Today's Favorite Verse: Ether 12:26

Today's Favorite Verse: Ether 12:26
"And when I had said this, the Lord spake unto me, saying: Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness;"

Reading "fools mock, but they shall mourn" made me immediately recalled the experience I had during the early days of the pandemic. This is what I recorded in my journal.

"Last night I had such an unusual experience. I was reading all these memes about the virus and saving them and passing them on to my siblings. I was laughing the whole time. Everything was hitting me so funny. I had not felt so much laughter over this whole thing. Then in an instant I had this great soberness come over me and the spirit warned me not to laugh at this. That what I was doing was "loud laughter", and those that laugh will mourn. What an absolute wake-up call. 
I then read my scriptures and there it talked about destruction before the second coming. My frame of mind on this virus and its meaning completely changed. The Lord's hand is in all this and obedience is important. I have a feeling of much sorrow for those that are effected by this. When we did our family scripture reading I told them my experience and the other impressions that I had. We laid some ground rules for ourselves."

That experience was a life changing moment for me. I am so careful about what I choose to laugh at. As I was watching the reports on the devastating fires in California, I felt like I was seeing the fulfillment of the times of the Gentiles. When we go from a warning voice to destruction. I turned to Doctrine and Covenants 45 for I knew it spoke of this, and also fire, and moon turning to blood. This stood out to me.

"And in that generation shall the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
And there shall be men standing in that generation, that shall not pass until they shall see an overflowing scourge; for a desolating sickness shall cover the land.
But my disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall not be moved; but among the wicked, men shall lift up their voices and curse God and die."
(Doctrine and Covenants 45:30-32)

I feel like the early pandemic was just a dress rehearsal of what is to come. Sadly, some learned to mock it and put their trust in the arm of flesh, and ignore the counsel of a living prophet. They have set themselves up to feel justified in mocking any news of a desolating sickness. When the next one comes they may not take it serious soon enough. I believe in prophesies and all of them will be fulfilled. I am just very, very cautious on what I laugh and mock at, especially the suffering of others. It is no wonder that Moroni also speaks on the need for charity in this chapter.

“Real charity is not something you give away; it is something that you acquire and make a part of yourself. And when the virtue of charity becomes implanted in your heart, you are never the same again. It makes the thought of [putting others down] repulsive.
“Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don’t judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone’s differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn’t handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another’s weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other” (Elder Marvin J. Ashton, "The Tongue Can Be a Sharp Sword", Apr 1992 General Conference).

Day 3575