With her grandaughters |
In the
beginning was the word and the word was with God, and the word was
God.
Hugh B
Nibley, a noted historian and fluent in all the major ancient
languages, teaches that on occasion the greek for word, logos, can
also in rare circumstances be translated as council. This brings us
greater knowledge of this verse.
In the
beginning was the council, and the council was with God, and the
council was God.
In
Jermeiah 1:5 God tells Jeremiah “Before I formed you in the womb I
knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a
prophet to the nations” In this passage we learn that Jeremiah
lived with our Heavenly Father before he was born, and was set apart
to his calling. Jeremiah was a man like all men and so this teaches
us that we too lived before we came to Earth. We are all children of
our Heavenly Father and we are not here by accident.
Before the earth was created God called all his children together in a grand council, here we lived as spirits, and he told us that the time had come for us to progress further. To do this though we had to gain for ourselves bodies, like he had and the only way for us to do that was to be born into them. He would create us a world, a perfect world, and our first parents would be created there with perfect bodies. Before long sin would enter the world and this would lead to a fall. Those perfect bodies would become imperfect, we would be subject to illness and disease. Death would enter the world. We would suffer trials and tribulations, but that this was needed. In the Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 2:22-25 we read
22 And
now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen,
but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things
which were created must have remained in the same state in which they
were after they were created; and they must have remained forever,
and had no end.
23 And
they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained
in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery;
doing no good, for they knew no sin.
24 But
behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth
all things.
25 Adam
fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.
Here
we learn that it is only because of our trials
and tribulations we can understand what joy is. For how can we
understand something if we have no perspective? How can we appreciate
the good times without knowing the bad?
He
told us that as we entered this world a veil would be passed over our
minds and we would have no memory of our life before. This would be
so that we could learn who we really are? Where are our real hearts
desires? When living in his presence it was easy to be good, but
would we still desire to do so with that veil in place? We would make
mistakes, we would trip and fall. We would commit sins ourselves, but
that the lessons we learned from those errors had the potential to
teach us much. As my own dad often says, it doesn't matter how many
times we fall, just how high we bounce.
Another
consequence of this fall is that death would come upon us, we would
be separated from our physical bodies again and they return to the
earth. Because all of us would do wrong things this would also mean
we would be able to return to our Celestial home for only perfect
beings could live in that perfect place and we would all fall short,
but there was a plan for this. What would be needed is a perfect man
to be born, a man who would commit no sin. The laws of justice
demanded a price be paid, but a perfect man who had done no wrong
could pay that price and by doing so he could pay the price for all
mankind, that the arm of mercy could be extended. Because this
perfect sacrifice was so all encompassing he would gain the power to
break the bonds of death itself and all of our Father's children
would regain their bodies back, all would be ressurected. Death would
lose it's sting! If we sought forgiveness for the wrongs we had done
that atoning sacrifice would pay the price that we could not and we
could return home to live with our Heavenly Father and continue in
our eternal progression, we could gain all that he had, we could
become like him! Perfect exalted beings! This plan was called the
Plan of Salvation and all who sit here today was there when this plan
was presented, and we shouted for joy. We rocked the very heavens
with our hosannahs! And the knowledge of this plan today gives hope,
and joy and strength.
My
mum's life in this mortal realm was filled with many trials &
tribulations. She barely knew a day where life did not batter her
and anyone who knew her could see how weighed down she was from this
struggle. The knowledge of this plan teaches us there was purpose for
this, so how did she react to all she had been through?
with her grandson |
For
some these things would have turned them bitter & resentful.
Jealous of the seeming happy, carefree lives of others. It would have
eaten them up and they would have turned that anger back onto what
they perceived to be a hateful world. Not my mother. She sought out
those who were suffering and sought to relieve them of theirs. That
others would go through alone what she had gone through was
unbearable for her. She refused to judge or condemn, always seeking
to understand so that she could help. In her role as a teaching
assistant at Oak Park School, she would often tell me of this child
or that child that was struggling seeking to lift them up, to better
them. Sometimes she would tell me of a comment one child would make
ridiculing those that were less fortunate, instead of rebuking them
she would teach them why it was wrong. How we shouldn't judge because
we all had our own journey. This was a woman though broken would seek
to lift others from their misery. She did not have much, but she
would give all she had to help another.
Glens wedding day |
Children
were her life and to see one suffering was something she could not
bear. Her grandchildren were her unashamed delight, she adored them
more than anything else in life, and I have no doubt that from the
Spirit World she will continue to take joy in watching them grow. She
raised 3 sons under trying circumstances and although like all
parents she made mistakes she raised 3 good men into this world. She
instilled in us her morals, her values. It was on my mothers knee I
learnt my alphabet, I learnt my numbers and later learnt my words. I
remember once when I was very young I had been put to bed and I was
reading the ladybird book 3 Little Pigs, when I finished it I came
down running excited exclaiming “mum mum I just read it from
beginning to end all the way through” This was the first time I had
done this by myself. She quickly hugged me tight and told me how
proud she was of me. She pulled out her purse and gave me a whole 50p
for me to spend as my reward...an absolute fortune in the early 80s!
But this instilled in me my love of books that I still have today.
She never considered us ever too young to learn.
I
was so happy when Glen gave her her first grandchild, it made her so
happy, although when John gave her her 3rd
it wasn't so great for me. This was she realised I had yet to give
her any “the other 2 have when are you going to??' I tried to pull
the gay card to little avail, “this is the 21st
century...that's no excuse these days!!” There was no such thing as
too many children for her. Bishop you should mourn for her loss, she
would have made an amazing asset to your Primary organisation.
An
outsider may look at my mothers life and see it as being less than,
but when I look at her life through the lens of the plan of salvation
I see nothing but success. I see a woman who bore all of lives
troubles and though she struggled through the dirt of mortality was
never too weary to lift the burden of another. If I see a weakness it
was that she would never turn to another for help with hers.
What
does it take to be accepted of Christ? In Matthew 25:31-46 we read:
31 ¶When
the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with
him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And
before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them
one from another, as a shepherd divideth his
sheep from the goats:
33 And
he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then
shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of
my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world:
35 For
I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me
drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked,
and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison,
and ye came unto me.
37 Then
shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an
hungred, and fed thee?
or thirsty, and gave thee
drink?
38 When
saw we thee a stranger, and took thee
in? or naked, and clothed thee?
40 And
the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch as ye have done it
unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it
unto me.
41 Then
shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye
cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For
I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave
me no drink:
43 I
was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not:
sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Family gathering |
45 Then
shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye
did it not to one of
the least of these, ye did it
not to me.
46 And
these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous
into life eternal.
By
this standard we can know that my mother is accepted of Christ, her
sins have been paid for and she will receive her Eternal Salvation.
With Glen, Kylie & Olly |
At Mama Mia |
This is beautiful. I just cried reading it.
ReplyDelete