Ship Shape and Bristol Fashion

Wooden Sailing Ship at Bristol Harbor 

New Drawing at bottom of lists. . . click on Religion button above.

One of our Latter Day Saint apostles gave a talk a while back about being Ship Shape and Bristol Fashion.  This is an  idiom from Bristol England...  The apostle was Quentin Cook.  He had served a mission in Bristol England and one of the local leaders said missionaries needed to be "Ship shape and Bristol fashion."  You see, Bristol Harbor was once the second busiest harbor in England.  The tide there is quite severe.  It has a range of 45 feet or 14 meters.  This meant that ships needed to be strong and ready to be beached by the low tide.  The ships would nearly fall over onto their side.  So not only did the ships' hulls need to be very strong, everything on  board had to be tied down and secured or it would fall over or spill etc.  So the idiom "ship shape and Bristol Fashion" came into being from what ships went through at Bristol Harbor.

So what is an idiom?  It is a saying that means something that is not literal.  In some parts of the USA the phrase "kick the bucket" means "someone died."  There are idioms in some other languages.  For example, "patiar sus tenis" translates from Spanish literally to:  "hung his tennis shoes" but the idiom means "he died". . . so he doesn't need his tennis shoes anymore.  

So what the idiom "Ship shape and Bristol Fashion" means to me is that we need to be ready in life for trials.  If we are strong we can get through the trials.   Of course we are strongest when our Savior Jesus is helping us through the trials.  So we should stay close to the Lord when times are good and He will be there for us when times get tough.   Another thought. . . when times do get tough. . . and they will. . . we need to make a decision.  All believers make this decision when we face trials in life.   We can either get angry at God or turn to Him.  I can tell you that you will have trials either way.  But you will do better through the trials if you are getting help from God.  So  I think I will also retell my story...

After a failed surgery at a major hospital in Boston my surgeon walked into my room and told me, "I'm very sorry Mr. Lyman, but you're not going to make it.  I was stunned. . . Then after the doctor walked out the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit spoke to my mind or my spirit and said, "It's OK to go, but if you want to stay (on Earth) I will help you but it won't be easy.  So, I still had a 13 year old at home.  That was my first thought, and my older kids also needed me. . . and I wanted to be with my loving wife, so I chose to stay.  My trachea had a 1 x 5 cm hole in it.  I should have died of infection soon, but instead tissue grew into the surgical mesh that had migrated and caused the hole and the new growth tissue sealed up the hole.  The mesh continues to cut my trachea everyday. . . but I am still alive 12 years later. Only divine intervention could have saved me.  This was to me proof that God cares for me and loves me.  I also view this experience as proof that God loves us and He gets involved in all our lives and at times intervenes for our good.

So I try to be good, serve others, and I have faith that our Savior will one day welcome me into His kingdom on high.  I am trying to stick around as long as I can here on Earth. . . I try not to complain because when I was given the choice to stay or go I was warned that it would not be easy. . . so if I whine about the pain etc. God might rescind the deal.  I am hoping to stay spiritually ship shape and Bristol fashion.  My body is clearly NOT ship shape, but God seems to be holding it together. 

Jesus outside Jerusalem after His Resurrection
New Drawing

We believe that because of Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection we all one day will be resurrected with perfect bodies. . . no trach tubes or surgical mesh etc.  I have looked at drawings and paintings of Jesus after His resurrection and today I was thinking that maybe we artists should not be drawing a 33 year old's hairline.  After all, the scriptures say that not a hair of our head shall be lost.  

I wrote about the above man before, shortly after his death.  Brother Cook was a man who was disabled for many years, but he did not give up on serving.  We believe in our church that people can be baptized by proxy for those who did not have a chance to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ while on the Earth.  So we search for genealogical records and do baptisms in our temples for those who have passed on and who now live as spirits in the Spirit World.  We also seal couples to each other and their children to the parents because we believe that marriage and the family is eternal if we are sealed to one another.  Well, Brother Cook did something we called indexing or geneological indexing.  He found and recorded on the church's family history database (called FamilySearch) tens of thousands of names of those who passed on without hearing of the Gospel and without having the opportunity to be baptized and sealed by proper authority.  We believe that because of indexers like Brother Cook, many people will be able to be sealed for time and all eternity to their spouse and children.   So when Brother Pat Cook died a few months ago I imagined that there were thousands of people there in the Spirit World to welcome him and thank him for helping them have forever families. 

Pat Cook being thanked in the Spirit World

Temple with Family

These older drawings somewhere in middle of list. . . click on top Religion button.

Together in the Celestial Kingdom

So, we should strive to be worthy of these choice Temple blessings, but we need to remember that our Savior knew we would be imperfect.  That is why he volunteered to be our Savior.  He paid the price for our sins so we could make it back to live with Him and His Heavenly Father and our families for all eternity in joy, peace and love.  So keep on trying, don't be too hard on yourself and yet keep trying to improve.  

Older drawing