A BELONGING

 

“When Jesus completed His atoning act, He uttered these words from the cross: “It is finished” (John 19:30).  When the meaning and purpose of His Atonement are first realised in our lives, we may say, “It has begun”. What has begun? The process of becoming forever “at one” with him – belonging to him.

“Those who come unto Christ also enter into a spiritual child-parent relationship with him. They take upon themselves his name – not only “Christians” in a general sense, but as King Benjamin wrote of those who accepted Christ’s Atonement and His gospel, “ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters, for behold this day he hath spiritually begotten you” (Mosiah 5:7).

“The unlimited parental commitment the Saviour feels for those who are in this sense His children is anchored deeply in the sacrifice of His Atonement. A mother descends into the dark valley of pain and death, risking her life to bring forth the life of her child. And when the child is born, she feels the awesome limitlessness of maternal bonds that are stronger than the cords of death.

“This sacrifice, understandable to any parent, yet most understandable to mothers, mirrors both the Saviour’s sacrifice and His everlasting commitment to nourish and cherish the children of Christ for whom He offered His body and His blood (see 1 Nephi 21:15-16)”

-          Elder Bruce C. Hafen, “The Belonging Heart” p 142-144

Elder Hafen goes on to say that the parent-child relationship which we are in with the Saviour goes beyond His commitment to nourish and cherish us as His children. The crucial component of this relationship is that the child develops and grows to become like the parent: “Ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him…” (Moroni 7:48).

It gives the phrase “you are just like your father” a whole new meaning, does it not?

The day You climbed the fateful hill

And embraced the pain of Calvary

You freed us from this world of sin

And from every agony.

 

How noble, how enduring

How strong You must have been

To fight my soul’s enemy

In the Garden of Gethsemane.

 

I give You my heart

I give You my all

To one day see Your

Reflection in my soul.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Sands of Serenity and Joyful Teachings by Ivan Guaderrama)

SAMPLING GETHSEMANE

 

“Our unity with the divine presence brings us peace and comfort, at first through the Holy Ghost. But that is not all; for not only the Holy Ghost may abide with us, but the good Master too: “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”  (John 14:18)

“The term ‘comfortless’ in this passage of the New Testament is translated from the Greek term for ‘orphans’, suggesting that the Saviour might have said, “I will not leave you orphaned”. This usage would underscore the parent-child relationships between Christ and His followers, and it echoes the sense of belonging and parent-like bonding…

“Among the Lord’s most intimate and personal reassurances to us are his words in modern revelation to the children of Christ, teaching us that belonging to Him in this doctrinally based sense is the ultimate source of safety and peace – the spiritual fulfilment of our belonging: “Fear not, little children, for ye are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath given me; and none of them that my Father hath given me shall be lost.” (D&C 50:41-42)”

- Bruce C. Hafen, "The Belonging Heart" p 148-149

I wondered why You were absent

When I most needed Thee;

I felt so alone in my suffering,

Yet You promised You’d be with

 us in everything.

 

I thought I was in my own

Garden of Gethsemane,

Until I saw Your footprints

And Your drops of blood

that had eluded me.

 

I looked around and I understood

You knew every tree,

Every shrub, even every blade

Of grass in Your vicinity.

I was in Your garden, not mine,

That beckoned me.

 

I realised You are there still

Praying for my weak soul

to come to Thee;

I will come, I will honour Thee;

Let me first sit under this tree

A while and reflect upon Your suffering.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: My Child by David Bowman)

REMEMBERING

 

Have you noticed how often ‘remembrance’ is used in the scriptures? Remembering the history of ‘the fathers’ seemed to have been an ancient method of motivating people to obedience. Nephites were often prompted to remember not only the children of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt but also of Lehi’s journey to the promised land. Both of these events are depicted in the account of King Benjamin’s farewell speech where the people ‘sat in their tents’ during the renewal of their covenants to help them remember Israelites’ living in tents for 40 years and Lehi’s 8 years of tent living in the wilderness. Remembering was anciently the key factor in covenant renewal. King Benjamin speaks of ‘remembering’ 15 times in his speech to his sons and to the people gathered to hear him (Mosiah 1:3,4,6,7,17; 2:40 twice, 41 twice; 4:11,28,30; 5:11,12; 6:3).

 

When I was growing up in the Catholic community of Croatia, I was stirred into remembrance of Christ constantly as every home, including my own, had pictures of Him in every room. I am not exaggerating here. I now paste pictures of Him in my journal and my planner constantly. I have done this for years. I think I have subconsciously wanted to continue that habit of visual remembrance. There are of course many ways we can remember the covenants we have made here. 

 

There is something that King Benjamin said that stood out to me this morning as I studied his speech again. He said we are made of dust but the dust belongs to Him who created us, therefore, we are not our own (Mosiah 2:25). It made me reflect on Paul who took this fact to another level when he said: “….Ye are bought with a price…” (1 Cor 6:20), the Atonement being that price. Christ could not buy us without our consent, the consent which we gave before we were born, when we voted and sustained Him to work out our salvation and uphold the Father’s plan to exalt His children. This is the covenant worth remembering. Some of us think, “it’s my body and my life, I can do whatever I want with it”, but it’s not really, is it? I think we gave up that right long ago. 

 

I pledged my life into thy hands

When by example you showed me how;

I promised my trials to endure

When I was with You and even now.

You dried my tears when I barely coped

And carried me when I could walk no more;

You fed me truths I needed to know

And nurtured my flight into the unknown.

I found you at every turn

In the shadow of my heart;

With eager haste I approach Thy throne

And offer my meagre part.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art by Randy Friemel)