tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018387523779914474.post7373375101546802565..comments2023-12-31T05:01:58.031-06:00Comments on Young Stranger: A Royal WeddingJohn Gustav-Wrathallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03557940681381951271noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018387523779914474.post-32129445663583479892010-12-13T10:50:00.157-06:002010-12-13T10:50:00.157-06:00Thanks, J-G-W. That was very helpful.
FireTagThanks, J-G-W. That was very helpful.<br /><br />FireTagAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018387523779914474.post-14330377310245933362010-12-13T09:44:47.231-06:002010-12-13T09:44:47.231-06:00I also ought to say, sometimes you wake up from a ...I also ought to say, sometimes you wake up from a dream with a sense of great urgency. You just <i>feel</i> it is important.<br /><br />I also tend to go on the assumption that if something important needs to be communicated to me through a dream, God will help me remember the dream. Very often, my recollection of dreams can be quite hazy. But the most important ones I've always had a crystal clear recollection of -- sometimes in great length and detail. I have dreams in my dream journal where the written description of the dream goes on for many pages (since I always try to record every detail that I can remember).<br /><br />Last night I had a very interesting experience where I had completely forgotten a dream the previous morning. Then as I was praying before retiring at night (about 16 hours later!), the Spirit just completely opened up a very clear recollection of the dream and all its significant details... Which I then promptly wrote down! To me, that was a sign of something significant. In fact, it did turn out to be a fairly significant dream.John Gustav-Wrathallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03557940681381951271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018387523779914474.post-1277620194997376442010-12-13T07:49:03.568-06:002010-12-13T07:49:03.568-06:00Firetag - my approach to dreams is that ALL dreams...Firetag - my approach to dreams is that ALL dreams tell me something about myself. Over the years, I have kept a dream journal in which I write down every dream I can remember.<br /><br />Sometimes, if I remember only a tiny fragment of a dream, I'll write it down; because even dream fragments, compared to other, more fully remembered dreams tell you something. For instance, say all that I can remember about a dream is that I was a seed planted in the ground. (This is an actual dream fragment I remembered once.) That -- already!!! -- is a very significant dream image. But then later I might have other dreams about seeds or planting that might reveal to me more about what that means.<br /><br />Once you have a good understanding of your own dream vocabulary, it becomes easy to identify dreams of a higher, more revelatory nature. These kind of dreams are often also accompanied by some kind of waking spiritual experience. For instance, after recording a dream, I might kneel down to pray and the Spirit will use certain images from the dream to communicate important messages to me or teach me important lessons.<br /><br />But the short answer to your question is that I don't generally try to distinguish between a revelatory dream and other dreams. I try to understand all my dreams, and I've found that I've learned interesting and important things from all of them...John Gustav-Wrathallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03557940681381951271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018387523779914474.post-40356406005229410362010-12-13T00:44:53.024-06:002010-12-13T00:44:53.024-06:00Since some of the more important spiritual decisio...Since some of the more important spiritual decision points of my life have featured guidance in dreams, I'm curious about how you decide dreams are especially worth listening to.<br /><br />I'd like to compare your thoughts as a way to check my bearings.<br /><br />FireTagAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018387523779914474.post-78415112222568716582010-12-12T16:50:44.059-06:002010-12-12T16:50:44.059-06:00I fully agree with your Book of Mormon definition ...I fully agree with your Book of Mormon definition of "righteousness" as "concern for the poor and the outcast." And I agree that Book of Mormon prophets make clear that our "right" to live on this land is conditioned on our collective willingness to live in "righteousness." Both of these are sobering thoughts.<br /><br />I was heartened when the church added "Care for the Poor and Needy" as an official "mission" of the Church. But I think we have a long way to go as a people in implementing the imperatives of this mission. We may save our own lives as we reach out to help others. Maybe Zion will be the end result.<br /><br />I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you again for being such a uniquely powerful and beautiful voice in the kingdom. I have been nourished by your writings on many occasions and I thank you for your light and example. I'm sorry you've passed through some dark times recently. We all do. But I hope you know how loved, appreciated, and admired you are by many. Including some people you don't even know. Keep up the great work. You are making a difference and the best is yet to be.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018387523779914474.post-50209858272039188002010-12-12T09:44:46.130-06:002010-12-12T09:44:46.130-06:00Anonymous - Thanks for your comments.
I've be...Anonymous - Thanks for your comments.<br /><br />I've been studying the Book of Mormon lately, and am very aware of how its central narrative about cycles of pride, destruction, humility/repentance and prosperity also fundamentally relate to those Old Testament prophetic demands for justice for the poor and oppressed. If you read the Book of Mormon carefully, it becomes clear, I think, that this concern for the poor and the outcast is essentially what is meant when the Book of Mormon writers speak of "righteousness."<br /><br />(That, by the way, is non-Mormon American historian Nathan Hatch's take on the Book of Mormon as well. He also sees concern for the poor as the central, driving moral concern in the Book of Mormon.)<br /><br />That's something for American Mormons to reflect on, if we also accept the Book of Mormon premise that the Lord holds the inhabitants of this continent to a higher standard of "righteousness," that he makes this kind of righteousness a concomitant of our right to be here...John Gustav-Wrathallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03557940681381951271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018387523779914474.post-49935454467018647372010-12-11T13:01:38.601-06:002010-12-11T13:01:38.601-06:00Thanks so much for sharing this beautiful dream an...Thanks so much for sharing this beautiful dream and its interpretation. I love how deeply steeped you are in the scriptures. Your intuitive sense of their most pressing messages for our times shines through in a powerful way. I have been studying the book of Isaiah a lot lately and am struck by the fact that one of its central themes is that the poor and disenfranchised are the Lord's true people in the last days. Church members often think they are "the Lord's people," but they are the Lord's people to the degree that they are willing to act as nursing fathers or mothers to the poor and the disenfranchised. That's what they've been "chosen" to do. Very few members get that. Those who do are usually found quietly serving the poor and they never make a big deal about their status. I see many evidences of divinity in both your dream and its interpretation. Thanks, again, for sharing it. And for being the kind of person who has so prepared himself to have these kind of revelatory experiences.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com