They did murmur in many things against their father, because he was a visionary man . . .
A “visionary” man. I have often wondered what being a “visionary” person would be like, even though I was sure I could never be one myself. I was sure that to be a “visionary” person you would have to be something so extraordinarily righteous you'd seem superhuman, and maybe even a little “weird.” I was sure it was something that only a tiny handful of individuals could ever accomplish, or would ever be crazy enough to even want to accomplish. Recovery, however, has proven my own beliefs to be false.
Recovery has taught me that to be a "visionary" person is very attainable and practical. In fact, it is absolutely essential that each of us become such a person. Joseph Smith even testified that, "Reading the experience of others, or the revelation given to them, can never give us a comprehensive view of our condition and true relation to God." [1]
Step Eleven is the step that invites us to become “visionary” and gives us the courage to live like Lehi (and all the other prophets), knowing that the gospel is true because we have partaken of its fruit—conscious contact with God. Step Eleven is the crowning glory and fulfillment of all the previous steps. In it we are called to continue practicing and improving our newly restored relationship with the Lord. It admonishes us to pray and then be still and “listen” with our hearts as He communicates His comfort, counsel and guidance to us.
Conscious contact with God! I believe these four words are probably the most significant in all of the Twelve Steps. Paradoxically, this connection with God is what I both hungered for and what I tried to avoid by using my addiction. Thus, what moments of interaction I did have with God were very business-like, based on a servant mentality, in behalf of others. Consciousness of God, closeness to God for my own sake, was what I was missing, actually denying myself. I was like a starving person sitting on a mountain of canned goods without a can opener. As the Prophet Brigham Young once said, I was living “far beneath [my] privilege.”[2]
Prayerful thought: Lord, help me to remember that this way of life based on personal revelation from Thee is the sweet communion that fills all emptiness, calms all fears, and causes my addiction to fade out of my life.
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[1] Discourses of Brigham Young, 32.
[2]History of the Church, 6:5.
© 2011 Colleen C. Harrison
This is absolutely beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing.
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