RIVER OF MY TEARS

 

God of Wonders by Yongsung Kim

You seemed so far away,

My hope of rescue grew into fears,

Oh how my heart rejoiced

When I found You

 in the river of my tears!

- Cathryne Allen 

THE MANTLE OF A PROPHET PART 1

 

When Elijah found Elisha plowing his field, he ‘cast his mantle’ on this faithful man who was one of the choice 7,000 who had not bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kings 19:18,19). Even though a mantle is a simple coat, it was a sign of Elijah’s authority as the prophet and Elisha knew what this simple gesture meant. He was chosen as the understudy and future successor of Elijah. Out of this simple act, the phrase ‘mantle of the prophet’ has come to mean the calling and office of the prophet. (see The Old Testament Student Manual Book 2 p 62)

Before Elisha walked away from his effluent life to take up his calling, he ensured the Lord knew his commitment to break with his past life was complete. He slaughtered the 12 oxen he was plowing with and destroyed the farming implements. He then built a fire with the plowing equipment and cooked the oxen and gave it to people to eat as a sign of his willingness to serve them (1 Kings 19:21).

As his understudy, Elisha’s devotion to Elijah and his new calling became very obvious. Elijah’s life was wanted far and wide by King Ahab yet Elisha stayed by his side. Three times he declared to fleeing Elijah: “As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee” (2 Kings 2:2,4,6).

To say that Elisha had big shoes to fill would be an understatement. He had a gentle disposition without Elijah’s fiery zeal. Having witnessed Elijah's mighty miracles and his acts of service, his desire to follow in his footsteps and to measure up as Israel’s prophet was obvious when Elijah asked him before he was translated, what request he had of him and Elisha replied: "I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me" (2 Kings 2:9).. Elijah assured him that if Elisha gets to witness his departure, that will be a sign to him that it will be as he desired.

This indeed did happen for Elisha came to witness Elijah's ascension and the desire of his heart was fulfilled. His ministry lasted more than 50 years and was very similar in nature to that of his master teacher. Among his many prophecies as Israel's prophet, he performed miraculous acts:

• He parted river Jordan (2 Kings 2:8)
• He healed and provided continual water (2 Kings 2:19-22, 2 Kings 3:9, 16-20)
• He changed water's appearance to blood (2 Kings 3:22)
• He multiplied the widow's oil (2 Kings 4:2-7)
• He raised the widow's son from the dead (2 Kings 4:32-35)
• He healed food that was poisonous (2 Kings 4:40-41)
• He healed Namaan of leprosy (2 Kings 5:14)
• He caused the sunken axe head to float (2 Kings 6:5-7)
• He caused blindness to come upon the Syrian army (2 Kings 6:18-24)
• He fed 100 men with only twenty loaves and some grain and had food left over (2 Kings 4:42-44)
• He prophesied about future events (2 Kings 3:16-19; 7:1-2; 8:10-13; 13:17-19)

Impressive isn’t it? Elisha accomplished an incredible lot in his years of service but nothing stands out to me more than the strength of his faith that made all he did possible. Studying his life made me see that no matter how wonderful people are that went before us, our value is no less. As powerful as Elijah was, Elisha was not less powerful. Different people, different disposition, different qualities but yet the same powerful results. We of this dispensation can shine as bright as those that went before us. Our time is different but the enemy is still out there and our battlefield is here and now.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)

 

 

 

ETERNAL JOY

 

He Lifts Me Up by Danny Hahlbohm

When my days on earth are done

I'll be lifted above the world below

And I will seek the gilded gate

To welcome me to my eternal home.

 

I will approach the foot of Father’s throne,

I will kneel and I will weep

When in hope I give Him joy

For eternity to keep.

 

-       Cathryne Allen 

THE MIGHTY ELIJAH RETURNS

Elijah Appearing in the Kirtland Temple by Dan Lewis

Baptisms by proxy for the dead is not a new doctrine. It was practiced well and truly in the meridian of time (1 Cor 15:29). They are performed today in the temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through the power of the priesthood conferred by Elijah upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery on April 3, 1836 in Kirtland Temple, Ohio (D&C 110:13-16).

