Patriarchal Blessings are given to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by the Lord through ordained patriarchs and usually contain counsel and promised blessings to the individual based on his or her faithfulness. Because of the personalized nature of these blessings, they should be considered sacred. Members of the church are generally discouraged from reading their blessings out loud or sharing them with others outside of their immediate family. In this post, I will share three short lines from my patriarchal blessing, which give only the most general idea of the content. The vast majority of my blessing will not be shared. I'm aware that this is very much the electronic equivalent of reading portions of my blessing out loud (in a public square), but I believe that the passages are short enough to maintain the personalization and sacredness of the blessing. More importantly, I feel prompted by the Spirit to share these things as they appear below.
The three most interesting paragraphs of my blessing appear in order right in the middle of the blessing. There are several short paragraphs before these three, and a few longer ones after these three, but the Lord put the most interesting parts to my life at this time right in the middle.
First, the part that I think and hope has largely been fulfilled:
"It is important to continue your education. As you enter institutions of higher learning, you will be able to discern between right and wrong and cleave to the principles of truth."I say that I hope that this is mostly fulfill because I'm oh-so-close to getting my master's degree and, at this time, I don't plan on getting a third degree... ever. If the Lord needs/wants me to get a Ph.D., I won't fight him on it, but I have basically no desire to do so of myself.
The part that's almost eerily prophetic is that it states that I will enter institutions of higher learning; plural. At this point, I've studied for two different degrees at three different institutions and have, most of the time, had a spirit of discernment about me. I have largely been able to discern truth from fallacy in what I've seen, heard, and been taught, and have been able to choose what is good.
Next, the part that I'm so in the middle of, it's slightly painful:
"The Lord knows the righteous desires of your heart. You will be called to serve a mission to take the message of the gospel to many who have never had an opportunity to receive it."When I went to get my patriarchal blessing in 2006, the patriarch asked me a few questions about myself so that he'd have a better idea of who I am and what my blessing should contain. At some point, he asked me about my goals or aspirations for the future were... or something like that, I honestly don't remember the question or his response to it. However, I do remember the Spirit actively engaging my vocal cortex to cause me to say, "I'd like to go on a mission." The response to that statement came as the first sentence of the passage I shared above. It didn't seem that profound at the time, but little did I know...
During the five, or so, years that I was called to not serve, I took that first sentence as a mild consolation that I would still be able to serve, probably later in life, as a senior missionary. Since September or October, when I found out that I would, apparently, be able to serve in my youth, the entire process involved with having that first sentence in my blessing has blown my mind open so wide, you could fit a softball through it. This has been a clear testimony to me of the omnipotence, omniscience, and infinite love of the Lord for me, on an individual level. It's like the Lord walking out of an alley, taking off his tie, and saying "Like so," but on a much grander and more powerful scale. (Don't worry if you don't catch that reference, but bonus points if you do.)
Finally, the part that remains unfulfilled:
"[T]he time will come in your life when you will desire to marry. You will be lead to one of God's righteous daughters who is choice and has a testimony of the gospel."I'm not honestly sure how the first sentence will manifest itself. I mean, I've felt some desire to marry for a while, but it's almost like the Lord is saying, "No, you have not yet begun to feel a desire to marry!" It kind of scares me... in possibly the least scary way imaginable.
The more profound portion of this statement is in the second sentence. The Lord states, in no uncertain terms, that there is not only a woman for me, but that he will actively lead me to her when the time is right. At times I've worried that there worried be a woman for me or that other things would get in the way, but the answer is pretty clearly, "Quit freaking out, dude, I got this," or probably something a little more eloquent. If I will maintain faith, I can know that not only will there be a woman for me, but that the Lord will lead me to her in a way that will probably be about as obvious as an angel holding a blinking neon sign reading, "Pick This One!"
At various times in my life, I've had trouble cultivating and maintaining that faith to trust in the Lord. Because I couldn't discern a clear path to the blessings based on the trends that I saw at the time, I didn't want to believe that they would be mine. However, as I've continued to walk in the path that the Lord has set for me, I've watched the blessings unfold and become manifest in precisely the way that he assured me they would be. He could see the end from the beginning, even though I could not. At the moment, even though I cannot discern, in particular, how the Lord will bless me with an eternal marriage and family, he has assured me, in no uncertain terms, that he will provide me with the opportunity to receive such. Unlike the me of old, I want to maintain faith and resolve to trust in the Lord and his goodness that he will provide the blessings that he has promised me. I've doubted him before, but I'm going to do my best to not do it again.
