Is It Ever Too Late?

I was recently going through my phone pictures and deleting stuff because my memory was full. I guess it’s a consequence of my document everything philosophy. In the process, I came across this beauty and just couldn’t delete it.

file this under 'too short for this weight'

It’s a screenshot of my electronic health record for a new patient I was seeing about a month ago. Check out the weight and height data: there isn’t a misplaced decimal or typographical error here. As part of my evaluation of her, I asked her why she was here. She said it was because of her weight and wanted to be evaluated "before it got out of hand”.  

She easily won the “understatement of the week” award. Maybe I should have just stood up and said “Elvis has already left the building” and walk away.  But this lady still had hope that her disease could be treated. It’s hard to walk away from that kind of courage--even if the BMI is 70.

Thankfully, I’m not the only one that can’t turn my back on the hopeful penitent.

Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me. Mosiah 26:30

Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more. D&C 58:42

As I read it, this is not a “limited time only” offer.  Joel, a prophet of Judah, foretold some pretty awful things that would  accompany the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It is interesting to note that, while describing the war and desolation that would precede the great and dreadful day, he also gives us cause for hope. Joel points out that the Lord would be there waiting until the last possible moment for men to turn to him:

. . . rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for his is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness . . .  Joel 2:13

The Fierceness of God

Ceiling of Sistine Chapel, by Michelangelo
fresco, 1508-1512

I have the tendency to think of God in terms of his great love.*  However, it's hard to spend any time reading the scriptures and ignore the fierceness of his anger and wrath. This is particularly true of the Old Testament, but also of the Book of Mormon.  I encountered this recently in reviewing the message of Samuel in the Book of Helaman.  After warning them that ‘heavy destruction’ awaited the unrepentant (apparently ordinary destruction was not enough), the Lord said:

Therefore, thus saith the Lord: Because of the hardness of the hearts of the people of the Nephites, except they repent I will take away my word from them, and I will withdraw my Spirit from them, and I will suffer them no longer, and I will turn the hearts of their brethren against them.

And four hundred years shall not pass away before I will cause that they shall be smitten; yea, I will visit them with the sword and with famine and with pestilence.

Yea, I will visit them in my fierce anger, and there shall be those of the fourth generation who shall live, of your enemies, to behold your utter destruction; and this shall surely come except ye repent, saith the Lord; and those of the fourth generation shall visit your destruction. (Alma 13:8-10)

It doesn't end there.  Samuel warns of physical destructions and curses that make your toes curl. It’s pretty scary to think about, especially in light of our need for such regular repentance.  There can be no doubt that he "cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance." (Alma 45:6; D&C 1:31) Though some sins are bigger than others, they've all got to go.  This reality represents a big problem for all of us. 

But in our fear and trembling, we must ever remember that fierce anger is not God's only fierce attribute: 

But if ye will repent and return unto the Lord your God I will turn away mine anger, saith the Lord; yea, thus saith the Lord, blessed are they who will repent and turn unto me, but wo unto him that repenteth not. (Helaman 13:11)

Though his anger is indeed fierce, his love (and mercy) is fiercer.  His willingness to literally forgive and forget is far greater than his capacity for wrath.  Think about how much greater effort it requires for us to extend mercy and forgiveness than to be angry. 

My initial tendency is to characterize this as selective amnesia.  But in reality it has nothing to do with amnesia since it is contingent on repentance.  The application of the atonement in the process of repentance literally takes the sin away.  It leaves us not only 'not guilty' but also 'innocent'. The true fierceness of the love of God is manifest in his willingness to sacrifice his only son as the lynch-pin of his grand plan of salvation. Yet in this wonderful news lies the somber warning: "wo unto him that repenteth not". In other words, don't get him angry.

In the end, hopefully it is okay to identify more with his love and mercy than with his wrath--so long as we take the opportunity to repent. After all, when it comes to ourselves,** we are counting on a God that is more loving and merciful than just.  

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* Based on my recent reading of the 109 th Psalm, David must have related well to God's angry side  (here).
** For other people, I find that there's a tendency for us to want a God that is more about justice than mercy (as demonstrated in Psalms 109)--it's the ultimate double-standard. 

"Meet" Enough?

Sometimes a scriptural phrase will catch my attention and I can't let it go, and before I know it I'm off on a tangent.  So it is again.  This time it's a phrase that Alma was fond of using: meet for repentance. As Alma scurried about the cities of the Nephite nation trying to fortify the church, he used this phrase repeatedly. This phrase is unique to Alma in the Book of Mormon. [i]

In all 4 of Ama's uses of 'meet for repentance', he tells the saints that they need to bring forth works (Alma 5:54; Alma 9:30) or fruit (Alma 12:15; Alma 13:13) that live up to a high standard.  At first blush, it appears to be another example of a scriptural theme that turns up the shame coefficient by forcing us to realize that we're not doing enough to earn our keep. [ii] With further study, though, I'm not sure my initial impressions were correct. 

