08/09/2019
I happened across a strange scriptureโProverbs 20:27โ
๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ข๐ซ๐ข๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐, ๐ฌ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ.
That left me blank. "Candle of the Lordโ? "Inward parts of the belly"?
Curious, I Googled "Commentary on Proverbs 20:27.โ After scrolling through a list of postings of various English translations, I clicked on one of the commentaries:
"It is a discovering light. By the help of reason we come to know men, to judge of their characters, and dive into their designs; by the help of conscience we come to know ourselves" (BlueLetterBible.org, https:// www.blueletterbible.org/ Comm/mhc/Pro/Pro 020.cfm)
Okay, reasonable statement. But it doesn't address "the inward parts of the belly." I wondered about searching ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Prov. 20:27 is such an obscure scripture--I've never heard it quoted--that I doubted I'd get anything. But shazam:
Boyd K. Packer:
"Oh, if I could teach you this one principle: a testimony is to be found in the bearing of it!
"Somewhere in your quest for spiritual knowledge, there is that 'leap of faith,' as the philosophers call it. It is the moment when you have gone to the edge of the light and stepped into the darkness to discover that the way is lighted ahead for just a footstep or two. 'The spirit of man is,' as the scripture says, indeed โthe candle of the Lordโ (Proverbs 20:27).
"It is one thing to receive a witness from what you have read or what another has said; and that is a necessary beginning. ๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ ๐๐ง๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ซ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ข๐ซ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐. Can you not see that it will be supplied as you share it? As you give that which you have, there is a replacement, with increase!โ
"To speak out is the test of your faith."
(Boyd K. Packer, "The Quest for Spiritual Knowledge," From a talk given at a seminar for new mission presidents 25 June 25 1982, ChurchofJesusChrist.org, https:// www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/new-era/ 2007/01/the-quest-for-spiritual-knowledge?lang=eng), emphasis added.
The article made clear to me that the "inward parts of the belly" are our deepest feelings and beliefs. Elder Packer made this clear to me with a real-life parable:
โโฆHe was 17 years old and with his companion stopped at a cottage in the southern states. It was his first day in the mission field and was his first door. A gray-haired woman stood inside the screen and asked what they wanted. His companion nudged him to proceed. Frightened and somewhat tongue-tied, he finally blurted out, โAs man is God once was, and as God is man may become.โ
Strangely enough, she was interested and asked where he got that. He answered, โItโs in the Bible.โ She left the door for a moment, returned with her Bible. Commenting that she was a minister of a congregation, she handed it to him and said, โHere, show me.โ
He took the Bible and nervously thumbed back and forth through it. Finally he handed it back saying, โHere, I canโt find it. Iโm not even sure that itโs in there, and even if it is, I couldnโt find it. Iโm just a poor farm boy from out in Cache Valley in Utah. I havenโt had much training. But I come from a family where we live the gospel of Jesus Christ. And itโs done so much for our family that Iโve accepted a call to come on a mission for two years, at my own expense, to tell people how I feel about it.โ
โShe pushed open the door and said, โCome in, my boy. Iโd like to hear what you have to say.โโ
Thus prompted, let me say here that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has the answers. I am constantly and wonderfully amazed at the truths I discover about the worldโand myselfโas I read the scriptures.
PS--This is a stock photo, "Man with a candle" (it is not I).
