Bruce C. Hafen, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy for the Mormon Church, shared the following:
“[Several years ago I watched] a close friend my age decline physically from multiple sclerosis. I had seen him gradually lose his ability to walk, to stand, and then to sit. During the stage when he was fully bedridden, his wife passed away from cancer. His family wheeled him into her funeral on a mobile bed. . . . ("Reason, Faith, and the Things of Eternity,“ Elder Bruce C. Hafen, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute Speech, March 21, 2008.)"
In bumping along the roadway of mortality, I‘ve learned that every one of us struggles with trials and tests, some of them physical and just as dramatic and sobering as the above.
For others, the trials fall under the categories of marriage; children; finances; living with the consequences of our sins; the death of a loved one; or being in the world but not of the world. The category of heartache may vary, but the reality of difficulties is certain.
What do we do with our inevitable trials? I don’t know the detailed answers for each of you. But I know One who does.
Remember John the Baptist? His mission was unique and awesome: prepare the way for the Messiah, making a people ready to receive the Son of God. John taught with power and baptized many.
In the face of John’s valiant efforts, an account in Matthew 11 is a little perplexing. The Baptist had spent a year imprisoned by King Herod, whom John had publicly criticized for his unlawful marriage.
“Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,
“And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?
“Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:
“The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them” (Matthew 11:2-5).
What’s going on? Why would John, the great Preparer of the Way, send two of his disciples to ask Jesus if he were the promised Messiah? After all, this was a man who had been filled with the Holy Ghost from the womb. Was his testimony slipping, or was he jealous of Christ’s growing ministry and his own waning one?
Neither.
The imprisoned prophet hoped this encounter with Christ would persuade his followers to forsake him and follow Jesus. John knew what a personal experience with the Savior could do.
Allow me to point you to Christ. Why? For the same reason John sent the people to Christ: seeing the Master and hearing his teachings lead us to the greater light we all desperately need, whether we are enduring the daily dullness of life or battling through excruciating periods of personal adversity
Where will we find this Christ we must all seek? In the scriptures. In the words of Latter-day prophets. In the promptings of the still, small voice of the Holy Ghost which come as answers to prayers. Christ will be found there. I know that, because I find Him there, and with the finding, my burdens become easier to bear.
Go find him.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
When my kids were young, and burst into the house to unexpectedly find me washing windows or scrubbing walls, their first question was "Who's coming to visit?" I'm not the world's worst housekeeper and could have taken offense at that (and usually did), but truth be told, unlike the homes of great housekeepers, my windows and walls only got serious cleaning attention when pressure (think: out-of town visitors) was on.
However, I did like my house to appear clean (think: whited sepulcher), and with my six little Mormon children constantly running in, out and around it, I was somewhat uptight about trying to maintain what mediocre housekeeping I did manage to do. And when my mostly-male family members showed a marked indifference to my cleaning efforts, I responded . . . negatively.
I remind myself of another woman who fussed and fretted about housecleaning and food-prep for visitors. Her name was Martha, and she too was frustrated and irked by a family member who failed to pitch in. Instead, sister Mary chose to spend her time with One she loved even more than a clean house, sitting at His feet and listening to Him, being spiritually fed, taught and strengthened.
When Martha in her cumbered crankiness complained of Mary's choice, the Savior gently corrected her, saying "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."
It's a matter of priorities. Clean houses are important; after all, the same Savior said "My house is a house of order, and not a house of confusion." But every Mormon mom knows that a clean house is temporary, and is soon taken away from her. Only one thing is needful. When our mortal life has ended and we stand before that same Lord at the judgment bar, the only thing to matter will be whether we have chosen, out of all the good things mortality offers, the better part.
Sitting at the Savior's feet through scripture study and prayer, devotedly and daily learning from Him what our priorities should be, is the best first choice for all of us. That choice will then lead to inspired uses of the rest of our time, and only then will eternal blessings follow which shall not be taken away from us.
However, I did like my house to appear clean (think: whited sepulcher), and with my six little Mormon children constantly running in, out and around it, I was somewhat uptight about trying to maintain what mediocre housekeeping I did manage to do. And when my mostly-male family members showed a marked indifference to my cleaning efforts, I responded . . . negatively.
I remind myself of another woman who fussed and fretted about housecleaning and food-prep for visitors. Her name was Martha, and she too was frustrated and irked by a family member who failed to pitch in. Instead, sister Mary chose to spend her time with One she loved even more than a clean house, sitting at His feet and listening to Him, being spiritually fed, taught and strengthened.
