What set Joe Strummer and The Clash apart from the majority of other late 70's and early 80's rock bands - even many other punk rock bands - was their dedication to the principles that they tried to express in their music.
Songs like “Washington Bullets” and “Spanish Bombs” describe their political concerns, including disgust with war and with American/ Western imperialism. Other songs were set closer to home, reflecting their own experiences and those of the youth of their day. "Stay Free" represents the feelings of rough-and-tumble school mates when one of them finally gets out of prison. “Lost in the Supermarket” speaks to the sense that materialism is ultimately unfulfilling and provides no real answers to a life that includes fear, loneliness or frustration. Their song "Deny" rails against dishonesty, and their cover of Clive Alphonso's “Wrong ‘em Boyo,” warned against the evils of cheating (though, ironically, their earlier tune, "Cheat," seems to extoll it, serving to highlight the frustrating contradictions in life and, perhaps, in language - the Alphonso tune speaks aginst cheating in private life against other struggling individuals, while "Cheat" seems to challenge mindlessly following rules imposed by society to the detriment of personal progress and happiness). And in the song, “Death or Glory,” they reflect on the fact that as we age some of the ideals we glorify in our youth seem to pass away, and “death or glory” becomes, for all of us, “just another story”.
Well, The Clash grew a little older and, yes, some of their dreams died away. Eventually they went their separate ways; but John, AKA, Joe, never lost touch with his principled sentiments, and in his later music we find that sometimes his reflections became even more personal, as if as he aged the state of society became less his concern than the state of the soul.
One song that I appreciate is dedicated to his own musical hero, Johnny Cash. The song is called “Long Shadow,” suggestive of Cash’s influence in music and on some people’s minds.
As you might know, Johnny Cash lived a very troubled life, struggling with his weaknesses, but by virtue of his convictions and sincerity he had an enormous reach, musically and personally, and he fully earned many people’s respect. In later years he put his trust in Jesus and hoped to find peace through His grace. One line in “Long Shadow” that represents a part of this struggle has had a particularly significant impact on me. It is short and simple, but oh so true. Strummer sings:
You don’t face your demons down, |
The principle this line so clearly reminds me of is that, so often, we are too easy on ourselves.
We are very often too quick to trust in grace, and too slow to rely upon repentance.
We know that no amount of effort on our part will ensure our salvationa: Salvation, ultimately, comes only through the merits and mercy of Jesus Christ.
But, we also know that if we do nothing but rely on God’s goodness to see us through, we will not make it to the end, or to the goal, that He has in store for us.
Once a man said to Brigham Young that he would not rely on medicine, but would simply go to the elders of the Church for a blessing, and that this should be sufficient to heal him; to which President Young replied:
That is very inconsistent with my faith. …I might as well ask the Lord to cause my wheat and corn to grow, without my plowing the ground and casting in the seed. It appears consistent to me to apply every remedy that comes within the range of my knowledge, and [then\ to ask my Father in Heaven…to sanctify that application to the healing of my body. |
If anyone reading this thinks repentance should be a simple thing, or that it is as easy as acknowledging the wrong and asking for forgiveness, perhaps with confession to a kindly priesthood leader stuck inbetween, then it would be my opinion that maybe you have not yet delved deep enough inside to find the demon sins in your heart that require more than just being faced down, but need to be grappled with and wrestled to the ground and, frankly, mourned about with sincere and possibly painful sorrow.
I am both regretful and thankful to the Lord for this process of repentance. My penitence, which is still not complete, has been one of the most difficult experiences of my life.
I have almost never found it difficult to say ‘sorry’.
I find it relatively easy to acknowledge my short-comings and
even to try to make it up to others who have been affected
by things I do wrong.
Yet deep in me are sins that cause me fear and that
my human nature tells me to avoid acknowledging
in the hopes that they might simply go away.
But the heart is a funny thing:
What goes in there,
stays in there,
and only escapes or is reformed if it is thoughtfully, diligently and deliberately
worked out.
In the book of Alma, in The Book of Mormon, a number of chapters are dedicated to telling us about war. Some people might assume, and perhaps correctly, that the purpose of these chapters is to provide counsel to leaders of the world in times of violent opposition to what is good. Mormon scholar and author, Eugene England, has written about this.
In his essay, “Moroni and His Captains,” published in The Ensign in September 1977 and also found in the book, The Book of Mormon – It Begins with a Family, he suggests that a primary purpose of these chapters is to teach us “powerful …lessons [about] the value of freedom, God’s role in preserving it, and the moral justifications for waging war to uphold [it],” and he concludes his essay with the thoughtful prayer,
“As we face the conflicts of the present world, may we be like Moroni and those humble Nephites who learned righteousness from his example.”
