CALMING THE STORM
We must calm the storm. The first step in passing through the storms of the veil into the realms of the spirit is essential. The student of the prophetic must be extended a lifeline from the celestial realms by which they are guided and empowered to face the dark clouds through which one must descend in order to emerge in the realm of the spirit. This life line is the scriptures or word of God. It was taught in ancient Israel that the words of the Torah are personified as angelic beings whether delivered by the hidden from beyond the veil through the unseen spirit of God or by the manifestation of the angelic. This ancient understanding is supported and clarified in the words of the Prophet Nephi:
"Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the tongue of angels? And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost?
Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." (2 Nephi 32:2-3)
Anciently it was taught that as one read the words of the Torah or the Prophets the spirit of the person would begin to resonate with the spirit of God that delivered that word to the Prophet that originally declared them. This technique of using words from the scriptures as the focus of intentional prayer or meditation was considered a tried, tested, and true discipline. When the mind and spirit of man enters into the storm, cloud, darkness, or earthquake of the veil the words of the scriptures or the names of God were used to sooth the tumult experienced before one passed into the realm of the spirit. This same teaching is also demonstrated in the Book of Mormon by the Prophet Alma:
"And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.
Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death. And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more. And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!" (Alma 36:17-20)
As our minds catch hold upon the words of holiness or the Names of God, it is as if they were catching hold upon this celestial life line that comes from the throne of God. It was taught that praying or meditating upon these words or names not only brought a calm to the storm or the clearing of the clouds of darkness but they also began to pave a path that the spirit of man can use and reuse to approach the throne of heaven. In the mind of an Israelite, God, his word, and his people are one. Taking hold of these lifelines brings us back into a state of oneness, connection, and bonding with God.
Regardless of the space or distance between God and man, God's words are connected with him and through his spirit and his word we remain connected. Whether those words were spoken thousands of years ago, the power that is both behind the words and that comes through the words is the same power given at the time the words were uttered from God to man. As we undertake to carry out and observe those words given, we become living vessels that contain the light of God here in this mortal and fallen world. The purpose being so that that which is in Heaven is manifest on Earth (i.e. Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven).
One of the greatest tools of prayer and meditation was found within the Psalms. The Psalms as a point of intentional mediation or contemplation were used to connect the spirit of man to God even when that spirit which is in man feels exhausted or depleted of strength. It was even taught in these schools that the the continuous reading of the Psalms would change the state of the reader so that by reading they would receive as if it were spiritual nourishment like an umbilical cord of a baby in its mother's womb. When one directs the mind and spirit in the direction of God a connective power is unleashed and in that condition great and marvelous lessons are taught and comprehended in a manner in which eye hath not heard, nor ear seen the great things for those that love God and guard his commandments/words. As we receive this nourishment, our souls absorbs the elements of the eternal. They then begin to manifest the spiritual into action and being in this world. We become living vessels through which the light and truth of God (intelligence) enables us to receive to bestow--or to Love God and to Love our neighbor.
The Prophet Nephi also states the importance of this type of feasting on the word:
"Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting (intentional prayer/mediation) upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end (i.e walking in it until the purpose is manifest), behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." (2 Nephi 31:20)
These techniques of recitation of the scriptures (Psalms, Prophets, Torah, etc) were used in the ancient School of the Prophets. Some of these disciplines dating back as far as Moses and Abraham. In following these disciplines, great transformative power was unleashed and the pathways of spiritual revelation were opened.
© 2018 Robert Kay
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