When I started to weave baskets I soon found myself calling them "vessels". I have always been drawn to the idea of vessels. We have vessels all around us, cups to hold water, books to hold words, homes to hold families, flowers to hold smells, ears to hold wisdom (see Proverbs 2:2), eyes to hold "the light of God (Guide to the scriptures), hands and arms to hold service, hearts to hold understanding (see Mosiah 12:27; Proverbs 2:2). But the most amazing of all vessels is us. We are the most wonderful and beautiful creation of all. We are "temples of God" (1 Cor. 3:16-17). As I have pondered this incredible creation, our bodies, I have come to conclude that our bodies are very sacred and important because "the spirit of God dwelleth in [us]" (1 Cor. 3:16). Our bodies, our "vessel", house our spirits.
As our bodies are our "vessel" then we "should know how to possess our vessel in sanctification and honor" (1 Thessalonians 4:4). Sanctification means to make holy, consecrate, purify. Peter tells us "be ye holy in all manner of conversation" (1 Peter 1:15). Conversation "in the [King James Version]...usually means behavior, way of life, or conduct, rather than the modern sense of talking together" (Bible Dictionary). One of the most important things we can be aware of is how we treat our vessel and how we conduct ourselves. This led me to thinking of the very tender subject of a relationship between a husband and a wife. "For this is the will of God, even [our] sanctification, that [we] should abstain from fornication" (1 Thessalonians 4:3) and "not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14). Sanctification is "the process of becoming free from sin, pure, clean, and holy through the atonement of Jesus Christ" (The Guide to the Scriptures). In our relationships with our spouses we can draw closer to God as we "cleave" unto each other mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually (see Genesis 2:23-25).
"Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and shalt cleave unto her and none else" (D&C 42:22). To cleave is to be faithful to or to adhere or stick to. As I create a vessel, I must use a weaver that crosses over and under, or twists around the spokes of the vessel I am making. If I skip a spoke or get off by one, it weakens the vessel and the pattern is all messed up. I have had to go back and undo weaving because I have made mistakes. The beauty of God's pattern in a marital relationship is that we can correct our mistakes through repentance and the "cleansing power of the atonement" (Elder Boyd K. Packer). Some mistakes of miscommunication, selfishness, not giving or receiving love, can be parts of ourselves that can cause a wedge to develop in a relationship. God's pattern is to unite a husband and wife not only physically, but spiritually. We are taught in three sets of scripture this warning to protect our marriages: "That whosoever looketh on a woman [or a man] to lust after [them] hath committed adultery with [them] already in [their] heart" (Matthew 5:28; 3 Nephi 12:28; D&C 63:16). Protecting our marriages is one of the things that protect families, and protects us as individuals, the vessel's of the Lord. His patterns are always there to strengthen us, thereby strengthening our marriages.
God's pattern's are always perfect, because He is a perfect God. In a marriage, a husband and a wife can get closer to each other and to God by cleaving unto one other. "Therefore, shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24; Moses 3:24). Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, an apostle of the Lord said, "Human intimacy...between a man and a woman is...a symbol of total union: union of their hearts, their hopes, their lives, their love, their family, their future, their everything". He continues, "sexual intimacy is not only a symbolic union between a man and a woman—the uniting of their very souls—but it is also symbolic of a union between mortals and deity, … uniting for a rare and special moment with God Himself and all the powers by which He gives life in this wide universe of ours. … Surely God’s trust in us to respect this future-forming gift is awesomely staggering. … We carry this procreative power that makes us very much like God in at least one grand and majestic way.” (Strengthening the Family:The Sacred Powers of Procreation). As parents, protectors of the family, we get the responsibility to teach our children this sacred, beautiful, wonderful pattern of unity between husbands and wives.
This awesome, beautiful, and sacred union between a man and a woman is used to create not only children, but also unity. We are to be one in heart and mind, which to me means that we would treat each other how we would want to be treated, kindly, lovingly, honestly, without selfishness or manipulation. We are the "holy vessels of God" (1 Chronicles 22:19) and through God's holy pattern of chastity and virtue, we can strengthen our marriages, we can be one with our husband or wife the way God intended us to be strengthened. We will "know how to posses our vessel in sanctification and honor" (1 Thessalonians 4:4) This I testify.
1 comment:
It couldn't have been said better. Loved these thoughts and I feel the same.
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