HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Each day is another year gone by and each year is another landmark in our lives.
We focus on certain land marks such as births, deaths, anniversaries and other various events with monumental meaning, forgetting the greatness of each day.

When I wake up do I look around and focus on what’s right in my life or what’s wrong? Have I piled up walls around me of the bad and negative things and imprisioned myself by it each day? Have given in to Lucifer’s invitation to anger, depression, hopelessness, contention, pride, and sadness or have I chosen to surround myself with the goodness and positives that encourage my own goodness, hope, joy and love?

The sun rises and sets each day, regardless if I see it or not. Some days the Sun’s rays are blocked by heaven’s clouds and some days the Sun’s rays are blocked by my own clouds. Recently I’ve found strength in know that although there are days I may not see the sun and it‘s light , or feel it’s warmth, I KNOW the sun is there. Sometimes its minutes before the sun appears and sometimes its days. But I know its’ there and soon I will see it’s brightness and feel it’s warmth. I only need to be patient and wait. While I wait, I do those things that keep me patient until I can see the light and feel the warmth of the sun again: I wear warm clothing to protect me from the cold. I use lights and other things to help me see and to guide my way throughout the day so the visual absence of the sun doesn’t hinder my everyday life. Doing these things gives me comfort, patience, peace, love and it sustains me.



Each day by focusing on the things that give me comfort, peace and love it seems to attract and increase more of those things. (Is this what is meant by “The Law of Attraction?”) And those things of a negative, depressing nature seem to fade. And it’s not that they really disappear, they just sort of fade away to a point where their importance has diminished greatly and they become easier and less tedious to deal with. I’m anxious to deal with them so those things can be replaced with something more positive.



Take some time this Thanksgiving to think about those things that give you patience, peace and love. Seek them out daily to sustain you, until the sun begins to shine again in your life. You may not always feel it, you may not always see it, but know that the sun is ALWAYS there. There are always things to be grateful for each day and focusing on them will create even more things to be grateful for each day. I promise :)

Homework: Now go back and reread this and replace the meaning of "The Sun" with "THE Son" after clicking this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUhU0HgTq94

And have a BEAUTIFUL Day and a Happy Thanksgiving!

The Lord Will Not Force Himself Upon People;

"...And if they do not believe, they will receive no visitation. If they are content to depeond upon their own limited calculations and interpretations, then, of course, the Lord will leave them to their choesn fate...
... The almighty is with his people. We shall have all the revealations that we shall need if we do our duty and keep th ecommandments of God....
Remember:
If there be eyes to see, there will be visions to inspire
If there be ears to hear, there will be revealations to experience
If there be hearts which can understand, know this: That the exalting truths of Christ's gospel will no longer be hidden and mysterious, and all earnest seekers my know God and his program..."
(Teachings of Presidents of the Church, Spencer W Kimball; Chapter 22)
Today we discussed how we can be prepared to recieve revealation. Each of us have the ability to recieve it regarding our lives and those we have special fellowship over. The great thing about revealation is that it's one of MANY ways the Lord communicates with us. The most important things we need to remember about recieving revealations is we must be willing to put in the effort of being worthy and willing to recieve it. If we keep in mind that Heavenly Father wants us to succeed and will aide in that success if we do our part. Doing our part is usually more than just dropping to our knees and issuing up a quick "holla back, Lord." Jumping up and then continuing on our way. I know at least for me it usually takes more than just that. I will say, however on times when I do feel closest to the Lord, some times it is just that easy. Those times are rare indeed.

I've been working on the passed few months increasing my Faith in God the father and his son Jesus Christ. I've got some close to heart issues I've been working on and they have been of great concern for me for quite some time. I've half heartedly offered up prayers in answer to my questions regarding these things but must admit I've not really paid much attention to what could be the answers. A couple of things come to mind as to why:

1. Is there a certain "pay off" being in a state of ignorance?

I would have to say yes. There's very little ownership or responsibility.
It allows me to be spiritually lazy. And if it's something I have no real desire to take care of in my life, then I make the choice of being dumb to the situation. If i don't know what steps to take to move forward, then I don't have to take responsibility or accountability to act on it.