In the fall and winter of 1892-1893, another temple was being prepared for the sacred work of salvation of the living and the dead. This was the Salt Lake City Temple. One worker, a volunteer like many others, recorded an experience he had whilst engaged in this work:

“About March 1893, I found myself alone in the dining room – all had gone to bed. I was sitting at the table when to my great surprise my old brother Alfred walked in, sat down opposite me at the table and smiled. I said to him (he looked so natural): “When did you arrive in Utah?” (He had lived in New Zealand and I had not heard from him in years.)

“He said: “I have just come from the Spirit World. This is not my body that you see, it is lying in the tomb. I want to tell you that when you were on your mission you told me many things about the Gospel, and the hereafter, and about the Spirit World being as real and tangible as the earth. I realized that you had told the truth. I attended the Mormon meetings. He raised his hand and said with much warmth: “I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with all my heart. I believe in faith and repentance and baptism for the remission of sins, but that is as far as I can go. I look to you to do the work for me in the temple.” 

“He continued: “You can go to any kind of sectarian meeting in the Spirit World. All our kindred there knew you were trying to make up your mind to come and work on the temple. You are watched closely, every move you make is know there, and we were glad you came. We are all looking to you as our head in this great work. I want to tell you that there are a great many spirits who weep and mourn because they have relatives in the Church here who are careless and are doing nothing for them.”  He then disappeared.” (Melvin S. Tagg, The Life of Edward James Wood, an unpublished 1959 Brigham Young University Master’s Thesis, pp 107-108)

The Jewish people still wait for Elijah to return, as Malachi promised he would (Malachi 4:5). He remains an invited guest at Jewish Passover Feasts, where an open door and a vacant seat always await him. It brings tears to my eyes because there is no need to wait for him any longer.  This became the subject of conversation between Elder LeGrand Richards and the Mayor of Jerusalem, Teddy Kollek.  Elder Richards had just dedicated the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden on the Mount of Olives.  After the ceremony, the two conversed as they ate their lunch:

Elder Richards said:  "Mayor, I want to tell you something". "What's that?" asked the Mayor.

Looking Mayor Kollek directly in the eye, the apostle said: "Ten years ago I was here in Jerusalem and one day I went into three synagogues and hanging up on the wall in one of them was a large armchair.  I asked the rabbi what it was there for (I knew but I wanted him to tell me, which he did).  He said that it was so that if Elijah comes 'we can lower the chair and let him sit in it'.  Now Mayor, I want to tell you something and what I tell you is the truth.  Elijah has already been.  On the third day of April 1836 he appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple". The Mayor said: "I guess I better tell them to take that chair down." (LeGrand Richards, Beloved Apostle, p.301)

One day in the realms of heaven, I will meet mighty Elijah, a noble man I admire so much. I will bow in adoration and thank him for his dedication to the Plan of Salvation and to the Saviour of this world.

 

ODE TO ELIJAH

You sat under the juniper tree

Sorrow spilling from

Your every memory. 

 

Valued as naught

You pleaded with God

To end your life;

But instead He gave you

Power greater than your mortal might.

 

He yielded to your words of power

And sent chariots and angels

to bring you home

In the appointed hour.

 

Dear to the heart of Him whom you served,

Your life of sacrifice and devotion

forgotten never,

Dear to our hearts in our memory,

Valued forever.

 - CATHRYNE ALLEN 

THE MIGHTY ELIJAH PART 5

The Lord is My Shepherd by LDS Bookstore

I used to think that Elijah’s mission to turn our hearts to our fathers solely meant motivation to do proxy baptisms for the dead, as was practiced in the meridian of time according to Paul who used this practice as proof to the Sadducees of the reality of resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:29). Temple work for the dead was well and truly operational in the meridian of time because of Elijah’s visit on Mount of Transfiguration conferring the priesthood power on Peter, James and John (Matt 17:3). Consider, however, how much more can be accomplished by this practice:

"Perhaps we regard the power bestowed by Elijah as something associated only with formal ordinances performed in sacred places.  But these ordinances become dynamic and productive of good only as they reveal themselves in our daily lives.  Malachi said that the power of Elijah would turn the hearts of the fathers and the children to each other.  The heart is the seat of the emotions and a conduit for revelation.  This sealing power thus reveals itself in family relationships, in attributes and virtues developed in a nurturing environment and in loving service.  These are the cords that bind families together, and the priesthood advances their development."  (James E. Faust, Father Come Home, May Ensign 1993)

Sometimes in ‘turning our hearts to our fathers’, some resolutions need to happen and most often than not they involve some form of forgiveness. Some of us hail from dysfunctional families, some from abuse, some from abandonment but all come from flawed humanity. If something is holding you back from the sealing ordinances, know that forgiveness is the key. It will free and change you and it will replace all the grief that is in your heart with unearthly love.

