Jet Mariano

Tag: personal revelation

  • MIT8 – If It’s to Be, It’s Up to Me — and God’s Timing

    Milky Way rising behind Delicate Arch in Moab, Utah, photographed by Jet Mariano. A visual reminder of faith, effort, and timing.

    Excerpt
    If it’s to be, it’s up to me — but only when my feet move in faith and God’s timing directs the path. Today, through hymns, impressions, and a memory of Delicate Arch under the Milky Way, I was reminded that blessings unfold when effort meets revelation.

    Intro: The Path Is Action + Timing
    This morning I woke up peacefully with a single impression:
    “If it’s to be, it’s up to me.”

    That sentence framed my entire Sabbath. Each hymn, each thought, each scripture, even the Sunday School lesson seemed orchestrated around one doctrine I’ve lived for decades:

    Faith is a principle of action — but blessings come in God’s timing.

    I’ve worked since I was 12 years old and didn’t enter the IT world until age 37. Nothing was wasted. Every phase prepared me for the next. Today reminded me again: God’s plan is not passive, but it’s not instant either. It is effort + grace. Movement + revelation. Timing + trust.

    Notes From Elder Dale G. Renlund
    Elder Renlund teaches in Abound with Blessings:

    “Most blessings that God desires to give us require action on our part—action based on our faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in the Savior is a principle of action and of power.”

    He adds:

    “Faith in Christ requires ongoing action for the blaze to continue. Small actions fuel our ability to walk along the covenant path… But oxygen flows only if we figuratively keep moving our feet.”

    His examples are profound:

    • Make the bow before the revelation comes
    • Build the tools before the instructions arrive
    • Bake the cake before the miracle of flour appears

    Faith requires movement.
    But miracles require God’s timing.

    Perspective — Elder Christofferson’s Vending Machine Warning
    Elder D. Todd Christofferson adds the perfect balance:

    “We ought not to think of God’s plan as a cosmic vending machine where we (1) select a desired blessing, (2) insert the required sum of good works, and (3) the order is promptly delivered.”

    It does not work that way.

    Blessings are not:

    • purchased,
    • demanded,
    • or dispensed on schedule.

    As I wrote in last night’s Predicated blog:

    “Blessings from heaven are neither earned by frenetically accruing ‘good deed coupons’ nor by helplessly waiting to see if we win the blessing lottery. No.”

    True faith is not transactional — it is transformational.

    Practice (Today, Not Someday): The Delicate Arch Lesson
    My photograph of the Milky Way rising behind Delicate Arch is a visual sermon about faith and action.

    The hike is 3 miles round trip, with over 600 feet of elevation climb. During summer, the Milky Way rises behind the arch for only a brief window. If I waited for perfect conditions or perfect timing, I would miss it.

    So I climbed early.
    Walked in the dark.
    Prepared my gear.
    Positioned myself.
    And waited for heaven to align.

    Only then did the Milky Way rise — after I moved my feet.

    Some blessings don’t appear until we climb.
    Some revelation doesn’t rise until we prepare.
    Some miracles don’t unfold until we act in faith.

    That hike is my life:
    from working at 12,
    to breakthroughs at 37,
    to every step since.
    Effort + timing.
    Action + grace.
    Faith + patience.

    Final Reflection
    “If it’s to be, it’s up to me” is not self-reliance without God.
    It’s my action combined with His timing.
    My discipline combined with His direction.
    My relentless faith combined with His perfect plan.

    Today reminded me that the Lord isn’t a vending machine dispensing blessings on demand. He’s a Father who blesses according to eternal purpose. Sometimes He asks me to climb in the dark. Sometimes He asks me to wait. But He always keeps His promises.

    Pocket I’m Keeping
    Move my feet — and trust His timing.
    Climb faithfully — and let Him reveal the Milky Way.

    What I Hear Now (Direct Quotes)
    “Faith in the Savior is a principle of action and of power.” — Elder Renlund
    “Blessings require movement — oxygen flows only if you keep your feet moving.”
    “God is not a cosmic vending machine.” — Elder Christofferson
    “Make the bow before the revelation comes.”

    © 2012–2025 Jet Mariano. All rights reserved.
    For usage terms, please see the Legal Disclaimer.

  • Marked in Time — “Think Celestial!” (President Russell M. Nelson)

    Super Blood Moon over the Los Angeles California Temple — not visible in America last night, so I pulled this in-camera Nikon double exposure from my archives (Oct 2014). Thinking celestial means taking the long view: steps, stars, and a witness in the heavens.

    Excerpt
    President Nelson invites us to “think celestial”—to take the long, eternal view where today’s choices shape forever.

    Intro
    President Russell M. Nelson taught that God’s plan is “fabulous,” that our choices matter eternally, and that the Savior’s Atonement makes that plan possible. His invitation: adopt the practice of “thinking celestial.”

    Straight line (what he’s saying)
    • “The baseless notion that we should ‘eat, drink, and be merry …’ is one of the most absurd lies in the universe.”
    • “I invite you to adopt the practice of ‘thinking celestial’! … ‘to be spiritually-minded is life eternal.’”
    • “Mortality is a master class” in choosing what matters most. “Your choices today will determine … where you will live throughout all eternity, the kind of body … [and] those with whom you will live forever.”
    • “Only men and women who are sealed … in the temple, and who keep their covenants, will be together throughout the eternities.”
    • If we choose telestial laws now, we choose a telestial glory then.
    • “How and where and with whom do you want to live forever? You get to choose.”
    • “Take the long view—an eternal view. Put Jesus Christ first … your eternal life is dependent upon your faith in Him and in His Atonement.”
    • “When you are confronted with a dilemma, think celestial! … When the pressures of life crowd in upon you, think celestial!”