2. Am I ready for the answer?
In most cases, I am ready for the answer. And upon recieving that answer, I'm usually pretty quick to act. I have energy and focus take the answer and immediately apply it. It is very rare that I have a situation I'm not ready to recieve the answer on. But I think this is the case with my current situation. I'm unclear of what I'll have to do if I recieve the answer and if it's not what I would like it to be, I'm not sure I'm strong enough to act on it.

*sigh* What's a girl to do? Well one thing about me is I really don't like for things to be unsettled. Because it keeps resurfacing and that's just annoying. Toward the end of Relief Society our focus was brought to Enos Chapter 1 vs 4 in the Book Of Mormon:

"And my soul hungered and I knelt before my Maker and I cried unto him in
mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached into the heavens..."

Tell me that's not a man who was prepared for revealation. He not only was prepared for it, he was anxious for it. Ready for it. Willing to do what was needed to impliment it when he rec'd it.

That's how we need to become when we are seekin answers to prayers, or aide in situations that are beyond ourselves. We gotta want it. We gotta be hungry for it. We gotta be intentional. And we are and THEN seek Heavenly Father to recieve it, it shall be given. The Lord said in

Matthew 21:22: And all things whatsoever ye ask in prayer believing, ye shall recieve.

In 1 nephi 15: 11: Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and aske me in faith believing that ye shall recieve with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you.

There is no reason for the Lord to withhold information or blessings from of if we and THEY are righteous.
We did recieve homework at the end of the class. Well anyone who is going to church goes home with homework, or should, at least in my opinion. So maybe I'll say we were given a challenge.

Here is the Challenge:

"Do you want guidance? Have you prayed to the Lord for inspiration? Do you want to do right or do you want to do what you want to do whether or not it is right? Do you want to do what is best for you in the long run or what seems more desirable for the moment? Have you prayed? How much have you prayed? How did you pray? Have you prayed as did the Savior of the world in Gethsemane or did you ask for what you want regardless of its being proper? Do you say in your prayers: “Thy will be done”? Did you say, “Heavenly Father, if you will inspire and impress me with the right, I will do that right”? Or, did you pray, “Give me what I want or I will take it anyway”? Did you say: “Father in Heaven, I love you, I believe in you, I know you are omniscient. I am honest. I am sincerely desirous of doing right. I know you can see the end from the beginning. You can see the future. You can discern if under this situation I present, I will have peace or turmoil, happiness or sorrow, success or failure. Tell me, please, loved Heavenly Father, and I promise to do what you tell me to do.” Have you prayed that way? Don’t you think it might be wise? Are you courageous enough to pray that prayer?" (Teachings of Presidents of the Church, Spencer W Kimball; Chapter 22)

Am I courageous enough to pray that prayer? Usually, YES, absolutely without a doubt. But as to this current situation.... I wasnt. But now, I feel I am. If Im not, my own personal challenge is to prepare myself to be in a place to be courageous enough to pray that prayer very soon. THAT prayer is a life changing prayer. Whatever That prayer is for you, you have to really be ready and willing to pray it. There is a mighty strength and humility to praying THAT prayer because it will require action. That action may be to stop doing somethings that maybe you shouldn't be doing. It may require you to take people out of your life or place them in a more appropriate place or distance in your life. It requires you to prioritize. It requires you to act in a way that is conducive to the answer Heavenly Father has provided. It requires you to take responsibility and be accountable for following or NOT following the council recieved.

My Grandma would say... "girl, before you ask the question MAKE SURE you want to know the answer, cuz you just might get it." Amen to that Grandma.

I hope that as we all look at where we are in our lives regardless of activity or status in the church we will all prepare ourselves to be courageus enough to pray THAT prayer.

President Kimball also said:

"If one rises from his knees having merely said words, he should fall back on his knees and remain there until he has established communication with the Lord who is very anxious to bless, but having given man his free agency, will not force himself upon that man..."


"...And if they do not believe, they will receive no visitation. If they are content to depeond upon their own limited calculations and interpretations, then, of course, the Lord will leave them to their choesn fate..."


Good Luck with Praying THAT prayer!

Cuz That's How I Roll!

My daughter, now 17 came up to me when she was about 8 yrs old and said..

"Mom, how come we don't have pictures with black people on the walls?The only pictures of black people are you and me"

Hhhhmmmmm!

