Thou
art the source of all my blessings,
Thou
art the source of all my joy,
Thou
art the living water
I
drink with haste
And
savour each and every drop
So
careful of tragic waste.
Feed
me Saviour ever more
The
love that flows with every cup
Grant
me my fill each day
That
keeps me living and bears me up.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art by AI)
I come from generations of poor peasants. I was
born and raised in Croatia to Catholic parents. I remember the wheat fields I
ran through, the shepherds and the animals they led to pasture, the Easter of
spring and the Christmas of winter. I have not been back there for thirty years
now. I don’t know that my heart could take it.
My father was the ultimate patriarch in our
home and what he said was law. He was raised that way. He was the oldest of
five sons in a small village and as was custom, he was expected to take over
the family land and inherit the care of his parents in their old age. My
father, however, did not see it that way. He didn’t want the village life so he
procured an apprenticeship as a bricklayer in the neighbouring town. My
grandfather was furious. He threw a chunk of bread on the floor in front of my
father and told him that was the only thing he will ever get from him. Very
dramatic…. No support for the path my father had chosen. My father walked for miles every day, even in
the rain, to the town where he worked. No bus for him.
My father had vision. When I was just a toddler
he decided to move us to the city where his children would have more
opportunities. Unfortunately, the country was part of Yugoslavia back then, under
the socialist rule, and the only good opportunities that existed were reserved
for anyone who belonged to the communist party. When I was on the cusp of my
teenage years, my father’s vision extended all the way to Australia. I was two
months shy of turning 14 when we arrived in Sydney. At 16 I was out working in
an office and at 17 I went looking for a religion that could answer all the
questions that the Catholic Church couldn’t.
I found The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints in my local library. I
inhaled all that I read and I knew I had to be a part of it. There was just one
problem. My father decided to be HIS father. The ultimatum was given: to join
the Church, I would have to leave home. My
father was beyond crushed when I left. He
did not expect that. My parents would not speak to me for a whole year. We
reconciled through the efforts of my sister and a few years thereafter they
went back to Croatia.
Since the time I was baptized 50 years ago, I
have reflected a lot on that stressful period of my life when I was cut off
from my family. The repercussions of
that event in my life have been more than I care to admit. Luckily, the
benefits outweighed the sacrifice. My parents have long since passed away and I
am still reaping the benefits of my Church membership. I have gone from grace
to grace and been brought to higher ground of faith than I had ever imagined was
possible. I have forged my own path.
I have cried ancestral tears over my father
since his passing. I have nothing but love and gratitude for him. At the time
of our distress when I rejected his word as my law, he was a migrant in a new
country and his favourite daughter was, in his eyes, joining a cult. He was
trying to protect me. When I think of him, I see him as a little boy in a
Croatian village with more than his share of family baggage and generations of incorrect
programming. I love that little boy and want to hug him, now more than ever.
When in the realms of heaven I meet my father
again, I will thank him for wanting to protect me but most of all I will thank
him for his example of bravery in defying his father which I subconsciously
followed and which led me into the arms of the Father I love above all and who
aches to have us both return to Him . We will then meet at Jesus’ feet and we
will remember the time that hurt us both the most but did not divide us
forever.
Your
life has come and gone
But
your footprints remain
And
your blood courses through my veins.
The
flame of your sacrifices
Burns
bright with all its might;
Your
legacy, your love,
Your
fatherly alms:
Forever
etched
In
the hollow of my heart.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Love of the Father by Ilse Kleyn - Fine Art of America)
She had heard of His wonderous works
As His fame spread throughout the land.
With fear and shame she approached,
Afraid to ask for a miracle at His hand.
If she could just touch, not having to beg,
His power would make her whole
And a clean woman she would again be.
He speaks: “Daughter, thy faith hath
Made thee whole, come, follow me.”
- CATHRYEN ALLEN
(Art: Divine Healing by Ron DiCianni)
Isaiah’s “King of Glory”
prophecy foretells the Saviour’s Second Coming when He will come and subdue all
Israel’s enemies under His feet; put down all kingdoms; will sit on the throne
of ‘His father’ David; and ‘the government shall be upon his shoulder’ (Isaiah
9:6).
In the words of Bruce R. McConkie: “He came once –
born in a stable, cradled in a manger – to redeem His people; to restore His
everlasting gospel; to work out the infinite and eternal atonement; to bring
salvation. He shall come again – with ten thousands of his saints, in all
the glory of his Father’s kingdom – to slay the wicked by the breath of his
lips; to cleanse the vineyard of corruption; to ransom those who love His
appearing: to bring salvation.”
