A Bribe??

So about a week ago I got the following text from an unnamed sister, "OK.  Thirty bucks to the first person to write my next talk on Keeping covenants and attending meetings will bring strength and peace.  Seriously a check will be in the mail today if you help me."  So, I am not all about the bribe (but I am not above that either :)  But it got me thinking, and I think I would like to share with the Anonymous sister! 

Peace, sing it with me...."Where can I turn for peace, where is my solace, when other sources cease to make me whole.  When with a wounded heart, anger or malice, I draw myself apart, searching my soul."  Now fast-forward a bit to where the song answers its own question (where can I turn for peace?)..."HE answers privately, reaches my reaching.  In my Gethsemane, Savior and Friend." 

Through a bit of trial, and a lot of ERROR, I am here to concur with the song...The only thing that brings me peace is the Savior.  I have come to find that a state of PEACE is not something that you can WILL to happen, there will never be enough yoga exercises to clear your mind of troubles, sins, and self doubtings.  Peace is a gift from God that comes after A LOT  of  Hard work and even more OBEDIENCE.  It is the atmosphere that surrounds us and we walk the Straight and Narrow path. 

John Taylor said, "Peace is the gift of God. Do you want peace? Go to God. Do you want peace in your families? Go to God. Do you want peace to brood over your families? If you do, live your religion, and the very peace of God will dwell and abide with you, for that is where peace comes from, and it [does not] dwell anywhere else"

What happens to us when we aren't living our religion?.....When we desperately need something to ease our mind and bring us "peace"?  We search madly in all the wrong places.  We seek to please and gain acceptance from people that cannot give us peace.  We spend money on things that only give us more grief.  We find anything that is strong enough to hide our sorrow and the reality of what lies within us.  Remember, Peace is a gift from God, the atmosphere that surrounds us and we walk the Straight and Narrow path. 

The Savior, desperately wanting to grant us the gift of peace, has provided numerous blessings to keep us on that Straight and Narrow path.  Covenants and Meetings being at the top of the list.  When we covenant with God, we tell Him that we will be obedient to HIM first, before anything else.  When we put God first, all things fall into their proper order (PEACE!).  When we don't.....our own insanity reigns supreme.  But covenants are made at age 8, or 19, or once in a lifetime, right?  No, covenants are renewed each Sunday as we partake of the Sacrament. 

There is something that I am just barely realizing about the Sacrament.  Before you partake of the Sacrament, it requires a certain degree of worthiness.....When you take it, you promise to be a little more worthy next time.  When we pay attention to what we are really doing, we will realize that it is a gradual refiners fire. And what will keep us wanting to be a little bit better from one week to the next?  It all starts in Sunday School my friends...It starts with the scriptures.

I believe that is why Elder Cook said that the single most important thing to him was to see his children praying and studying their scriptures EVERY DAY.  I testify that those two things will keep our desires to be good intact, our sanity visible and the peace ABOUNDING.......

A little disjointed, but worth $30 right????