Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Rodcast 92: Sacrament

We were supposed to learn more about 2 Nephi this week. We were absent. Listen, though, as we sort of tastefully deconstruct the weekly ordinance of the sacrament.

Things I forgot... Lent is starting soon. Please send in comments about what you want us (probably just Jon) to give up for Lent.

Also... tell me what new polls I need to put up. I wasn't paying attention during our actual conversation about them.

Download here!

Next week: People we do and don't want in the Celestial Kingdom. Send in comments!

6 comments:

  1. Mormon's fetish with Nephi's mom? "Nephi's mom has got it going on...Nephi's mom has got it going on..." I think that song should be rewritten in BoM context. haha Not exactly.

    I agree that 'the psalm of Nephi" in 2 Nephi 4 is a little melodramatic. I don't feel bad you're not being super kind to him...in this case, he went overboard for sure.

    Check http://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,13-1-1-7,00.html for more on blessing the sick being an ordinance. ;) The '80s picture at the top of the girl getting baptized in a near-waterfall is pretty sweet too.

    I did enjoy Pd's "O Ye Mountains High" performance during the reading of my comment from last week. Very awesome.

    In the branch I attended back home, because the sessions were only available to be watched at the church, they would have a quick meeting a half hour before the Sunday morning session started and administer the sacrament to the congregation. Interesting, no?

    I agree that the bread and the water are the 'complete sacrament'. There is nothing wrong with only taking the water if you get to church late, but it shouldn't be thought of as 'as good as' taking both the bread and the water.

    The mechanics of blessing and passing the sacrament are largely lost on the womenfolk. That's the thought I came away with from listening to your discussion of it this time.

    The best bread I ever had for sacrament was this Italian kind with rosemary and stuff like that in it. That was from my 40th Ward days. Amazing. Obviously memorable. From week to week, though, I'd say whole wheat is best.

    I agree with Jn and Pd about the enunciation and punctuation values of the prayer. When someone is doing a good job saying the prayer, you know it, and it's a pretty awesome feeling.

    In the family ward I've attended over the past year or so (back to the YSA ward for my final year of eligibility), they do the bring-the-mic-to-you thing in both RS and for testimony meeting...evidence it's currently happening here in SL. Lots of oldsters in the ward, though, so understandable they do it.

    "O Ye Mountains High" does rhyme for the most part..."O ye mountains HIGH where the clear blue SKY"...free/flee/thee in the first verse...dear/hear & free/thee in the second, etc.

    That McNaughton guy is crazy. If your picture gets banned from the BYU Bookstore, you're in BAD shape. Hardcore conservatives, though...he's gold to them. Man couldn't make it outside Utah, if you ask me, but considering how popular he is here, that observation is pretty moot.

    Who do I not want to run into in the eternities? I would like to think I'll be a little more magnanimous...a little more willing to give the benefit of the doubt to people I really struggle to do that for here and now...so...my main question is do you think we will be better people there than we are here, or will we really be exactly as we are in this life? Is it OK to have enemies, or at least non-friends, in the Celestial Kingdom? Will we be as petty, etc. there as we are here?

    [End]

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  2. I've never heard the "no blood" thing before. I guess circulation is a huge hassle anyway. And I think I know what Matsby had asked after you guys stopped recording the podcast before. Boys will be boys.

    I should have commented about the sacrament stuff before the podcast. I was the one who was asked to fetch the bread by the guy who had already missed it. My personal thought is that if you miss the bread, show up earlier next week. But I just wasn't going to tell him no since he requested it, so I went and got it for him. As for eating the bread after blessing it, I was always told not to do that since it's still blessed bread. Or is it? I do like the idea of once the bread has been covered by the cloth, that part of the ordinance is over. I have had people come up and ask to take the sacrament after the meeting is over (I prep/take down the sacrament in my ward) and I typically tell them that I don't think it works like that.

    As for what type of bread, Sara Lee Homestyle with buttermilk is the way forward. I do like wheat, too, but the problem with wheat is that once you set it out, you've got about 15 minutes 'till it turns into a crouton. Pita bread would be cool, but I wonder if people would find it distracting, at least at first.

    As for how the prayer is read, I really like it when they don't read the prayer in that same, familiar cadence that most people do. When my brother reads it, he does it very clearly, deliberately, and takes his time and it's fantastic. It sounds more like praying solemnly to God rather than reading.

    Matsby is spot on; kids are stupid.

    I don't know if I have anyone I don't want to see in the celestial kingdom (because I'd like to make it there myself). I guess I'll be surprised if Hitler is there. If I think of anyone, besides family and friends and the like, that I would like to see there I'll make another sustaining.

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  3. P.S. I had heard the blood thing about Adam & Eve before, but that might be just because I was in Brother Anderson's Institute class for a few years. I think it kind of adds credence to the Fall bringing about the carnal nature of man. Blood is required for certain fluid mechanics to occur...if you catch my drift...

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  4. In one ward I lived in, a Sister made some bread every week. That was the best bread for the Sacrament! I heard both instructions about eating the bread. So I don't think it matters either way. The best way to recite the prayers, is to not sound like you are reciting the prayers. The passers should pay attention to what the others are doing so that when their assigned area is done, they can help another area finish.

    I don't know why you all don't like Stake and Ward conference? I just had mine two weeks ago. It is great to hear counsel and instruction from the Stake leaders.

    Pd, don't forget my request. (School thy Feelings)

    Maysby is half right; kids are stupid, but so are their parents.

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  5. I forgot my favorite Sacrament story: One time during Ward Conference, no one from the previous ward cleaned up Sacrament, and so it looked like Sacrament was already set up. So after the Sacrament song we listened to the talks while the Sacrament was prepared. The Bishop got a kick out of the fact that the day it happened was the day that all the Stake leaders were there.

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  6. I can't figure out how to make this say my name, but it's Jenifer Page Jones (Matsby's sister).

    Anyway . . .

    When I was a kid, I had a primary teacher that taught us that it doesn't officially really matter what you use for the sacrament - I guess if there was some big problem and you couldn't get any bread and water, it didn't really matter what you used. In my head, I thought, "Wouldn't it be cool if you had ritz crackers and kool aid?" I'm one of the "old ladies" now, and I'm still just secretly waiting for the day we have a reason to use ritz crackers and kool aid for the sacrament.

    Also, I am kind of from the school of thought that the Lord has bigger fish to fry to really care too much whether you take the sacrament with your right hand or your left hand; exactly whom you address when blessing a baby as long as the proper priesthood authority does the blessing; whether you have the baby blessing at home or at church; or whether you come too late for the bread but still take the water, etc. (spirit of the law vs. letter of the law).

    I think it's awesome you mentioned that we never knew Nephi's wife's name. It never occurred to me, but you're right. I think if they did mention it, every girl whose family heritage was from some polynesian island would be named that. You know how there are a ton of polynesian guys named Zarahemla or Moroni or something like that? Or maybe it is like how Heavenly Father doesn't talk about our Mother in Heaven, because she would be disrespected. . . but if that was the case, why did he tell us his mother's name??? Hmmmm.

    I think Pete should sing more songs from the restoration (because I really HATE the Hymns that nobody has ever heard of before - and my ward's music lady thinks it's a great idea to ONLY make us sing songs that nobody has ever heard before, and it drives me nuts) - Okay, that's my Hymns rant for the day. I had to say it somewhere. Anything by W.W. Phelps is good. :)

    Anyway, I'm loving the rodcast. Out.

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