Welcome to the first ever Oh Remember podcast where we take time for deeper reflection on scripture.
This is episode 1,
First Faith,
A guided scripture meditation on the first article of faith.
My name is Vana and I am pleased to share this time with you as we seek more peace in our lives by centering on the true source of inner peace,
Jesus Christ.
I come from the perspective of my faith as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Here we can follow Christ's simple and beautiful promise in the Book of Mormon in 3 Nephi 18 verses 7 and 11 where he said,
If ye do always remember me,
Ye shall have my spirit to be with you.
Remembering is not easy to do in these distracting and distressing times,
So today let's come together and remember to renew our hearts with light and peace and expand our souls with greater faith in God.
Since this is the first episode of Oh Remember,
It would probably be helpful to start with a little explanation.
I've been involved with a couple of podcasts before,
Including a podcast I had for a couple of years when I was working as a life coach.
The podcast was called Midlife Confidence.
And some of you,
Well a few of you are familiar with that.
That was a time of growth for me in all the ways,
Spiritual,
Mental,
And emotional.
So it was really hard for me to realize that I needed to do something else.
I let go of coaching and the podcast,
And gratefully I soon found a job that I enjoy.
I now work in an art museum.
But as much as I love it,
There has been an empty spot in my heart.
And even though I quit coaching and producing the podcast over a year ago,
I've been grateful that people have still been listening to the original episodes.
The best way I can explain how I've been feeling is if you can imagine a garden hose,
Just a normal green garden hose in your yard.
You can turn the hose on or off at the faucet,
Right?
But even if the faucet is turned full on so that the water fills the hose,
If there's a spray nozzle at the end that is closed off,
The water can't flow through because there's no outlet.
So fresh water stops coming in.
If you want more water to flow through the hose,
You have to open the sprayer to let it out.
And then the water flows through and you can accomplish something good,
Like watering your flowers or washing your car.
This is how I felt since I stopped my coaching practice and my podcast.
I no longer had an outlet for sharing my thoughts and the flow of inspiration stopped.
And also,
A challenge I had as I transitioned to working full time away from home,
My habit of a daily morning devotional time was disrupted for a while.
After a few months,
I remember driving to work and thinking,
Wow,
I feel spiritually empty,
Even though I was enjoying my job and finding a lot of satisfaction there.
And the impression came to me,
Of course you feel empty,
You haven't been filling your soul up.
So not only had I lost my outlet,
But I had turned down my faith faucet to just a trickle.
This was another of many experiences in my life where I've learned the truth of what Neil L.
Anderson shared in his conference talk called Faith is not by chance,
But by choice in October 2015,
When he said,
Your faith is either growing stronger or becoming weaker.
I think he's right.
I've noticed that my faith is always either expanding or contracting.
And after years of building up my faith,
It didn't feel good to sense that my spiritual self was deflating.
I came to realize that for me,
Not only filling my soul up,
But also sharing it somehow is essential.
Because the more spiritual light that goes out,
The more can come in.
The more I share it,
The more I express it,
The more I receive.
I want to be clear,
Sometimes I live in a way that allows me to be filled with the spirit and sometimes I don't.
I have many weaknesses and I fail often to fully follow God like I want to.
So I'm not here as an expert,
But as a fellow seeker of greater faith,
Deeper understanding,
And brighter hope.
So this podcast is my personal project to have more light and truth in my life.
Each time I will share one favorite scripture or quote and my thoughts around that idea.
Many of these podcasts will follow the pattern of beginning with a reminder to relax so that we can be fully present and open to the spirit.
And then we'll focus on that one scripture or inspired quote.
In fact,
We'll repeat it several times so that we can go deeper into what it offers us.
I know I often wish for something to listen to that will help me remember to come back and center on peace and connection with God.
I hope that we can take a regular break together and spend a few minutes to center our mind,
Our body,
And our spirit on God and refresh our faith.
At this point,
My goal is to publish two episodes a month.
That's a pace I can be consistent with considering everything else I have going on.
So let's begin.
You might stop and sit or lie down for a few minutes or go for a walking meditation or even follow along while you're doing dishes or driving home from work.
It's time to let go of all the busy things in your life that are taking space in your soul right now.
You can lay them aside for a few minutes.
They'll be waiting for you there later,
But you can take a peace break now.
Notice your breath.
Take a deep breath in,
Fill up all the way to your belly and hold it for a second.
And then slowly let it go.
Do that again,
An even deeper breath this time.
Hold it and then slowly let it out.
And one more time.
Breathe in deep,
Hold it and let it out slowly.
Now as you continue breathing in an easy way,
Notice anywhere in your body that you could relax more.
From the top of your head,
Down your neck and shoulders,
Feel warmth and relaxation flow down your back,
Down your arms,
Down your legs,
All the way down to the floor.
