Joy In The Journey Radio
  • Home
  • Radio 4 LDS Singles
    • Recent Shows >
      • 9 Nov 22
      • 2 Nov 22
    • Archive 2022
    • Archive 2021
    • Archive 2020
    • Archive 2019
    • Archive 2018
  • LDS Singles Blog
  • Members
    • Members-only
  • World of TED
  • Firesides
  • Books
  • FAQ
  • Volunteer
  • Home-centered Church
  • Donate
  • Contact

continue the conversation

Covenant belonging

2/26/2020

0 Comments

 
I wasn’t about to argue with the doctor while in pain.
It’s time once again to return to Conference, and yet a part of me wants to delve into another topic altogether.  I can see I planned to talk today about Elder Gerrit W. Gong’s address entitled “Covenant Belonging.”  But I can also see I didn’t plan on having a near miss with a heart attack.

I awoke that morning with an intense pain in the center of my chest.  It subsided shortly but later came back with a vengeance.  I grew concerned when a dose of Pepto didn’t resolve the issue.  Then when I vomited my lunch, I became very concerned.  One indicator you might be having a heart attack, albeit the most common one, is one thing.  But when you add in another, you now run the border of establishing a trend.  And I didn’t care to wait to see if that trend materialized.
I went to a clinic where a doctor ran some tests and came back with a diagnosis I didn’t believe then and still don’t today.  But I wasn’t about to argue with the doctor while in pain.  I didn’t want to postpone the relief that drove me to see the doctor in the first place.

The doctor prescribed some meds, I followed his directions, and the chest pain went away.  But then arrived stomach pains and more intense vomiting.  I couldn’t keep anything down.  After I vomited everything so I knew my stomach was empty, the stomach pains vanished only to be replaced with abdominal cramps.  I didn’t sleep well that night at all.

I’m in recovery now, but as I’ve always been the pensive and reflective sort, I certainly can’t resist reflecting on this experience.  As I do so, I can see clear connections between my experience and Elder Gong’s Conference address.  All of our lives have been greatly blessed by covenant belonging.

A culture in change

Picture
When I first heard his address in Conference, Elder Gong’s description of a gospel culture centered on Christ impressed me.  Indeed, true gospel culture is centered on the Savior and solidified by covenants we make to serve Him and each other.

Yet traditionally LDS subculture has centered on marital status as the marker of belonging.  And that center has caused countless challenges for many LDS singles.  Long time audience members know I once harped endlessly on our need to change the culture.  The problem is in how singles think, yes.  But the problem is also in how everyone thinks, and that thinking is manifested in culture.

Elder Gong cuts through all of the bunk to the real heart of a Zion culture — making and keeping sacred covenants to become more like Jesus Christ.


When we come to God’s great commandments to love Him and those around us by covenant, we do so not as stranger or guest but as His child at home. The age-old paradox is still true. In losing our worldly self through covenant belonging, we find and become our best eternal self — free, alive, real — and define our most important relationships. Covenant belonging is to make and keep solemn promises to God and each other through sacred ordinances that invite the power of godliness to be manifest in our lives. When we covenant all we are, we can become more than we are. Covenant belonging gives us place, narrative, capacity to become. It produces faith unto life and salvation.
God never looked at His children through the lens of marital status.  I’m not entirely sure why we as a people ever did, but I rejoice in our culture changing for the better.

A bridge across the gap

Picture
I also rejoice that Elder Gong’s message to center ourselves in Christlike covenants is not the first apparently aimed at changing the culture to adopt a more ennobling marker of belonging.  Albeit not as directly as I have, various Church leaders have occasionally spoken about the divide between singles and marrieds in LDS culture and our need to bridge the gap.

Elder Gong followed suit in addressing that divide but doing so in a somewhat less indirect manner.


To belong with God and to walk with each other on His covenant path is to be blessed by covenant belonging.

First, covenant belonging centers in Jesus Christ as “mediator of the new covenant.” All things can work together for our good when we are “sanctified in Christ … in the covenant of the Father.” Every good and promised blessing comes to those who remain faithful to the end. The “happy state of those that keep the commandments of God” is to be “blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual,” and to “dwell with God in … never-ending happiness” . . . .

Finally, the blessings of covenant belonging come when we follow the Lord’s prophet and rejoice in temple-covenant living, including in marriage. Covenant marriage becomes supernal and eternal as we daily choose the happiness of our spouse and family before our own. As “me” becomes “we,” we grow together. We grow old together; we grow young together. As we bless each other across a lifetime of forgetting ourselves, we find our hopes and joys sanctified in time and eternity.

While situations differ, when we do all we can, the best we can, and sincerely ask and seek His help along the way, the Lord will guide us, in His time and manner, by the Holy Ghost. Marriage covenants are binding by mutual choice of those making them —a reminder of God’s and our respect for agency and the blessing of His help when we unitedly seek it.