So I looked around the walls of my apt and notice she was right. And it was a great question. We had pictures of a couple of temples, the first presidency of the church, a little girl sitting at the knee of Christ. A man returning with honor for his earthly journey and into the arms of God the Father, The Christus, A family in front of the temple... I guess what I'm trying to say is we had pictures in our home of all those nicey nice LDS eternal goals and things. It was LDS art. But we couldn't find any art at the time that had multi cultural families depicted. Usually it wouldn't matter, because up until this point, it didn't matter at least to me. As I listened to her ask some more questions and thing about things out loud, I heard what she WASN'T asking. And what she wasn't asking was this:

We have pictures of all these people receiving all these blessings and ordinances of our Church, but none of them really identify with me as a little black girl.

How do I know this was what she was asking? Cuz we discuss it through the years as she got older.

I started being intentional about finding art that depicts some of our culture as black women and as LDS women.

Here are some of my treasures. It's mostly photo's of the photo's in my home now so excuse the flash lighting on the pics.

This blanket means very much to me. I use it a lot of my youth firesides I do called "Tapestry"

Each individual color and strand of this tapestry plays and important roll in the final design of the blanket. Just as each of God's children and their individual beauty plans an important roll in the Lords Final design. Together in our different colors, shapes and sizes we are the Lords Masterpiece. Just as this Blanket is a masterpiece.

I went through a phase where I collected black angels. I don't know why but I wanted black angels. Some of my white friends asked me "why does it matter?" I said it doesn't matter Per Se, I just want what I want and I want black angels. When I asked them why they had white angels, white dolls, white greeting cards and such they shut up really quick. That's who they are and its' what their family identifies with. It's not some great issue, it's just what I wanted. They also thought a Black Santa clause was weird. Well the Santa that came to my house each year was black. No biggie, he just was. Why wouldn't he be? Anyway I found this tapestry blanket in a magazine a few years ago. It's called "FAITH" I purchased about 10 or 12 of these blankets. I gave one to my mom, step mom, sister in law, sister, daughter and various other friends.

I have a friend who lives a couple hours north of me. When I met him he was going through a very VERY Rough time. I think he appreciates this blanket more than anyone else I've given them to. When he found out I was LDS he basically went off on me saying

"I guess it was nice knowing you, I haven't been to church in years...."

I had to tell him... "I'm not sure what that has to do with anything, but I've enjoyed getting to know you. If you feel you need to move on, then I can accept and respect that. I don't care "

He was shocked. And we became pretty good friends

I remember one year he said Christmas hasn't come for me in years. So that year, for Christmas I gave him just a book filled with uplifting quotes about life and the difficult times we go through and the blessings we receive and sometimes forget. I fell in love with my Dakota Moon C.D so I have him that as well & with that I also gave him one of the blankets. I think he said he framed it and hung it on his wall. That was about 8 years ago. I recently was in touch with him. He had gotten married and was in the middle of a divorce. He said to me.

"I still have that blanket you gave me. You must be my black angel, because when times are hard without even knowing, you appear back into my life to help me along, just like an angel."

My response to him was... " I AM YOUR BLACK ANGEL!" Many people have called me their Angel. My Halo may be tarnished at times and some feathers may be missing from my wings but I AM an angel.

I love Jason. I love this blanket. And I love being a black angel :)


This is probably my favorite photo of all time.

It used to be part of a calendar I had. Some of my earliest memories are my mother reading to us from the bible. This was before we were baptized members of the church. This reminds me of my mom in her greatest moments of trials and strength. What's really amazing about this piece of artwork is, it also reminds me of my Grandma, my mother's mom. Because I see images of her as well sitting on her couch with her bible open watching the PTL club. So for me this is timeless of all the Mama's and Grandmama's in my family. It reminds me of them all because they were very into knowing and studying their scriptures. I want some day for this picture to remind those in my family of me.

This is probably my next favorite piece.

If I could find a wall size print of this I'd put it in my living room.

This is a greeting card I actually framed. It's of the Prophet Joseph Smith imprisoned. Feeling forgotten, burdened and alone

There's not a man, woman or child on earth who can't or wont identify with this picture sometimes if not many in their lives. If I look at it long enough it brings me to tears. I've had many dark days this year when I have literally broke down and looked towards heaven searching for comfort, hope, relief, protection and love. The beauty is I have received! This one is very dear to me.

