegum of blessings for a happy life. Right?Not necessarily!!! Sometimes, bad things happen to good people.
QUESTION: What are some of the things that cause you to lose PEACE OF MIND?
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Guilt (Story: While undergoing tests for health issues last October, I was called to be a temple worker. I explained to the temple president at that time that I wasn’t feeling very well and was undergoing tests and may not be able to serve, although I wanted to. Based upon my desire to serve, I was set apart that night, and then the next day found that I had to have surgery to remove a tumor in my stomach (which turned out to be benign) but which resulted in six months of recovery after the removal of the stomach. I felt guilt and a lack of peace at being a temple worker who was not serving in that calling. When I shared my feelings with Amy Till she counseled me that healing was my job and guilt had no place in it and that my lack of peace, in this case, was self inflicted and fruitless. I felt the truth of her words and cast aside the guilt and looked forward to the day that I would be able to serve in the temple.
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Regret for previous decisions (Story: When we moved to Plano, Texas we purchased a lot and planned to build a home in a specific area. The area was a sound financial investment and we felt no need to pray about the purchase. However, after putting a deposit down on this lot, both Jim and I felt uneasy and regretted our decision. Our peace would not return until we forfeited the lot and purchased another in another ward location. While praying one night, Jim was told that we would eventually understand the need for this altered lot location. Some time later, our 16-year-old daughter was asked out on a date by a 19-year-old young man from the stake, in fact from the ward we would have attended, had we not forfeited that original lot. This young man was the son of the stake patriarch and a happy, personable guy, but we felt that he was too old to be dating a 16-year-old, and he had decided not to serve a mission, which indicated to us that he was on the wrong track. Every time our daughter turned down an invitation he became more determined and ultimately intrusive (calling all the time, watching our house for any sign of our daughter). His parents were angry with us because they hoped our daughter could be the good influence needed to get their son back on track. The conflict was that we didn’t feel that was our daughter’s responsibility. All peace was gone. After much prayer, Jim called the young man to our home and encouraged him to prepare for and serve a mission. The young man asked if he could date our daughter on his return. Jim smiled (knowing a lot could happen in two years) and said yes. Peace was returned to us, the young man went on a mission, forgot all about our daughter, married well and all lived happily ever after.
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Children responsibilities or worries (“You are only as happy as your least happy child”)
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Necessary choices (move or stay? take this job or not? )
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Hate
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Government: World in crisis (Story: Watching the news drives away peace for me)
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Jealousy/envy
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Conflict at work
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Conflict in the family
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Outward stress, not of our making (Story: Our oldest daughter had a new friend at school. Her parents were planning a trip to Europe and they wanted to take Kara along as a companion for their daughter. We didn’t know the parents at all, and after prayerful consideration refused to let our daughter go. This was not only embarrassing for us to tell these people that we weren’t accepting their very generous offer, but our daughter was upset that she wasn’t able to go on this lovely excursion. We don’t know why we were given this prompting, but it struck me at the time that the resultant lack of peace was not of our making. We had done nothing wrong, nor had anyone else, it seemed, but the Spirit told us what was best in this circumstance and ultimately our short-lived discomfort was worth the ultimate peace of mind that we had done the right thing without knowing why.
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Self inflicted stress (lies, deceipt)
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Money worries (teaches thrift and trust in the Lord’s law of tithing)
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Family responsibilities (Story: Jim’s parents were our responsibility for five years. Some of that time was a joy. Some of that time robbed me of peace. On several occasions Jim would have to travel to other states or countries for his work, and be gone for a week or more. I was left with Mom and Dad Higbee who were getting more difficult with each passing year (Mom Higbee talked to the refrigerator, Dad Higbee was angry with Jim because hethought Mom Higbee wanted to marry to Jim, etc., etc. etc.). When they were agitated, all peace was gone. I wondered what Jim and I and my wonderful in-laws had done in our lives to so offended God that we would live to experience this episode in life. My dear sister Valerie had gone through the care giver role with our sweet mother a few years earlier, after the death of our father. Valeriewould always call at just the right time. One day when Jim was gone and Mom Higbee was in the backyard yelling at imaginary people who were “using the hose and wasting water” my sister called. I told her that no amount of logic worked on Mom, who continued to insist that there were people in the backyard who should not be there. Valerie just laughed and said, “Kim, run out in the backyard, wave your arms around and tell all ‘the people’ to leave!” I put down the phone, ran to the backyard and yelled that everyone must stop playing with the water and that they must leave immediately. My mother-in-law was delighted at my forcefulness, because ‘everyone left.’ I ran back and started laughing with my sister. She had already been through similar peace-altering experiences with our dear mother. Valerie’s experience brought laughter and peace to me. I hope I can do the same for others one day.
