I was Blind and Now I See!

1. I was Blind and Now I See! www.kevinhinckley.com

2. Headlines-and comments CNN--“Scientists: Lake Superior Warming Rapidly” Warmer? In the Spring? No Way!: Oregonian “State Police Looking for New Troopers” Quick, start with the doughnut shop! The Kansas City Star “Police Chief Asks Public for Tips” Wouldn’t it be easier to just give him a higher salary? Los Angeles Times “Researchers have finally solved one of the great canine mysteries: Why are small dogs small?” Uh, cuz if they weren’t, they’d be big dogs? CNN “Bird dies, Cheney plane unharmed” Not content with shooting lawyers, he also hates wildlife as well…

3. Question By earthly standards, does our membership in the church come at a price?

4. John 9 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam,…He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. The neighbours … said, Is not this he that sat and begged? Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he. Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened? He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight. They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind. Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see. Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them. They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet.

5. John 9 Continued Then again [they] said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner. He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see. Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes? He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples? Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses' disciples. The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If this man were not of God, he could do nothing. They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out. (excommunicated him)

6. Question Even as members of the Church, can we also be blind? How do we help others see? Can children “learn” the church without knowing “light and truth”? Can they be lifelong members and still be blind? D&C 93:40 I have commanded you to bring up your children in light (no blindness) and truth

7. Elder Holland When crisis comes in our lives—and they will—the philosophies of men interlaced with a few scriptures and poems just won’t do. Are we really nurturing [those we teach] in a way that will sustain them when the stresses of life appear? Or are we giving them a kind of theological Twinkie—spiritually empty calories? President John Taylor called such teaching ‘fried froth,’ the kind of thing you could eat all day and yet finish feeling totally unsatisfied. (“A Teacher Come from God,” Ensign, May 1998, 27)

8. Lectures on Faith We have now clearly set forth how it was, that God became an object of faith…and we have seen that it was human testimony, and human testimony only, that excited this inquiry… It was the credence they gave to the testimony of their fathers, this testimony having aroused their minds to inquire after the knowledge of God; the inquiry… always terminated…in the most glorious discoveries and eternal certainty.

9. Light and Truth D&C 133 And also it is an imperative duty that we owe to all the rising generation, and to all the pure in heart— For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it— Therefore, that we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly manifest from heaven For example: Do our children know how to repent (and seek the light) or just how to stop what they’re doing?

10. Friends of Elder Holland How do you tell a sixteen-year-old girl she is going to die? Straightforwardly, with tears, with love and determination to continue as normally as possible. That's how. Time? Maybe two months. Soon after she returned home, Suzanne went on a family trip to Disneyland, her favorite place. She attended a four-day forensic meet in Salt Lake, she auditioned and received a part in the high school musical, she asked a young man to the sweetheart ball and danced all evening without crutches on a newly acquired artificial leg. She carried a full load at school and, despite a record winter for snow and ice, rarely missed a day. There began to be shoulder pains, shortness of breath, then loss of appetite, but Suzanne would take nothing but aspirin because pain pills might interfere with her school activities. On 15 March she began a three-week tour of the South with her grandmother. The pace of the tour and her increasing loss of strength made her extremely tired. Breathing became so difficult it was impossible for her to lie down. But still it was only aspirin and determination to see the trip through to Disneyworld. On 27 March her father flew to Miami Beach to bring her home. Her condition was critical. They arrived home early in the morning on the 28th. She had her first pain pill that afternoon and passed away in her sleep that night. On 29 March the rest of the group reached Disneyworld. These are my childhood friends, Stan and Barbara. I grew up with them, and my daughter has not had cancer. But theirs has and she's gone. And how do you tell a child that life isn't entirely a Disneyworld? Will there be times in your life or theirs that they will need the substance of the gospel in a way that only you can teach it? (That Our Children May Know…)