The Tree of Life

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The Tree of Life

• www.kevinhinckley.com

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Garden of Eden
St. Augustine
Fecisti nos ad te et inquietum est cor nostrum
donec requiescat in te!
God, you made us to be with you, and so our heart
is restless until we can be with you
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Egyptian Ished Tree
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Horath
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Orthic Gold Tablets600 BC
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The Hesperides were nymphs who cared for and
guarded the grove of trees that grow golden
apples in the garden of Hesperides. The name
means "Daughter of the Evening Star
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Dreams

• Hugh Nibley
• "Only one who had actually seen those
  things could have dreamed them
• only one who had been haunted by those fears and
  frightened by those situations would ever have
  been visited by them in a dream of the night."
• (Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, 6263

Question Before Lehi went to sleep that night,
what would you guess he was worried about and
what did the Lord want him to know?
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1 Nephi 8

• And it came to pass that I saw a man,
  and he was dressed in a white robe and
  he came and stood before me.
• And it came to pass that he spake unto
  me, and bade me follow him.
• And it came to pass that as I followed
  him I beheld myself that I was in a dark
  and dreary waste.
• And after I had traveled for the space of many
  hours in darkness, I began to pray unto the Lord
  that he would have mercy on me, according to the
  multitude of his tender mercies.
• And it came to pass after I had prayed unto the
  Lord I beheld a large and spacious field.
• And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose
  fruit was desirable to make one happy

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• "And I beheld a rod of iron, and it extended
  along the bank of the river, and led to the tree
  by which I stood. And I also beheld a strait and
  narrow path, which came along by the rod of iron,
  even to the tree by which I stood

Question Why is the path to the Tree of Life so
narrow?
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Harold B. Lee

• If there is any one thing most needed in
  this time of tumult and frustration, when men
  and women and youth and young adults are
  desperately seeking for answers to the
  problems which afflict mankind, it is an "iron
  rod" as a safe guide along the straight path on
  the way to eternal life, amidst the strange and
  devious roadways that would eventually lead to
  destruction and to the ruin of all that is
  "virtuous, lovely, or of good report. (Stand
  Ye in Holy Places, 351)

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President Benson

• Some of our members have become disturbed
  because of derogatory things said about the
  Church and its leaders, or because of
  misrepresentations about our doctrines or our
  practices. 
• But opposition is not new to the Church. We have
  had opposition in the past, and we shall continue
  to have opposition in the future. Do not become
  discouraged by what others say or do. Stay on the
  strait and narrow path. 
• You do this by holding fast to the iron rodthe
  words of God as contained in the scriptures and
  as given by His living servants on this earth
  (Ensign, Apr 1984, p8)

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President Benson

• "There is a power in the book that will begin to
  flow into your life the moment you begin a
  serious study of the book.  You will find greater
  power to resist temptation. You
  will find the power to avoid
  deception. You will find the power
  to stay on the strait and
  narrow path." (Ensign,
  Nov 1986, p7)