Jesus Wept

I was reminded of this verse in Relief Society today. It has been reflected on in many different ways and at many different times by others. The meaning that has been most powerful to me though, especially at the end of my mission (which was the most difficult era for me) is how it displays Christ's compassion. If you haven't read it recently, check out John 11. This is where Lazareth dies BECAUSE Christ tarries despite his family's pleas to come and heal him. We know now that Christ tarried in order for Lazareth to be considered truly dead by Jewish law (they believed it took 3 days for the spirit to leave the body) and thus prove His divinity by raising Lazareth from the dead, but they didn't know that. For them they waited anxiously, wondering why the Lord could possibly "tarry" while such a trial was at hand. I am sure the moments were agonizing, as their eyes searched the road for any indication that their Savior would come to them in this their time of greatest need. Yet He did not come, and seemingly, all was lost. I find it interesting, because when Christ did arrive, Mary and Martha both expressed Faith in Him AND His plan. One testifies that had Christ been there "my brother had not died" but that she KNEW that her brother would rise again in the Resurrection, that in the end it would be OK. She had the testimony of the Plan of Salvation LONG before Christ had officially conquered death. But the Resurrection must have felt a long ways away. Comfort felt far away. Hope felt far away. At that moment Christ knew that in a matter of SECONDS the very cause of sorrow for Mary/Martha would become an incredible joy as Lazareth came forth from the grave. Despite this knowledge, despite that to Him and His eternal perspective their pain may have seemed silly or short sighted, He did not say "It is going to be OK, be patient and get with the program, I'm about to wake your brother up" or "use your faith to cheer up and realize this isn't permanent" or "no matter how much I tell you guys about my power you still have cause for sadness?". What he did do was weep. He wept not for Lazareth or his death, he wept for THEIR pain, THEIR sorrow, THEIR discomfort. He knew they didn't know what lay ahead, He knew that they felt like Lazareth was gone until the second coming, He knew that they felt that this pain was unbearable and would last perhaps until their own deaths, He knew that they FELT pain DESPITE their Faith. So He wept. He wept with them.

I cannot even tell you the comfort it gives me to know that Christ can comfort me when I fail to see the big picture despite His ability to see it. He weeps with us, He really does, even if we are moments away from the greatest miracles of our lives. He weeps because He knows we felt alone because He "tarried" to better prove His divinity to us. He weeps because He knows how it feels. Most of all, He weeps because He loves us.

The Grapes of Wrath

My father loves to make things out of our garden. From pickles to nuts to freezing green beans we have tried making many things from our garden. Usually our ideas stem from us growing way more than we would ever want of something (side note: never plant more than one zucchini plant unless you plan on making zucchini bread every day for at least 3 months). One year in particular we had far too many grapes. My Mom hopelessly tried to juice them but it was time-consuming and yielded very little profit. So, my Dad came to the rescue with a fool proof idea: raisins. They had to be pretty easy to make and they don't go bad very quickly so it was the perfect solution-or so we thought.
Turns out there are a few steps to making grapes; you have to de-stem them and then spread them out and then put some lemon juice on them before you set them out to dry in the sun. Pretty simple but surprisingly time consuming, especially with little home-grown grapes. We all soon were rather tired of making raisins, but we kept going as best we could. My Dad came in one day and saw our red rimmed eyes, bleeding fingers from de-stemming (that may or may not be an exaggeration), and the huge pile of grapes yet to undergo the process of becoming raisins and took pity on us. He proposed yet another idea: to just throw the grapes outside and without de-stemming them or putting lemon juice on them. We told him we didn't think that would work, we would be missing some key steps, but he told us he doubted it mattered much and that he was sure it would work and save us a lot of time and effort. So we did as he suggested, we simply unceremoniously placed the grapes on cookie sheets, covered it all with a sheet, and waited. Then we waited some more. Then we mourned the fact that for a whole week no one had been able to use any cookie sheets because they were all still outside. Then we waited a little longer. Finally, when the fruit flies showed up we decided it was time to throw the now rotting grapes away and reclaim our cookie sheets... Needless to say it had been a bit of a failure-though a well meaning and noble try.

In essence we are all grapes right now doing our best to become more like raisins (Christ and Heavenly Father). The steps of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are simple and easy to follow, but sometimes we seek to find an easier, shorter way. But just like a grape will never be a raisin without it undergoing a precise but simple process, we can never reach our potential without carefully following each step of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end). Nephi, a prophet in the Book of Mormon said:
"wherefore, they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and the very points of his doctrine, that they may know how to come unto him and be saved." (1 Nephi 15:14)
Let us each learn more about the very points of Christ's doctrine, so that we too can reach our full potential.

4-Wheel Drive and the Gospel

Back in High School a good friend of mine and I decided to drive up to the Park City area and enjoy a day of skiing with my Dad and brother. They were already in the area so we drove my little half-battery half-gas Honda Civic. On the road up the sky was blue and the roads were clear and we felt confident driving up the windy road to the ski hill. All day we enjoyed the mountain and the beautiful slow falling snow that had begun. We hardly thought about the drive home.