When Martha in her cumbered crankiness complained of Mary's choice, the Savior gently corrected her, saying "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."
It's a matter of priorities. Clean houses are important; after all, the same Savior said "My house is a house of order, and not a house of confusion." But every Mormon mom knows that a clean house is temporary, and is soon taken away from her. Only one thing is needful. When our mortal life has ended and we stand before that same Lord at the judgment bar, the only thing to matter will be whether we have chosen, out of all the good things mortality offers, the better part.
Sitting at the Savior's feet through scripture study and prayer, devotedly and daily learning from Him what our priorities should be, is the best first choice for all of us. That choice will then lead to inspired uses of the rest of our time, and only then will eternal blessings follow which shall not be taken away from us.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Gifts
What's better than getting a gift? Giving one!
My Mormon husband just gave each of our grown sons copies of a book he read them in their youth, a book that enthralled them, inspired them, and even made them cry. He wanted them to have their own copies so they could re-experience that joy through re-reading that story.
Of all the gifts a perfect father could give his child, what would be the very best gift? I would answer "that which brings the most joy." And what if that gift was something that could be experienced over, and over, and over again?
I have experienced moments of great joy in my life. But for unalloyed joy, joy available to every soul, I recommend repentance.
If one truly has faith in Jesus Christ, one will act upon one of His most repeated requests--to repent. Our tragic refusal to repent, besides evidence of insufficient faith in Him, is rejection of a supernal gift no other being can give, a gift that can be accepted only individually.
I give you my witness that there is nothing more important than doing all one can to repent of sin, and nothing more overwhelming and soul-changing than the peace, joy and purity of God's forgiveness. The cleanliness that follows will empower you like nothing else can.
I echo President Boyd K. Packer: "I readily confess that I would find no peace, neither happiness nor safety, in a world without repentance. I do not know what I should do if there were no way for me to erase my mistakes. The agony would be more than I could bear."
May we all fall to our knees, begging for guidance as to what to repent of and how to best do it. Our Loving Father is waiting to give the Gift.
My Mormon husband just gave each of our grown sons copies of a book he read them in their youth, a book that enthralled them, inspired them, and even made them cry. He wanted them to have their own copies so they could re-experience that joy through re-reading that story.
Of all the gifts a perfect father could give his child, what would be the very best gift? I would answer "that which brings the most joy." And what if that gift was something that could be experienced over, and over, and over again?
I have experienced moments of great joy in my life. But for unalloyed joy, joy available to every soul, I recommend repentance.
If one truly has faith in Jesus Christ, one will act upon one of His most repeated requests--to repent. Our tragic refusal to repent, besides evidence of insufficient faith in Him, is rejection of a supernal gift no other being can give, a gift that can be accepted only individually.
I give you my witness that there is nothing more important than doing all one can to repent of sin, and nothing more overwhelming and soul-changing than the peace, joy and purity of God's forgiveness. The cleanliness that follows will empower you like nothing else can.
I echo President Boyd K. Packer: "I readily confess that I would find no peace, neither happiness nor safety, in a world without repentance. I do not know what I should do if there were no way for me to erase my mistakes. The agony would be more than I could bear."
May we all fall to our knees, begging for guidance as to what to repent of and how to best do it. Our Loving Father is waiting to give the Gift.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Jump In
Confidence. Trust. Reliance.
These are synonyms for "faith," and as Mormons, we believe that the first principle of the gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
When I was a little girl and afraid of water (one of my zillion fears), my dad would stand in the swimming pool, I would stand at the edge, and he would exercise his best powers of persuasion, enticing me to exercise my confidence, trust, and reliance on him by jumping into the water. The promise was that he would be there to reach out and grab me, saving me from certain death by drowning.
Faith, confidence, trust and reliance all hint at something more than belief: they move beyond simple belief into the arena of action. In order to exhibit my faith in my dad, I had to jump in. In order to exhibit faith in Jesus Christ, one also has to act. In reality, faith is more a verb than a noun.
Personally, faith in Christ means the willingness to do what he asks all his followers to do-- repent, forgive, serve, and obey.
As a mother, faith in Christ means the willingness to raise my children (God's children, on loan for a while) his way, not my way. I begin by first having those children. Then I have the faith to set the world aside and focus on them, my most important task in life. In that focusing I teach them to pray; to love the scriptures; to love each other; to do all the things, on a child's scale, the Savior expects from all of us. And as they absorb these teachings, they begin to love the Lord and exercise personal faith in him.