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Specific blessings not realized
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Being falsely accused
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Breaking laws/ticket (Story: A few months ago I was in a car accident that was my fault. The sound of car-crashing metal is a peace breaker. But the fact that I damaged another person’s car (causing their peace to leave), totaled our car and also got a ticket, the first one in my life, caused peace to flee (fortunately, no one was hurt). I had a hard time sleeping, I was still recovering from surgery and my nerves were frazzled. My good husband said, “In the eternal scheme of things, this is nothing. Let it go.” There were still hoops to jump through (insurance companyreports, doctor’s checkups, ticket to pay, driving class to attend, going to court to pay for ticket), but taking care of these hurdles as quickly as possible restored my peace of mind. Sometimes speed of action restores peace of mind.
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Worry over health problems (Story: Oddly enough, there are times when lack of peace is warranted. For instance, when my doctor told me that I had a tumor in my stomach, and that specialists couldn’t tell if it was cancerous or not, and that I would have to undergo surgery right away, the doctor looked at me expecting hysteria. I felt as calm as ever in my life. No concern at all, I felt absolute peace. I knew this to be confirmation from the Spirit that all would be well and that I could leave the details in the Lord’s hands. In this instance the Lord had given me peace. He had bourn my worries completely.
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Death of a loved one (Story: My sister’s husband was in charge of Mormon Night at Dodger Stadium in California a few years ago, where there were 10,000 priesthood men and their families in the stands. My brother-in-law was standing on the field just before the first ball was to be pitched, with a general authority standing on each side (Elders Garn and Kikuchi), and he fell forward on the field, having suffered a severe heart attack. Valerie said that there was immediate action from every side, the paramedics were on the spot instantly, Don was whisked into a waiting ambulance, and all the time Valerie said that she was in a quiet little cocoon of peace. She could see the bustling around her, like ants, but none of it touched her at all. She heard a voice saying, “He’s gone, don’t worry, he’s with us, and he won’t be coming back.” The two general authorities told Valerie that they would go with Don in the ambulance to give him a priesthood blessing. Again, the voice said, “He’s gone, don’t worry, he’s with us, and he won’t be coming back.” She doesn’t remember how she got to the hospital, but she recalls the two general authorities looking at her in the hall and the surgeon coming up to her to tell her that they had restored Don’s heartbeat. That confused her a little because the voice had assumed her that Donwould not be coming back. Valerie sat with Elders Garn and Kikuchi and asked if they had given Don a blessing in the ambulance. They said that as they were about to place their hands on his head, the Spirit constrained them and they were not allowed to give any blessing. They thought this would upset Valerie, but Valerie thanked them and toldthem of the words she had heard. The surgeon then returned to say that they had lost the heartbeat and that Don was gone. The voice came a third time to Valerie saying, “He’s gone, don’t worry, he’s with us, and he won’t be coming back.” Again, this was an experience where the Savior took upon Himself all of the immediate hurt, giving Valerie absolute and immediate peace.
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Violent experience
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Prejudice against other peoples
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Anger (Story: Anger is an immediate peace breaker. It drives away the Holy Ghost. My Uncle David says that he was born with a temper, quick to anger, but also quick to cool down. I think this trait runs in our family. One day,Uncle David was called as a patriarch. He had been a bishop and a stake president prior to this calling, but this would be a new experience. He learned immediately that anger, or contention of any kind drove away the Spirit and that he could not afford to have that happen. He couldn’t get angry when a careless driver tried to force him off the road, he couldn’t afford to get angry when a distracted store clerk wouldn’t assist him, etc. His wife said that that was the best calling of her life because from that point on, she never lost a disagreement. Rather than argue, and lose the Spirit, Uncle David would be the peacemaker. He said that he wished he had learned that skill years earlier. It wasn’t until the second year in his calling that he purchased a bare root sapling peach tree that he planted in the fall. In the spring that sapling sprouted and Uncle David realized that the $12 sapling he had bought was actually a $24 hybrid sapling with two kinds of peaches on the one tree. He was delighted at the thought that he had gotten the better of the deal at Ernst Hardware store. Instantly he realized that his thoughts of getting the better of someone else at a cost to someone else had caused the Holy Ghost to leave. He reasoned with the Spirit that he had not been the one to put the wrong price on the sapling, so why should he have to suffer for their mistake. The Spirit would not return. He tried again and again to have his peace restored through scripture study and prayer because he had a blessing to give in the morning (the morning being a Sunday morning). Nothing helped, and the Spirit would not return, and neither would his peace. Finally, after being awake all night to no avail, he decided that his only course of action was to restore to Ernst Hardware any damage he might haveinflicted, meaning that he owed them $10.00. He had just one hour before he needed to give that patriarchal blessing so he got into his car, drove to Ernst Hardware and got out. Of course the store was closed up tight on Sunday in Utah. But just as he was trying to shove the $10.00 bill into the crack of the store doors, the manager of the hardware store drove up and explained that he had been given a prompting to drive to the store. Knowing Uncle David, he asked whathe needed. Uncle David explained the situation and the store manager said, “We often make such little errors, don’t worry about it, enjoy your tree!” But Uncle David shoved the ten dollars in the man’s hand and said, “Not on your life! Do you think that you just happened to show up here? No, you were prompted to come here, just as I was, and$10.00 is a small price to pay to restored peace of the Spirit!” Uncle David, with the Spirit restored, drove home and was able to give the desired patriarchal blessing.
