Lessons from Alma 36

In thinking about this speaking assignment I was drawn to some of the recent readings from past weeks in the “Come, Follow Me” curriculum - specifically, Alma chapter 36. This chapter is rich in the topics it covers, the way it is organized, and the central message of the atonement of Jesus Christ. I’m grateful for the opportunity to focus my thoughts on this particular chapter. In reading the chapter, several topics jumped out at me – I’ll only have time for one or two.

For any new to the Book of Mormon, Alma chapter 36 is an account of Alma the younger who was the son of Alma the High Priest. Alma the younger was described as a “wicked and an idolatrous man” who “led many of the people to do after the manner of his iniquities.” (Mosiah 27:8). More, he did so with the sons of Mosiah – who was the king of the people – shortly after a political, religious, and national crisis for the Nephites. Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah have a sudden, miraculous visitation by an angel, Alma has a debilitating reaction similar to Paul the Apostle, but he awakes converted to his joy and the joy of many of the Nephites.

These events are told twice in the Book of Mormon: once in the Book of Mosiah chapter 27, and again in Alma chapter 36. In Mosiah 27, we get Mormon’s telling of the events as he compiled the Book of Mormon. It gives us more details about the Nephite community than does the account in Alma chapter 36. Alma chapter 36, gives us the account from Alma the younger’s perspective as he recounts it to his son Helaman long after this miraculous conversion. This gives us an insider’s view of the experience with a lifetime of reflection on what that meant to him. Together, these paint a more complete picture of this part of scripture.

Lesson 1: Knowledge

The first lesson I drew from reading this chapter again comes from a brief phrase Alma uses at the beginning of the chapter to describe how he learned from this experience. In Alma 36:4-5, he says:

4 And I would not that ye think that I know of myself—not of the temporal but of the spiritual, not of the carnal mind but of God.

5 Now, behold, I say unto you, if I had not been born of God I should not have known these things; but God has, by the mouth of his holy angel, made these things known unto me, not of any worthiness of myself;

Here, Alma isn’t pitting temporal knowledge against spiritual knowledge or the carnal mind against God’s mind. Instead, he is just differentiating between them and telling his son Helaman that this is a spiritual experience, with spiritual knowledge from God – not of his own making.

I’m someone who has always been scientifically and logically minded. But there are important parts in life which cannot be reduced to the knowledge of science or logic: art, beauty, meaning, relationship, and parts of the gospel like faith, hope, repentance, and charity. If we try to only see these through the lens of “temporal” or “carnal” knowledge, it can make them meaningless. The gospel is at times illogical or unscientific, but it is not anti-logic or anti-science.

I’ll give an example here that is, hopefully, more practical: covenants and relationships.

Covenants & Relationships

When I was a senior in High School, I worked at a local movie theater where I met Irene, who would years later become my wife. She invited me to a rock concert to a band I’d never heard of. She grew up with MTV. I grew up with Jazz and Classical CDs. I said yes and looked forward to this first encounter outside of work.

At the concert, I listened to the music I’d never heard before, and I watched the light in her eyes as she enjoyed songs from her favorite band that she’d probably heard a thousand times. Afterwards she asked me what I thought of the concert; since there wasn’t much opportunity to talk during the concert, just listen. It dawned on me that I had completely forgotten the name of her favorite band that I had just listened to for the past few hours. She was outraged that I didn’t take the time to even learn the name of her favorite band and asked me why I even came in the first place. Then, in one of my rare moments of quick, on my feet thinking, I said, “Well, when a pretty girl asks you out, you go!”

In the subsequent 5 years, we came to know each other more and we eventually married in the Portland Temple over 20 years ago, making a covenant with each other and with God. The nature of that covenant and the spiritual knowledge it gives us about each other and about God is crucial.

Imagine for a moment, if when I decided to marry, that I said, “Okay, here’s my rule book – my set of laws – which I believe are perfectly logical. Now, if you can follow all of my rules, meet all my needs and wants that I’m accustomed to for, say, 20 - 30 years, demonstrating that you can follow them, THEN I will consider accepting you. Of course I couldn’t accept you NOW since you haven’t proven yourself. But if you perform well enough, then when the final assessment comes, I will accept you. Will you marry me?

While, in some ways very logical, that would be nothing more than an insult to her. And I think no amount of quick thinking on my part would get me out of that. We wouldn’t dream of insulting the people around us by basing our relationships entirely on one-sided proof or merit like that. Yet millions of people think that is the way God approaches us – cold, hard, logic and law.

A spiritual truth from that marriage covenant is that we accepted each other at the beginning as we were – faults and all. The covenant relationship in the gospel then becomes the path forward and a source of meaning and acceptance as we grow together. Our mutual acceptance of each other is woven with grace into the essence of our marriage and covenant – setting us free of our self-centered rules and laws. That’s the nature of covenants with God.

Now, to our carnal self this is illogical – why should I give up what I want? But it’s impacts are very real. And this touches on the essence of spiritual knowledge. Without this kind of mutual, trusting acceptance and love, we dehumanize spirituality and religion. Fundamentally, the gospel is a relationship with God and with those around us rooted in this love – which can’t be reduced to the knowledge of a set of logic, laws, or scientific proofs.

And we see this in Alma chapter 36. Alma awakes from his shock days later and testifies of his being “born of God” (Alma 36:23), his “repentance”, and “[redemption]” (Mosiah 27:24, 29). But we could ask, “What law did Alma obey that warranted his redemption?” The moment he felt the joy of the atonement he had exactly zero works to prove his change. We could ask, like the older brother of the prodigal son, “How is this fair?” “What proof do you have that he’s changed?” “What about all the works I have have to prove my worthiness?” The knowledge the older brother of the prodigal son had of his worthiness was rooted in temporal works of piety. The knowledge the prodigal son had of his worthiness was the spiritual joy and forgiveness of the father. The father acted on the spiritual knowledge he had and loved them both immesurably.