And let every part of you be at ease and open to what the spirit has for you today.
Coming back with me about 50 years ago,
It was the early 70s,
A time when Volkswagen Beetles,
Clogs and Donny Osmond were popular.
I was a child around 10 or 11 years old and I remember going to the home of my wonderful primary teacher,
Sister Margie Apgood,
For Mary Miss activities.
50 years later,
I can still feel her love for us.
At that time,
All Mary Miss girls in the church had bracelets that we added these colored plastic gems to as we accomplished our goals,
Pink,
Yellow,
Blue,
Green.
And we had a banner that we added emblems to as we memorized the 13 articles of faith.
At the bottom of the banner,
We embroidered the words,
I will radiate the light of the gospel.
I had forgotten that phrase until I wrote this.
And I wonder if that's when the word radiate became so meaningful to me.
My deepest hope is to feel radiant,
To feel the warmth and light of the spirit in my soul.
Maybe I picked that idea up way back in primary.
I will radiate the light of the gospel.
Sister Apgood helped us memorize all of our 13 articles of faith,
Including the fourth article of faith,
Which begins with,
We believe the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are,
First,
Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
So faith is the first principle of the gospel.
Out of all the things that could have been first,
It's faith.
First faith.
First faith.
First faith.
Yes,
That feels true and resonant.
I think that growing in faith is one of the most important reasons we are even here on earth.
Today,
Let's focus on that part of the fourth article of faith.
It's found in the Pearl of Great Price,
The chapter or section that is called the articles of faith,
Verse four.
As we read this,
Listen for a phrase or even just one word that speaks to you.
We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are,
First,
Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
As we read it a second time,
Meditate and center on that word or phrase that stood out to you.
We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are,
First,
Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
How are you feeling as you let those words find place in your heart or in your mind?
If you notice any sense of peace or warmth or light,
Recognize that as the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Let's read it a third time,
And this time,
Listen for what God is saying to you in these words.
We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are,
First,
Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
What does God want you to know about faith right now?
As you think about the idea of faith,
You might wonder what it would be like if you were filled with radiant faith.
Just try that on for a few moments.
Imagine what it would feel like to be filled and overflowing with radiant faith.
If you bring your attention up to your mind,
What would it feel like to have a mind that was sure and joyful in faith?
And bring your attention to the area of your heart.
What would that feel like in your heart?
What would be different in your life?
What would be possible?
Now as we read this line for a fourth and final time,
Let's be aware of any action God is inviting you to do.
What will you take away and make part of your life?
How could you grow into more faith?
What if you make faith first in your life?
We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are,
First,
Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let's give thanks as we conclude this time of union with the Spirit.
We might call this a meditation,
Or we might call it a prayer,
Because that's what prayer is,
Isn't it?
Reaching up to connect and communicate with God.
Thank you,
Heavenly Father,
For giving us such simple yet powerful words to guide us.
Thank you for trusting us to find our way to deeper faith.
Thank you for the light touch of the Spirit that reaffirms the truth and light of faith in Jesus Christ.
Here are some of the things that came up for me as I focused on the importance of faith as the very first principle of the gospel.
I think we hear the word faith so much that sometimes repetition and familiarity could drain the word of its power.
But faith is not trite and mundane.
Faith is rich and mysterious.
Faith has elements of logic and reason in it.
It has experiential deduction in it.
It has the idea of leaping from seen to unseen in it.
There's learning to trust your inner senses as opposed to always relying on the easiness and immediacy of our outward-facing senses.
It has a distinct physical sensation in it.
There is this breathing in something as invisible but as real as oxygen and feeling it light up every cell in your body.
It's complex and subtle and delicious and sometimes fragile.
Sometimes it's fleeting,
But then also often deeply resilient and enduring,
Even while coexisting with opposition or uncertainty.
Faith is a choice to trust in things we sense but cannot see.
So what do we really want?
What we want is vibrant faith,
Radiant faith.
We want to be so filled with faith that we can experience President Nelson's promise that only our unbelief will keep God from blessing us with miracles to move the mountains in our lives.
Maybe you remember that promise in his talk,
Christ is Risen,
Faith in Him Will Move Mountains,
In the April 2021 General Conference.
What mountains will you move with your radiant faith?
Powerful faith is a lifetime pursuit and I'm all in.
Let's work on that together.
So let's close today by remembering that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the first principle to master in our spiritual journey here on earth.
I encourage you to write down the thoughts you had today,
Even just a line or two to help you remember.
You might even start a journal just for spiritual impressions that come to you.
Thank you for being here.
I look forward to sharing more with you next time when we'll explore one of my favorite scriptures ever,
Which is all about transformation.
Until then,
Oh remember Christ,
That you may have His Spirit to be with you.