Brother England is, of course, right. Those chapters of The Book of Mormon can teach us a great deal about facing enemies of righteousness and freedom on the battlefield and in the social or political arenas.
But the truth is,
most of us are not professional soldiers or politicians, and
most of the dangers we face in life do not actually come from enemies who dwell outside our door;
or, if they do come from there,
they still are not the main cause of the dangers we face. Most of us face our most real and serious enemies
in more private places.
Most particularly, we face them
in our own homes
and
in our own hearts.
I believe that among the most poignant and essential ways we should strive to understand the war-time passages of The Book of Mormon, is to treat them as metaphors and guides for that spiritual battle that the Apostle Paul describes when he writes,
I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death? |
Who shall deliver me?
The Lord Jesus Christ.
By His grace, by His Atonement,
we are enabled to find the balance by which
our minds can be turned to the law of God,
even while in our bodies we still struggle
with the law of sin.
The battle we must fight, according to Paul, is a battle that takes place within our own minds, which will allow the grace of Christ to do its work: this is the battle of repentance.
In fact, the word translated as “repentance” in the New Testament is, in the original Greek language of the book, “metanoia”, μετάνοια, the most accurate translation of which is “a complete change of mind.”
Metanoia means not merely an intellectual change of
ideas, but a total transformation, or turning about, of
thought that includes our wills and our wishes, our
understanding and our intentions, and even our deeds.
This is the part we play in the salvation drama. While we rely on Christ who died on the cross to free us from our sins, we must as the prophet Moroni said, also “deny [ourselves] of all ungodliness and love God with all [our] might, mind and strength”. (Emphasis added.) Only then is our repentance complete and we become fully able to live by the Spirit and become “conquerors through him that loved us.” (Romans 8:37.)
And it is in those pages of the book of Alma that contain the war-time wisdom of Moroni and his colleagues that we can some of the essential keys to this victory.
When Captain Moroni first took command of the Nephite army, which was significantly smaller than the host of Lamanites, Zoramites, Amaleckites and others who were bearing down on them, one of the first things he did was clothe them in armour. The mere presence of this armour was enough to discourage the enemy initially. Later it also protected the majority of Nephites from death. (cf. Alma 43.)
The idea of putting on the armour of God is not unique in the scriptures. It was famously put forward first by the Apostle Paul in the Letter to the Ephesians, and is also repeated by the Lord in an 1830 revelation given to Joseph Smith in the Doctrine & Covenants.
If we are to be able to fight the good fight and
win the victory over sin, we must clothe ourselves in
faith,
truth,
righteousness,
peace,
salvation and
the Spirit.
We must
study the scriptures,
pray,
keep the Sabbath Day holy,
obey the Word of Wisdom, and
strive to keep virtuous and clean minds and bodies.
These things will fortify and protect us and keep us
directed away from the conduct that our sinful
natures would otherwise prefer.
But in addition to the elements of armour that are described in the writings of Paul and in the Doctrine and Covenants, Moroni also added to the Nephites’ outfit, “thick clothing”. (Alma 43:19.)
In a recent Sunday School class in our ward, there was some discussion about what this thick clothing might represent. Two ideas stand out as relevant to this discussion.
First, in relation to our personal efforts to repent of our sins, this thick clothing might represent the added layer of comfort and confidence that comes to us by the atonement of Jesus Christ, that makes us less likely to feel the complete sting of any blow that hits its mark, less likely to take offense, to react in anger, or to lose our self-control.
Likewise, in relation to our homes, that thick clothing can represent the effect of loving relationships that make us more inclined to choose what is good and reject what is bad.
When you parents send your young children out for the day, clothe them not only with the shield of faith and the breastplate of righteousness by morning prayer and scripture reading together, but also with your warm embrace, your whispered words of love and encouragement, which can help your child make it successfully through yet another day that could include bullies and insults, temptations and distractions. The same holds true for the love expressed to older children, to siblings and to spouses.
He made forts of their cities. He dug ditches and put up banks surrounding them, so that their enemies would have that much harder a time getting through and so that the Nephites defending their homes would have more time to strike them down.
What changes can you effect to your environment that might help you to avoid the temptations and other challenges you face?
Are you prone to depression and self-doubt, that make it hard for you to believe the Lord’s promises and therefore you fail to live up to his commands? Perhaps you could be helped by posting positive statements around your home or workplace, reminders of the great worth of your soul in the sight of God.
Or are you frequently on your computer, and subject to the temptations that are there for dangerous distractions? Perhaps it would help you to make your internet homepage the Church website, and to make your desktop and screen savers contain pictures of the Lord, or the temples, or your family.
