I was recently studying in 3 Nephi 17, and was impressed by the verse three: "Therefore, go ye unto your homes, and ponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and prepare your minds, for the morrow, and I come unto you again."
Here's the context: The Savior has been teaching the people in Bountiful. The previous six chapters contain the record of Christ's ministry among the Nephites. It record Him descending from heaven. It contains a record of Him calling disciples, giving them power, and teaching them His Gospel. It contains His teachings, including the Nephite version of the Sermon on the Mount. It tells of the people personally witnessing, one by one, with their eyes, ears and hands that He is the resurrected Christ
The people being taught were amazingly prepared learners. These were people who had chosen to spend their time at the temple (3 Ne 11:1). These are people who were righteous enough to be saved from the destruction (3 Ne 9:13). These were people whose conversations were already focused on Jesus Christ (3 Ne 11:2) before they knew they would be in His presence. They were in the right place: on the temple grounds. They were being taught by the master teacher: Jesus Christ. So for Christ to invite the people to go home and ponder and prepare in order to understand (rather than stay at the temple and be tutored by the master), it suggests that there is great power in several things: taking a break, going home, pondering, and preparing your mind. And while there is a lot that could be said about each of those things, I will focus primarily on the importance of taking a a break in order to ponder.
As I pondered the importance of taking a break from instruction, I thought of two analogies: one related to athletics, and another to music. I recall have heard that in exercise, it is important to to make "rest and recovery" a part of your workout. This applies to immediate breaks such as short rests between reps of exercising in your routine, and it also refers to taking a day off or focusing on different muscles the next day after an intense workout the previous day. According to one sports medicine website, "The body repairs and strengthens itself in the time between workouts, and continuous training can actually weaken the strongest athletes." I've heard it said that when you exercise, it is tearing muscles, and it is during rest that the muscles heal, are restored, grow and are strengthened. They can't grow until they are torn down (opposition in all things!), but there also needs to be that rest period for the growth to take place.
Relative to music, I thought of the role of rests and of silence in music. Claude Debussy has been credited as saying, "Music is the space between notes". Mozart said, "Music is not in the notes, but the silence between". On my mission I recall a training by my mission president, a former music producer and composer, in which he taught us that rests are important and powerful, because it is often in those moments of stillness that power can enter into our hearts and thoughts can enter into our minds.
Accordingly, it makes sense to me that the Savior would counsel the people to take a break from a full day of an intense spiritual work out and to take time for rest and recovery/to go home and ponder--to be intentionally and actively still so that the Spirit has time to enter into each individual's mind to personally confirm and witness what happened to them, and to provide the inspiration tailored to each individual regarding what they should now do in their quest to follow Christ.
And I think that people need to take time to ponder just as much today. We need time to grow and be strengthened, and we need to allow space for the Spirit to enter in to our minds and hearts so that we can receive the individualized personal revelation that we need.
Now, after my advocating for taking a break, I do want to warn against a counterfeited understanding or misapplication of the principle. I am not supporting justifying being lazy. The break in 3 Nephi 17 came after a very full day of spiritual learning. And the break they took was not about avoiding responsibilities or in any way becoming agents to be acted upon. They went home to ponder and prepare. This required active stillness and purposeful pondering, not indifferent idleness and sedentary slothfulness. Pondering and idleness may both require limited movement, but they are qualitatively very different in purpose, input, and outcome.
When I learned about this principle on my mission, is was relative to not being afraid of silence in lessons. We were invited to allow time to ponder, and time to think of answers to questions. I think that this is like the rest between sets of repetitions in exercise. I think it also needs to include taking time to ponder after scripture study, after church meetings, perhaps after meaningful conversations, and even after prayer.
Our society sells the counterfeit. It advocates taking time to do nothing. It doesn't promote taking time for holiness and taking time to ponder. I know that often times, if I have nothing I have to do, my natural man inclination at times is to be motionless, but this isn't the same as being still. Idleness robs me of hours and leads to atrophy; stillness and pondering lead to learning and growth.
Well, this blog post has turned out to be more of a journal entry of me further exploring my thoughts on a topic. My ponderings on pondering, if you will. I think that I will now ponder what I can do to better apply this principle.