I know something of ‘turning the hearts to the fathers’. I struggled with a sense of powerlessness most of my life. I knew instinctly that this is not who I really am but the feeling persisted for most of my adulthood which led me to feelings of inadequacy.

 

I came to a realisation at one stage that this weakness had come to me from many generations of my family. I come from a long line of poor oppressed European peasants who had lived under the oppression of feudalism followed by socialism, the oppression which drummed into them that they could never rise above their station in life. I had seen this mentality of powerlessness perpetrated in my family throughout my childhood and early adulthood in Europe. I have known my family's negative thoughts and their beliefs that influenced their lives and invited suffering.

 

From the time my family immigrated to Australia when I was 14, and the Gospel came into my life, I could not understand why I was born into my family. I am the different one, the one that seeks and knows and loves God. One day some years ago my frustration over my life which I felt was controlled by this sense of powerlessness sent me to my knees where through bitter tears I spat out to God that I hated my family and all the generations I have come from; that I hated who they were and what they had saddled me with. I felt I could not rise to my potential because of it.

 

I had never expressed such venomous thoughts before, to myself or to others, let alone to God. I begged to understand why I was sent into this family and why I carried their burden.  Within half an hour of my prayer, my heart and mind were flooded with immense understanding.

 

When the Saviour said 'my sheep hear my voice' (John 10:27) he was referring to those who are  spiritually advanced and who, because of it, recognise and wholeheartedly embrace the truth when it is presented to them. Bruce R. McConkie taught that this is a spiritual gift that was developed in pre-earth life (Mormon Doctrine, p 81). I count myself as one of His sheep. I was brought up in a strong Catholic community but I wanted to know God and I found the religion of my youth inadequate. I was 16 years of age when I sought and immediately accepted the Gospel into my life.

 

What has all this got to do with my ancestors? It has everything to do with our hearts being turned to our fathers. It was given to me to understand that those who are His sheep are often sent to families who need a spiritual shepherd. Someone who will, through their belief, give strength to those who need to be saved from their disbelief.

 

I understood through my revelation that what once was a physical oppression of my ancestors had become a spiritual stumbling block. I understood that they still lived in a state of powerlessness even though they had passed over into the spirit world. They needed the saving grace of Christ and they needed saving. When I understood this my heart was ‘turned’ to my fathers and the saving ordinances of the priesthood took on a new meaning for me. This understanding also gave me compassion towards the generations of my family and freed me to be who I truly am and not what my programming made me to be. This energy of freedom, I am convinced, reached my ancestors where they are now and paved the path to acceptance of Christ’s gospel.

 

If you are the shepherd in your family, you stand on holy ground. You do not stand alone. The ultimate Shepherd stands beside you gathering all the sheep. You are in good company. You are the under-shepherd…..yours is a sacred work……

See Father,

I brought home the sheep!

I did all that I could

To save them in my keep.

 

They come to You Father

In whose arms they belong,

They come to You,

Whom they loved all along.

 - CATHRYNE ALLEN 

WILLING TO GIVE

 

All that is unspoken

And all that is unseen

All that I feel

In the depths of my soul

I long to give to Thee.

 

And all that You ask of me

And all that I am

I will place

On the altar of sacrifice

for Thee.

 

I give You my all

Because a heart

Can give no more.

 

-       CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Artist Unknown)

THE MIGHTY ELIJAH PART 4

 

When angel Moroni visited Joseph Smith on 21 September 1823, he told him of an important part of the restoration that will take place 13 years later. He told Joseph that the sealing power of the Priesthood will be restored to the earth by the very hand of Elijah the prophet who will ‘plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers’ (D&C 2:2)

This sealing power comes in two parts. The first part is the planting into our hearts the promises made to the fathers: “Who are the fathers? They are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to whom the promises were made. What are the promises? They are the promises of a continuation of the family unit in eternity” (Bruce R. McConkie, The Millenial Messiah: The Second Coming of the Son of Man [1982], 267l; see also D&C 27:10; Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual commentary for D&C 2:2).

