I carried my problems in a basket
To every friend I knew;
They rummaged and picked the ones
They thought they could stop me
From feeling so blue.
I carried my basket to the Saviour,
He recognised each problem so well;
He gave me the wisdom to solve them,
My suffering myself to quell.
He knew every fallen tear,
Every minute of fear and dread,
He knew the lonely road I travelled
And gave me solace instead.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: I Know You by B. Laura Wilson)
Some years
ago, another divorced, single mother moved into my Ward which made us the only
two women of that marital status in that ward. We struck up a friendship and I
was grateful that there would be someone around who would understand me and my
life. This proved more difficult than I thought.
The sister
in question was vastly different from me. She was a career woman managing her
own business and I was a lowly office worker, with no professional aspirations,
struggling to make ends meet. She was a very strong, independent individual who
handled her four children with ease and trained them well for a life of
independence. I was a self-sacrificing mother who turned herself into a taxi
driver for my young teenagers and who did everything in my power to spare them
any discomfort and difficulty.
With time
it became apparent to me that my new friend and I were reading the same book
but we were not on the same page. In other words, we were two different
individuals in the same situation but with different responses to that
situation. We were different people and the same difficulties were affecting us
differently. This taught me that it is futile to seek understanding from other
people because of our differences.
I also came
to understand another truth. Be careful of turning a close friend into your
mentor. I had a handful of close friends that I used to seek advice from which
I narrowed down to one confidant who I considered understood my spiritual
journey more than anyone else but even though we had a very strong spiritual
connection, our lives were vastly different. She was married and I was single,
she was well and I was sick. I noticed with time that her advice was often, if
not always, from her frame of reference and her experiences in life. I used to
value whatever she said until I noticed that some of the advice she was giving
me was not applicable to me.
When I
became sick two years ago, I retreated into myself a lot and became very
alienated from people I knew because I felt nobody understood what I was going
through. Pain has a way of teaching you that. I had never been in a more
isolating situation before in my life. All of a sudden I was incredibly alone
with something I was dealing with that was very difficult. I knew it was futile
to expect others to understand because nobody else had ever experienced what it
is like to live in my skin……except only one..
I came to
understand the Saviour’s lonely road He trod when He was here. This scripture
seared my heart: “Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness:
and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but
I found none.” (Psalm 69:20). I understood a fraction of what He felt during
the crucible of His life when He was forsaken by all. If Christ’s Atonement was
a descent into the ‘bottomless pit’ of human agony, then I know that He alone
understands my life and my sufferings…..because in that bottomless pit was my
agony too.
I
met You on the lonely road
And
heard You say to me:
You
will ever be mine
If
you walk with me.
Your
presence enthralled me,
Your
exquisite love nearly ripped me apart;
I
walked away from all else
Just
to have You in my heart.
I
walk now with Your hand in mine,
The
lonely road paved with tears of love
Oh,
if only everyone knew where to find You
And
long for You to come!
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Artist Unknown)
I don’t know how the sun remembers to rise,
Or how the stars remember their places.
I don’t know how the flowers remember to bloom,
Or how in spring the leaves fill their spaces.
It’s enough for me to know who created it,
And I’ll never be the same;
Because I know I have a God who loves me
And a King, who remembers my name.
My King, who remembers my name;
A mighty King, who remembers my name!
He is the Lord of all creation,
And yet, my King remembers my name.
I’m a small creature compared to His greatness;
I’m only one and the same,
But I’ll always be His, and He will be mine –
A King, who remembers my name!
I look at the world today with people
Rushing about without thinking of why;
Why we’re all here, and what is life about
And where we all go when we die.
But I know, and I’ll ever be thankful
That I know from whence I came.
I’ll go home to heaven once more,
To my King, who remembers my name.
- BONNIE LAKE BLOOMFIELD (7/5/20)
(Art: I Have Suffered for You by B. Laura Wilson)
I wrote yesterday about God’s admonition to ancient
Israel to remember their deliverance from ‘the house of bondage’. This practice
was so ingrained in them that they took it to the new promised land in ancient
America. Some notable references to this important part of
their history in the Book of Mormon are: 1 Nephi 4:2,3; 17:23-42; Mosiah 7:19;
Alma 36:28-29.
Remembering became a
legacy amongst God’s people. King Benjamin spoke of ‘remembering’ 15 times in
his farewell speech to motivate his people to obedience to God (Mosiah
1:3,4,6,7,17; 2:40 twice, 41 twice; 4:11,28,30; 5:11,12; 6:3).
As I was reading Alma’s instructions to Helaman one
day, I expected to come across this familiar scripture: “O
remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the
Son of God, that ye must build your foundation….…” I was convinced it was the
advice that Alma gave to his sons. However, this scripture was nowhere to be
found in the book of Alma.
I eventually found it in Helaman 5:12, and to my
surprise I discovered this advice was given by Helaman to his sons Nephi and
Lehi and not Alma to his sons. I then realized why I got that wrong. When Alma
spoke to Helaman he also, at one time, began with, “O remember, remember…..”
(Alma 37:13). Like father, like son…… The legacy of remembrance passed on from
Alma to Helaman was so strong that Helaman named his sons Nephi and Lehi for
this very purpose (Helaman 5:6).
