He Can Also Sing Vol I

After the manner of C.S. Lewis' Anthology of George MacDonald, or Of All Things, Quotations of Hugh Nibley, I present my own quotations of Timothy Merrill from his Owl Of The Desert Blog. 

I must confess that these quotations spoke to me. You may have selected others, but these are some of the many that I like. 

I may have only selected a single quote from each blog post, but the one I think best captured Tim's gift of the Spirit. 

Tim is not only a gifted writer of the words of God, an inspired poet, but he can also sing!

This is Volume I.

May 2020

Every flock has its misfits (join the club: chances are, if you are reading this, you are one); but along comes the Savior, who calls us by a new name and cherishes us as only the Good Shepherd can.

How does one buy something if he has no money? Well, isn't that the whole point of the gospel? The good news!

June 2020

It is easy to fool ourselves into thinking we're doing "well" -- like when the smell of something foul has lingered so long we forget it stinks.

“Charity never faileth” because it is grounded in the unchanging character and goodness of God.

Isn't the greatest adventure of our lifetimes learning to love those who are our enemies?

July 2020

Can we see the difference between “I am going to love others with Christ-like love” and “I am going to love others with Christ’s love”? 

You see, in the free world, people prefer the government to stay out of their homes and lives (Brigham Young said, "To mind your own business incorporates the whole duty of man"); but when the people themselves become complicit as little deputies of the Sheriff of Nottingham, you begin to see the genesis of Gadianton.  

Eternal truths are best understood through our own experience. Who better understands where babies come from than mothers who experience childbirth?  

I want to paraphrase what is happening: Satan's great lie -- the one that he uses to "deceive" and to "blind" those who listen to him (and those that listen to him become his "captive") -- is that honor was owed him because of his authority, and that his authority could be used to abrogate the agency of man.

Church lessons on obedience remind me of the game Hot Potato, as we toss around our favorite commandments, trying to get others to catch them (obey them in the way we do).

Most everything we need to know about obedience can be learned from the example of the Pharisees. So they were spiritual snobs? At least they knew how to obey the law with exactness.

I mean, sure, the Pharisees were willing to look down their noses at the Lord, telling Him how to keep the Sabbath, telling Him when he could heal, telling Him what being a child of Abraham meant -- but they deserve credit for paying a full tithe! 

Well, we've marshaled the evidence. I hope you've realized something profound: We are in hell.

The notions of "rank and file" are contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ and detrimental to our spiritual well being -- as well as to the cause of Zion, where we will be of "one heart, and one mind."

The dichotomy between "leaders and laity", "clergy and congregation", "priest and parishioner" creates rank in the church and leads to spiritual abuse. 

Cain was sick of working hard for a living, tilling the cursed ground and offering up zucchini, when all he had to do was take advantage of his brother. Then he'd have lots of lamb chops to eat. All's fair in love and war . . . and advancing our career. 

We tell our children they are entitled to food and clothes, but everything else is a privilege. Except the television - that's a member of the family.

August 2020

Because it is his job (his!) to clean us up. We cannot cleanse ourselves. But Christ takes a bowl filled with our tears, and I mean His and ours, and uses them to wash us from head to toe. 

Could the Great and Spacious Building, with all of its levels and penthouses and corner offices, symbolize the foolishness of organizing God's children into worldly ranks? 

In a choir all of the voices are equal even though they are not the same. All voices are kept in unison and harmony. 

Joseph Smith's attempt at creating unity or equality in the organization of the priesthood was unsuccessful. Instead of heirs we've created hierarchy. How did that happen?

The reason this is all so confusing is because there are members of His church who also belong to our church. And there are people who are not members of our church who are members of His church. And there are members of our church who are not members of His church.  

Is it just me, or does it seem like the gospel of Jesus Christ gets smothered and buried underneath a thousand mattresses - all the paperwork and duties and obligations and meetings and politics and marketing of religion - where the "pure" gospel is no more than a small pea at the bottom of all those mattresses? 

How often in our lived experience do we do what God actually says? Versus what we think he said, or wanted him to say, or what we were told by others he said? 

On the other hand, in our churches we love effort! We praise those who contribute their time and talents and treasure to the bake sale, the Christmas party, the putting up and the taking down of chairs. We celebrate those who are visible, busy and effortful, don't we? Ah, but there's the rub. Taking pride in our "efforts" is like thinking we are playing on the Lord's team, when we are actually scoring for the devil.

We all know what hypocrisy is, but what is "guile"? How is guile an issue for churches? "Guile" means "astuteness, often marked by a certain sense of cunning or artful deception; deceptiveness, deceit, fraud, duplicity, dishonesty."

