Preparing for Sunday

I wasn't doing my daily scripture reading during all the my family visits, like I usually do. I think that is significant. I do much better when I have my daily dose. I was always able to prepare my lesson, but I didn't always have the extra days to "ponder" and that makes a huge difference for me. In the past, I have gotten lost in Alma. I know a lot of people love the "war chapters." One of my favorite ladies at church suggested that the Lord knew who He was dealing with and how "boys" always love fighting and adventure. How better to keep them involved than my having a general write about his battle experiences?

I used to think that maybe we would need to know different battle strategies to be able to get through the "last days." I would read and see how he set up ambushes and decoyed the Lamanites. In my advancing years, I think I WAS right. I just had the wrong angle on the "strategies." We are in a battle, all right. There are ambushes and decoys plotted. It's just not a military battlefield. It's a spiritual one. We DO need to know how to fight back and protect our family, our faith and our freedom.

I have been reading along with the lesson schedule, but I keep finding myself going back, and re-reading, picking up new information. I have been trying to keep track of the town and the battles and the opponents - make sense of the landscape. This time, going through Alma, I'm really getting something different. THIS is why I wanted to teach Sunday School this year. Having the teacher's role, there are blessing that come to me. "The teacher always learns the most," they say. Having to present what I glean, seems to open bigger doors of understanding for me. Sometimes, it's almost like I am there, standing in their shoes. I imagine things about them I never consider before. I feel things that never occurred to me before.

I have favorite stories from Alma. Some of my favorite "hanging-in-there" scriptures are in Alma. One has always been Helaman and his stripling warriors. My example of what I am trying explain happened today as I was re-reading part of this story. The part I was reading was WHY the 2000 young men went to fight with Helaman. (And I don't remember having this part ever stand out the way it did today.) The Lamanites are attacking the area where the Nephites are protecting the Ammonites, and the Ammonites are feeling bad about all the hardship and adversity this is bringing on their protectors. They are considering breaking their covenant not to fight, to ease the burden on those who have taken such good care of them. Helaman convinces them to keep their covenant. And then it says they were "compelled to behold their brethren wade through their afflictions"

It made me think about repentance. Part of repentance is restitution. But there are somethings we people do to each other that can't be "restored." If you kill someone, you can't bring them back to life. You can't restore lost innocence. You can't restore virginity. What can you do for restitution in those cases? And others. I think this scripture shows us how restitution in those things can happen. We watch someone else suffer as a result of our prior choices.

How do you think they felt - watching the people who had brought them to Christ, given them love, a home and everything they now enjoyed - fighting, being wounded, maybe dying. For them. Remind you of anyone? Someone who was guiltless, who willingly suffered to save - us. It's hard to watch - someone we love "wading through" their afflictions (because of something maybe we did), but maybe that's part of our restitution. To watch and recognize the symbolism.
What do you think?