THE CROSS

 

Sometimes we encounter on our path a person who leaves an indelible imprint on us. This person might not have been placed there to enrich your life. This person might have been placed in your life for their benefit, and not yours. This person might have been placed alongside you for their betterment, for their testing ground, or even for the path to their salvation. This person might have been someone you carried on your back in the shape of a cross.

If you have been damaged by someone who has left a lasting scar on your soul, you will know who this person is. You might have berated yourself for ever becoming involved with them by not having foresight into long term effects of such a union. And then there is an even tougher pill to swallow….you might not have had any control of such involvement.

This person might have indeed become a better person because of knowing you. They might have repented and turned themselves around, or they might still be persisting in their self-destructive ways. You might often wonder what the purpose was of this part of your life.  I speak from experience.

Some years ago I had a priesthood blessing from my Bishop. In it I was told that my life had been planned in pre-earth life and that I accepted this plan because of my deep faith in Jesus Christ. I suspect this was the case for us all because everything is subject to man’s moral agency. Perhaps we were a tad naïve. It’s like a pregnant woman preparing for a birth she has never been through before.

One thing I know. The Father loves all His children and He wanted all of them saved. In His wisdom He could see that some of us could be the saving path for others and so He planned that we be inter-connected for each other’s highest good. He knew that some of us would have to suffer but He also knew that it was for overall good of our collective salvation. Just imagine the Father’s aching heart for all the tears you have shed…..how difficult it must have been to devise such a plan.

This also I know. Just as some of us would have to be sacrificed in some ways for the benefit of others, someone would be sacrificed for us too: a man of integrity, a man of perfection, a man of strength and power, an older brother, a giant of a brother! A brother who no doubt watched over us in our innocence, allayed our fears, gave advice, applauded our progress….a brother we trusted could carry all of us on His back, forgive all our blunders, wipe out all our sorrows, and heal all our cracks. Now imagine the Father’s sorrow over that…..

And this is His promise: “I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten……which I sent among you.”  Joel 2:25

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: In His Tender Care by Jay Bryant Ward)