In Quiet Desperation: Understanding the Challenge of Same-Gender Attraction by Fred Matis & Marilyn Matis & Ty Mansfield

In Quiet Desperation: Understanding the Challenge of Same-Gender Attraction by Fred Matis & Marilyn Matis & Ty Mansfield

Author:Fred Matis & Marilyn Matis & Ty Mansfield [Matis, Fred & Matis, Marilyn & Mansfield, Ty]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Religion, General, Homosexuality, Parenting
ISBN: 9781590383315
Google: 0dXUAAAACAAJ
Amazon: 1590383311
Publisher: Deseret Book
Published: 2004-08-15T06:00:00+00:00


Chapter 6

Son of Man or Son of God?

When he was “caught up into an exceedingly high mount,” Moses saw God “face to face.” The Lord appeared and “the glory of God was upon Moses; therefore Moses could endure his presence.” The Lord called him by name and showed him visions of eternity. When he heard the Lord say to him, “I am the Lord God... [and]thou art my son, “Moses saw his relationship to the Almighty with new understanding (Moses 1:1–4; italics added; see also Exodus 33:11). He gained an eternal vision that washed away his previous mortal myopia. Then when the “presence of God withdrew from Moses, that his glory was not upon Moses,” Moses was “left unto himself... [and] he fell unto the earth. And it came to pass that it was for the space of many hours before Moses did again receive his natural strength like unto man; and he said unto himself: Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed” (Moses 1:9–10).

This newfound understanding of his eternal relationship to God, along with feeling of His power, must have been a profound realization for a man who had been raised amongst the empty, heathen gods of Egypt. We know he was affected deeply, for when Satan appeared soon afterward, saying, “Moses, son of man, worship me,” Moses’ reply was simply, “Who art thou? For behold, I am a son of God.... Where is thy glory, that I should worship thee? For behold, I could not look upon God, except his glory should come upon me, and I were transfigured before him. But I can look upon thee in the natural man.... Get thee hence, Satan; deceive me not” (Moses 1:12–14, 16). Understanding both the power of God and the nature of his relationship with Him inspired within Moses the desire and determination to worship the Father, the faith to follow His Only Begotten Son, and the strength to withstand the enticements of the adversary.

The Spirit of Worship

As I have slowly gained my own testimony of the gospel and become converted to truths learned through the Spirit, I have started paying closer attention to individuals in the scriptures whom I admire for their dedication as disciples of God and whom I honor for their depth of worship—men such as Nephi, son of Helaman, who “with unwearyingness declared the word” and who did not seek his own life, men whose faith in the Lord was so strong that they would “not ask that which is contrary to [his] will” (Helaman 10:4–5). At least two common threads link valiant disciples such as Nephi. Even those who did not speak of them directly evidenced their understanding of them in their reverence for God and their worship of Him. The first is their understanding of the glory, the power, and the goodness of God, just as Moses had felt. The second is the naturally resulting understanding of their own nothingness in comparison to Him—as



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