Here's the context: The Savior has been teaching the people in Bountiful. The previous six chapters contain the record of Christ's ministry among the Nephites. It record Him descending from heaven. It contains a record of Him calling disciples, giving them power, and teaching them His Gospel. It contains His teachings, including the Nephite version of the Sermon on the Mount. It tells of the people personally witnessing, one by one, with their eyes, ears and hands that He is the resurrected Christ
The people being taught were amazingly prepared learners. These were people who had chosen to spend their time at the temple (3 Ne 11:1). These are people who were righteous enough to be saved from the destruction (3 Ne 9:13). These were people whose conversations were already focused on Jesus Christ (3 Ne 11:2) before they knew they would be in His presence. They were in the right place: on the temple grounds. They were being taught by the master teacher: Jesus Christ. So for Christ to invite the people to go home and ponder and prepare in order to understand (rather than stay at the temple and be tutored by the master), it suggests that there is great power in several things: taking a break, going home, pondering, and preparing your mind. And while there is a lot that could be said about each of those things, I will focus primarily on the importance of taking a a break in order to ponder.
As I pondered the importance of taking a break from instruction, I thought of two analogies: one related to athletics, and another to music. I recall have heard that in exercise, it is important to to make "rest and recovery" a part of your workout. This applies to immediate breaks such as short rests between reps of exercising in your routine, and it also refers to taking a day off or focusing on different muscles the next day after an intense workout the previous day. According to one sports medicine website, "The body repairs and strengthens itself in the time between workouts, and continuous training can actually weaken the strongest athletes." I've heard it said that when you exercise, it is tearing muscles, and it is during rest that the muscles heal, are restored, grow and are strengthened. They can't grow until they are torn down (opposition in all things!), but there also needs to be that rest period for the growth to take place.
Relative to music, I thought of the role of rests and of silence in music. Claude Debussy has been credited as saying, "Music is the space between notes". Mozart said, "Music is not in the notes, but the silence between". On my mission I recall a training by my mission president, a former music producer and composer, in which he taught us that rests are important and powerful, because it is often in those moments of stillness that power can enter into our hearts and thoughts can enter into our minds.
Accordingly, it makes sense to me that the Savior would counsel the people to take a break from a full day of an intense spiritual work out and to take time for rest and recovery/to go home and ponder--to be intentionally and actively still so that the Spirit has time to enter into each individual's mind to personally confirm and witness what happened to them, and to provide the inspiration tailored to each individual regarding what they should now do in their quest to follow Christ.
And I think that people need to take time to ponder just as much today. We need time to grow and be strengthened, and we need to allow space for the Spirit to enter in to our minds and hearts so that we can receive the individualized personal revelation that we need.
Now, after my advocating for taking a break, I do want to warn against a counterfeited understanding or misapplication of the principle. I am not supporting justifying being lazy. The break in 3 Nephi 17 came after a very full day of spiritual learning. And the break they took was not about avoiding responsibilities or in any way becoming agents to be acted upon. They went home to ponder and prepare. This required active stillness and purposeful pondering, not indifferent idleness and sedentary slothfulness. Pondering and idleness may both require limited movement, but they are qualitatively very different in purpose, input, and outcome.
When I learned about this principle on my mission, is was relative to not being afraid of silence in lessons. We were invited to allow time to ponder, and time to think of answers to questions. I think that this is like the rest between sets of repetitions in exercise. I think it also needs to include taking time to ponder after scripture study, after church meetings, perhaps after meaningful conversations, and even after prayer.
Our society sells the counterfeit. It advocates taking time to do nothing. It doesn't promote taking time for holiness and taking time to ponder. I know that often times, if I have nothing I have to do, my natural man inclination at times is to be motionless, but this isn't the same as being still. Idleness robs me of hours and leads to atrophy; stillness and pondering lead to learning and growth.
Well, this blog post has turned out to be more of a journal entry of me further exploring my thoughts on a topic. My ponderings on pondering, if you will. I think that I will now ponder what I can do to better apply this principle.
2 comments:
I love reading what you write. You are awesome. Good thoughts. Thanks!
Did I ever share with you how much I admire you? Lots of love from a former roomie - Katherine
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