Suddenly the weather took a turn for the worse. It began to snow and blow fairly hard. A little nervous about our inexperience with driving in the snow, my friend and I decided it would be best if we left early and headed home. My Dad, always looking for an opportunity to spend time with his kids, invited us to eat dinner with him around the Heber area. We would be down most the mountain and the canyon after that was well traveled. He was leaving by plane and thought we would all be safe and sound-an hour dinner wouldn't change much. Happily we took him up on the offer and enjoyed a nice meal together, not heeding the rising snowfall around us. Reality hit hard the second we walked out the restuarant and found we were in the middle of a full blown snowstorm. Our car was burried and the doors were frozen over so that it took some effort to get them open. Being from a desert we had no shovel, no scraper, no 4-wheel drive, and no chains. Yet, we had no choice. We had to get off the mountian. Bravely my friend offered to drive and off we went.

It didn't take much time for panic to set in. We were sliding all over the road and the semis on the road with us were fishtailing all over the lanes. My brother who had left ahead of us called to make sure we were ok; it was a bad storm to be driving in-especially in a little Civic. Well, for those that know me they won't be suprised I lost my head. Thinking I should find a way to get out of this I quickly suggested we call someone to helicoptor us out. That's how much I wasn't thinking straight. I literally thought that was an option. I figured all the money I had saved in college combined with my friends savings should pay the bill. We could leave the car here for all I cared. My friend as gently as she could told me that propably wasn't an option. So instead I called my Mom to tell her goodbye and that I loved her. She of course was a little unhinged by my call, but she told us to just drive slow, nothing too bad could happen at 15 mph. In the moment, I begged to differ, but we forged on with no other choice.

As evident by this blog we both lived. In fact we made it unscraped and unharmed; and it only took us a few extra hour drive. We collapsed gratefully in bed; grateful for our lives.

A few days ago I had a similar experience of being a passenger driving through a bad storm, only this time I was in a 4-wheel drive Chevy Colorado. I had a shovel, good tires, and an experienced driver in the truck. The whole time I looked back and thought of how different my first experience driving through a storm had been. Why? The storms were equal in snow, wind, windy roads, ice: and both times we were traveling at night. The situation was as similar as you can get, and yet, I felt at peace this time. That is how our lives can be when we fully utilize the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we put our trust in Him and fully use the Atonement through the Restored gospel we are in essence trading in our Civics for Colorado's; our half-battery cars to 4-wheel drive trucks. The storms of life will not ever go away. That is part of mortality. But when we equip ourselves properly we need not fear accident, death, or any other calamity. We can be assured of our safety and we can know we will eventually complete our journey and rest in the love of our Savior in eternal and everlasting life. That is what the tools of the gospel can do for each and every one of us, and if we utilize them, when a storm hits, we can drive without fear, for we know that the Lord will enable and protect us no matter what.

Angels We Have Heard on High

So I am rounding up with the Nativity story and have been thinking now about the angels. They appear a few times in the Nativity; to bring news to three parties 1-Mary 2-Joseph 3-the shepherds.

1-What can we learn from Gabriel? I think that we can learn that when we are asked of the Lord to open our mouths and teach/talk to people we are to do so. I am sure Gabriel was both excited and nervous for the news he brought; he knew the joy of the news but I am sure he also worried how Mary would react to it. I am sure he knew it was truth and something that would bless her life but it would also be hard to carry out. We, like Gabriel, must open our mouth still and focus on the blessings the gospel brings to people who hear it and not focus on the changes they will have to make and how hard it is. If we truly understand the blessings of the Lord through His restored gospel then sharing the message will be good news and not hard to hear. We will WANT to share it because we see the positive and the blessings rather than the "obligations". President Urchtdorf said "the gospel of Jesus Christ is a pathway not an obligation". Let us remember that as we share it with all who will hear us.

2-What of the angel that brought news to Joseph? He told Joseph after Joseph had decided to have Mary put away-"Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:20-21) I am sure Joseph was confused and upset about what he had thought Mary had done, yet he still tried to do the right thing. When we come to trials or "upsets" in life the Lord can help guide us or clarify problems in our lives so that we can move forward in the way the Lord would have us and in the way that is best for us. Let us strive to live so that our example or even words can be a source of guidance and clarification to those around us confused but seeking the truth of the gospel that will lead them to Christ as the angel did for Joseph.

3-The angels brought unto the shepherds "glad tidings of good joy". Christ IS the glad tidings of good joy. Let us, like these angels, proclaim Christ to "all" (Luke 2:10) so that they too may come unto Christ. When we seek to truly understand who Christ is and utilize the Atonement in our own lives we will realize how wondeful the message of Christ truly is, and we will seek to share this message with all we can. "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings; that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good; that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth;" (Mosiah 12:21 or Isaiah 52:7)

Let us be like the angels of old and share the gospel message of blessings with courage, seek to guide others as we live the gospel, and share the glad message of the Atonement and life of Jesus Christ our Savior and Redeemer.