These eternal promises made to the fathers are known as the Abrahamic Covenant and they are:

1.       Abraham’s posterity would be numerous (see Genesis 17:5-6; Abraham 2:9; 3:14).

2.       His descendants would receive the gospel and bear the priesthood (see Abraham 2:9)

3.       Through the ministry of his seed “all the families of the earth would be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even life eternal” (Abraham 2:11)

4.       Abraham’s righteous descendants will inherit the earth. Following the Millenium plus ‘a little season’ the earth will die, be resurrected and become sanctified, immortal and an eternal state where the god-fearing and the righteous shall live as celestial beings with the Father and the Son forever and ever (D&C 88:14-26, 111; McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p 211)

“A person can receive all the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant – even if he or she is not a literal descendant of Abraham – by obeying the laws and ordinances of the gospel (see Galatians 3:26-29; 4:1-7; D&C 84:33-40)”. (Gospel Topics, LDS Gospel Library: Abrahamic Covenant). This is called ‘adoption into the House of Israel’ by baptism.

The second part of Elijah’s sealing power is the turning of our hearts to our own ancient fathers. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve said that not only has God made these promises to the ancient patriarchs but that we “undoubtedly made them to our own lineal fathers and mothers, those who came to earth before the gospel was restored but whom we promised to provide its saving ordinances” (Christ and the New Covenant 1977, p. 297). This is done by proxy in the temples that are now on the earth.

So it is through this sealing power and the saving ordinances we provide for our kindred dead that we inherit the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant. If not, the creation of this earth would be utterly wasted because a sealed, united, celestially saved family of God is the ultimate purpose of mortality and the creation of this earth. (see Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant, p 297-98)

The spirit of Elijah rests upon the human family today who are actively seeking their roots. Even the ones who don’t know why, will one day give thanks to the God of this universe who made the family ties eternal and preserved the love that binds us together, now and forever…..

Your life has come and gone

But your footprints remain

And your blood courses through my veins.

Because of God’s eternal grace

We will once again embrace.

I weep not that we are now apart,

For I carry you with me,

I carry you in my heart. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art by AI)

HE HEARS ME

 

Nearer to Thee by LDS Bookstore

He hears me when in the

Solitude of my darkest nights

On Him I call.

 

He hears me when in silence

My heart tries to hide

My fears that I might fall.

 

He hears me when in crowds

My mind wanders and doubts

Begin their insidious call.

 

He hears me whether

I cry to Him or not

Because He knows my very soul,

He knows it all.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN  

THE MIGHTY ELIJAH PART 3

 

Jehovah Creates the Earth by Water Rane

The most important part of Elijah’s mission was the Melchizedek Priesthood sealing power by which things that are bound or loosed on earth are bound or loosed in heaven (D&C 128:8-18). He was the last prophet to have this power before the time of Jesus Christ.

He appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration with Moses and conferred the keys of this priesthood on Peter, James and John (Matt 17:3). He appeared again, with Moses and others, on April 3, 1836, in the Kirtland Ohio Temple and conferred the same keys upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery (D&C 110:13-16). It is for this purpose that he did not taste death. This was the second part of his earthly mission.

Elijah’s ascension into heaven on a chariot of fire is one of the most endearing accounts in the Old Testament. Elisha’s grief at the parting is heart rendering. As he cried after him, calling him ‘father’, he rent his clothes into pieces in his distress (2 Kings 2:11,12).

There is a significant connection between Elijah’s mission and the planet we presently live on. When Moroni delivered his message to Joseph Smith, he said that the earth would be wasted if Elijah didn’t come to restore the sealing power (D&C 2:2-3). Malachi goes so far as to say that if it were so, the Lord would smite the earth with a curse at His coming (Malachi 4:5).

Our Mother Earth which gave us physical birth (Moses 2:7) was foreordained and consecrated to establish on its face a family system patterned after the order of heaven and to become the future celestial abode of exalted sons and daughters of God. She also has a mission to accomplish like the rest of us.

