"Now I would that ye should understand that the word of God was liberal unto all, that none were deprived of the privilege of assembling themselves together to hear the word of God.
Nevertheless the children of God were commanded that they should gather themselves together oft, and join in fasting and mighty prayer in behalf of the welfare of the souls of those who knew not God."
Alma 6:5-6
This is interesting. I really like the focus on knowing God, because that is so amazingly important... That personal relationship with God is of singular and primary importance. As we pray and listen, we understand the primacy of that relationship and how important it is for all of us.
I also like the idea that we meet together in unity in order to bless the lives of others... That it is about all of us as a community of God's children and less about each of us individually. Often, when we focus on ourselves, even if it is something good like our own salvation, we can lose sight of other people and how we all fit together. It is really easy to get selfish, to focus on our own suffering, our own problems, our own insecurities, and we forget what other people are facing and how we can help. On the other hand of course, there is the whole mote-beam idea. When we are thinking of sin and perfection, we often turn to look at faults in others rather than noticing them in ourselves first. So, there is a balance... focusing on improving ourselves, and focusing on serving and helping others in a non-judgmental way. Maybe, if today we take this advice to focus on our relationships with God, and fast and pray for others, especially those that know not God, we'll come up with the right balance.
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