A DISCIPLE'S JOURNEY
This is a talk from Elder Bruce Hafen given at last February's BYU Devotional. I wanted to share parts of it with you:
A few years ago our teenage daughter was feeling quite unsettled, asking some very honest questions, such as “Why is life so hard?” As we talked over dinner one night, I prayed like a missionary for the right things to say. After all, our children are our most important investigators. In the very moment, I received a prompting about “gravitational pull.” I grabbed a paper napkin and drew a sketch I’d never thought of before. It sparked a lively discussion. I felt so close to her that night. She is the child of our covenant, and I want to be with her always.
A disciple moves from darkness into light, which increases from the dim light of the stars to the moon and then to the brightness of the sun. Joseph Smith compared these heavenly bodies with the telestial, terrestrial, and celestial kingdoms. As the temple teaches, we can and should move toward that celestial light during mortality. We need not be of the world, even if we must live in the world.
Imagine that two vertical lines separate the stars, moon, and sun into three sections. Each line suggests a major transition as we move from one stage to the next. However, our journey is not rigidly sequential. Our experiences may move us back and forth.
Envision also two circles, each with a center point, located in stage one and in stage three. These circles represent the gravitational pull from the opposing poles of our journey. In the darkness of stage one, he who claims to be the god of this world exerts a constant force to hold us back from moving toward the light. As we cross the first barrier, we will leave the strongest satanic tugging—though he will always try to ensnare us wherever we are in the journey.
Reaching out from the center of light in stage three, Jesus also “entices” us with a spiritual gravitational pull toward Him. Think of the father of the prodigal son, praying his son home. When the father saw his son coming from afar, the father “had compassion, and ran” to the boy “and fell on his neck, and kissed him.”
I compare that father to Christ, who is so eager for our return that He comes to meet and strengthen us all along our way. Nephi wrote, “It is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.” Christ’s running to us is a vivid symbol of that grace. We talk often in the Church about coming to Christ. Perhaps we should talk more about how Christ also comes to us. No matter where we are on that path, we are never lost to Him. We often sing “Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?” Let us also sing “Be still, my soul: The Lord is on thy side.” We never have more value in the Lord’s sight than when we are feeling completely worthless.
We need to always remember that we have made covenants to move toward a celestial life. Sometimes that seems impossible. But consider how Elder Hafen describes Christ as the father of the prodigal son. Basically the scriptures not only testify of Christ but many accounts are a type and shadow of the Savior. The father running to greet the prodigal son represents Christ running to assist us as we move away from the pull of the world (Satan) towards a celestial life. This is a beautiful description of the Atonement.
Also consider this quote by Pres. Ezra Taft Benson:
Nothing is going to startle us more when we pass through the veil to the other side than to realize how well we know our Father and how familiar His Face is to us.
This is a talk from Elder Bruce Hafen given at last February's BYU Devotional. I wanted to share parts of it with you:
A few years ago our teenage daughter was feeling quite unsettled, asking some very honest questions, such as “Why is life so hard?” As we talked over dinner one night, I prayed like a missionary for the right things to say. After all, our children are our most important investigators. In the very moment, I received a prompting about “gravitational pull.” I grabbed a paper napkin and drew a sketch I’d never thought of before. It sparked a lively discussion. I felt so close to her that night. She is the child of our covenant, and I want to be with her always.
A disciple moves from darkness into light, which increases from the dim light of the stars to the moon and then to the brightness of the sun. Joseph Smith compared these heavenly bodies with the telestial, terrestrial, and celestial kingdoms. As the temple teaches, we can and should move toward that celestial light during mortality. We need not be of the world, even if we must live in the world.
Imagine that two vertical lines separate the stars, moon, and sun into three sections. Each line suggests a major transition as we move from one stage to the next. However, our journey is not rigidly sequential. Our experiences may move us back and forth.
Envision also two circles, each with a center point, located in stage one and in stage three. These circles represent the gravitational pull from the opposing poles of our journey. In the darkness of stage one, he who claims to be the god of this world exerts a constant force to hold us back from moving toward the light. As we cross the first barrier, we will leave the strongest satanic tugging—though he will always try to ensnare us wherever we are in the journey.
Reaching out from the center of light in stage three, Jesus also “entices” us with a spiritual gravitational pull toward Him. Think of the father of the prodigal son, praying his son home. When the father saw his son coming from afar, the father “had compassion, and ran” to the boy “and fell on his neck, and kissed him.”
I compare that father to Christ, who is so eager for our return that He comes to meet and strengthen us all along our way. Nephi wrote, “It is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.” Christ’s running to us is a vivid symbol of that grace. We talk often in the Church about coming to Christ. Perhaps we should talk more about how Christ also comes to us. No matter where we are on that path, we are never lost to Him. We often sing “Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?” Let us also sing “Be still, my soul: The Lord is on thy side.” We never have more value in the Lord’s sight than when we are feeling completely worthless.
We need to always remember that we have made covenants to move toward a celestial life. Sometimes that seems impossible. But consider how Elder Hafen describes Christ as the father of the prodigal son. Basically the scriptures not only testify of Christ but many accounts are a type and shadow of the Savior. The father running to greet the prodigal son represents Christ running to assist us as we move away from the pull of the world (Satan) towards a celestial life. This is a beautiful description of the Atonement.
Also consider this quote by Pres. Ezra Taft Benson:
Nothing is going to startle us more when we pass through the veil to the other side than to realize how well we know our Father and how familiar His Face is to us.
1 comment:
Thanks dad...I remeber you told me that before and I used it in my talk in the singles ward. It is always good to be reminded of that. I think that is a great way to think about it.
Love you!
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