Had Elijah not come to restore the sealing priesthood power to bind us together, the earth would not have accomplished its foreordained purpose and would not have been able to answer the end of its creation. All men and women would be forever without root and branch, meaning without ancestry and posterity that would otherwise extend into eternity.

Enoch learnt from his encounter with Mother Earth that she had a soul as deep as the river. Grief came  over him and made him weep when he heard her call us her children and witnessed her mourn over our wickedness (Moses 7:48). So overcome was Enoch at her suffering that he asked God three times, ‘’when shall the earth rest” (v 49,54,58).

You think the earth has no soul? Consider how she groaned when the Son of Man was lifted up and all nature suffered at the death of its creator (Moses 7:56; 1 Nephi 19: 12). Imagine this big beautiful perfect planet, the workmanship of God’s hands, with a soul as tender and real as you and I, utterly wasted at Christ’s coming…..Imagine how Father Adam and Mother Eve would feel to see this earth wasted after they paved the way for humanity by ‘the sweat of their brow’ (Moses 5:1). We think we have it hard…..we don’t even have to slice our bread…

When the end comes, this earth will be celestialized and crowned with the Father’s presence to be an eternal abode for those who will accept the sacrifice of His Beloved Son who was lifted upon the cross of redemption so that we can return to live with Him on this Mother Earth forever (D&C 88:17-20). 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

HEALING IN HIS WINGS

 

Love's Redeeming Work by LDS Bookstore

When You rose from Your grave

With healing in Your wings,

Did I live on in Your heart

As you ascended to Your throne

To seal my destiny?

Did You carry us all in Your bosom

With the crucible of the cross

Forever etched in Your memory?

 

-       CATHRYNE ALLEN

 

 

 

THE MIGHTY ELIJAH PART 2

 

Elijah was called to preach repentance to one of the most evil kings of Israel.  Not only did King Ahab walk in the footsteps of his predecessor Jeroboam who turned Israel to idolatry but he did one better than that, he married Jezebel, the daughter of king of Sidonia, who worshipped Baal. Ahab turned worship of Baal into the state religion and 'did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him' (1 Kings 16:33)

 

Baal, a Phoenician deity of the Canaanites, worshipped as the god of storm who they believed had power over water, is mentioned in the Old Testament 58 times. Because the Canaanite vegetation was rich and the soil fertile, many Israelites were deceived into thinking the Canaanite god Baal regulated the water supply needed for the soil.

 

It is no wonder then that Elijah, as a fitting punishment to Israel who worshipped Baal believing he sent water to enrich their pastures and ensure their crops, sealed up the heavens for three and a half years. You would think that during three and a half years of drought, worshipping a god who was supposed to be a god of water and rain, Israel would come to their senses and realise they were on the wrong track but this did not happen. Sometimes I think we operate in mortality on the intelligence level called stupidity.

 

From the time of his proclaimed drought on the kingdom of Israel, Elijah was a wanted man and spent much of his time in hiding. So severe had the drought become that Ahab searched for him far and wide, among all nations, blaming him for the misfortune that had befallen his kingdom (1 Kings 18:10). All the nations and kingdoms Ahab searched had to swear an oath that they were not hiding him and whoever reported seeing him would be executed if Elijah was not there by the time Ahab's search party arrived (1 Kings 18:12).

 

Sealing the heavens began Elijah's life on the run dotted with miracles. He was guided in all his wanderings by the God of Israel who preserved his life. When the time came for God to show forth his power by lifting the drought, Elijah was instructed to return to Israel where he engaged in the most outlandish contest with the false prophets of Baal who failed to show forth his power in igniting the sacrifice they were offering.

 

And how did the priests of Baal do? Their greatest offering was cutting themselves ‘till blood gushed out upon them’ crying to their god for rain (1 Kings 18:28). One ancient author recorded a similar scene he observed in Gaza in Roman times:

 

“They danced along the streets to the sound of wild music, holding huge swords and bills, with whips for scouring themselves….they flew wildly one past the other: their heads sunk low towards the earth, as they turned in circles: their loose hair dragging through the dust. Presently they began to bite their arms, and next to hack themselves with the two edged swords they carried…..one of them, the leader in this frenzy, commenced to prophesy, with sighs and groans, lamenting aloud his past sins, which he would now avenge by the chastisement of his flesh. He then took the knotted whip and lashed his back, cutting himself also with his sword till the blood ran down.”  (Cunningham Geikie, Hours with the Bible, 3:399-400)

 

There is only one deranged entity who would inspire such an ungodly practice and persuade people of a sound mind to believe this could pass as a form of worship…..and we all know who that is.