    Final reflection
    Thinking celestial reframes today: my calendar becomes covenant practice, my setbacks become schooling, and my worship becomes preparation for where—and with whom—I want to live forever.

    Pocket I’m keeping
    • Begin with the end in mind (celestial family).
    • Choose temple time and covenant keeping first.
    • Guard agency—avoid anything that becomes a “god.”
    • Pray beyond a shopping list; seek revelation.
    • Take the long view when hurt, hurried, or tempted.

    What I hear now
    Tonight I’m posting an archival blood-moon shot and taking the eternal view. The moon changes phase; covenants point to permanence. Think celestial.

    Link to the talk
    “Think Celestial!” — President Russell M. Nelson.

    © 2012–2025 Jet Mariano. All rights reserved.
    For usage terms, please see the Legal Disclaimer.

  • I Feel The Answer

    Draper Utah Temple — A rainbow of promise through the branches.

    Intro
    Some moments arrive quietly but carry the weight of eternity. This season has taken me away from the work I love, yet placed me in a space where the Lord can speak more directly. It feels like a “calling” — not just an assignment, but an invitation to walk a path I did not expect, at a time I did not plan.

    A calling can refine you, but it can also break you — I know this firsthand. When I lost my father and my younger brother, the grief was so heavy it lingered for over a year, leaving me with a frozen shoulder and a frozen spirit. But in that stillness, I learned something I now carry with me: when you are not preoccupied, when your heart is still enough, Heaven can speak — and you will hear.

    In 1987, during my Seminary days, there was a song in our Free to Choose program called I Feel the Answer. Its words spoke to the questions of a heart unsure yet willing, and today those words still echo in me.

    I Feel The Answer

    How I wish this hadn’t come right now,
    With so much on my mind.
    I just don’t think I’m ready for a calling of this kind —
    Where do I turn to, searching for me?

    Does He know me even better than I know myself?
    When I am sure that I can’t do it, can I turn to Him for help?
    And will He answer? Will He give me peace?

    More than air to breathe, I need to know
    If what I feel is right — Father, hear my pleading.
    Let me see the light. I’ll do whatever You ask me to do.

    And yes… I feel the answer.
    He calls my name and whispers to my soul.
    And oh, His gentle answer heals my aching heart — and I am whole.
    Heals my aching heart — and I am whole.

    Sometimes, a calling feels like a classroom. Sometimes, a setback is a sacred appointment. And sometimes, the answer doesn’t come as a trumpet blast, but as a whisper — so quiet you only hear it when you pause. In those still moments, He calls your name, and you know — you are exactly where He needs you to be.

    In this quiet stretch of life, I’ve learned that solitude isn’t the absence of connection — it’s the space where Heaven’s voice becomes unmistakably clear. Away from the noise and demands, I’ve come to see that even the pauses in our path are part of His perfect timing.

    Recently, the Spirit carried me back to a sacred temple moment, where familiar faces seemed etched with eternity — not just in their features, but in the quiet witness of the soul. At times, the Lord grants us glimpses of recognition that reach beyond mortal memory, as if to remind us that His hand has been guiding our paths long before we knew it.

    It was a quiet confirmation that the same Spirit who whispered then is still speaking now — through remembrance, through reflection, and through the gentle truth that our journeys, though carved by different streams, are being guided toward the same horizon. And in those moments, just as the song I Feel the Answer says, “He calls my name and whispers to my soul” — and I feel the answer.

    © 2012–2025 Jet Mariano. All rights reserved.
    For usage terms, please see the Legal Disclaimer.

  • Thou Art There

    Captured in silence at Yosemite’s Tunnel View — February chill, bulb exposure, and a single LED light to find focus. In darkness, I discovered a sharper image and a quieter soul.

    I stood alone where shadows climb,
    Where granite guards the edge of time.
    The wind was sharp, the night was bare—
    But still, I knew Thou would be there.

    I could not see my hands or feet,
    Just trembling limbs in silent beat.
    One LED—my only spark—
    To chase away the endless dark.

    Each breath was frost, my fingers numb,
    Yet I refused to yield or run.
    A tripod, lens, and faith I gripped,
    Till starlight through the valley slipped.

    And while I waited, heart bowed low,
    The Spirit whispered what I know:

    “There are so many things to be endured:
    illness, injustice, insensitivity,
    poverty, aloneness, unresponsiveness,
    being misrepresented and misunderstood,
    and, sometimes, even enemies.”

    Still I remained, though cold and worn,
    Refusing night to leave me torn.
    I stayed until the shutter’s breath
    Returned a frame that conquered death.

    Not for the praise or photograph,
    But proof that I had passed the path.
    That even here, beneath despair—
    With frozen limbs and unanswered prayer—
    Thou art there.

    © 2012–2025 Jet Mariano. All rights reserved.
    For usage terms, please see the Legal Disclaimer.

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