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Heavy responsibilities/deadlines/too many things to do
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Inability to control circumstances (Story: When my father was in his 90s, he was out in his garden pulling uptenacious old squash vines, but one snapped and he fell back and Daddy broke his hip. The hip had to be replaced and the doctor told him that he would not be able to drive for several months. Daddy felt that if he couldn’t drive, he and Mother would lose their independence and have to rely on Valerie (their daughter who lived just one block away).After receiving help for a few months, Daddy decided to take back his independence and drove his car to the nearby store and was in an accident. His driver’s license was taken away, along with his peace of mind. Daddy never quite got over the indignity of getting old.
What can we do in such circumstances to bring peace back into our lives?
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Doing the right thing, even if unpopular.
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“Pray for them that despitefully use you” (Matthew 5:44)
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CHRIST (turning circumstances over to the Lord): “Peace I give unto you, my piece I leave with you” (John 14:16)
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CHRIST: These things I have spoken unto you , that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (John 16:33).
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Sacrament prayer promise (D&C 20:77-79)
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Receive revelation and rely on it.
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Music/DVDs
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Pray for peace
THE LORD’S PERSPECTIVE ON PEACE―(Events that rob us of peace are not always bad).
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Tragedy plus time equals humor.
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The Lord has perspective, knowing the end from the beginning.
THE OLD CHINAMAN PROVERB: Once there was a wise old Chinaman. One day his only work horse ran away and all the village people pitied him and said, “How unfortunate that you should lose your horse!” But the wise old Chinaman said, “We shall see.”
Several weeks later the man’s horse returned with a mate, and the wise old Chinaman said, “See, it was a blessing in disguise!” Later, as the wise old Chinaman’s son was taming the new wildhorse so that it could be ridden and used for work, he was thrown from the horse and his leg was broken. All the village people pitied him and said, “How unfortunate that your son should break his leg on that wild horse!” But the wise old Chinaman said, “We shall see.”
Within days China declared war on its neighbor and all able-bodied men were called to war and all horses conscripted for the army. But as the son was not able to walk with a broken leg and as the wild horse was not yet tamed for riding, only the wise old Chinaman’s original horse was taken. Much of China’s army was decimated, with many men and horses destroyed, and the wise old Chinaman said, “See, it was a blessing in disguise!”
Often times those things that rob us of our peace are only in place to secure greater peace later on.
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Apartment sanctuary: Two weeks after my surgery, we got new neighbors in the apartment above us who were very noisy. My peace was gone. I raised my eyes to God and said, “Wasn’t it enough that I should have gone through this surgery, must I also be tried with this constant noise?” When we had moved into that apartment the Lord hadassured me peace, and I felt that he was reneging on a promise. My husband said, “Some things are out of our control. This is not.” He went to the apartment manager and said that we wanted to move to a top floor apartment. There was one available (amazing, as they rarely are available). Jim called a moving company and told them that we were moving from one apartment to another identical apartment and that they were to move everything and put it in exactly the same place in the new apartment. They did it and within a day we were in a perfectly peaceful spot, a much better spot than our previous apartment. In this case, the Lord knew that he did not have to provide the needed/promised peace. He could use my husband to do it.
After this move it dawned on us that as top floor apartments are at a premium, if we needed to break our lease and move early, there would be very little time before someone would want to rent our top floor apartment (a middle floor apartment could take many months to rent), and take over those payments. Peace taken initially we feel would, down the road, prevent a greater loss of peace. The Lord knows the end from the beginning and provides the best path for us even if that path causes us to endure amoment’s initial lack of peace.
QUESTION: IS THERE EVER A TIME WHEN LACK OF PEACE IS A UNIVERSAL BLESSING? YES
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UNITE THE RIGHTEOUS: There are times when lack of peace mobilizes the righteous. If things get bad enough the righteous unite to restore peace, as in RETURN OF THE KING (i.e. Christ) from Lord of the Rings Trilogy:
“Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day! This day we fight [for peace]!! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, men [WOMEN] of the West!!!”
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GROWTH OF THE RIGHTEOUS: “And behold it is written also, that thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy; But behold I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father who is in heaven. Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect” (3 N 12: 38–48).
CONCLUSION:
QUOTE #3: Often at General Conference we as a people are given an Apostolic or Prophetic blessing. The following was given by President Monson at the final talk at the final Sunday session of General Conference, and it concerns our peace.
- “My brothers and sisters, may God bless you. May His promised peace be with you now and always, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, amen” (Thomas S. Monson, General Conference, April 2014).
IN CLOSING: Be mindfully grateful for times of peace in your life. Express that gratitude in your prayers and in extending forgiveness to others and helping others attain peace.
