Alma 19

(March 31, 2013) 
Reading this chapter, I am instantly drawn to the fact that everyone everywhere is fainting.  I understand that is, in part, as issue with being exposed to spiritual things – I myself have felt the overwhelming fatigue that arises from spiritual experiences.  But I didn’t faint, nor did any of the people I was able to help convert.  Add to that the wife of the king waking up and speaking in tongues, and you have an experience far more similar to a small rural church in the backwoods of West Virginia than your average Sacrament Meeting.

I wonder how much of that is a cultural difference?  After all, I believe that these cultural differences are real and profound – look no further than the great deference that the Church gives to different cultures when building temples, inspiring service, and so forth.  We are all children of God, but we are likewise individual people with cultures, traditions, and a heritage that seems to have more significance than we give credit to.

The other thought that I had as I read this chapter was on how we can easily see what we want to see.  After all, the Lamanites that were angry at Ammon saw the same miracles that King Lamoni saw, but they interpreted them as the actions of an agent of Satan.  Which, uncomfortably, leads to the next question of how we are able to discern between the power of God and the imitation power of Satan.  Other than reliance on the Spirit, I can see no other way.  That is a bit unnerving.