I'm grateful for Mormon parents who taught me faith in Christ. I'm grateful for my children, who are teaching their children the same. And I'm grateful for the Savior, who gives us the great invitation to jump in, trusting that He is there to reach out and save us.
These are synonyms for "faith," and as Mormons, we believe that the first principle of the gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
When I was a little girl and afraid of water (one of my zillion fears), my dad would stand in the swimming pool, I would stand at the edge, and he would exercise his best powers of persuasion, enticing me to exercise my confidence, trust, and reliance on him by jumping into the water. The promise was that he would be there to reach out and grab me, saving me from certain death by drowning.
Faith, confidence, trust and reliance all hint at something more than belief: they move beyond simple belief into the arena of action. In order to exhibit my faith in my dad, I had to jump in. In order to exhibit faith in Jesus Christ, one also has to act. In reality, faith is more a verb than a noun.
Personally, faith in Christ means the willingness to do what he asks all his followers to do-- repent, forgive, serve, and obey.
As a mother, faith in Christ means the willingness to raise my children (God's children, on loan for a while) his way, not my way. I begin by first having those children. Then I have the faith to set the world aside and focus on them, my most important task in life. In that focusing I teach them to pray; to love the scriptures; to love each other; to do all the things, on a child's scale, the Savior expects from all of us. And as they absorb these teachings, they begin to love the Lord and exercise personal faith in him.
I'm grateful for Mormon parents who taught me faith in Christ. I'm grateful for my children, who are teaching their children the same. And I'm grateful for the Savior, who gives us the great invitation to jump in, trusting that He is there to reach out and save us.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Easter--Sweet the Joy
Have you ever touched a dead person?
I have. Once.
Before my Mormon father's funeral I touched his hands as his body lay in the open casket. Dad died several days before, and that touch was silent but physical testimony that he was gone. Cold. Waxy. Dead. Not sophisticated adjectives, but in this case, momentous.
What I touched at that moment, what I saw in that casket was only the shell of my father. The living part of him, his spirit, had departed that physical body which now lay lifeless before me. The physical proof provided by that touch startled me.
In an instant, my appreciation for the doctrine of the Resurrection leaped from the realm of a bystander's gratitude into deep, personal, experiential thanksgiving for our Savior Jesus Christ and His central role in Heavenly Father's plan for our happiness.
While Heavenly Father will grant exaltation only to those who choose it (see March 9 blog), the gift of a universal resurrection is free to every single person ever born into this world. Even the most God-hating human will receive that most-graciously given gift.
Following each of our resurrections, you will be you; I will be me; my dad will be my dad; all of us in our own--but perfected--bodies. As the Book of Mormon prophet Alma testified, "The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body . . . all things restored to their proper and perfect frame."
One day, I will again be encircled in the warm, living, loving arms of my resurrected dad. All because of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
"Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives: I know that my Redeemer lives."
I have. Once.
Before my Mormon father's funeral I touched his hands as his body lay in the open casket. Dad died several days before, and that touch was silent but physical testimony that he was gone. Cold. Waxy. Dead. Not sophisticated adjectives, but in this case, momentous.
What I touched at that moment, what I saw in that casket was only the shell of my father. The living part of him, his spirit, had departed that physical body which now lay lifeless before me. The physical proof provided by that touch startled me.
In an instant, my appreciation for the doctrine of the Resurrection leaped from the realm of a bystander's gratitude into deep, personal, experiential thanksgiving for our Savior Jesus Christ and His central role in Heavenly Father's plan for our happiness.
While Heavenly Father will grant exaltation only to those who choose it (see March 9 blog), the gift of a universal resurrection is free to every single person ever born into this world. Even the most God-hating human will receive that most-graciously given gift.
Following each of our resurrections, you will be you; I will be me; my dad will be my dad; all of us in our own--but perfected--bodies. As the Book of Mormon prophet Alma testified, "The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body . . . all things restored to their proper and perfect frame."
One day, I will again be encircled in the warm, living, loving arms of my resurrected dad. All because of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
"Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives: I know that my Redeemer lives."
Sunday, March 9, 2008
What's Cookin'? You Choose
One of my college roommates was a home economics major, and I was astounded at all the chemistry classes she had to take. Turns out that in the kitchen, much of what makes a particular cooked or baked good good, is following certain rules of chemistry.
