My absolute favorite theme in "Added Upon" is to humble your heart and become worthy to live with God once again. In the novel, we are able to see that many of the characters needed to become humble. Heavenly Father gave them many trials which help them to humble their hearts.
I believe being humble is extraordinarily difficult for people in this world. Everybody wants to drive the fancy drives, wear the expensive clothes, be the best of the best, show everyone that they are successful and know that they are successful. I grew up in Southern California where this is extremely prevalent Many people do not take the time to notice that there life is this way because God blessed them to have these amazing lives. Seeing this so often, I try to make it a priority in my life to remember that all of my talents and gifts were given to me from God and without out him I would not be where I am today.
In Orson Whitney's talk, he discusses how people need to be humble and need to seek to live with God once more. I believe that Nephi Anderson did a fantastic job of displaying the need to have humble heart. The best display of needing to have a humble heart is when Rupert was prideful about what he had done for the city he lived in. Next thing we know, Rupert lost his house, farm, and fiancé without any notice. This is when Rupert becomes humble and changes who he is. He also joins the church at this time.
Having a humble heart is one of the most necessary thing in this life. Being prideful you nowhere in this life. We are all so blessed so just remember that Heavenly Father has given you everything!
I definitely feel that Added Upon helps us to understand God's greater perspective for our lives. Alot of the happenings in the novel seem to make little sense to us at the time but in the end come together for a greater, more heavenly purpose. When Signe departs to America for example this leads to not only her own conversion, but also to Rupert and Henrik being able to find the gospel. The message here is that God truly guides our lives.
ReplyDeleteI think you are exactly right in saying that humility is one of the major themes and important doctrines of the church then and now. It even says in the scriptures that it is "easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to get into heaven." However, I have noticed that a lot of the members of the church are very blessed to be wealthy. Maybe it's the spending habits, the ambition, or the education, but either way, it's a blessing from God. As members of the covenant, we are blessed and promised that if we pay tithing the Lord will "open the windows of heaven" and pour blessings upon our heads even that there will not be "room enough to receive it."
ReplyDeleteI don't necessarily believe that Rupert was chastised because he was rich. He really did build and bless the community that he lived in. But, I think he was humbled because he did not acknowledge the hand of the Lord in guiding him. Many of the brethren and leaders of the church (Mission Presidents, General Authorities, Stake Presidents etc.) are very, very wealthy. They are also some of the most humble and giving men I know. Because of that, we can't generalize that everybody wants to drive the nicest car or wear the fanciest clothes, or even that the people who do that aren't humble. The brethren even released a statement that City Creek Mall was a good addition across the street because they needed to dress nicely as a symbol of respect towards God. Missionaries dress nicely and drive pretty nice cars for people to take them seriously as representatives of the Lord. I think it has a lot to do with how we serve the Lord and what our priorities are, where we see the true source of our blessings.