"I'm not dead yet"

[Title references this scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.]

May 13, 2024

大家好！Hey Everyone!

You'll never guess what happened this week. . .

My companions and I got Covid! :P So naturally, this week was not our most productive week, but it might have been our least productive. It was alright though. It left me a Lotttt of time to study the scriptures and to play the violin!

I made a crazy discovery while reading the Book of Mormon! There's a big chiasmus in 2 Nephi 4 verses 17-35 inclusive! For anyone who is unfamiliar with the term, this article has some great explanations and examples of what I'd call a poetic mirror sandwich. Here's the pattern I found:

A) “nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted”

B) “why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow…

C) “and my strength slacken, because of mine afflictions?”

D) “Why am I angry because of mine enemy?”

E) “Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin…

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E) “Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul”

D) “Do not anger again because of mine enemies…

C) “Do not slacken my strength because of mine afflictions”

B) “Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord…yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation.”

A) “O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever”

What a powerful way to write! Nephi builds up a series of questions and problems he faces that all lead up to this turning point: “Rejoice,” and these questions are now put in a higher perspective.

Now there's a lot I missed in here, so if any of you are looking for a puzzle or a challenge, I'd invite you to to read 2 Nephi 4 and see if you can find more matching parts of this chiasmus. You can also turn to your favorite passage of scripture and look for patterns like this as well.

For those of you who haven't been blessed with as much time to study, I'd invite you help someone out this week! After a week of bumming around I'm finally starting to see more than before how service is the best way to find purpose and happiness. (Thanks to my mom and my grandparents for helping me learn that producing is a higher joy than consuming - always). So go do something cool for a friend, a family member, or a stranger!

Hope you all have a fantastic week and find a lot of joy! Love you all!

爱你们！

–熊长老



Photos:

Chiasmus

Me being sick

Cool Sunset

Less cool attempt at seeing Aurora Borealis

[Note: A newer phone camera would probably have done the trick, but you can still see hints of the magenta and green coloring from the solar storm in the edges of the lens flare.]