An unseeming design for ascension -
That with a cross and a crown of briar,
We should lift Christ toward Heaven
So that he could lift us higher.
How blessed we are, during these less than tranquil times, to know that there is purpose to our life here on earth and an expectation of a hereafter so glorious that we cannot even begin to comprehend it. That because of the Atonement and resurrection of our Saviour Jesus Christ, we can not only live forever with our Father in Heaven, but we can access him here and now during our sojourn in mortality.
However such an eternal perspective can be hard to remember on a daily basis when we are surrounded by distressing circumstances on a global scale or in our individual lives and as a result feel discouraged, anxious or lonely. Elder Uchtdorf gave us a powerful remedy for such feelings in his talk "The Infinite Power of Hope" during the last General Conference:
"Hope is one leg of a three-legged stool, together with faith and charity. These three stabilize our lives regardless of the rough or uneven surfaces we might encounter at the time. The scriptures are clear and certain about the importance of hope. The Apostle Paul taught that the scriptures were written to the end that we 'might have hope.'
"Hope is a gift of the Spirit. It is a hope that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the power of His Resurrection, we shall be raised unto life eternal and this because of our faith in the Savior. This kind of hope is both a principle of promise as well as a commandment, and, as with all commandments, we have the responsibility to make it an active part of our lives and overcome the temptation to lose hope. Hope in our Heavenly Father’s merciful plan of happiness leads to peace, mercy, rejoicing, and gladness. The hope of salvation is like a protective helmet; it is the foundation of our faith and an anchor to our souls."
Used with faith and demonstrated as charity, hope is, as Elder Uchtdorf also taught: "not knowledge, but rather the abiding trust that the Lord will fulfil his promise to us".
I testify that although we may be weighed down with concerns that are by no means trivial in the eyes of the Lord, if we will develop a "perfect brightness of hope" we will be blessed with peace and a knowledge that the Lord makes promises of which He is always a keeper.
"My son, be faithful in Christ; and may not the things which I have written grieve thee, to weigh thee down unto death, but may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever" (Moroni 9:25)
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Our goal for this month, as we think of developing our hope, is for us to look up 5-10 scriptures in the Topical Guide and write down how they make us feel about the prinicple and commandment of hope. As you feel so impressed, choose one to work on this month. As we do this, we can be guaranteed to feel a greater safety in our lives.
2 comments:
I really love this article by Elder Uchdorf.When I first heard the story about his mothers experience losing her children I felt such emotion. For her to have not given up at the apparent impossible task to retrieve her children showed me that there are times in our lives that we feel hope is lost or we are powerless to change anything. If we could see the bigger picture we wouldn't despair. The mothers children were actually not far away but she did not know that and just couldn't see that. It was her hope that led her back to her children! How important it is that we look beyond the here and now.
That is easier said than done unfortuately, but its good to be reminded.
That's so true and thanks for the reminder - that her children were so close by, although she couldn't see them. I think that's why it's so important to cultivate a meaningful and real relationship with Heavenly Father as He truly can see the end from the beginning - and where everything fits together even when (especially when) we can't. I think that's why I loved Elder Uchtdorf's perspective on this talk so much - he spoke about a "hope that transcends the trivial" - the Hope of Israel, even the Saviour.
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