Passover

Passover begins this evening. Last week a friend asked me for resources to use in putting together a Seder, or Passover meal. This is what I suggested:

I have never done a complete Seder: I doubt that they did the whole 4 hour tour de force in Jesus' day either. So, I usually serve small amounts of the traditional foods and talk about what they symbolize, what Jesus reinterpreted them as and what Passover means to us. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover_Seder_Plate

I made up my own charoset recipe using canned apple pie filling, walnuts and raisins. It is delicious. Email me if you want the recipe.

I serve lamb (rather than just a bone) because Jesus would have eaten lamb and most students I've had have never tasted lamb. I like lamb chops cut into small chunks and grilled. Eat them hot with kosher salt.

Baking the eggs sometimes causes them to explode. You can just hard-cook them most of the way and then just brown the shells for a few minutes in an oven to get the right look.

The booklet that each dinner guest has at a Passover seder is called a haggadah. They are available at most bookstores. Many are available free online: there are links below.

If you want Christian interpretation at your Seder, look for a Messianic Passover Haggadah, like these http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/haggadah.html

http://www.godonthe.net/passover/messianic_haggadah.html http://www.devotedtoyahveh.com/haggadah.htm

There are a LOT of good Jewish sources for Passover information

http://www.jewfaq.org/holidaya.htm http://www.ou.org/chagim/pesach/pesachguide/maze/basic9.htm

A simplified Haggadah to print out : http://scheinerman.net/judaism/pesach/haggadah.pdf

A complete Haggadah, English and Hebrew

http://judaism.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn=judaism&cdn=religion&tm=9&f=10&tt=14&bt=1&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.jewishfreeware.org/downloads/folder.2006-01-07.0640323187/

Here is a pretty silly songbook : tunes you know (like "Maria" and "A Spoonful of Sugar") with Passover lyrics http://judaism.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn=judaism&cdn=religion&tm=9&f=10&tt=14&bt=1&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.jewishfreeware.org/downloads/folder.2006-01-07.0640323187/

Have a good time. Rebecca Stay

Easter and the Sacrament

In Ohio I gave a talk on the Sacrament. My friend Jocelyn posted it Sunday as part of her month of Easter ideas. You might enjoy her blog.

Easter All Week Booklet

Years ago I created a booklet for reading all the scriptures from the week leading up to Easter.

The idea came from the Ensign magazine (April 1999 'Random Sampler') and the pictures from Margo Butler's New Testament Timeline, art by Richard Deland.

My friend and Seminary student, Jocelyn Hatch Christensen posted it on her blog last year. You can go there to download it.

One correction: The first scripture reference for Tuesday should be Mark 11:20-13:37. The blank front page of the booklet is just the right size for a picture from a pass-a-long card: I like Mary in the Garden Easter morning.

Easter Ideas

One of my seminary students from years ago has a lovely blog which is featuring Easter ideas from many of her friends all this month. Go on over to Jocelyn's blog and have a look. One post has a coloring book based on the Proclamation to the World on the Family. You might want to print it out for your children or grandchildren or little friends for Conference this weekend.

Week 8 : Plan of Salvation in the Old Testament

Last week we looked at the imagery of Adam and Eve walking eastward through the "temple," turning (or repenting) at the altar of sacrifice and then returning back into the holy place and holy of holies. This can be seen as a circular path, returning to one's beginning place. "Circular" is very Eastern or Hebraic.

If you draw that out in a linear (or Western) way, you end up with a straight path:
Let's label each of the rooms in the temple.
Next, we'll add which part of our lives each room now represents.
Then we add labels for which of the kingdoms or degrees of glory (see D&C 76) these rooms represent.
And, finally, change the upper labels to show how each of our lives follow the pattern or plan of salvation.

I hope that you can see that the pattern is CHIASTIC : [A B C D C' B' A']. The whole plan of salvation is a beautiful Hebrew chiastic poem, with the central focus on the most important event, the atonement of Jesus Christ, which makes repentance possible.

Week 7 : Moving Eastward in Genesis 2-4

Robert Norman has an excellent blog post showing the Old Testament Tabernacle / Temple, its furnishings and some things they symbolize. It is an excellent follow-up to our discussion of moving EASTWARD in Genesis 2-4.

Another illustration of this same idea from a chapter in "Temples of the Ancient World" (FARMS) by Donald W Parry is available here.

Plan of Salvation

Elder Packer challenged all Seminary and Institute classes to study the Plan of Salvation EVERY YEAR. Here's the outline Elder Packer gave us.

Premortal Existence
Spiritual Creation
Agency
War in Heaven
Physical Creation
Fall/Mortality
First Principles & Ordinances of the Gospel
Faith in the Lord
Repentance
Baptism
Gift of the Holy Ghost
Enduring to the End
The Atonement
Life Beyond the Grave
Spirit World
Judgment
Resurrection

I suggest that you find scriptures to support each concept USING ONLY THE OLD TESTAMENT. Good luck!

"A scripture is not limited to what it meant when it was written... it may lead to current revelation on whatever else the Lord wishes to communicate to us." (Elder Dallin H. Oaks)