Lesson 2: Gathering

Comparing the accounts of Alma’s miraculous conversion between Mosiah 27 and Alma 36 the stories share similarities – the angel appearing with a voice shaking the earth, Alma and the sons of Mosiah afraid, the angel warning them to stop leading people astray, Alma collapsing unresponsive – but there’s a point at which the accounts diverge. This is due to the different perspectives. In Mosiah 27, the account is told by Mormon in the third person voice and at this point he gives details about the struggle is happening external to Alma. In Alma 36, the account is told by Alma in first person voice – describing his internal struggle. I wanted to focus on the third person account in Mosiah 27.

In Mosiah 27, the sons of Mosiah:

19 …carried [Alma] helpless, even until he was laid before his father.

20 And they rehearsed unto his father all that had happened unto them;

This must have been humbling in the way the prodigal son may have felt returning to his father. In fact, here we have several prodigals returning with the fear of not knowing how those in the community they rejected and fought against would respond.

But like the father in the story of the Prodigal Son, Alma the High Priest:

20 …rejoiced, for he knew that it was the power of God.

21 And he caused that a multitude should be gathered together that they might witness what the Lord had done for his son, and also for those that were with him.

22 And he caused that the priests should assemble themselves together; and they began to fast, and to pray to the Lord their God that he would open the mouth of Alma, that he might speak, and also that his limbs might receive their strength

This story could have gone very differently. The sons of Mosiah could have let anger, fear or feelings of shame keep them away from Alma’s father and the community they fought against. Alma’s father could have refused to see them, too angry or hurt at the pain his son had caused. The community Alma’s father gathered could have been divided about Alma and the sons of Mosiah. Were they sincere? Are they worthy of forgiveness? And Alma’s joy and forgiveness could have been met with suspicion or even jealousy – like the elder brother of the prodigal son. But in both of these situations, the prodigal return was met with love, joy, welcome, and the gathering of community.

While not the same situation, I had a similar experience where gathering around a broken body was able to unite above forces of division. It was Christmas day, 2017. Just weeks after our father passed away due to cancer, my mother was spending Christmas with him and his family in California when she suddenly suffered some kind of cardiac episode. They were able to get her to a nearby hospital where she laid, intubated, in the ICU. She was stable, barely, and he and his wife had spent the last 24 hours, in the ICU with her. It was clear that she would have a long road to recovery ahead of her. I booked a flight right away to be there the next day until she was out of the ICU and on a clear path to recovery.

My mother was tired, wondering if she was being called to be with dad – we were wondering that too. Communicating was difficult with thumbs up/down and some words drawn, shakily, with a finger on an iPad, doctors coming and going, decisions, surgeries, contingencies, what-ifs, no guarantees, sleepless nights, etc. When we understood how serious and longer-term the circumstance was my aunt volunteered to come down and help. She was a godsend and helped us to continue onward and help my mother have the courage and support to further stabilize.

In the long hours of nervous silence felt in hospitals, my aunt and I took the time to catch up an reflect on the situation - my father’s death still fresh in our minds. The questions of “What does this mean?” or “What was the cause of this?” came up. My aunt saw divine providence in the cause and meaning surrounding this, I saw mostly a random, unfortunate, biological circumstance. Don’t get me wrong, I think we can create and find deep meaning in our circumstances which draws us to God, but my faith is different than hers in that regard such that I do not find comfort in a God who is behind everything. We discussed this, not finding much common ground. After some time discussing other doctrinal topics there were some strong differences of opinion. Discussing politics didn’t help much either – go figure.

So, my aunt and I were sitting in this tension – both secure on different sides of pretty big topics. But our circumstances and shared goal melted that tension away. What were we doing while we realized we do not see eye to eye on various topics? We were together administering to my mother’s broken body: encouraging her to not give up, to try breathing on her own for a little bit longer, working with doctors and nurses, administering oil, being there as she awoke from anesthesia after major surgery, helping her feel safe in the chaos of another patient coming off a hard drug overdose, and helping her eat to gain her strength. In this sacred work of answering the Savior’s call to follow Him and be charitable healers as we gather together, differences in what we think we know about theology or politics simply don’t matter much.

Our power in wards like this as we gather together and take on the name of Christ is not found in doctrinal or political certainties but in the finer instruments of grace we all have access to: a kind word, an open home, a heartfelt apology, a shared meal, a comforting hug, a listening ear, shoulders that prop others up, serving hands, and familiar faces in hospitals. It is in these finer instruments of grace that we can live the gospel in ways to heal the evil and suffering between us and overcome evil and suffering in the world.

Closing

These are just two topics from this chapter in Alma. Being born again, remembrance, atonement, gospel teaching, repentance, forgiveness, conversion, and more are all in here. In my opinion, it is one of the richest chapters in the Book of Mormon. When you reflect on it, can you see the rebelliousness of Alma in yourself? Do you share the worries of Alma the High Priest about a prodigal loved one? Have you had your spiritual world shaken and lost your footing like Alma and the sons of Mosiah? Can you let go of past hurts and gather community together as Alma the High Priest did? And can we turn our hearts to Christ and be converted and healed as Alma was?

My faith and testimony is that God is with us in this work. And that as Orson F. Whitney eloquently put it:

“[God] is far more merciful, infinitely more charitable, than even the best of [us], and the Everlasting Gospel is mightier in power to save than our narrow finite minds can comprehend.” (Conference Report, Apr. 1929, 110)

In Jesus’ name, amen.