I am just starting to read king Benjamin's address again and after reading through Chapter 2 of Mosiah a couple of things really struck me. The first is how King Benjamin seems to view his mortal body and mortality itself with, if not disdain then at least with a sense of remoteness. It is as if because of his age and infirmity he is more than ready to cast off this mortal life. Throughout the chapter he speaks of his life, work and ministry in the past tense as if he is already gone and done and finished.
This seems to be important because of the way that he approaches our mortality, as a gift given by a benevolent father to, at times recalcitrant, children. King Benjamins age and infirmity have given him a clearer understanding of who we are and the relative value that we should place on obedience and sacrifice. This perspective on mortality also reinforces the importance of subliminating our will to our Father in Heaven.
The second and somewhat related point is that I wish we had more from King Benjamin. More of his sermons. He is a wonderful teacher.
3 comments:
Until I was preparing Sharing Time a couple weeks ago, I hadn't thought on Kind Benjamin in a while. As was I was preparing my lesson I came upon his sermons and was struck by what an insightful, interesting man he must have been.
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Hmm... I don't read the disdain or remoteness of which you speak. I see someone, very much like a father, who is trying to cram as many teaching opportunities as he can into what little time he has left.
I see a lot of Pres. Hinckley in King Benjamin... someone who recognized that the end was coming and tried to fill in as much service as he could. I wonder if Mrs. Benjamin had already passed on by this time.
I love his unprofitable servant analogy, really puts things into perspective.
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