Monday, September 17, 2012

Alma 26 Mindfulness


Ammon rejoices in the wonderful successes they have had as missionaries, the changed hearts of thousands of the Lamanites, and being instruments in the hands of the Lord.  He also rejoices that the Lord “snatched” them (Alma, Ammon and their brethren) from their sinful past and pointed them in a new direction.  Finally, he rejoices in the mindfulness of the Lord.  In verse 36, he states that God “…has been mindful of this people, who are a branch of the tree of Israel.  Further, he says that “…God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in.”  In the Book of Moroni, Mormon, great general and abridger, says, “My beloved son, Moroni, I rejoice exceedingly that your Lord Jesus Christ hath been mindful of you….”  (Moroni 8:2)

To be “mindful” is to pay attention.  The Lord pays attention to each of us individually.  He challenges us to be mindful of each other and not treat each other as objects.  When we truly pay attention to our children, for example, we listen to them, watch them, pray for them, and love them.  When we are mindful of our spouse, we are in tune with their needs and we put those needs above our own.  When we are mindful we pay attention to our mindsets.  We don’t just walk through our day in mindless activities because we know how.  We don’t multi-task when we are driving because we can.  We don’t treat others as objects because they are just there in the room.  We pay attention.  We don’t space off during conversations because we can.    

When we are mindful we listen to the Holy Ghost.  We pay attention to his promptings and write them down.  We act on personal revelation and don’t procrastinate or resist his voice.

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