Appreciation and Desire (1 Nephi 1)

Source material: 1 Ne 1

The opening verse of the book of Mormon is a small practical discourse on the Law of Attraction:

1 I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, … and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God …

Nephi points out the good things in his life an observes he has been favored even though he has seen afflictions.  He knows this his feelings are independent of his conditions. He also knows the importance of contrast to produce feelings of appreciation.   The Law of Attraction teaches that conditions arise from feelings, and that negative experiences themselves are gifts.

Next, we learn a little about the character of Lehi.   What is curious about Lehi is the attitude of conflict within him.  He had such a sense of judgement for the people around him that he felt compelled to stand and preach against them, drawing such ire that they wanted to kill him:

18 … Lehi, … he went forth among the people, and began to prophesy and to declare unto them concerning the things which he had both seen and heard…. [And] the Jews did mock him because of the things which he testified of them; for he truly testified of their wickedness and their abominations; … And when the Jews heard these things they were angry with him … [and] sought his life …

Lehi is in fact attracting to himself the very thing that is the focus of his attention: conflict, trouble, catastrophe.   We know he is spiritually creating these things in The Vortex because he becomes visionary about it:

6 … there came a pillar of fire and dwelt upon a rock before him; and he saw and heard much; and because of the things which he saw and heard he did quake and tremble … (13) saying: Wo, wo, unto Jerusalem, for I have seen thine abominations! Yea, and many things did my father read concerning Jerusalem—that it should be destroyed, and the inhabitants thereof; many should perish by the sword, and many should be carried away captive into Babylon.

We are peering in Lehi’s character here.  He is deeply bothered by the behavior of others and sees only abomination and destruction.  We will see soon that the answer for him is to flee.  He is creating this pattern spiritually and he will see it manifest in due time.   The lesson to you and I is that the Law of Attraction works both ways.   If your focus of attention is on a world you see as troubled and doomed to destruction, then you will attract a reality that matches that vibration.

Finally, there is this curious passage:

14 And it came to pass that when my father had read and seen many great and marvelous things, he did exclaim …  Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty! Thy .. goodness, and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth …  thou art merciful …
15 [Thus] was the language of my father in the praising of his God; for his soul did rejoice, and his whole heart was filled, because of the things which he had seen…

It is strange that Lehi should rejoice here.  He is seeing the destruction of Jerusalem after all.  But perhaps there is a higher perspective.  What Lehi is seeing in Jerusalem and is seeing unfolding for himself is that the universe is indeed granting according to our desires.  It’s possible, even in the midst of something we might see as horrible, to have a feeling of joy knowing that this is how the universe operates.