2 Nephi 9<\/a>. \u00a0Certainly I could write much more than I\u2019m going to write here.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, true to my constraining but (for me) life-saving rule that I will only comment briefly on each chapter, I\u2019m going to restrict myself to 2 Nephi 9:10:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
O how great the\u00a0goodness\u00a0of our God, who prepareth a way for our\u00a0escape\u00a0from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster,\u00a0death\u00a0and\u00a0hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019m often struck by how matter-of-factly we accept death. \u00a0Of course, we have no choice. \u00a0 \u00a0And death is, alas, very common. \u00a0Universal, in fact. \u00a0We\u2019re all going to die, along with everybody we know. \u00a0No matter how much we watch our diets, no matter how hard we exercise.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even the physical landscape around us is perpetually dying. \u00a0(One becomes acutely aware of that in coastal regions such as California and\u00a0the Hawaiian Islands, where the ocean continually hurls itself against the shore, wearing it down and, sometimes, tearing it off in large chunks.)<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
We live, as the ancients would have said, in the sublunary world of coming-to-be and ceasing-to-be. \u00a0In the realm of change and decay. \u00a0That\u2019s the way it is.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
But death is an obscenity. \u00a0It\u2019s obscene\u00a0that vital, healthy, intelligent, active, learned, creative, loving, beloved people inevitably sicken and\/or grow old, and die, if they\u2019re not first killed in tragic accidents. \u00a0It\u2019s appalling that their life experiences, their stories, their insights and points of view, the lessons they\u2019ve learned, are lost to those of us who briefly survive them. \u00a0And that, shortly, they\u2019ll be entirely forgotten.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jacob is right to call death an \u201cawful monster.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 I could devote several days to today\u2019s wonderfully rich chapter,\u00a02 Nephi 9. \u00a0Certainly I could write much more than I\u2019m going to write here. \u00a0 However, true to my constraining but (for me) life-saving rule that I will only comment briefly on each chapter, I\u2019m going to restrict myself to 2 Nephi 9:10: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
BOM 2 Nephi 9<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" I could devote several days to today's wonderfully rich chapter,\u00a02 Nephi 9. \u00a0Certainly I could write much more than I'm going to write\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/01\/bom-2-nephi-9.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BOM 2 Nephi 9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" I could devote several days to today's wonderfully rich chapter,\u00a02 Nephi 9. \u00a0Certainly I could write much more than I'm going to write\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/01\/bom-2-nephi-9.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-01-27T23:59:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-01-28T00:08:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2016\/01\/800px-Etna_Volcano_Paroxysmal_Eruption_July_30_2011_-_Creative_Commons_by_gnuckx_9-300x199.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/01\/bom-2-nephi-9.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/01\/bom-2-nephi-9.html\",\"name\":\"BOM 2 Nephi 9\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-27T23:59:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-01-28T00:08:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\" I could devote several days to today's wonderfully rich chapter,\u00a02 Nephi 9. \u00a0Certainly I could write much more than I'm going to write\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/01\/bom-2-nephi-9.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/01\/bom-2-nephi-9.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/01\/bom-2-nephi-9.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BOM 2 Nephi 9\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BOM 2 Nephi 9","description":" I could devote several days to today's wonderfully rich chapter,\u00a02 Nephi 9. \u00a0Certainly I could write much more than I'm going to write","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/01\/bom-2-nephi-9.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BOM 2 Nephi 9","og_description":" I could devote several days to today's wonderfully rich chapter,\u00a02 Nephi 9. \u00a0Certainly I could write much more than I'm going to write","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/01\/bom-2-nephi-9.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2016-01-27T23:59:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-01-28T00:08:39+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2016\/01\/800px-Etna_Volcano_Paroxysmal_Eruption_July_30_2011_-_Creative_Commons_by_gnuckx_9-300x199.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/01\/bom-2-nephi-9.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/01\/bom-2-nephi-9.html","name":"BOM 2 Nephi 9","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-01-27T23:59:56+00:00","dateModified":"2016-01-28T00:08:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":" I could devote several days to today's wonderfully rich chapter,\u00a02 Nephi 9. \u00a0Certainly I could write much more than I'm going to write","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/01\/bom-2-nephi-9.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/01\/bom-2-nephi-9.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/01\/bom-2-nephi-9.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BOM 2 Nephi 9"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30400\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"A](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/01\/800px-Etna_Volcano_Paroxysmal_Eruption_July_30_2011_-_Creative_Commons_by_gnuckx_9.jpg\")
<\/a>