I love that balance between including singles and promoting marriage and family.  These two elements were never meant to be mutually exclusive!  Those who understand the concept of covenant belonging see that truth plain as day.

A place to belong

Picture
You may be wondering now what all of this has to do with my near miss of a heart attack.  It’s very simple.  I belong as all LDS singles do to a community bound together by covenants to serve the Lord and serve one another.

The day after my near miss, my ministering brother and a member of the bishopric were in my home visiting with me and providing a priesthood blessing.  Now, I know that doesn’t happen everywhere.  I’ve been in some of those wards where it doesn’t happen.  But if you find yourself there, I can assure you it will pass and you will come to a better place if you stay faithful to your covenants and do your best to practice covenant belonging.

The Lord is mindful of all of us.  I know He’s been mindful of me.  Feeling that love has renewed my desire to be true to my covenants and to exemplify God’s definition of real belonging that we can find therein.  And it is by living covenant belonging that we can best feel that love.  And that will bring us more joy in our journey.

You can listen to the monologue from today's episode of Joy In The Journey Radio here.  Please also feel free to continue the conversation by leaving a comment below.  Want to hear more?  Listen to the whole show by going to the show page for this episode.
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    Howdy! I'm Lance, host of Joy in the Journey Radio. I've been blogging about LDS singles life since 2012, and since 2018 I've been producing a weekly Internet radio show and podcast to help LDS singles have  more joy in their journey and bring all Latter-day Saints together. Let's engage a conversation that will increase the faith of LDS singles and bring singles and marrieds together in a true unity of the faith.

    Comment

    Joy in the Journey Radio encourages the free discussion of ideas but reserves the right to remove and/or block comments which do not conform to LDS standards.

    Donate

    Joy in the Journey Radio offers many free resources to help LDS singles everywhere, but it certainly isn't free!  Help Joy in the Journey Radio in its mission to improve the lives of LDS singles by donating today.

    Posts by Month

    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014

    Categories

    All
    Adrian Ochoa
    Agency
    Assumptions
    Atonement
    Attitude
    Attraction
    Autopilot
    Balance
    Becky Craven
    Believe
    Best Life
    Bradley R Wilcox
    Camille N Johnson
    Change The Culture
    Changing LDS Singles Culture
    Christ
    Christmas
    Clark G Gilbert
    Confidence
    Conscious Choices
    Covenant Mindset
    Dale G Renlund
    Dallin H Oaks
    Dating
    David A Bednar
    Depression
    Dieter F Uchtdorf
    Discipleship
    Donald L Hallstrom
    D Todd Christofferson
    Face To Face
    Faith
    Family
    Family History
    Fear
    Filters
    Finances
    Focus Determines Reality
    Full Life: Body
    Full Life: Heart
    Full Life: Mind
    Full Life: Spirit
    Future
    Gary E Stevenson
    General Conference
    Gerrit W Gong
    Goals
    Gordon B Hinckley
    Gratitude
    Habits
    Happiness
    Hope
    Jack Gerard
    Jean Bingham
    Jeffrey R Holland
    John A McCune
    John C Pingree Jr
    Journey
    Joy
    Leaders
    Legacy
    Life Of Meaning
    Live In The Moment
    Marriage
    Marrieds
    Michael A Dunn
    Michelle Craig
    Miracles
    M Russell Ballard
    Natural Mindset
    Neil Andersen
    Opportunity
    Own Your Life
    Partner With The Lord
    Peace
    Personal Ministry
    Perspective
    Philosophy
    Proclamation On The Family
    Quentin L Cook
    Real
    Reformat And Reboot
    Relationships
    Ronald Rasband
    Russell M Nelson
    Sacrament
    Self Talk
    Self-talk
    Service
    Sharon Eubank
    Stories
    Support
    Surrender To Love
    Susan H Porter
    Taylor G Godoy
    Temple
    Thinking
    Thomas S Monson
    Trials
    Unity
    Valentine's Day
    Vision
    Walk By Faith
    Yoon Hwan Choi
    Zion

    RSS Feed

Offerings

Home
Radio 4 LDS Singles
LDS Singles Blog
Books
Speaking
Recipes
Home-centered Church

Production

About
Staff

Support

FAQ
Volunteer
Donate
Contact
Joy in the Journey Radio is a production
of Aspire Mountain Media LLC.
© 2014-2022 Aspire Mountain Media LLC.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  • Home
  • Radio 4 LDS Singles
    • Recent Shows >
      • 9 Nov 22
      • 2 Nov 22
    • Archive 2022
    • Archive 2021
    • Archive 2020
    • Archive 2019
    • Archive 2018
  • LDS Singles Blog
  • Members
    • Members-only
  • World of TED
  • Firesides
  • Books
  • FAQ
  • Volunteer
  • Home-centered Church
  • Donate
  • Contact