King and sons of God[1]“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” -1 John … Continue reading
Travel on their way from the earth[2]“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on … Continue reading
Coming restless mile
Easing[3]“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your … Continue reading all of them, all of them for you
Strange times are here[4]“For the Lord shall rise up […] that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.” -Isaiah 28:21; c.f. D&C 101:94-95
Strange times are here
Statue in the square
Meant so much when we first met
People come from far and near[5]“I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.” Isaiah 57:19
Bless them in, bless them everyone[6]“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and … Continue reading
Strange times are here[7]“For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.” -Acts 17:20
Strange times are here[8]“I have written to him the great things of my law, [but] they were counted as a strange thing.” -Hosea 8:12
Sadie[9]Potential reference to frontman Dan Auerbach’s daughter Sadie, born in 2008, the same year this song was released dry your tear[10]“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed … Continue reading
I will be the one
To pull you through the mirror[11]“For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten … Continue reading
Before you come, before you come undone[12]“I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” -Isaiah 6:5; 2 Nephi 16:5; … Continue reading
Strange times are here[13]“And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day.” -Luke 5:26
Strange times are here[14]This is also an underrated Halloween song, IMHO; c.f. “Strange” by Wire (1977).
Strange times are here[15]Is is not encoded into the very name of our Church, that these are the Latter-days, and the strangest times of all are at long last here?
Strange times are here[16]I knew this gorgeous girl in SLC back in the day, daughter of a seminary teacher, who was obsessed with this song in college. She later came out as queer. Strange times are here–the Lord keeps … Continue reading
References
| ↑1 | “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” -1 John 3:2 (c.f. Moroni 7:48). |
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| ↑2 | “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” -Hebrews 11:13.
This verse is often cited as our strongest Biblical evidence for the doctrine of pre-mortal existence, which is extant in virtually no other Christian sects, even though it resolves, just, so many different theological problems (e.g. why does God, if He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-goodness, allow evil and suffering in this world? The problem becomes much less intractable when you frame this earth life as not an end unto itself, but a proving ground for eternal spirits co-existent with god, to “prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them” (Abraham 3:25). |
| ↑3 | “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” -Matt. 11:28-30 |
| ↑4 | “For the Lord shall rise up […] that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.” -Isaiah 28:21; c.f. D&C 101:94-95 |
| ↑5 | “I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.” Isaiah 57:19 |
| ↑6 | “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” -Matt. 5:43-45; 3 Nephi 12:43-45.
That is, if we are to be the children of God alluded to in the first verse, then we really must bless everyone–yes, even our worst enemies. |
| ↑7 | “For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.” -Acts 17:20 |
| ↑8 | “I have written to him the great things of my law, [but] they were counted as a strange thing.” -Hosea 8:12 |
| ↑9 | Potential reference to frontman Dan Auerbach’s daughter Sadie, born in 2008, the same year this song was released |
| ↑10 | “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” -Revelations 21:4 |
| ↑11 | “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.” -James 1:23. If, then, we are to go through the mirror, then we must be active doers of the Word, not just passive hearers. |
| ↑12 | “I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” -Isaiah 6:5; 2 Nephi 16:5; c.f. “Undone (The Sweater Song)” by Weezer (1994). |
| ↑13 | “And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day.” -Luke 5:26 |
| ↑14 | This is also an underrated Halloween song, IMHO; c.f. “Strange” by Wire (1977). |
| ↑15 | Is is not encoded into the very name of our Church, that these are the Latter-days, and the strangest times of all are at long last here? |
| ↑16 | I knew this gorgeous girl in SLC back in the day, daughter of a seminary teacher, who was obsessed with this song in college. She later came out as queer. Strange times are here–the Lord keeps sending them to us–and we are to bless them all, otherwise we are not the children of God. |