Alma used the verb ‘remember’ 6 times in speaking to
his sons (Alma 37:13,14,32,35; 42:11). Helaman used it 11 times in speaking to
his sons in Helaman 5. Why did Alma put such importance on remembering? This is
why: As he lay unconscious he ‘remembered’
his father’s prophecy concerning the coming of Jesus Christ and when he pleaded
with Christ to have mercy on him, he could not ‘remember’ his pains anymore
(Alma 36:17, 19). Remembrance played a crucial part in his conversion. I guess
you could say he too was delivered from ‘the house of bondage’…..
When we pass on from this life, we hope we will be
remembered for ‘something’. None of us want to be forgotten. Nephi is
remembered for his obedience, Alma for his repentance, Helaman for his
strategic warfare, Captain Moroni for his passionate patriotism, Mormon for his
discipleship, Moroni for his endurance, but one thing they all had in common
was a firm foundation in Christ.
Our testimony of Him and what we accomplish because of
it is the greatest legacy we can leave to our posterity and to the world…..because
the memories we leave behind of ourselves help others to ‘remember’ and that
remembrance will lead them to courage, good works, endurance and ultimately to
eternal life. This is the power of the Book of Mormon and all holy writ…..it
makes us remember Christ.
The testimony we bear, as His disciples, can ensure
the world remembers Him…and now more than ever, to prepare to meet Him. Because
He remembers us, and He will never forget…” Can a woman forget her sucking
child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they
may forget, yet will I not forget thee. I have graven thee upon the palms of my
hands; thy walls are continually before me….” (Isaiah 49:15-16)
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Walk by Faith by Chris Brazelton)
I viewed my life as
hopeless pieces
And shame consumed my
fragile heart.
I questioned every move
and every choice;
I berated, I gave no
value to any part.
Not until my trust
consumed me
And my will to heavens
flew
Did solace nestle in my
soul
And such freedom as I
never knew.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art by David Beraru)
We are about to study the book of Joshua this week. Joshua is one of those Old Testament figures we don’t talk about much yet there is so much to admire about the man. I feel he is overlooked to our detriment because he too, like Moses, was a prototype of Christ:
“Joshua, the son of Nun, of the
tribe of Ephraim, was first called Oshea or
Hoshea,….[Numbers 13:16], which
signifies saved, a saviour, or
salvation; but afterwards Moses,
guided no doubt by a prophetic spirit, changed his name into….Yehoshua or Joshua, which signifies he shall save or salvation of Jehovah; referring, no doubt, to his being God’s
instrument in saving the people from the hands of their enemies, and leading
them from victory to victory over the different Canaanitish nations, till he
put them in possession of the promised land…in the New Testament he is
expressly called….Jesus [see Acts 7:45; Hebrews 4:8].” (Clarke, Bible Commentary, 2:3). In other words, in the original Hebrew
both Joshua and Jesus were the same name.”
(see Old Testament Student Manual Book 1 p 236)
As a preface to the Ten
Commandments which Jehovah gave to Moses he made it clear why they were given: “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of
Egypt, out of the house of BONDAGE.” (Exodus 20:2). The operative word here is
‘bondage’. It has reference to the Ten Commandments which are meant to give
Israel freedom. If Israel cleaved to obedience of the Law, they would never
again be in bondage, physical or most importantly, spiritual.
Thereafter, Moses made it a point
to define the deliverance from Egypt as deliverance from ‘bondage’ (Det 6:12;
8:14; 13:5). After Jehovah confirmed to Joshua that he is to take charge of the
Tribes and lead them to the promised land, He charged him to make the law the
basis of all he did. He was not to vary from it or depart from it, all that he
spoke was to conform to it, and he was to meditate upon it constantly (Joshua
1:5-8). Joshua followed these rules to the letter and like Moses, reminded
Israel that they had been delivered from ‘the house of bondage’ in the land of
Egypt (Joshua 24:17). He understood clearly what the God of Israel had done
which made him a spiritual leader of God’s people as well as the physical one.
At the onset of conquest of the
promised land, the mighty Jehovah spoke to Joshua and told him he is to conquer
all the land from Lebanon to the river Euphrates (Joshua 1:4). In actuality, this
meant the region south and southwest of the Lebanon mountains, north and east
of Egypt, east of the Mediterranean coastal plain and west of the Arabian
desert (OT Student Manual 1, p 236). In other words, the land that lay before
Joshua was massive. Overwhelming, isn’t it? But Jehovah issued an admonition to
Joshua to ‘be strong and of good courage’ three times (Joshua 1:6,7,9) assuring
him: ‘I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee….be not afraid, neither be thou
dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest’ (vs 5,9).
And then the promise: Joshua was told that he must adhere strictly to the law of Moses and he shall have success (v 8) but not just any success, he was promised that his success would be so great that there shall not any man be able to stand before him all the days of his life (v 5). This Joshua did, obeying all of the Lord’s instructions with exactness (fascinating examples of this to look out for in his story). The result of his meticulous obedience? A success unsurpassed: the Lord was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country’ (Joshua 6:27).
We, of the House of Israel, are standing on the earth which is our ultimate promised land. This earth will one day be redeemed and sanctified from all unrighteousness that it may be prepared for the celestial glory, that the bodies who are of the celestial kingdom may possess it forever and ever (D&C 88:17-20). This is our promised land. This is our ultimate forever home.
Before each of us is the vastness of our mortal probation fraught with challenges
and trials to conquer and overcome. It is also the ‘house of bondage’ from
which the Saviour has delivered us through His atoning sacrifice if we will but
obey the commandments, the path to unsurpassed freedom.....
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Artist Unknown)
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
(Art: Christ by David Beraru)
