I volunteered to write a few articles based on the Come Follow scriptures for the Church of Jesus Christ.org Canada.
As often happens to me, my initial draft was way over my word count and there was a lot of editing before the article was posted here:
I decided to share the "unabridged" version as well.
In grade three, each student in my class was given a little styrofoam cup of dirt.
The assignment was to plant and grow a little bean seed.
I put my cup in our kitchen window, where it could get plenty of sun and I could water it daily, determined to fulfill the assignment. Finally, after what, for a third grader seemed like forever, a little sprout of green appeared.
Turned out it was a weed.
And it was the only thing that grew.
That early failure has perhaps contributed to my life long belief that when it comes to growing things, not only do I lack the “green thumb” I seemed to have a black one.
But there is one seed I have loved nourishing in my life.
“Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart…behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me. (Alma 32:28).
Experiencing the thrill of spiritual growth--the enlarging of my soul, the enlightening of my understanding, the partaking of the fruits of faith --truly is the most delicious and satisfying aspect of my entire life.
But maybe you feel like your spiritual garden, like my little styrafoam cup, is only capable of producing weeds.
In the church, we love this chapter. The analogy is tactile enough to share with primary children, but expansive enough to hold the spiritual interest of even the most seasoned gospel gardeners. It reads like a to do list: Plant the seed. Nourish it.
It is easy to ask in our Sunday School lessons: What are we doing to grow our testimonies?
Like those Alma is teaching, we seem to always want to know but what do we do? (Alma 32:9)
Elaine Shaw Sorensen writes: “Latter-day Saints seem naturally inclined to focus upon their works. This propensity to rely so heavily on works that document obedience seems to be an outgrowth of our present technological, behavioristic society, which places so much emphasis on observable achievement…Illusionary time and goal management techniques, if not grounded in a basic Christian nature, can further contribute to task-based rituals and repetitions in life. By extending ourselves laterally outward in noisy worldly ways, we risk becoming swallowed up in the proud illusion of progress (Alma 31:27), when what we need is to extend quietly inward toward humility and upward toward God. (Seeds of Faith: A Follower’s View of Alma 32)
Alma reminds us in chapter 33 that even the Israelites, who received a specific “action item”: which was to “look and live”, failed to do so, despite it seeming to be such a simple solution to their dire situation.
Alma reveals in 33:20 that “the reason they did not look [was] because they did not believe that it would heal them.”
A few verses earlier, we are reminded of a time the Lord was angry with his people.
Why?
Because “they will not understand thy mercies.” (Alma 33:16)
Not that they can’t understand but that they wouldn’t.
Now remember the initial question the people were asking Alma and Amulek was “What shall we do?” (vs 5)
They can’t worship in their synagogues, they’ve been cast out. They can’t show devotion to God the way they have in the past.
We can relate to that can’t we? Covid-19 has disrupted the way we usually show our faith. We can’t sit in our usual pew, or stand up and teach our weekly lessons, or attend the normal meetings and councils, activities we are so used to being the outward indications and signs of our devotion.
Many of us have really had to re-examine what our devotion to God looks like on a more private, personal, inner plane, which can be challenging when we are used to the comfort of our outer actions assuring us of our faith.
Sister Sorenson again elaborates: “As with the apostate Zoramites ...the achievements and prosperity that embellish our lives become meaningless trappings of mortality with no eternal significance without faith. Doing home teaching, earning a scout merit badge, or doing other assigned acts of service can become little more than offerings on the Rameumptom (Alma 31:21), if our hearts are not earnest and our daily nature not Christian.” (Sorenson)
Interestingly enough, many of the “trappings” she refers to have been part of recent changes within the church which favor more heartfelt endeavors over systematic participation, inviting members to simplify and internalize their gospel efforts.
Elder David A. Bednar beautifully summarizes the vision behind such adjustments:
“We should not expect the Church as an organization to teach or tell us everything we need to know and do to become devoted disciples and endure valiantly to the end.2 Rather, our personal responsibility is to learn what we should learn, to live as we know we should live, and to become who the Master would have us become.”
Still we resist this idea and want to be told the particulars. Yes, yes, we seem to say, of course faith, sure, sure Christ, Hear Him, right- but still we circle back to “but what do we do?” How do we Hear Him? We want programs and reading charts and things we can check off to ensure we are still on the gospel track.
