Thoughts on the Sunday School lesson

Written as I studied it. My scripture tote is still AWOL. If I haven’t found it by next payday, I am getting a large-print quad (Quadruple Combination, containing the King James Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price) and a gurney to lug it around on.

Yesterday’s lesson was from Isaiah, chapters 54-56 and 63-65.

Isaiah 54:6 For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. I know something about being a wife who has been refused. This verse always makes me wince a little, just before it comforts me.

Isaiah 54:13 And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children. My children have all been taught about the Lord and His place in their lives. This verse suggests to me that at some future time the Lord Himself will teach them. So for me, it refers not only to the peace despite tribulation which comes here and now for those who heed the words of the prophets, but the eternal peace and safety which await us if we truly desire it and demonstrate it by our choices.

Isaiah 55:2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. We once had a visitor from the stake high council (whose responsibility is to bring a lesson or message from the stake presidency once a month) who was a man large in both body and spirit. He quoted this verse, to gentle laughter from the congregation. The scriptures testify that we do not live by bread alone ~ and how thankful I am for chocolate! ~ so to me this verse suggests the importance of using my time and energy wisely. Or in the words of the late Neal A. Maxwell, to make sure my ladder is not leaning against the wrong wall, that I am not pursuing the things the world thinks are good, to the exclusion of things that will draw me closer to Heaven.

Isaiah 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. I think this backs up verse 2. The remainder of the chapter continues in this vein.

Isaiah 56:1-8 All who hearken will be blessed, whether children of the covenant who grow up true and faithful, or converts like my Gram and me. Even those who have been cruelly mutilated by life will have every blessing promised to the righteous, in Heaven’s time.

Isaiah 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. Yes, this refers to the children of Israel in the time of Moses. It also is a shining thread in the fabric of my own life.

Isaiah 63:16 Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O Lord, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting. While Heavenly Father is the father of our spirits, the Savior becomes the father of all who strive to become obedient unto the Father’s commandments. This is part of the plan for our eternal happiness, and it predates our coming to this earth.

Isaiah 64 This is the first time that I noticed it was a continuation of Chapter 63, barely pausing for a catch-breath.

Isaiah 65:2 I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts; Something that anyone who has parented a two year old, or a teenager, can relate to.

Isaiah 65:24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. This one makes me weep with joy. Have you ever had a prayer answered so quickly that the amen was still warm upon your lips?

Much of this lesson describes the peace that will reign during the Millenium. And I believe we can know a good measure of that peace before that blessed day.

Here is a link to a Meridian Magazine commentary on this lesson. From this commentary, I learned that Edom is the Idumea to which the Savior referred; Edom was the traditional enemy of ancient Israel; Bozrah was its capital.

And from my notes in class: shalom means more than peace; it also means happiness, wholeness and well-being. I am guessing it’s the Hebrew equivalent of aloha.

We had another high councilor yesterday. He paraphrased one of the modern prophets in class, and these are my belatedly-scribbled notes on what he/they said: “Peace is the one thing the Adversary cannot emulate, so if we are feeling peaceful, we can know it’s from God.”

We now return you to more mundane, but possibly eternal, topics. When the new guy was bringing me home on Saturday night, we talked about the ten gallons of pomegranates he had harvested from the trees in his back yard before coming over. (It is now up to 15 gallons.) I offered to come over after work tonight and help him seed them, even though he will have the Cowboys on. [Oh, the sacrifices we are willing to make in order to be near a guy we like.] He gave me a definite maybe, contingent on whether he would be able to get the living room vacuumed before I came over.

Last night I got the go-ahead. I am taking a new loaf of bread, a container of hummus, and the bag of petite Gala apples I picked up on Saturday. He is thawing a pan of enchiladas; like me, he only knows how to cook for a small army, so he freezes the extras. So we will eat the United Nations and let the food fight it out inside, as Mark Twain recommended.

In knitting news, I have knitted way past the point where I stopped to frog Willow’s sock this weekend. And I have finally found the pattern the yarn wants to become. You would not think that an inanimate object could have an opinion. You would be wrong. Some of you might chalk it up to fiber preparation, the amount of twist in the singles, how that was reversed when four singles were plied together to make the finished yarn. I never took physics in school. I just know that it will soon be time to work the heel flap, and then the gussets, and on down toward the toe.

Our new elders came up to me between meetings and humbly asked if I might be willing to knit warm hats for them. As a matter of fact, I would. So Willow’s sock may get put on hold for a week or two, once I find the right yarn for the job. Which I will go look for after work today, as I meander over to the new guy’s house so as not to beat him there.

And now I am heading out to the gym so I can make room for those enchiladas tonight. I have the feeling it is going to be a splendid day, Cowboys or no Cowboys.