When my husband was ill and we were planning treatment, we met one day with the Radiologist. They took us into a room that had a row of 'beds'. We assumed our position in the area assigned to us and waited for the doctor. As we sat there, we were looking around - and directly next to us was a little boy about 4 or 5 years old. He had lost his hair due to the chemo and looked very ill. Chris talked to him about what was wrong with him, etc and made some chit chat.
As we left the hospital that day, I walked out with a lump in my throat as I held my husband's hand. It was horrible to watch my husband in pain. It was even more horrible to consider that he may not 'get better'. But as bad as things were - I could not imagine it being my child that was ill. We both uttered those feelings as we drove home and we kissed and hugged our three healthy children as we arrived home that day. We were blessed and we were grateful that if there was to be pain in our home that it didn't have to be our children's pain.
I have a couple friends with sick children. I can not imagine the emotional turmoil that it must take as a mother - unable to take that pain away. My one friend's son is battling cancer and as I read her daily blogs regarding their trial... my heart is filled with such compassion - and I remember that my life is good. I also pray that she will feel, as we did, the comforting influence of the Holy Ghost. That they may, through the atonement, have some of their pain and sorrow taken away. That they may feel their Savior's love. Those things allowed me to press forward with steadfastness every day. I pray it will sustain them as well.
Showing posts with label pain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pain. Show all posts
Friday, April 30, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
THE ATONEMENT OF CHRIST
My thought for this Sabbath is to reflect on the Atonement. At Chris' funeral my brother-in-law sang the song . “There is a Green Hill Far Away"
There is a green hill far away,
Without a city wall,
Where the dear Lord was crucified,
Who died to save us all.
We may not know, we cannot tell,
What pains he had to bear,
But we believe it was for us
He hung and suffered there.
There was no other good enough
To pay the price of sin.
He only could unlock the gate
Of heav’n and let us in.
Oh, dearly, dearly has he loved!
And we must love him too,
And trust in his redeeming blood,
And try his works to do.
I haven't attended a lot of funerals in my life - but I don't know that a song on the atonement is typical. But when we think about the atonement... and what it does for us.. it is powerfully appropriate.
Elder Bruce D. Porter of the Seventy, speaking of the atonement, said:
"The power of Christ is not limited to payment for our sins. Through that power, He also took upon Himself the pains and sicknesses of His people, and He took upon Himself every negative consequence of a fallen world. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “Since not all human sorrow and pain is connected to sin, the full intensiveness of the Atonement involved [Christ’s] bearing our pains, infirmities, and sicknesses, as well as our sins.”
Serious illnesses, family tragedies, and emotional struggles do not happen necessarily because we have sinned. Adversity and heartbreak happen to good people; such is the fruit of a fallen world. But having experienced tragedy, sickness, and disappointment in His own life, the Savior knows how to strengthen us in such trials as well. He is there not only when we cry out from the burden of sin but also when we cry out for any other reason.
The power of the Atonement also covers the consequences of sin in the lives of innocent people. We pay no eternal price for things over which we have no control, including harm done to us by others. The Atonement can heal us. The only thing for which we pay a spiritual price is misuse of our own agency, and for that the Savior has given us the Atonement.
Sometimes we think of the power of the Atonement as something that works after this life, as though it were something that applied only at the Judgment Day. But that is not true doctrine. The redeeming power of Jesus Christ works during our lives, day by day, moment by moment, as He gives us strength to overcome, as He forgives us of sin, and as He brings us, through the Holy Ghost, comfort, peace, and joy.
My prayer and hope is that we will discover the power of the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives, that we will understand that the Atonement is not something abstract. Christ literally overcame the world and stands as our friend, a Prince who has lived among us and knows how to make us strong."
There is a green hill far away,
Without a city wall,
Where the dear Lord was crucified,
Who died to save us all.
We may not know, we cannot tell,
What pains he had to bear,
But we believe it was for us
He hung and suffered there.
There was no other good enough
To pay the price of sin.
He only could unlock the gate
Of heav’n and let us in.
Oh, dearly, dearly has he loved!
And we must love him too,
And trust in his redeeming blood,
And try his works to do.
I haven't attended a lot of funerals in my life - but I don't know that a song on the atonement is typical. But when we think about the atonement... and what it does for us.. it is powerfully appropriate.
Elder Bruce D. Porter of the Seventy, speaking of the atonement, said:
"The power of Christ is not limited to payment for our sins. Through that power, He also took upon Himself the pains and sicknesses of His people, and He took upon Himself every negative consequence of a fallen world. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “Since not all human sorrow and pain is connected to sin, the full intensiveness of the Atonement involved [Christ’s] bearing our pains, infirmities, and sicknesses, as well as our sins.”
Serious illnesses, family tragedies, and emotional struggles do not happen necessarily because we have sinned. Adversity and heartbreak happen to good people; such is the fruit of a fallen world. But having experienced tragedy, sickness, and disappointment in His own life, the Savior knows how to strengthen us in such trials as well. He is there not only when we cry out from the burden of sin but also when we cry out for any other reason.
The power of the Atonement also covers the consequences of sin in the lives of innocent people. We pay no eternal price for things over which we have no control, including harm done to us by others. The Atonement can heal us. The only thing for which we pay a spiritual price is misuse of our own agency, and for that the Savior has given us the Atonement.
Sometimes we think of the power of the Atonement as something that works after this life, as though it were something that applied only at the Judgment Day. But that is not true doctrine. The redeeming power of Jesus Christ works during our lives, day by day, moment by moment, as He gives us strength to overcome, as He forgives us of sin, and as He brings us, through the Holy Ghost, comfort, peace, and joy.
My prayer and hope is that we will discover the power of the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives, that we will understand that the Atonement is not something abstract. Christ literally overcame the world and stands as our friend, a Prince who has lived among us and knows how to make us strong."
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