 

Elijah, however, drew the hosts of Israel to him so they could properly see, repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down with 12 stones signifying the 12 tribes of Israel and saturated the wood and the sacrificial animal with four barrels of water, three times. He then appealed to Jehovah to show that He is the true God of Israel (1 Kings 18:37). Of course, the fire came down and consumed the whole altar with the surplus water that was in the surrounding trench (1 Kings 18:30-39). He then instructed the astonished Israelites to capture all 450 prophets of Baal, took them to the brook Kishon and slew them there (1 Kings 18:22,40). Now that’s a man of conviction!

 

Because of his un-daunting faith in the God of Israel, Elijah was blessed with power over water like Moses and Joshua and divided river Jordan prior to his ascension into heaven, never to taste death (2 Kings 2:6-11).

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art by AI)

THE ALTAR OF MY HEART

 

God is Love by LDS Bookstore

As the stars in heaven

That burn with everlasting light

So is my love that burns for Thee

On the altar of my heart.

 

-      Cathryne Allen 

THE MIGHTY ELIJAH PART 1

 

 

There was a prolific and significant prophet of the Old Testament whose earthly mission was divided in two time periods, before the first and second advents of Christ. His life warrants a lengthy consideration. 

 

He is known as the ancient prophet who performed many mighty miracles and who had power to control the elements. Approximately 900 years before the birth of Christ, the people of the northern kingdom of Israel had almost entirely forsaken the worship of the true God under the reign of king Ahab and had become worshippers of the Phoenician god Baal.  Enter Elijah the Tishbite who was called to lead Israel back to their forsaken God. He boldly stood up to Ahab and said: “As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years but according to my word.” (1 Kings 17:1)

 

And so Elijah sat by the brook Cherith, before Jordan, and he drank of the brook and was fed by the ravens sent by the very God in whose name he proclaimed the draught that lasted three and a half years (1 Kings 17:2-6). When the brook dried up, the Lord led him to Zarephath to be sustained by a widow whose son he raised from the dead (vs 7-24).

 

Elijah's boldness of character would be difficult to replicate. He stands as an example of spiritual confidence of one who knows God on a personal level. Besides the power that he was entrusted with he loved the God of Israel and did everything he could to turn the people’s hearts to Him.

 

Elijah’s difficult life has touched my heart to the core. He sorrowed and he suffered through rejection, persecution and isolation and most of all he longed for heaven. When fleeing Jezebel who sought to take his life, Elijah went into wilderness and sat himself under a juniper tree and requested of God that he might die (1 Kings 19:4). The Lord instead sent him an angel who fed him and led him to mount Horeb.

 

Elijah fasted for forty days during this trip. When he arrived and the Lord asked him what he was doing there, he expressed the root cause of his sorrow: nothing about his personal hardships but that the children of Israel had forsaken the covenant and slain the prophets and that he was the only one left (vs 8-10). And then the assurance and comfort from the God he loved: “Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.” (v 18) In other words: Elijah, you have done some good even though you can’t see it.

 

And then the ultimate show of love and support……the Lord gave him Elisha. Another man of God, who denounced all his wealth and followed Elijah into his ministry. A man who became so great that a dead man cast into his sepulchre came to life again when his body touched the bones of Elisha (2 Kings 13:21). Is this not greatness???

 

How much You must love

Those who serve Thee to the end;

Who speak the words of truth

And proclaim Thy holy name.

These are Thy prophets,

Your everlasting friends:

The strong, the noble,

The devoted who hear and obey.

These are Thine angels who herald

Thy gospel and Thy name ;

To the ends of the earth they speak

And their words forever remain.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Elijah by Djane Daviss)

RETURN TO HEAVEN

 

Joy Cometh In The Morning by LDS Bookstore

Will I be lost in crowds of heaven

When my mortal shell at last I leave,

And will this earthly life appear unreal

When my true home is to me revealed?