I don't come anywhere near understanding those rules. Why can you mix butter, eggs, sugar, milk and flour, put it in a hot oven, and produce a solid that stays solid? But if you leave out the flour, you get a semi-solid? What's magic about flour? The rules behind these results defy my understanding.
However, I've learned when cooking to obey the rules.
There are other rules out there that also result in certain outcomes. Pick your field--economics, physics, mental health, business--they all operate in the realm of rules.
So does our Heavenly Father. And contained within the Gospel of His Son, Jesus Christ, are rules for success. We call them commandments. Keep the rule or commandment, and you can count on certain results. Happy results. Break the rule, and misery is sure to follow. As a Book of Mormon prophet succinctly states it, "wicked never was happiness."
Why do these commandments work? Usually, God doesn't tell us. He just says do it. Magic? No. God just knows all the rules, and in spiritual things, success equals happiness, which comes from keeping those rules.
As Mormons we believe that through the Atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved, if we keep the rules--including the little rule about applying Christ's atoning blood by repenting of
all those times we ignore/disregard/flagrantly break God's rules.
Want happiness? Ask a member of the Mormon Church--the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--about the rules that produce it.
I don't come anywhere near understanding those rules. Why can you mix butter, eggs, sugar, milk and flour, put it in a hot oven, and produce a solid that stays solid? But if you leave out the flour, you get a semi-solid? What's magic about flour? The rules behind these results defy my understanding.
However, I've learned when cooking to obey the rules.
There are other rules out there that also result in certain outcomes. Pick your field--economics, physics, mental health, business--they all operate in the realm of rules.
So does our Heavenly Father. And contained within the Gospel of His Son, Jesus Christ, are rules for success. We call them commandments. Keep the rule or commandment, and you can count on certain results. Happy results. Break the rule, and misery is sure to follow. As a Book of Mormon prophet succinctly states it, "wicked never was happiness."
Why do these commandments work? Usually, God doesn't tell us. He just says do it. Magic? No. God just knows all the rules, and in spiritual things, success equals happiness, which comes from keeping those rules.
As Mormons we believe that through the Atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved, if we keep the rules--including the little rule about applying Christ's atoning blood by repenting of
all those times we ignore/disregard/flagrantly break God's rules.
Want happiness? Ask a member of the Mormon Church--the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--about the rules that produce it.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
All May Be
Because I was a stay-at-home mom and money was tight, I gave my own children piano lessons. The more children I had, the less stellar became my teaching. My oldest two children got the best quality instruction, with things deteriorating in descending order through subsequent kids. Interestingly, however, the child who today is the best pianist is one who received the fewest (and poorest) lessons.
She was not necessarily the most gifted or suited for musicianship, but because she had the greatest interest in actually practicing and playing the piano, she now reigns supreme of my offspring on the piano. Because she chose to learn, she did.
One of the great eternal principles taught in the Book of Mormon is the principle of agency. Repeatedly that book of scripture teaches that the eternal reward we eventually reap is up to us. Phrases like "whosoever will come may come and partake of the waters of life freely" and "whosoever will may walk therein and be saved" make it clear that personal choice is key.
Other phrases, like "then shall the wicked be cast out . . . because they would not hearken unto the voice of the Lord" express the sad truth that some of God's children will actually choose not to return to Him.
These teachings underscore a larger, overarching Mormon belief: through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved. May be, not because there is a question of Christ's power to save, but because there is a question as to whom of the all will choose eternal salvation. While not all WILL BE saved, all COULD BE saved.
Play the piano or not: the choice is ours. Gain eternal salvation or not: the choice is ours.
She was not necessarily the most gifted or suited for musicianship, but because she had the greatest interest in actually practicing and playing the piano, she now reigns supreme of my offspring on the piano. Because she chose to learn, she did.
One of the great eternal principles taught in the Book of Mormon is the principle of agency. Repeatedly that book of scripture teaches that the eternal reward we eventually reap is up to us. Phrases like "whosoever will come may come and partake of the waters of life freely" and "whosoever will may walk therein and be saved" make it clear that personal choice is key.
Other phrases, like "then shall the wicked be cast out . . . because they would not hearken unto the voice of the Lord" express the sad truth that some of God's children will actually choose not to return to Him.
These teachings underscore a larger, overarching Mormon belief: through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved. May be, not because there is a question of Christ's power to save, but because there is a question as to whom of the all will choose eternal salvation. While not all WILL BE saved, all COULD BE saved.
Play the piano or not: the choice is ours. Gain eternal salvation or not: the choice is ours.
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