We also learned how to sprout (and make salads and breads with the sprouts). We used tasted sprouted quinoa, sunflower, alfalfa and wheat sprouts. It was so simple to take a grain and soak it and see the stages as it grows to a sprout and then a shoot and how to use those in our foods to increase the nutrients in our meals.
Cali talked about Alchemy as the "rearranging structure of matter from a dense from to a higher frequency." She shared the most potent alchemical solution is forgiveness. Through forgiveness we are able to heal.
I have been thinking about it all night.
A change.
A grain (a seed) is soaked and then it begins to change as new life is seen as a tiny green sprout pushes through the seed. I shared that my favorite part of gardening is seeing that new shoot push through the soil. My favorite part of spring is seeing the first crocus leaves push through the ground. The tiny sprout continues to grow and has the potential to grow into its own plant. Sound like the epic passage from Alma 32?
The phrase kept coming to me last night as I was driving home, "A change of heart."
I promised I would share Cali's beautiful poem:
"Unlocked with the Key of Charity"
To forgive
Is to set a prisoner free.
To forgive
Is to release the prisoner's strangling chains.
To forgive
Is to discover the prisoner all along,
Was you.
We hold the key.
And how do we forgive--especially those things that would seem impossible to. I mentioned a powerful example of forgiveness from Corrie ten Boom (author of The Hiding Place).
It also made me think of this powerful video--I have watched it numerous times and cry every single time.
Elder Bednar in a devotional given at BYU talked about the redeeming and enabling power of the Atonement--I know it is through this enabling power that we are able to forgive and forget and heal. As we are commanded to be perfect or "whole" it is through the Atonement that that is possible. We have talked these past weeks about "let food be thy medicine." Spiritually, let Christ be our medicine as He is the ultimate source of healing. I know I have felt this in my life.
"As you and I come to understand and employ the enabling power of the Atonement in our personal lives, we will pray and seek for strength to change our circumstances rather than praying for our circumstances to be changed. We will become agents who "act" rather than objects that are "acted upon" (2 Nephi 2:14).
Consider the example in Mosiah 24 as Alma and his people are being persecuted by Amulon. As recorded in verse 14, the voice of the Lord came to these good people in their affliction and indicated: "And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs."
Now if I had been one of Alma's people and received that particular assurance, my response likely would have been, "I thank thee, and please hurry!" But notice in verse 15 the process the Lord used to lighten the burden: "And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord" (emphasis added).
Brothers and sisters, what was changed in this episode? It was not the burden that changed; the challenges and difficulties of persecution were not immediately removed from the people. But Alma and his followers were strengthened, and their increased capacity and strength made the burdens they bore lighter. These good people were empowered through the Atonement to act as agents and impact their circumstances--"in the strength of the Lord." Alma and his people were then directed to safety in the land of Zarahemla. . .
The enabling power of the Atonement of Christ strengthens us to do things we could never do on our own. Sometimes I wonder if in our latter-day world of ease--in our world of microwave ovens and cell phones and air-conditioned cars and comfortable homes--I wonder if we ever learn to acknowledge our daily dependence upon the enabling power of the Atonement. . .
There is no physical pain, no anguish of soul, no suffering of spirit, no infirmity or weakness that you or I ever experience during our mortal journey that the Savior did not experience first. You and I in a moment of weakness may cry out, "No one understands. No one knows." No human being, perhaps, knows. But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He felt and bore our burdens before we ever did. And because He paid the ultimate price and bore that burden, He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy in so many phases of our life. He can reach out, touch, and succor--literally run to us--and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do through relying only upon our own power."
Read Elder Bednar's story in full to learn about an amazing pioneer story of blessing the food. Cali mentioned last night about the power of blessing the food--well, these pioneers had quite the meal that needed blessing.
This reminded me of another video that I have really watched more times than I can count and each time I learn/feel something different each time I watch it. For those of you who aren't familiar with Stephanie Nielson of the "nieniedialogues" she is an inspiring woman whose spirit I think you will feel as you learn about her story of suffering severe burns on 80% of her body in a plane crash. I think Stephanie is not only an example of beauty but an example of strength, gratitude and "turning her thoughts into gold."
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