This is a favorite with the Sisters in the ward when they come over and chill.

It's pretty self explanatory: My Black Moses!

SHOOT! Who wouldn't mind a black Moses to come along and rescue them from the things we're a slave to in this world. "LET MY PEOPLE GO!"

Dreads, staff, and alla that! What I like most about it, is the look in his eye. He knows, that he knows, that he knows there is a force behind him that Pharaoh will never be able to stand a chance against. He just knows it. His look is determined with faith unwavering. HE BELIEVES.

And best of all, he's right over my fire place mantle :)

It reminds me to try and have that look in my eyes. I want to look like I know, that I know, that I KNOW!

This one is called the the Baptism

It reminded me of a program I saw called "Pioneer Saints in Africa." Or something like that on BYU-TV.

Most people don't realize that back in the 1960's in Africa there were literally stakes waiting to be baptised. But the church didn't send missionaries to Africa at the time. For 18 years some people waiting to become members of my church. I recall the words of a man who went in for his baptismal interview and as he was asked each question he replied, "yes, I've been living that way for 18 years." ATE-TEEN-YEERZ!

WOW! All I can say is WOW. How many of us can't go one week w/o breaking a baptismal or temple covenant? (that's a whole other blog, yeah?)

The way has been paved and we are so blessed to be in a time when all the blessings and knowledge of the gospel are available to us at the touch of our fingertips and in our homes.

This picture reminds me of my daughter when she was about that age.

Right down to the hair.

My daughter was always pretty self content and self entertaining. She would lay on the couch, put a cover on her head and play peek-a-boo all by herself and just giggle away. Once when she was about 4 or 5 she saved some water melon seeds and planted them. She took a plastic spoon and dug a small hole with it, put in her handfuls of seeds and put a mound of dirt on top of it. She would even go out and water it a couple times a week. One day she was staring out the window.

"Boppy, what you lookin at?" I asked her.

"I waiting for my plant to grow mommy!"

"Really?!" I said, half enthused.

And that was that. I didn't pay any more attention to her and this plant. I figured it would die and she would forget about it. A couple months later I noticed this crazy vine in the bush area of our apt complex. didn't pay too much attention to it. By the end of summer this vine was out of control and even growing around the rails to the upstairs apartments. Turns out that my child grew water melon that summer. The whole apartment complex enjoyed several water melons that summer. During the fall the apartment owners ripped out their bushes and began to grew squash and watermelon from now on. Yeah, I have a pretty cool kid. This reminds me of her childhood. I think I learned more from her than she'll ever learn from me.

Another Favorite with the women who come over!

I liked this for a few reasons. It's called the FIRST SUPPER.

There's 13 really buff men in this photo depicting the LAST SUPPER. Their skin is all different shades of chocolate and Carmel. And EVERYONE loves chocolate and Carmel. Yes I know it's an Black vision of the first supper, you can tell by the watermelon and other fruits. And don't trip, I happen to love watermelon AND I'm addicted to fried chicken. Now what?

I figure the olive or darker skin and woolen hair is probably more accurate anyway.

I love this Statue!

It's not elegant or expensive or anything like that. But It's me and my girl. When I decided to keep my baby girl the song that played in the radio was Bobby Browns... "every little step I take, you will be there." And the other song that has been running through my mind the last 18 years is "just the 2 of us. We can make it if we try just the two of us." I was pleased when Will Smith did the remix of that song with his son.
This is the close up.

It speaks to my cultural side, my motherhood, my spiritual side, my whimsical and funny side, my sexy side. (Yeah, I do have sexy side somewhere in there). I reminds me that my I AM all those things, cultural, mom, spiritual, whimsical, funny and sexy. My daughter are is becoming these things as well.

They aren't much I know but they've helped keep a healthy cultural balance at least in my immediate home. My family is pretty well integrated and I'm proud of that. To take a disliking to any one culture because it would be me disliking a part of myself.

