G.E. and I were sitting on our favorite padded pew on the back row – which is the last row before the folding chairs that fill up the overflow area. As usual, I was “glowing” – the euphemism for “perspiring” – which is better than saying “sweating.” At any rate, I was caught up in all three. At times like these, I wish I had a lovely folded fan from China or Japan, but I have yet to find one -which is quite unusual when you consider how many items ARE made in China. (I don’t see so many from Japan any more – other than cars, but I think Toyotas and the like are also manufactured in the good old U.S. of A.)

Enough stream of conscious writing, already.

With NO fan in sight, I snatched three stapled sheets of paper from G.E.’s pile of lesson materials. (He teaches the 16 and 17 year old boys during the priesthood hour.) The 3 papers served wonderfully as a make-shift fan, and in moments I was out of heat-stroke danger. At that point, I scanned the writing on the paper and became engrossed with the lesson about the Holy Ghost. While I have attended 100s of Sacrament meetings, Sunday School classes, and Relief Society lessons, I don’t ever remember learning parts of the doctrine I read in that lesson.

While most KNOWN readers of my blog are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I realize I have a few that drop in who are not.  Because the Tony-winning play, THE BOOK OF MORMON, parodies our religion, there are lots of wild notions out in the world concerning our beliefs. I doubt that many folks sit around the dinner table discussing what Mormons believe about the Holy Ghost, but just in case that is the case, I’ll share what I learned today by reading G.E.’s lesson.

First of all the entire lesson can be found on LDS.org – click HERE if you want to check it out. I am only going to mention my 2 “ah-hahs,” and if you want to see where the inspiration/revelation is referenced, the above hyperlink will take you where you can get that info. Now that all the prattle is out of the way, let’s get started.

1. The Holy Ghost is the 3rd member of the Godhead, he is a spirit, but he takes the form of a man – and ONLY a man. I know the New Testament indicates that after the Savior’s baptism, the Holy
   

   The dove - SYMBOL of the Holy Ghost - NOT the Holy Spirit itself

   Ghost descended upon Jesus “in the form of a dove.” According to the prophet Joseph Smith the dove serves as a “sign” of the Holy Ghost and the appearance of the dove signified that the Savior received the Holy Ghost. BUT no, that third member of the Godhead does NOT transform himself into an actual bird.

2. The Holy Ghost is not and can not be omnipresent, BUT his power and influence can. This is the analogy presented to explain this complex concept – and I love it for its clarity. Okay, we know that the sun occupies a place in the heavens, and that is the only place where our sun can be found. Nevertheless, the sun’s rays can be felt throughout our world – in many places at once – and so can the power and influence of the Holy Ghost be felt by many of God’s children at the same time.

Author: rbs

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