Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Just Like Today

I was reading a post at Middle-aged Mormon Man discussing the prevalence of war in the Book of Mormon and then I as flipping through this month's Ensign where I saw an article that talked about the same idea.



And then I had a thought: although our world is somewhat frightening today (I would say more frightening than it has ever been) I almost feel like I was expecting it to be this way. I am definitely not saying that I like the fact that there are wars and terrorism and all sorts of scary people doing scary things all over the world. I am just saying that it comes as no surprise.

Every time I read the Book of Mormon I see our day being played out before my eyes. The wars are almost identical. The terrorism is exactly the same. The only thing that is different is that the conflict today is on a global scale, whereas in the Book of Mormon the conflict was mostly confined to certain regions.

But the principles are all the same.

And the fact that our day is identical (almost) to the Book of Mormon days makes the conflicts of our day come as no surprise to someone who has studied the Book of Mormon.

I am excited to study the article from the Ensign - How Disciples of Christ Live in Times of War and Violence. I also recommend reading MMM's post. It was excellent. As his posts usually are.

Have the conditions of our time surprised you? Or do you expect them, given the conditions we read about in the Book of Mormon, and knowing that that book was written specifically for our day?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

3 comments:

  1. No, today's conditions don't surprise me. I've been studying the Book of Mormon for over 40 years and each time I read it I can see that it truly is the handbook for our day. On my blog http://plainandpreciousthing.blogspot.com/
    I wrote about a particular chapter we read and the parallels I see today.

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  2. I teach the 11-12 year old girls in Primary, and I have encouraged them to be aware of current events of the day. So when we are discussing the lesson, there is an opportunity to "fill in the blank" with the name of the day. I find that it makes the discussion more relevant.
    Sometimes when I am reading in the Book of Mormon and it is so real, I am reminded of a Bob Dylan song I like:

    The Times They are A-Changing
    "Come gather round people wherever you roam
    And admit that the waters around you have grown
    And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone
    If your time to you is worth saving
    Then you'd better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone
    For the times, they are a changing"
    Cue the harmonica
    Love this post Becca

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  3. the fact that our day is identical (almost) to the Book of Mormon days makes the conflicts of our day come as no surprise to someone who has studied the Book of Mormon.Agreed

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