{"id":44295,"date":"2017-09-17T13:23:56","date_gmt":"2017-09-17T19:23:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=44295"},"modified":"2017-09-17T13:23:56","modified_gmt":"2017-09-17T19:23:56","slug":"o-that-i-were-an-angel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/09\/o-that-i-were-an-angel.html","title":{"rendered":"“O that I were an angel”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Nauvoo's<\/a>
The modern, reconstructed Nauvoo Illinois Temple \u00a0 \u00a0(LDS Media Library)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

During the period immediately\u00a0prior to and at the beginning of\u00a0my mission, it seemed that I was hearing\u00a0the song \u201cO that I were an angel\u201d<\/a>\u00a0just about all the time. \u00a0It is, of course, based on Alma 29:1-2:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the\u00a0trump\u00a0of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and\u00a0come\u00a0unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I confess that I didn\u2019t like it. \u00a0I\u2019m not sure why. \u00a0Maybe I thought it hokey. \u00a0Maybe I\u2019d just heard it too often (and, too often, badly performed). \u00a0Anyway, my dislike for the song somehow impacted my feelings toward the scriptural passage itself. \u00a0Whereas Alma 29:1-2 was a favorite passage for many people, it wasn\u2019t one of mine.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the years, though, my feelings have changed very much, both toward those Book of Mormon verses and, even, toward the song itself.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve found the passage going through my mind many times when I\u2019ve heard or read examples of human cruelty and of needless suffering caused by the callousness, selfishness, or wickedness of others or by grievously mistaken choices made\u00a0by the victims themselves. \u00a0I\u2019ve wished, just as Alma did, that I might somehow be able to do something \u201cthat there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve come to identify with Alma, and with his ardent desire, much more than I once did. \u00a0And, certainly, I\u2019m rather ashamed to say, in a deeper way than I ever did as a nineteen-to-twenty-one-year-old missionary.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Perhaps it\u2019s because, in the intervening decades, I\u2019ve seen a fair amount of pain and suffering that might have been avoided had people been living the Gospel. \u00a0I\u2019ve watched with deep sadness as people that I\u2019ve known have made choices that, I knew, would eventually lead to regret, ruptured relationships, and sorrow, and as, in more than a few cases,\u00a0those foreseen results have occurred with horrifying speed.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve become more and more convinced that, as Alma also teaches, \u201cwickedness never was happiness\u201d (41:10).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, I\u2019m not claiming, not even remotely, that happiness cannot be found outside of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a>. \u00a0Nor do I claim\u00a0that living the Gospel prevents all sadness and loss, or guarantees a mortal life of continual bliss. \u00a0On balance, though, lives conforming to the principles of the Gospel \u2014 whether in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or, to the extent that those principles are taught and cherished elsewhere, without it \u2014 will generally turn out better than those that are devoted to narrow self-interest, materialistic greed, malevolence, and the never-ending and never-satisfied quest for pleasure.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thus, Alma 29:1-2 has become a favorite passage for me. \u00a0And I\u2019ve also come to treasure\u00a0this wonderful passage from a 15 December 1840 letter written from Nauvoo, Illinois,\u00a0by the Prophet Joseph Smith\u00a0to the Quorum of the Twelve:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLove is one of the chief characteristics of Deity, and ought to be manifested by those who aspire to be the sons of God. A man filled with the love of God, is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 During the period immediately\u00a0prior to and at the beginning of\u00a0my mission, it seemed that I was hearing\u00a0the song \u201cO that I were an angel\u201d\u00a0just about all the time. \u00a0It is, of course, based on Alma 29:1-2: \u00a0 O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I […]<\/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-44295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n"O that I were an angel"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    During the period immediately\u00a0prior to and at the beginning of\u00a0my mission, it seemed that I was hearing\u00a0the song "O that I were an\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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