Walls of Stone

The following thoughts are taken from a talk I gave last Sunday.  It summarises my reasons for starting this blog.


Place:  Ancient America.
Time: 74BC

Moroni, a righteous Nephite leader, recognised the constant threat of attack.  Besides arming his people with weapons of war he also prepared them with breastplates, arm shields, head shields, and thick clothing.   This had a great impact on the attacking Lamanties for even though they outnumbered the Nephites, they were "Exceedingly afraid" to the point "that they durst not come against the Nephites."  (Alma 43:18-22)

Over the next two years Moroni defeats the Lamanite army, contends with the wicked Amalickiah, erects the Title of Liberty, and restores peace.  BUT... Moroni was well aware that wicked and cunning men do not rest.  Amalickiah, or someone like him, would undoubtedly return to gain unrighteous power, so Moroni continued to prepare his people.  He had been:

• "preparing the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord their God."
• "strengthening the armies of the Nephites"
• "erecting small forts"
• "throwing up banks of earth"
• "building walls of stone"
• Alma 48: 7-9

Sure enough, Amalickiah returns with a Lamanite army.  They had copied Moroni's ideas from two years before and prepared themselves with comparable body armour.  But, "how great was their disappointment" to discover the forts, earth banks and walls of stone around the Nephite settlements.  They were "astonished exceedingly, because of the wisdom of the Nephites in preparing their places of security".  To "their uttermost astonishment, they were prepared for them in a manner which never had been known."  The Lamanites made some feeble attempts to break through these fortifications, but suffered heavy losses and eventually fled into the wilderness.  (Alma 49:4-15)

Even after this great victory "Moroni did not stop making preparations for war."

• He erected works of timber on tops of banks of earth.
• "caused towers to be erected"
• "did prepare strongholds..round about every city. "
• Alma 50: 1-6

Besides all this physical preparation they were spiritually in tune giving "heed and diligence...unto the word of God" (Alma 49:30).   As a result "there never was a happier time among the people of Nephi, since the days of Nephi, than in the days of Moroni"  (Alma 50:23)

So....
What, you may ask, does all of that war stuff have to do with me?  Consider this:

"From the Book of Mormon we learn how disciples of Christ live in times of war." President Ezra Taft Benson 

And we truly are at war.  It is a war being fought on many fronts, but never before have we been so bombarded with images and depictions of evil.  To sit back and do nothing is not the way a disciple of Christ should act.

Like Moroni, we need to be actively preparing for spiritual conflict.  We need to ask ourselves what fortifications are we building?  We need to be making walls of stone.  Fortifications that are solid, strong and immovable.  Our homes should become a refuge against the cunning devices, the flattering words, and the fraud of evil men who seek to poison us by degrees  (Alma 46:7, 10, 30; 47:18).
We should be "casting up walls round about and preparing places of resort" (Alma 52:6)

This blog is my simple attempt at helping me, & hopefully you, to create Walls of Stone around our homes and souls.  There is something about that image of creating walls of stone that just gels with me.  As I discover a new stone, be it a quote, a thought, a joke, a story, a burst of creativity, a somber moment, a quirky experience, or whatever, I aim to share it with you in the hope that as I build my wall I can help you build yours.  As we build I encourage you to share your contributions & thoughts.

Happy Building