What Hath We Wrought?

While the first recorded use of (nearly) that phrase is in Numbers 23:23.  Balak is a king who hates the children of Israel.  He tries to pay Balaam to curse the Israelites.   Remember the talking ass story?  This is it.  Finally, Balaam tells him that there cannot be a curse against the Israelites and that it will be said, "What hath God wrought!"
Later, the phrase was used as the first message to open the Baltimore-Washington telegraph line.
The phrase I'm most familiar with happens in The Little Mermaid:  Ariel's Beginning.  The villainess's pet manatee incredulously watches as Marina del Ray becomes fully entrenched in her wicked ways-- complete with a catchy tune.  He says, "What hath we wrought?"
A couple of days ago, I was having a conversation with one of my friends.  Our talk swayed, for whatever reason, to government and why Communism was so bad.  She is younger than me and doesn't remember much of the Cold War.  I hit the end, graduating from high school in 1990, but remember the fear.  "So, why was Communism such a big deal?  Why were we so afraid of it?" she asked.  I stumbled through some answers. 
Then, last night I watched the movie The Way Back (which I loved and not to be confused with the movie The Way, Way Back which I did not).  Be aware that it has adult content.  The subject isn't for children and there are brief shots of drawings that are sexual in nature.  Then I remembered.  Oh, yeah.  It is/was so bad, people died from it.  People died rather than endure it.  They died from the cruel and inhumane application of it.  They died for fighting it.  They died for no other reason than that they had something somebody else coveted.  It still goes on today, but it is generally masked as a good thing.  Everyone should have the same, right?  Everyone should be on equal terms.  It sounds again and again like the Law of Consecration, except it's not.  Satan is so good at mimicking Heavenly Father's plan that we believe in the charlatans who help him peddle it. 
As a family we are steadily plowing through the Book of Mormon.  Right now we are with the people of King Noah while Abinadi preaches to them.  It's one of those instances in scripture where the prophesy and the outcome are close enough together on the pages that you can easily see the fulfillment. 
I wonder who Abinadi is.  It seems like he appears out of nowhere.  He isn't one of them, because he purposely comes to them and then comes back again. 
MMM talks about the Clout given to Samuel the Lamanite as he spoke, "Thus saith the Lord...."  Abinadi gets that same clout.  He prophesies that if the people don't turn back to the Lord, He will be slow to hear their cries in their extremities. 
As a family we talked about this.  It is a natural consequence of sin.  When we choose to sin, we move away from Christ and Heavenly Father.  I'm not sure if there is an element of Heavenly Father not answering our pleas for help right away because we need to learn a lesson, or if the slowness occurs because we have drifted so far that we have forgotten how to listen to the answers.  I was thinking about the pioneers.  I am not trying to make their trials to be less than they were, because what they went through was many times heinous.  Yet, it really was for such a short season of their lives.  10 years at the most for most of the early saints?   Most importantly, they didn't have to go through their trials alone.  How many stories do we hear about the miracles they were given?  Many, because they were close to the Lord during their trials.
There are countries and peoples who have spent their entire lives enduring the consequences of wickedness.  Their countries have spent centuries in a spiritual wasteland filled with deprivation.   When the Communists claimed that man was in charge and God was the fallacy, they sent their countries into a downward spiral that lasted for 50 years.  Even now that Communism is "gone" in Russia, it wasn't replaced by good things because they don't know where to look for answers.  They have moved so far that the answers given are merely tiny little whispers. 
It also brings up the terrible weight put on leaders of a country; any country.  They are responsible for the direction the country takes.  A righteous man or woman can effect such marvelous things.  A wicked person can destroy everything.  It was a weight that Nephi didn't want and one that Mosiah did not want for his sons.  It was something that wicked King Noah did not spend enough time thinking about.  Obviously, the people could choose to revolt against wickedness, but the leader bears the brunt of that responsibility.
We are so very blessed and lucky to live where we do.  Please don't blow this.