So I added a new location to my list of places I have visited: Lexington, Kentucky. To be honest, I probably can't even point out where Kentucky is. I group it with other states like Louisianna and West Virginia as states that don't really seem a part of the USA - in my mind, of course! It was one of my whirlwind trips where I fly out, arrive at night, go to bed, awake early, visit the client, and fly home. So I really didn't "see" Kentucky except for the scenes from my car to the airport. I was visiting a new client - Lexmark. Who knew Lexmark came from Lexington, KY? Maybe dad did, since they were sold off by IBM back in the day. The meetings went well, the flights were fine, and Kentucky seemed to have normal people there - if not quite nice. I tried to keep to myself that I hate the Kentucky Wildcats, which was probably a wise decision.
Today on the way home from work I stopped at one of my home teaching family's and gave a blessing to the mother. This brought up a "pet peeve" of mine. During the blessing the husband stated "by the power of..." I bring this up because in my mission I remember my mission president explaining the difference between power and authority, and that we were to perform blessings by authority of the priesthood, not power. In fact, as I look here at an old priesthood manual in the section on blessings (by the way - why don't they provide these anymore? How does one figure out how to do some of these blessings these days? They used to be in the back of the manuals, but with the new "prophets" manuals, this is no longer. I had to dig up an old preisthood manual just to confirm the wording on this. Seems a little strange) it states that the priesthood holder "states that the ordinance is performed by the AUTHORITY of the Melchizedek Priesthood." Not POWER! The reason it came to my mind is because the last 10 blessings or so I have witnessed (including sick, babies, confirmations) have all said "power." Even the bishop a few weeks ago when he confirmed a new member. I know it probably isn't a huge deal, but it seems we should be much more careful with the language of our ordinances and blessings. My mission president seemed to - and I never forgot it. Maybe others did not. Have you guys noticed this as well? I mean, we make sure the baptism prayer is perfect, as well as the sacrament prayers, so why not be as exact with the other ones? Sure, a blessing is not as important as a baptism or partaking of the sacrament, but still...
2 comments:
LoL, the old power vs authority problem. I too have also been annoyed at most people saying power. I always say authority. Actually thought, the last blessing I heard said, "by the power and authority of the..." The church tried for a while to root out the issue. But it seeems the saints are either to stubborn ofr nervous to remmeber.
I admit that to avoid weird looks, I have gone the 'power and authority' route, but maybe that isn't correct. Do we really use the "power?" I mean, what is power? I guess I should look up the old doctrine of power vs. authority. I seem to remember the priesthood is the authority to act in God's name, not the power. But this may be pure semantics.
Post a Comment