 

Will I come to see Thy face

I so often sought on bended knee,

And forget all the lonely moments

I suffered with merciful help from Thee?

 

My heart will rend within my chest

When I kneel before Thy throne;

I will weep with grateful heart

For cherished truths that I have known.

 

-       CATHRYNE ALLEN

A SYNOPSIS OF LIFE

 

Seasons of Change by LDS Bookstore

Teenage years: Life is great and possibilities are great.

Twenties: My Prince has come, not on a steed but in a small second-hand Toyota, but that’s OK. I am about to sail off into the sunset of perfection and a glorious thereafter.

Thirties: The sunset faded all too soon and the prince has turned into a toad. I am divorced with two children in tow.

Forties: I am penniless but the tabloids tell me I am a superwoman and I can yet re-invent myself and create another life because for women life begins at 40.

Fifties: Still penniless and wrung dry by single motherhood. My mother is in her 70s and she refuses to walk with a cane. What the heck is wrong with her? Doesn’t she know how old she is????

Sixties: My body is breaking. The thought of having a shower fills me with fear and dread and actually having one that lasts all of five minutes is a monumental achievement. And no way am I walking with a cane!

I don’t know if it happens to everyone but it seems that when we reach the last leg of the journey, we start evaluating a lot and calculating the worth of our lives by a very short synopsis. I was struggling with a very low number I was coming up with until my friend recently confided in me the same struggle. She felt she has not achieved much and therefore she herself must not be worth much.  

The thing is, there is only one thing we take with us when we die….ourselves, therefore our worth cannot be measured by earthly achievements but by the worth of our souls. I have not attended one funeral where the financial worth of the deceased was on display for everyone to admire. Who they were was always remembered over what they have achieved and acquired.

When God the Father showed Enoch His corrupted children that would be swept away in the flood, He wept at the loss (Moses 7:28). Enoch was beyond perplexed when he considered that God would sorrow over a ‘handful’ of His children compared to the immensity of His creations (v 29-31). The Father simply answered that these His children were ‘the workmanship” of His hands (v 32). The dictionary defines ‘workmanship’ as ‘the product or result of labour and skill, or work executed’.

I pondered on this some years ago and considered the work that went into the making of us such as: 1. our spiritual creation which depended on the Father’s rise to Godhood; 2. Our spiritual tutoring for eons of time; 3. The creation of the earth for our mortality; 4. The overseeing of our earthly tutoring; 5. The preparation of kingdoms for our eternal destination; 6. The redemption of our souls through the sacrifice of another.

I also thought of our earthly lives and the scale of guidance, protection, care, anguish and sorrow of our Heavenly Parents, the Holy Ghost, our guardian angels, our ancestors, our departed loved ones and all the hosts of heaven who know us….and not just what others have put into us but what we have put into ourselves….in this life and before we even came here. Progression is a long journey.

As I spoke to my friend, I said to her that I have come to the conclusion that I would gladly repeat all the trials and hardships of my life if it would bring me back to this time and place where I am the closest I have ever been to the Saviour of the world. As I spoke, I became cognizant of my worth and that I was my greatest asset. The height of my value I owe to Him who has not only bled for my soul but who has fine tuned me like an old violin……..

“Twas battered and scarred and the auctioneer thought it hardly worth his while to waste his time on the old violin, but he held it up with a smile. “What am I bid, good people”, he cried, “Who starts the bidding for me?”

“One dollar, one dollar, Do I hear two? Two dollars, who makes it three? Three dollars once, three dollars twice, going, going for three.”

“But no, from the room far back a gray bearded man came forward and picked up the bow.

Then wiping the dust from the old violin and tightening up the strings, he played a melody, pure and sweet. As sweet as the angel sings.

“The music ceased and the auctioneer with a voice that was quite and low said, “What now am I bid for this old violin?” As he held it aloft with its’ bow. “One thousand, one thousand, do I hear two? Two thousand, who makes it three? Three thousand once, three thousand twice, Going and gone”, said he.

“The audience cheered, but some of them cried, “We just don’t understand, What changed its worth?” 

Swift came the reply, “The touch of the Master’s Hand.”

- Myra Brooks Welch [1877-1959]

- CATHRYNE ALLEN