(Bruce R. McConkie, The Promised Messiah, p 1)
He will come –
-
When we come out of every nation to Zion, the city of
New Jerusalem, singing songs of everlasting joy (D&C 45:71);
-
When the Ten Tribes return from the land of the north
(D&C 110:11; Jeremiah 3:18; D&C 133:26-34);
- When the City of Enoch descends from the spiritual realm and ‘we fall upon their necks and we kiss each other’ in love and fellowship of Zion (Moses 7:63);
When He
comes –
-
We will dwell in New Jerusalem, the city of our God,
and Christ will be our light by day and the whole city will be lighted up by
the glory of His presence (Isaiah 60:19-22);
- Because of His presence there will be perpetual peace; there will be no illness, no tears, no suffering and no death.
It’s a time worth waiting for….and preparing for. In Section 105 of Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord spoke of the importance of preparation for the establishment of Zion which must be ‘redeemed’ before He comes:
1.
He
wants His leaders to be prepared (vv 9-10);
2.
He
wants the Saints to be taught more perfectly what He requires of them (v 10);;
3.
He
wants the Saints to gain experience in knowing their duty and doctrine of God
(v 10; John 7:17);
4.
He
wants His Saints to be endowed with power from on high (v 11);
5. He wants the Saints to be faithful, enduring in humility to the end (v 12).
It is clear by the very first requirement that the Church is built on leadership which will extend into the Millenium. I often wonder about the Church members who criticize the Church leaders and do not support them as prophets, seers and revelators. How will they be prepared to live a Zion life under leadership they are not trained to follow? Make no mistake, The Saviour will delegate the administration of His kingdom. If we are not prepared to take instruction now, we will not be able to accept it then.
The
scriptures teach us that there will appear one grand sign of the Son of Man in
heaven as the Saviour arrives (D&C 88:93; Matt 24:30). Joseph Smith has
said that the people of the world will not recognize it and will say it is a
planet or a comet etc…..”but the Son of man will come as the sign of the coming
of the Son of Man, which will be as the light of the morning, cometh out of the
east.” (History of the Church, 5:336-37; see also D&C 43:20-27).
When
in clouds of glory You appear,
We
the faithful will know Your name.
We
will know Your angels and the host
Of
heaven coming to testify of Your fame.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Parting the Veil by John McNaughton)
I saw You
today in my heart
and I wept knowing
as more believe, the tree that bore
Your weight keeps growing.
I saw the love
flow from
the deepest well
within Your soul –
Your salvation
for us all.
My heart was
rent knowing Your pain
And the tears
You spilt on that day remain.
They are the
gems I treasure in my heart…
I am one of Your
many children of light.
-
CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Sands of Serenity by Ivan Guaderrama)
“Joseph Smith continued visiting me and others up to a
certain time and then stopped. The last time I saw him was in heaven. He came
and spoke to me. He said that he could not stop to talk to me because he was in
a hurry.
“The next man I met was Father Smith; he couldn’t talk
to me because he was in a hurry. I met half a dozen brethren who held high
positions on earth, and none of them could stop to talk to me because they were
in a hurry. I was much astonished.
“By and by I saw the Prophet again, and I got a
privilege to ask him a question: “Now”, said I, “I want to know why you are in
a hurry? I have been in a hurry my whole life, but I expected my hurry would be
over when I get into the kingdom of heaven, if I ever did.”
“Joseph said: “I will tell you Brother Woodruff, every
dispensation that has had the priesthood on earth and has gone into celestial
kingdom, has had a certain amount of work to do to prepare to go to the earth
with the Saviour when He goes to reign on earth. Each dispensation has had
ample time to do this work. We have not. We are the last dispensation and so
much work has to be done and we need to be in a hurry in order to accomplish
it.
“Of course, that was satisfactory with me, but it was
new doctrine to me.”
-
Wilford
Woodruff, Discourses Delivered at Weber Stake Conference, Ogden, 19
October 1896; as published in Deseret News Weekly, Volume 53, #21)
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Time Is At Hand by Danny Hahlbohm)
a
-
I
stood at the veil
As
You were about to leave
Sorrowing
that not all would believe.
I
prayed for the Father’s power
To
protect Your gentle heart
From
the blow that might tear You apart.
I
knew my soul You would save
And
all Your promises You would fulfil.
I
stood at the veil, unable to leave,
Holding
Your crown for You to receive.
I
stood and waited that fateful day
In
awe of what You did to pave the way.
I
could scarcely comprehend
Your
godly enduring might
I
stood at the veil and gave You my heart.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Artist Unknown)