Proactively changing your surroundings at home can help both you individually and your family members collectively to withstand the temptations of the devil.
This also includes keeping your home clean and orderly, so that it can be more calm and comforting, a place where peace and security can be felt.
But each of us has another environment to contend with. What is the make-up of the objects in your mind? Do you struggle with inappropriate thoughts? Do you see images, or form phrases or imagine ideas that you would never want to say out loud or express in public places? If so, then perhaps the environment of your inner world needs changing.
This is potentially more difficult to do, but you can help yourself by considering carefully what you put into your mind in the first place. Garbage in, garbage out, as the saying goes. Ensuring you are reading scriptures and other wholesome books, listening to uplifting music, and only watching programs on TV or movies that do not contain language or situations that are contrary to God’s commandments, can all help to furnish your mind with the things that make it worth living in.
I remember once on my mission a zone leader pointing out to me that when I remembered to read The Book of Mormon in the morning, my mood and attitude were better throughout the day.
In addition, filling your mind with the knowledge of God, and your heart with the comfort of His words of salvation, will be like the walls and spikes and moats that fortify you whenever doubters and demons try to lead you astray.
Arm yourself and alter your environment.
He would not attack his enemies in their strongholds. In fact, from the very first battle, we read that the Lamanites and other enemies were gathering together to attack the Nephites, and “therefore” the Nephites gathered their armies together in their own lands, and fought their enemies in their own borders and on their own terms.
In terms of our personal struggle with sin, in addition to suggesting we should avoid going to places where sin or temptations are prevalent, this might also mean that we don’t waste so much of our time dwelling on the things that tempt or try us, but turn our minds and our hearts to focus singly on the things of righteousness.
Having an eye single to the glory of God is frequently noted in scripture as essential to ensuring that what we do is righteous and consistent with His will. Further, as we occupy our minds with righteous focuses, such as service to others, home and visiting teaching, and studying gospel topics, we take away the time and space and opportunity for other things to enter into our thoughts and lead us away.
He erects watch-towers, he sends out scouts, and he employs the technique of sending in spies, all for the purpose of knowing what his enemy is doing.
We need to know what our enemy is doing.
In the battle within ourselves, this means to be brutally honest and self-reflective, not to avoid confronting the truth about ourselves. We need to know what our sins and weaknesses are, and what triggers them or makes them harder to resist.
Are we more prone to sin and error when we are tired or alone? Are we provoked by the words or deeds of others? Are there habits of thought or action that undermine our resolve or our confidence and cause us to do worse than we otherwise could?
If we don’t know where the attack is coming from, we cannot launch a suitable defense.
In the same way, when we seek to protect our families from sinful influences, we need to know where they arise. Again, movies, TV and music, can be means of bringing evil influences into our homes. But difficulties might also come from neighbours and friends whose demands on our time and attention are for solely worldly purposes or pursuits; even other family members and employers who do not share our faith can be used as tools of the Adversary to attack our resolve with respect to such things as honouring the Sabbath Day, attending Church or obeying the Word of Wisdom.
But for this purpose of being watchful, Moroni does not rely solely on himself or his soldiers. At times he sends for the insights of Alma, who stood in the office of the prophet of God.
We too can obtain much greater clarity about the sources and directions of the threats that exist to ourselves and our families in this day and age by seeking out and listening carefully to the words of the prophets.
In one year's General Conference, for example, President Monson warned the priesthood to learn and do our duty; and he warned all members against the over-busy-ness of our lives and advised that we change what needs to be changed and resolve to do what needs to be done to be part of God's work on the earth; he told us to have faith in Jesus’ promises when faced with the tragedy of death, and that though we live in troubled times, we can trust in the love of our Heavenly Father and call upon Him in prayer; and he admonished,
“may your homes be filled with love and courtesy and the Spirit of the Lord. Love your families. If there are disagreements or contentions among you, I urge you to settle them now.”
Such messages, counsel, advice and admonition come annually, and even more often, through General Conferences and other opportunties to hear the words of living prophets and apostles of Jesus Christ. Are we heeding and applying them?
I am confident that as we do, and as seek to employ all the kinds of techniques that Moroni taught to his people, adapting them or their meanings to the needs and circumstances of our homes and our private lives, we will discover even more of the grace God has given us through His Son Jesus Christ, and represented in the scriptures, including The Book of Mormon, every page of which is a testament of Jesus Christ and provides us with a sure guide for following Him.
I believe that there is no greater work we can be involved in than the work of personal repentance by which we can have pure hands and pure hearts fit to provide more perfect service to the Lord and His people. I pray that each of us will have the gifts of the Spirit we need to engage sincerely and successfully in this holy work.