Anchors

As many of you know, I am taking a couple of college classes through Brigham Young University Idaho.  This past week for my Foundations of Religion Course 122, we studied the Book of Ether from the Book of Mormon.  It's one of my favorite sections of the Book of Mormon.  If you've read my blog for a while, you've heard me talk of it before.  It is the story of the Jaredites.

Each week we are required to participate in a discussion board.  This is meant to simulate the classroom discussions that we of course miss out on when doing an online classroom.  When I first started the classes, I thought the discussion boards would be rather lame.  However, I have found that they can be really wonderful.  Some people put more effort into their contributions than other people.  Of course, that's true in an actual classroom as well.

This week I asked permission from one of my classmates, Shannon Lowman, to share her post.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  First, let me share with you the verse she references:

Wherefore, whoso believeth in God 

might with surety hope for a better world, 

yea, even a place at the right hand of God,

which hope cometh of faith, 

maketh an anchor to the souls of men,

which would make them sure and steadfast,

always abounding in good works,

being led to glorify God.

"A single word in Chapter 12 (verse 4) jumped out at me: "anchor".  It is such a visual word.  I live in San Diego, home to numerous shipyards.  If you've ever seen an anchor ... I mean, a real anchor .. not just a flimsy motor boat anchor, but one that can stop a ship, it is a memorable sight.  The USS Enterprise, an aircraft carrier, has two anchors, each weighing 32 tons!  But the strength and security of the ship is not just dependent on its anchor, but rather what it is anchored to!  "The anchor prevents a ship from drifting away due to the water currents or tide. A popular misconception is that the anchor itself acts as the main weight to "secure" the ship in its position. On an anchoring run, the ship would lay the anchor together with a length of its iron cables on the seabed.... it is not the weight of the anchor, but the weight of the huge iron cables connected to the anchor that "secures" the ship." (wikianswers.com)  Elder Richard G. Scott said in Conference 1993, "Anchor your life in Jesus Christ, your Redeemer.  Make your Eternal Father and His Beloved Son the most important priority in your life--more important than life itself, more important than a beloved companion or children or anyone on earth.  Make their will your central desire.  Then all that you need for happiness will come to you."  Our security comes, not from how strong we are, but from the immobility of what we are anchored to.  Elder Scott assures us that everything else will fall into place when we are properly anchored to the Rock of our Redeemer."

Thank you, Shannon, for saying it so beautifully and for letting me share it!

I hope we will all anchor our lives to Jesus Christ that we may enjoy the security and strength that will come from being anchored to the Rock of our Redeemer!  Happy Easter!