The word meet is used here in an archaic way.[iii]  A number of Hebrew words translated as meet in the KJV fit roughtly in the context of Alma's usage. [iv]  Yashar means 'what is right or what it due' and 'asah means 'to do, fashion, accomplish or produce'. Finally, the Greek word axios means 'befitting, corresponding to, or congruous'.  Alma's request to bring forth works and fruits meet for repentance can be restated as bring forth works and fruit that accomplish or produce repentance, or do things that are congruous and befitting of repentance.

As I read through the passages again, I'm impressed with a couple of things:

Alma 9:27, 30

27 And behold, he cometh to redeem those who will be baptized unto repentance, through faith on his name.
30 . . . [therefore] ye ought to bring forth works that are meet for repentance . . . 

• we tend to think of repentance leading to baptism, but here baptism is the gate that enables repentance and redemption

Alma 12:15, 33-34

15 . . . all his judgments are just; that he is just in all his works, and that he is merciful unto the children of men, and that he has all power to save every man that believeth on his name and bringeth forth fruit meet for repentance.

 33 . . .  If ye will repent, and harden not your hearts, then will I have mercy upon you, through mine Only Begotten Son;

 34 Therefore, whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter into my rest.

• Christ, in his mercy, saves all who believe in his name and bring forth fruit that produces repentance
• Having repented we lay claim on this mercy for remission of sin and eternal rest

Alma 13:10-11, 13

10 . . . it was on account of their exceeding faith and repentance, and their righteousness before God, they choosing to repent and work righteousness rather than to perish; 
11 Therefore they were called after this holy order, and were sanctified, and their garments were washed white through the blood of the Lamb.
13 And now, my brethren, I would that ye should humble yourselves before God, and bring forth fruit meet for repentance, that ye may also enter into that rest.

• For those high priests which Alma held as an example to the Nephites, it was faith and repentance that led to righteousness. Works of righteousness followed, and they were sanctified and redeemed
• Alma instructs the Nephite saints to therefore follow this example and do likewise

For my world, the perspective of the passage in Alma 5:54 is critical.  The saints in Zarahemla, having embraced the gospel and implemented its principles, were sanctified by the Spirit, and continued the process of repentance.  From Alma's perspective they were all set, even though their struggles in life were ongoing. In Alma's words: 'they do bring forth works meet for repentance'. It seems to me that it is the repentance that is essential element, and that the fruit and works are a means unto an end.

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[i] Moroni expounds on the same theme but uses his own style in Moroni 6:1; D&C tends to use meet for the kingdom (D&C 84:58; D&C 88:24; D&C 101:100); the KJV-NT uses the phrase in Matthew 3:8 and Acts 26:20.

[ii] This is a theme I've considered for years; I have a couple of related posts: Profit vs. Loss and It’s All About Who You Know.

[iii] Although translated directly into English, the Book of Mormon was revealed to Joseph Smith, Jr in the default scriptural language of the KJV.  On occasion, I therefore find it useful to look at the Hebrew (and sometimes Greek) meaning of archaic KJV-style words that appear in the Book of Mormon. Scholars have used these Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon as a further witness to its veracity. 
[iv] I love the online version of Blue Letter Bible which has a free concordance and study tools that will allow you to see the original Hebrew and Greek words for the English word that appears in the KJV. 

Can People Change?

For a significant portion of every work day, I spend time with people that are trying to change.  Usually it's their weight, their diet, their bad habits or their attitudes--things that are well within their ability to control. Sometimes they are things that we can't control: their genetics, their medical problems, or other people's choices.  [There is often a disproportionate amount of energy directed at things that can't be changed instead of things that can be changed--it's more than a little ironic.]   


I wish I had a nickel for every person that looked me in the eye and promised me that they would change: 'Doc I'm going to lose 30 pounds, so lets NOT start any diabetes medications'. As a rule, people have great optimism about their ability to change. The problem is, they usually don't.  I try to give folks encouragement about the weight they are going to lose, but to make contingency plans. 'Lets begin the medication, and we'll stop it as soon as you lose the weight'. Usually they stay on the medication and have more medication added on within 6 months. Yet they remain optimistic about the prospects of dramatic changes looming on the horizon. 


I'd take a dime for every person that asked me if I thought someone they cared deeply about would change.  My answer has alway be this: People can change . . . but they usually don't. It's sad reality, but totally unproductive to carry on with the unrealistic expectation that people change through the wishful thinking, badgering or nagging of others.

Perhaps it is part of our divine nature to believe that we (or those we love) have within us the potential to cast off the things about ourselves we don't like and become the person we deeply want to be. It's definitely part of human nature to cling to the hope that these changes will occur by wishing them into reality--without concerted and consistent effort on our part.  


I will readily concede that there is bias in the population I spend my work days with. But, that being said, we all have things about ourselves that we would like to change, but haven't gotten around to doing the work to change them. Today I came across an awesome insight that speaks of our ability to affect ultimate change.



"The Lord works from the inside out.  The world works from the outside in.  The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of the people, and then they take themselves out of the slums.  The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment.  The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature."  Ezra Taft Benson



There is no amount determination or self-control sufficient to effect the kind of eternal change that each of us need to reach our true potential.  Such change requires a Savior. It is well and good to work on motivating ourselves to change those things that lie within our reach and power to control. For the big stuff, we need to look to Christ.


For our conversation is in heaven; from when we also look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. Philippians 3:20-21