My Come, Follow Me studies for this week took me to the “war chapters” in Alma 53-63. These chapters tell of numerous battles and miraculous miracles involving the 2000 Stripling Warriors, any of which would be a good topic to discuss. However, my thoughts went to a correspondence between Captain Moroni, the leader of the armies, and Pahoran, the chief judge.
The armies were winning great
battles, but they were suffering from lack of food, supplies, and reinforcements.
Captain Moroni wrote an epistle to Pahoran, and he did not mince words in condemning
him and accusing him of sitting on his throne in the capital city, while the
armies on the boundaries of the nation are suffering.
6 And now behold, we desire to know the
cause of this exceedingly great neglect; yea, we desire to know the cause of
your thoughtless state.
7 Can you think to sit upon your thrones
in a state of thoughtless stupor, while your enemies are spreading the work of
death around you? Yea, while they are murdering thousands of your brethren –
8 Yea, even they who have looked up to you
for protection, yea, have placed you in a situation that ye might have succored
them, yea, ye might have sent armies unto them, to have strengthened them, and
have saved thousands of them from falling by the sword.
9 But behold, this is not all – ye have
withheld your provisions from them, insomuch that many have fought and bled out
their lives because of their great desires which they had for the welfare of
this people; yea, and this they have done when they were about to perish with
hunger, because of your exceedingly great neglect towards them.
10 And now, my beloved brethren – for ye
ought to be beloved; yea, and ye ought to have stirred yourselves more
diligently for the welfare and the freedom of this people; but behold, ye have
neglected them insomuch that the blood of thousands shall come upon your heads
for vengeance; yea, for known unto God were all their cries, and all their
sufferings –
11 Behold, could ye suppose that ye
could sit upon your thrones, and because of the exceeding goodness of God ye
could do nothing and he would deliver you? Behold, if ye have supposed this ye
have supposed in vain (Alma 60:6-11).
This is only a portion of Captain Moroni’s
epistle to Pahoran, and it does not decrease in angry tone. Captain Moroni
closed by telling Pahoran to send provisions and men to him and to Helaman.
Otherwise, Captain Moroni will take a part of the army to the capital city and cleanse
the inward vessel first.
Pahoran received the epistle from
Captain Moroni and wrote to him. Unknown to Captain Moroni, the king men had
rebelled against the government, withheld provisions, and discouraged the
freemen from joining the army. In fact, they had driven Pahoran out of Zarahemla,
and he was in the land of Gideon.
The epistle from Captain Moroni was
an answer to Pahoran’s prayers because he did not know how to handle the
insurrection. “I do joy in receiving your epistle, for I was somewhat worried
concerning what we should do, whether it should be just in us to go against our
brethren” (Alma 61:19). When he read Captain Moroni’s threat to fight the
government, Pahoran understood what he should do. He told Captain Moroni to
leave the army with Lehi and Teancum (Alma 61:21) and come to him with a small
group of men.
Captain Moroni did as he was instructed
and gathered thousands more men as he traveled to the capital city. The
combined forces of the captain and the chief judge were enough to restore
Pahoran to the judgment-seat. The leaders of the king-men were cast into
prison, tried, and “executed according to the law” for treason and rebellion.
In addition, any of their followers who would not “take up arms in the defence
of their country, but would fight against it, were put to death” (Alma 62:9).
Peace was restored to Zarahemla, and the government could act for the good of
the country once again.
The best part of this story is contained
in Pahoran’s reply to Captain Moroni’s angry epistle. “And now, in your epistle
you have censured me, but it mattereth not; I am not angry, but do
rejoice in the greatness of your heart. I, Pahoran, do not seek for power, save
only to retain my judgment-seat that I may preserve the rights and the liberty
of my people. My soul standeth fast in that liberty in the which God hath made
us free” (Alma 61:9).
Pahoran was in some difficult
circumstances of his own, and he could have gotten angry and taken offense with
Captain Moroni’s epistle. He did not. When he was censured, Pahoran had two
choices – to take offence or to not take offence. He chose to do the latter
because he could see the greatness of Moroni’s heart, and he knew that he was a
good man who was concerned about the security of his people. Because Pahoran
did not take offense, he was able to unite with Moroni and to overcome the
rebellious part of the people.
I suggest that our circumstances are much
like those of the Nephites. We have people in our nation who are deliberately
attempting to destroy our government, and we have people who are “offended” by
statues, monuments, Old Glory, and even the words we say. We can be
instrumental in the healing of our nation by the way that act rather than react
to life. We would all do well to follow the counsel given by Elder David A.
Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.
When we believe or say that we have been
offended, we usually mean we feel insulted, mistreated, snubbed, or disrespected.
And certainly clumsy, embarrassing, unprincipled, and mean-spirited things do
occur in our interactions with other people that would allow us to take
offense. However, it ultimately is impossible for another person to offend you
or to offend me. Indeed, believing that another person offended us is
fundamentally false. To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition
inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else….
You and I cannot control the intentions or
behavior of other people. However, we do determine how we will act. Please
remember that you and I are agents endowed with moral agency, and we can choose
not to be offended (“And Nothing Shall Offend Them,” Ensign, Nov. 2006,
90-91).
In the same address, Elder Bednar gave
further counsel for choosing to not take offence. He said that we should look
to the Savior: “The Savior is the greatest example of how we should respond to
potentially offensive events or situations” [see 1 Nephi 19:9]. He added that
we should be understanding of others’ weaknesses: “One of the greatest
indicators of our own spiritual maturity is revealed in how we respond to the
weaknesses, the inexperience, and the potentially offensive actions of others.”
He concluded that we should communicate directly with the person: “If a person
says or does something that we consider offensive, our first obligation is to
refuse to take offense and then communicate privately, honestly, and directly with
that individual. Such an approach invites inspiration from the Holy Ghost and
permits misperceptions to be clarified and true intent to be understood” (Ensign,
Nov. 2006, 89-92).
Pahoran was obviously spiritually
mature because he chose to not take offence. He was also courageous in that he
discussed the situation with Captain Moroni. He explained his circumstances and
the reasons why he had not sent provisions and additional men. Then he did
something that showed his greatness to me. Instead of taking offence, he
complimented Captain Moroni by referring to his greatness of heart. He knew
Moroni well enough to know that he did not go around offending people. He saw
through the angry words to Moroni’s concern for his country – and he rejoiced because
Captain Moroni was such a good man.
We can all take a lesson from Pahoran as
we follow the counsel of Elder Bednar. We can look past the angry words and
into the heart of the other person. What is going on in their life that caused
such an outburst from them? Can we find some way to strengthen them instead of
reacting in anger? Can we forget our self and look for ways to help a fellow human
being? The answer lies within us: We can judge our own spiritual maturity by
gauging our reaction to offensive situations in our lives.
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