“…Sometimes, as the Zoramites, we also desire to offer the set of rules in our spiritual lives, with the documented trail of our good actions coupled with prosperity, as evidence of our place on the path to exaltation. Such emphasis upon works tends to give a sense of control... Such behaviorism works for things that are concrete, visible, and rule-driven. Behaviorism alone does not work, however, for those elements that are spiritual in nature: discernment; finding meaning; longing after goodness; having ethical awareness and moral courage; loving learning; having concern for excellence; having love, charity, or humility; becoming godly.” (Sorenson)
God is always more concerned with who we are becoming as a result of what we are doing. And what we learn from the analogy of the seed is He is there, with us for the entire process, from the moment we plant the seed.
As Elder Uchtdorf has explained: “There is no threshold of perfection you must attain in order to qualify for God’s grace.”( Come and Belong April 2020_
In her book “Grace Where You Are” Emily Belle Freeman describes a conversation she had discussing grace. “I just don’t understand it” the woman she was talking to confessed, “I feel like you have to do something, in order to experience grace…I’ve spent my entire adult life, trying to figure out what I am supposed to do.”
These sisters together then thought of the many accounts in the scriptures of people who receive grace without doing anything [which could include Alma!]. After making that list, they came to the conclusion that
“ these ..people didn’t have to do anything. Grace was extended exactly where they were and exactly as they were…the Lord will meet you where you are, as you are but …He doesn’t intend to leave you there. “Come as you are,” a loving Father says to each of us” but he adds “don’t’ plan to stay as you are.” We find comfort in knowing that we can come as we are, with the understanding that His grace, continually offered no matter the condition we are in, has the power to lift us, heal us and enable us to grow and change from exactly where we are in our stories to a fullness of life through Him.”
The grace begins the moment we plant the seed. It’s not one of the fruits we are waiting to harvest once our tree has grown -- grace is the growing!
So what do we do?
How do we tend to the internal, to our individual processes of growing and becoming?
We “begin to believe in the Son of God… “(Alma 33:22) that “mercy can satisfy justice” and encircle us “in arms of safety. “(Alma 34:15-16)
We “plant this word in [our heart]” (Alma 33:23)
Not just any seed. The seed has to be Christ.
So when we as “believers” aren’t sure what to DO…
What we are to do, is to believe Christ. We believe He can do what He says He will do and we trust Him to do it. We look and live. We believe that being “clasped in the arms of Jesus” (Mormon 5:11) will satisfy the demand of justice and leave us free to grow in godliness, from the security and support of His nourishing, merciful embrace. We exercise “faith unto repentance” (Alma 34:16); in short, we believe in the atonement enough to use it.
The “work” is getting Christ (the word) in our hearts- so that power and love can swell and grow and enlarge us in the process.
“Work out your own salvation” (Alma 34:37) then, is making room for Him to do His work IN us.
Once planted, the body nourishes. My hair and nails become brittle as my body takes whatever is needed, prioritizing once again the seed- doing whatever is necessary to ensure that umbilical cord blood is rich with all the nutrients needed for development to occur. But that all happened because of my body responding to the seed. The seed itself is powerful. Their growth --miraculous. The swelling and enlarging felt like something I witnessed more than I made happen.
Perhaps we could take a little more time just being amazed at what the Lord can grow in our hearts. To be amazed at the goodness of the seed. And how if we give place for it, (even if that means rearranging some of the desires of hearts and priorities of our lives) it will miraculously grow within us, and the seed itself will tell us what it needs to grow.
Perhaps we could pull off the gardening gloves, wipe our sweaty brows, and take a bite of the fruit. It is so good. It is miraculous. It is precious and sweet, and has the power to fill us, every crevasse of hunger, every thirsty cell.
I may not be much of a gardener, but I can testify of the goodness of the seed. The way every time I make room within my heart for the words and love of Christ- flowing from prophets, ancient and modern, as well as directly pressed upon my soul as I develop a relationship where I’m listening, and trusting His grace to speak to my heart, I experience what Alma and Amulek are describing:
“plant this word in your hearts, and as it beginneth to swell even so nourish it by your faith. And behold, it will become a tree, springing up in you unto everlasting life. And then may God grant unto you that your burdens may be light, through the joy of his Son. And even all this can ye do if ye will. Amen. (Alma 33:23)
We can do this. We can make room for the Savior, His light and His joy. And be amazed at what He helps our hearts become. That we can do. If we will.
In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.