We also have the Typical LDS art in our home: temple, Christis, family pictures and such. This year i want to start a wall with friends and their families on my wall. What better way to have a feeling of joy and love in your home a wall dedicated to those friends and family members you love. Also if you feel you are struggling with finding art you can use anything. I have several greeting cards in 5x7 frames. Same with calendar photo's and just crazy picture's I've taken myself.

Anything that helps create a feeling of love and happiness and uplifting should be displayed in your home, because as you feel these things, so will those who enter.

........ If there is anything virtuous lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things!

"I GOT YO BACK!"

In the LDS world yesterday, just as every first Sunday of the month was fast Sunday. That means we've skipped 2 meals and given the money we would have spent on those meals to fast offering to help feed the poor and add funds to the church welfare system. It also means that our Sacrament meeting would be a testimony meeting. That's where members of the congregation are able to stand and bear witness to the truthfulness of God the father, his son Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Ghost as well as other Gospel truths : the power of prayer, having faith, priesthood power and so on.
Let's talk about priesthood power. We believe that priesthood is the power on earth to act in the name of God.
Elder Groberg in his 2001 April Conference address (priesthood session) said:

"Just as clean wires, properly connected, are required to carry electrical power, so clean hands and pure hearts are required to carry priesthood power. Filth and grime slow or prevent the flow of electrical power. Unclean thoughts and actions interfere with individual priesthood power. When we are humble, clean, and pure of hand, heart, and mind, nothing righteous is impossible."

I think this is one of the best descriptions of Priesthood power I've ever heard.

Yesterday in sacrament a baby was blessed. Another of our LDS typical ordinances done on fast Sunday. The Brother conducting the meeting called forth all the men who would be in the blessing circle. A few men, typically male family members of the baby and it's parents are those who come forth. The father holds the baby in the right palm of his hands, those in the circle place their right hands under the baby to support him/her as well and then place their left hand on the shoulder of the brother in front of him, connecting them altogether in a circle. A blessing is then pronounced upon the baby. It was a beautiful blessing. But what really captures my attention was the blessing circle. When they called for the those who were asked to be in the circle men just kept coming and coming. There were altogether, i think 17 men, it that circle. It was the 2nd largest circled I'd ever seen. The size of the circle doesn't really matter it's all about the worthiness of the men and the power they hold to present the child to the Lord.
Typically I closed my eyes during these things but for some reason I was mesmerized by the men in the circle. 17 of them. I looked at their hands on the backs of their brothers and all I knew about the power of the prieshood came to mind.

I wanted to shout... " HEY! THA'S AN AWESOME FRATERNITY Y'ALL BELONG TO!" It really is. Men of God standing righteously together with his power. Who wouldn't want to be a member of that brotherhood. And the symbolism of their hand on the shoulders of their brother in front of them as if to say.... "It's Ok, man, Cuz I GOT YO BACK!" A BAND OF BROTHERHOOD! I made me giddy with delight!

I thought about that all through sacrament.... that Priesthood power is the same as saying... "I Got Yo BACK!" Never have I seen such a fantastic visual example of it! It actually made me giddy inside thinking of all those around me in that building that had my back from Bishopric down to the little 4 year old Joey who ran in front of me yelling,
"I get the door for you sister "Duglee."

I laughed. My hands were full my arms had stuff spilling over the top of them. He pronounced my name wrong but I had no doubt that 4 year old, he had my back!

I closed my eyes and my thoughts went to a friend of mine, in a suite, standing in that priesthood fraternity. His brothers hold up his baby, and their hand on his back as if to hold him up as well. I heard his voice trembling, overcome with emotion speaking the words of a beautiful blessing.
*sigh* alas, that was just a day dream but it felt real to me, I became emotional at the thought of such a wonderful experience and opportunity for him.

I think of all the men I know who have that power or should have that power. I know some phenomenal men. I know some shady men. I know some good men. Most claim this power of the priesthood. The Good thing about this power is that it mostly works on YOUR faith in God. That means, I don't need to get a priesthood blessing from the Prophet, or an Apostle or a bishop. I can get it from my next door neighbor, or my brother or my best friend or even the guy sitting next to me at work, because the power is the same. But I'm finding it's very important to encourage the men around us to be worthy of it, and to hold true to standards of blessings of having that power.
"Don't get caught without it!"
We used to tell the guys in college. Because
I remember a time in college when I was hurt ...Let's just say there was a lot of blood involved and I ended up in the E.R. I asked one of the guys who went with me if he could give me a blessing. He couldn't. He was ashamed. I was upset I put him in a situation that was embarrassing for him. My asking just did not make the night any better for either one of us. This was a ward brother of mine who was not in great standing to practice his priesthood power. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't have my back. Toward the end of the school year, he and I went out hiking and he talked about that day in the E. R. He thanked me for asking him that "dreaded question."

