From among the pressing crowd of voices we hear from one minute to the next, all our lives. From all sorts of voices, we must recognize the voices having authority, the voice of the Good Shepherd, who provides the essential directions through the strait and narrow toward the tree of life eternal.

As Paul said to the Corinthians, “There are … so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification.” (1 Cor. 14:10.) Yet, all to often there are those on a path long and winding as opposed to being straight and direct. All provide useful information needed in mortality.

Here I provide reference only to those voices that speak of the commandments, the doctrines, the ordinances, the practices of the church of God. Some speak on these subjects have been called and have been given divine authority to do so. These are they who have not taken that authority upon themsleves. Others, whom I choose to call surrogate voices, speak on these subjects without the benefit of calling or authority. Yet to be a surrogate voice is not to be avoided. Not all of us are called to speak and teach. Not all of us have official authority from the Church to speak and teach.

At times, Church leaders and members have been distressed by things said by these surrogate voices. I am persuaded that some members are befuddled about the Church’s relationship to the surrogate voices. This is for good reason. Where order has been lost the work of the Lord can suffer.

Some surrogate voices are substantiated with the Lord’s teaching that his servants should not have to be commanded in all things, but “should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness.” (D&C 58:27.)

Others pursue selfish interests (property, pride, prominence, or power). These others are typically those who have taken authority for themselves. Other voices are the bleatings of lost souls who hear the voice of the Shepherd through the whistling wind, while traveling their own path. Still others are the lost leading the lost.

Some surrogate voices are those who are determined to mislead and devour the flock. The Good Shepherd warned, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” (Matt. 7:15; see also 3 Ne. 14:15.)

There have always been surrogate voices of deception. They are essential elements to the Plan. The prophet Lehi taught that there “must needs be … an opposition in all things.” (2 Ne. 2:11; italics added.) The unselfish and wholesome surrogate voices are also a part of the Plan.

Consistent with the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, as members of the Church, we (LDS) are directed to avoid disputation and contention. Yet, we are free to choose the level of discord we visit. Even the full time missionaries, who are official LDS, do not always find themselves in harms way because they are careless. It is precisely because they care and are led by the spirit that they stand before the darkened door and knock to impart what light they amy be permitted.

Within the environs of the blogging world, individual members of the Church may also confront difficult questions. One effort may be edifying and uplifting, something a faithful Latter-day Saint would wish to support or enjoy. But another effort may be destructive, something a faithful Latter-day Saint would not wish to support or promote. Where it is common practice here at Blogstream to shout down divergent religious thinkers, it is a place where one may remain for a time.

Some of life’s most knotty decisions involve such a mixture of good and evil. When should one seek the benefit of something good if simultaneously it provides aid to something bad which one opposes? That is a personal decision, requiring a sophisticated view of the entire picture. It requires a prayer for heavenly guidance.

There are surely limits at which every faithful Latter-day Saint would draw the line. As for me, being a Temple covenant holder, I will not generally allow the pollution of my blog with the voices of those who publish or discuss temple ceremonies anywhere else. I do not support a public discussion of things I have covenanted to hold sacred.

Snow in the Rockies:

My Canon Digital Rebel EOS XT and I have had a safe and agreeable relationship since purchasing her, say a month or so ago. Keeping our photomaking on auto has assured that. Now I've started a 4-Week online Short Course: Camera RAW Processing. All this means is that I place my camera in a setting where much of the microprocessor function is bypassed so as to allow me to custom process each chosen pic in Photoshop.

I have previously become completely enthralled building a video from my Canon Digital Video Camcorder GL-1. But this new digital camera has so much to it, where I have absolutely had no previous experience with any sort of SLR, this has got me by the throat.

But what drives me is the vision of becoming a candid photographer in the front lawn at the Hawaiian Temple at Kona on the big island.

Yes, that seems to be where we will be going....in spite of the suspicion that Hawaii will be the American doorstep to Asian Bird Flu. We just didn't relish the idea of spending over $300 monthly for heat in Anchorage. And how long is their winter up there?

So, if the two of you (whomever I am talking to) have a mind to get yourselves baptised, in a year I will be there on the front lawn waiting for you. We will, in fact, hold a bedroom for you, gratis. So, what have you got against being baptised?

I love the Book of Mormon’s 4th Nephi. Read this: “And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people.” Three other verses follow it describing an amazing society:

And there were no envyings, nor strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God. There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God. And how blessed were they! For the Lord did bless them in all their doings; yea, even they were blessed and prospered until an hundred and ten years had passed away; and the first generation from Christ had passed away, and there was no contention in all the land. The people of 4th Nephi are worthy of evaluated and emulated in our quest to become a Zion people.

There is futility when trying to apply it to the multi-denominational “Christian” world, a people warring against themselves, a Babylon more than Christ’s first century Church.

“Contention” is about the manner in which the people interact “because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people.” Was there no contention because the people loved each other too much to give in to “envyings, strifes, tumults, etc”? (ie. contention rejection) OR Was there no contention because the people were so busy loving each other that previously contentious situations never arose (ie. contention prevention)?

I quote Paul Mortensen with the following as a persuasive statement explaining why contention increases at Blogstream and most other mixed audience blogging communities:

I think the disconnected nature of our society today facilitates contention. Look at the problem from the perspective of game theory. Most of our interactions with others are one-time encounters or encounters that will not necessarily lead to additional repeat encounters. The result is that there’s little motivation to avoid contention when the potential for it arises. In relationships, such as marriage, one is keenly aware (or at least one should be) that each encounter is going to lead to another and that one’s reaction to each encounter is going to affect reactions to every subsequent encounter which should motivate both parties to avoid contention. Hence, when Julie says she and her husband disagree on almost everything political but they avoid contention they are acting out of a desire to preserve the relationship. Their actions indicate that they value the relationship more than the stakes involved in the items with which they have disagreement.

I suspect that there were two factors that lead to the idyllic society of post visitation Nephitedom. The first, of course was the visitation by Christ to the Americas. The second was the size of the population. The devastation that preceded the Lord’s visit undoubtedly took a heavy human toll and probably isolated the Nephite population from other population centers. This forced those surviving to depend more heavily upon each other leading to more stable relationships that required nurturing for mere survival. As the population grew and the Nephites began reestablishing connections to other populations then the need for the number of stable relationships decreased and the motivation to avoid contention decreased as well. Hence, contention began to creep back into society.”

There will always be contention between Zion and Babylon. And wherever Zion is winning, it is because she defends herself effectively from its insults and assaults. And delivers the searing nature of truth to remove the infection.