Okay, I think we get the message. Melchizedek did not "ordain" Abram; he blessed him. That's the whole point: the high priesthood is meant to impart blessings.  

September 2020

Since when did "presiding" mean "being in charge"? Because isn't the Lord already in charge? Earthly fathers and priests are merely in loco parentis. (Usually more "loco" than "parentis".)

What I want to point out is that Christ does not want us to "clean ourselves up" before we come unto Him. He wants us now, this minute, as we are, warts and all. 

Because it is his job (his!) to clean us up. We cannot cleanse ourselves. But Christ takes a bowl filled with our tears, and I mean His and ours, and uses them to wash us from head to toe. (Can't say this enough!)

Lehi wasn't able to pluck the fruit and share it with his family: they had to come and partake themselves. He couldn't throw a couple of figs towards Laman and Lemuel: like the virgins' oil, the fruit cannot be shared. Or sold.  

Maybe there is not a choir in heaven so much as heaven itself is the choir. Everybody enrolls; everybody wants to sing God's praises. Hallelujah!

If experience has shown us anything, it is the most dangerous thing we can preach in Church is repentance; and the greatest threat to our testimonies steeped in carnal security is unadorned truth.

I wonder if the faith crisis people have is partly the result of believing things that they feel secure in, only to learn some of those things were actually false.

The Pharisees were totally legalistic about it. They treated Tithing like a spiritual tax that reflected their righteousness, making a big show of how generous they were, blaring trumpets--

Joseph F. Smith, April 1907:

"Furthermore, I want to say to you, we may not be able to reach it right away, but we expect to see the day when we will not have to ask you for one dollar of donation for any purpose, except that which you volunteer to give of your own accord, because we will have tithes sufficient in the storehouse of the Lord to pay everything that is needful for the advancement of the kingdom of God. I want to live to see that day."

Does the Church Have "Sufficient in the Storehouse" to End Tithing? 

The backbone of the law of Moses was its spirit of compassion and mercy (really). And if a lesser law could show such generosity of heart, imagine what a higher law requires of us!

Is it "extortion" to tell someone, "I know you can't buy food for your children, but if you don't pay tithing, you can't receive the ordinances necessary for exaltation, and thus you'll go to a lesser kingdom. Sorry." 

One of the simplest tricks of the devil is to take telestial practices, doctrines and programs and make us think they are all we need, when in fact they are impotent to save us, to transform us, to produce a mighty change of heart or a real relationship with God.

October 2020

Religion is expert at sleight of hand: skillfully diverting our eyes (and trust) away from God by manipulating our faith through the prestidigitation of priestcraft.

As we grow in truth and knowledge, our expanding awareness reveals how much more we have yet to learn. In other words, the more we know, the more we realize we don't know.

What's interesting is that the greater our ignorance, the less aware we are of our ignorance. 

What exactly is the Prosperity Gospel? It's largely a belief that, in exchange for us giving money to our churches, God will bless us with more money , and better health, and lots of other stuff . . . but mainly more money. 

​Here's the point: When an organization makes a public declaration of a rule or creates a policy, the members can't help judging each other by it. Irresistibly we form ranks as if we had been conscripted as "hall monitors" to make sure others follow the rule. 

We see the same message again. Jesus must have really wanted to emphasize the foolishness of "laying up treasures" here on earth.  

Me: So you are saying if I lend my neighbor $100.00, I should not expect them to repay me at all?!

J.S. No, that is not what I am saying; that is what the Lord is saying.

We see signs of Seriousitis everywhere. It shows itself when we draw attention to leaders rather than to Christ; when we garnish with praise the men and women who serve in leadership roles over that of our Savior; when we make the mantle to be greater than the Master; when we refer to "faithfulness to the Church" as synonymous with "faithfulness to the Lord" . . . in other words, when we set ourselves up for a light and standard to others.

December 2020

Explain that to me. How is it we can believe that "an angel of God who was in authority in the presence of God" (i.e., Lucifer) could be wrong, but not a mortal octogenarian? 

As others have pointed out, the Church structure dictates our doctrine, which boils down in the end to a single principle: We follow a man whom we call Prophet.

So why do we take such pride in our "keys" when they belong to Him? Why do we boast of our priesthood "authority" when we are but temporary custodians of what belongs to Christ? 

Why are we so obsessed with priesthood keys? Well, I guess it is because we want to establish a pecking order. We want show whose got the biggest authority.

But isn't the whole purpose of priesthood keys to bring us into the presence of God? 

And this greater priesthood

administereth the gospel

and holdeth the key

of the mysteries of the kingdom,

even the key

of the knowledge of God."

(D&C 84:19).