"I felt so horrible that I couldn't give you what you needed that day. And I began to think of others I cared about, that I should be prepared and worth to administer to, and how disappointing it was that I was not in a worthy position to act in the name of God if needed. I decided that Day I never wanted to experience that kind of shame again. So thank you."

WOW! Told ya that was an AWESOME FRATERNITY to belong to.

Back to my visual.... The circle of brethren together, hands on the shoulders. I can't think of anything that says "I got your back" more than that.

We should never be shy, ashamed or hesitant to expect our priesthood holders to perform those duties we need. We should hold them accountable to be worthy to hold that power which they claim. We should lovingly encourage them to be worthy of it, never holding it over their heads or rubbing it in their faces or demeaning them if they are not in a position to perform that power.
To all my Brothers out there who "Have my back..." and the backs of all those around you, I say THANK YOU.
And to those who have my back in other ways, I say THANK YOU.
Know that I will always try to have your back as well.

Oh, Mercy Mercy Me....

Such were the Lyics from Marvin Gaye's song "Mercy Mercy Me...!" And that brother can sing a song, can't he?

Mercy has been the theme of the year I think. In the book "Peacegivers" it mentions how is it that most demand mercy for ourselves and demand justice for others. I believe it talks of Jonah and the city of Ninevah. Go read the story its only 4 short chapters: 3 pages.
Summary:
Jonah is sent to call Nineveh to repentance—He flees on a ship, is cast into the sea, and is swallowed by a great fish.
Jonah prays to the Lord, and the fish vomits him out on dry ground.
Jonah prophesies the downfall of Nineveh—The people repent and the city is saved.
Jonah is displeased with the Lord for his mercy upon the people—The Lord rebukes him.

Jonah didn't like Ninevites, that's why he fleed. They were his enemys and the Lord was sending him behind enemy lines so to speak to save them.
As we think of our enemies it wouldn't be easy for us to approach them and try to make nicey nice with them. I would have a hard time, that's ALOT to ask. How many of us could do it?

Upon being swallowed by the whale of course he realized the error of his ways and ask the Lord for Mercy, which the Lord gave. The Lord told him if he went into Nineveh, preached the word and they did not convert he would destroyed. Nineveh. He went forth unto Nineveh, did his missionary work. I guess he didn't plan on them converting because he sat and waited on a hill for them to be destroyed. And was angry with the Lord for not destroying them even though they converted. He felt conversion or not their corruption trumped their conversion and the Lord should not have mercy on them. I believe the book of Jonah ends with the question:
" ...And should not I spare Nineveh...?"

I guess in my mind i hear the Lord saying... "Hold Up, Jonah...... you cried mercy unto me... and I spared you. Nineveh cried mercy unto me... but I shouldn't spare them...? Wassup with that?"

I'm taken back to the times where I cry mercy to Heavenly Father and then deny it to those who seek it from me. We want so much for justice to be served with we are offended, but we want mercy applied when we offend. Should not the Lord Spare Nineveh? How often we forget in our lives that we are Jonah as well as Nineveh?

Can I give forgiveness and mercy without receiving it? And do I have a right to expect it, if I have not given it? How can we give, that which we don't have?

Since the Lord sees fit to spare us, should we not see fit to spare one another?

I have been fortunate this year to receive more than my share of mercy and forgiveness. I have also created more than my share of situations where I've need to please mercy and forgiveness.

I am grateful for being shown such love in times of my wretchedness and I'm happy to extend the same.
In LDS terms I guess you can say: Because I have been forgiven much I too must give.
In ghetto trems: what goes around comes around
In traditional terms: Due unto others

As Portia says in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice:

"The quality of mercy is not strained,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes:
… it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, …
But mercy is above the sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself.
(Act 4, sc. 1, lines 184–95.)"