Chiasms, Color, and the Baptism of Fire --- How Ancient Patterns Led Me to the Arms of Christ
🔄 Chiasms, Color, and the Baptism of Fire
How Ancient Patterns Led Me to the Arms of Christ
🧠 The First Time I Saw a Chiasm
Most people read scripture like a race—start at verse one, sprint to the end, grab a quote or two, and call it good.
But somewhere back in the dusty corners of the 1970s, I stumbled onto something that stopped me cold.
A pattern.
A mirror in the words.
Scriptures weren’t just saying things... they were shaping them.
A – The people humbled themselves
B – They cried unto the Lord
C – He came to them
B' – They rejoiced in the Lord
A' – The people were lifted up in righteousness
That’s a chiasm. Ancient writers used it like a spiritual highlighter—putting the most sacred truth in the center.
Like a treasure in the middle of a maze.
📘 The Book of Mormon—My Mission, My Mirror
I was out on my mission.
Somewhere between greenie fire and long dusty days, I got obsessed with the Book of Mormon.
I didn’t just read it—I colored it.
Blue for doctrine.
Green for repentance.
Yellow for prophecy.
And purple—royal, rich, deep—purple for anything that testified of Jesus Christ and His Atonement.
Every page became a map.
Every verse, a doorway.
And then—right in the middle of this spiritual awakening—came a name I’d never forget:
Jack Welch.
He published an article about chiasms in the Book of Mormon—the same time I was out in the field.
He said the most important message is always at the center.
💜 So I Went Back
Back through my Book of Mormon, now with new eyes.
I looked again at the passages I’d already colored…
And guess what was sitting there, in the center of almost every chiasm?
The Atonement.
The love of Christ.
His suffering, mercy, and power to redeem.
All those purple verses…
They weren’t just doctrine.
They were the heart of the message.
They were Him.
🙏 Then I Prayed
I got on my knees.
Not just to say thanks, but to ask—really ask.
“Is this Book true?”
“Was this really from You, Lord?”
And then…
Something happened that no pen could ever fully describe.
My whole body…
Every fiber, every cell, every corner of my being came alive.
It was like the veil burned away.
I felt His arms, I heard His voice.
“Believe the Book of Mormon.”
“I am with you.”
And that was it.
That was my baptism of fire.
Not in a meeting.
Not during a priesthood interview.
Not from a checklist.
But alone, with the scriptures, and the Spirit.
🔥 The Real Center
People often ask how to find Christ in their lives.
Sometimes we’re so busy looking at the edges—looking for signs, programs, titles, traditions…
But if you look at scripture like a chiasm, you'll see:
The most important truth is always in the middle.
And in the middle of it all… is Him.
Not the Church.
Not the prophets.
Not the hierarchy.
But Jesus.
📚 Chiastic Examples That Still Burn Today
📘 Book of Mormon
Alma 36 (full chapter—chiastic masterpiece)
At the very center:
“...there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains...
Yea, and again I say unto you... there could be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.” (v. 21)
The chapter mirrors itself around this turning point—from rebellion to redemption.
From sin to salvation.
From hell to Christ.
Mosiah 5:10–12
Right in the center: "Retain the name always."
Not just wear it—live it.
📜 Nemenhah Records
These sacred writings are soaked in chiasms—especially when describing:
The Peacemaker
The Endowment
The Turning of the People’s Hearts
Example (Book of Tsihohnayah Ahkehkthihm, ch. 13):
A – The people gathered to the mountains
B – They fasted and prayed
C – The Peacemaker did appear
B' – They gave offerings of peace
A' – The people made covenant never to return to their sins
The middle is always the moment of encounter.
🗣️ Inspired Voices Through History
When truth flows from heaven, it often flows in patterns.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech is full of chiastic cadence.
“I have a dream...
...every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain made low...
...the crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain…”
Even Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address turns on a center:
“...government of the people, by the people, for the people...”
These phrases burn because they reflect a heavenly pattern.
Even George Washington’s farewell speech has chiastic structures surrounding themes of liberty and providence.
These men weren’t writing poems.
They were channeling something higher.
🔔 Final Witness
I believe the Book of Mormon.
Not because someone told me to.
Not because a prophet said it in conference.
But because the Spirit of God bore witness of it so deeply that it changed me forever.
And the irony?
It was chiastic writing—an ancient literary pattern—that led me to the living Christ.
The message was there all along.
He was there all along.
And He still is.
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