The Spirit of Elijah

I taught a lesson Sunday on Elder Bednar’s Oct. Ensign talk, “The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn.” 

Elder Bednar’s talk focused heavily on genealogy and temple work of course, but he also encouraged the youth to get involved in genealogy. With so many genealogical resources now on technologies' fingertips, the youth are well-equipped to master it.

I was curious about so much of what Elder Bednar said that I started looking at additional sources and what I found was highly enlightening.

I started first with a program I remembered on BYUTV.org called the Generations Project.  The Generations Project showcases various individuals yearning to learn more about their ancestors often in response to a need in their lives.

The episode called “Amber” was about a mom with a little girl who was having a hard time fitting in. Her father was African-American and her mother was Caucasian.

She felt like the odd-one out in her predominately white surrounding and was struggling with issues of self-esteem, which of course affected her behavior. In the course of leaning about her father’s side of the family, the mother noticed her little girl blossoming again and regaining her old zest for life.

I do think there is a pull for everyone, regardless of religion, to find out where they came from and who there ancestors were, and if the youth can be strengthened through genealogy, as Amber's daughter was, then it really is a saving ordinance.

Another resource I looked at of course was the scripture passage in Malachi 4, which Christ also repeats in 3 N 25. The passage relates to the second coming of Christ and starts the first verse with:

“For behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.”

And the last verse of course is the famous:

“And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” (Malachi 4:1,6)

The line in the first verse that talks about roots and branches made me think of a family tree. Trees are certainly a common symbol in scripture. We have the Tree of Life, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and other references to trees in parables. Where the symbol of a tree being used as a genealogical system originated, I don’t know, but the idea of a Family Tree is very fitting.

Just take a look at the first verse in Malachi 4, …”it shall leave them neither root nor branch," or neither ancestors nor descendants. If you think of a tree that has it’s branches and roots removed, the part left over is basically firewood, so the idea in verse one that the earth will burn like an oven is also fitting.

This tree analogy led me to research the ancient art of grafting and what I found stunned me...and just for the record, I will never look at Jacob 5 the same:

Grafting in horticulture is the uniting of one part of a plant, called a scion, to another root plant or tree.

Now a scion has multiple meanings. It’s the part of the plant being grafted and also descendant or heir.

Grafting is an ancient practice. The Chinese were practicing grafting before 2000 BC. Grafting today is practiced for much the same reasons. Apple trees are commonly grafted. When a desirable trait from one tree might produce a desirable trait in another, a scion is cultivated and grafted into the root tree.

For example, grafting can help speed the maturity of the tree and its ability to bear fruit. It can introduce disease resistant properties or even heal the root tree. Grafting can introduce pollenizer like crab apples for example, that are often grafted into other apple trees to pollenate the entire tree.

Grafting can in short, heal, introduce hardier traits, increase fruit production, speed up fruit production, provide pollenizers, repair damage, and maintain consistency of the harvest.

Grafting can also join different varieties of like species. For example, sometimes multiple varieties of apples are introduced onto one tree. An experienced gardener knows how the prune and care for the tree so that one fruit doesn’t dominate over the others and weaken the tree.

Another interesting fact about grafting is that once the scion is placed in position on the root tree, the incision or gap must be sealed with some type of adhesive or sealant so that the two parts can grow together. Once the scion and the root plant tissue have grown together, the graft becomes part of the tree.

I still have a lot to learn about the Spirit of Elijah, but nature made this lesson more comprehensible to me about the importance of understanding our roots, cultivating our branches and making sure we're all properly sealed together. 

P.S. Let me apologize for the sloppy way this is written. I had to hurry. Two sick kids and much to do :)