It seems as though one of the most basic facts about mortality and our imperfect and fallible mortal minds is that we have a tendency to forget. Remembering is not our strong suit as human beings.
For this, and for other good reasons, King Benjamin recorded the names of those who had entered into a covenant with God to keep His commandments. Everyone who was present at King Benjamin's speech, except for little children, entered into the covenant, and thus their names were recorded and remembered.
King Benjamin appointed his son Mosiah to reign in his stead, and he also appointed priests to teach the people. Again, the purpose of the priests was to teach the people to hear and to know the commandments of God, and to stir them up in remembrance of the oath which they had made.
We mortals need constant reminders about the things that matter most. King Benjamin must have learned this lesson very well when he and his people began to merge with the people of Zarahemla, a people who had forgotten almost everything. The people of Zarahemla had forgotten so many things because they did not keep records, and because they did not have any scriptures. They had forgotten so much that even their language had become corrupted. Thus, the merging of Mosiah's people, or the people of King Benjamin, with the people of Zarahemla was the merging of a people of religious, political, and cultural memory with a forgotten and forgetful people.
King Benjamin, as he was about to complete his mortal sojourn, made sure to nip such forgetfulness in the bud. About 476 years had already elapsed from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem, so there was a lot for King Benjamin's people to remember.
King Mosiah was only 30 years old when he began his reign as king of the Nephites and Mulekites in Zarahemla. King Mosiah followed the righteous pattern of his father, King Benjamin, and they all tilled the earth and walked in the ways of the Lord, and observed His judgments and His statutes. They all kept the commandments of God, because they remembered them, and they remembered their experience at King Benjamin's final speech.
By living in this way, King Mosiah's people had no contention among them for at least three years. Let's see how long their memory lasted, and then we can remember how easily we too have forgotten or may forget. Then we can remember to remember.
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