IN WHOM WE TRUST

 

I had an advantageous experience this morning I would like to share. In search of something, I opened YouTube and the first thing I saw was an advertisement for AI that went like this: If you spend your first 10 minutes upon waking each day with AI, you won’t recognise yourself in a month.

I was so taken aback with it that I didn’t listen to more. I don’t know much about AI so I don’t know what claim to advantages AI can make but I know the warnings that we have been given by our leaders and so I am following that. I have no interest in AI, especially since I am no longer in the workforce and cannot see the need for it in my life.

I know who I would rather spend my first 10 moments with upon awakening and here is how I know. Almost immediately as I closed YouTube I received one of the greatest revelations I have had in the past year I have suffered from bad physical health.

All my life I have had a strong sense of justice to the point that it robbed me to a great degree of mercy. I recognised this in myself years ago and always thought it was mercy towards others that I lacked but this morning I was shown different.

This morning I recognised that it was needful for me to experience my greatest weakness through bad health to see that I lacked mercy towards myself. I have been hard on myself my whole life and have always felt not good enough. It has a lot to do with my upbringing but I won’t go into that.

This morning I could see so plainly that my greatest need for mercy was for my humanity. And you cannot experience that a better way than through physical senses because having a body is what makes us human. As this revelation came upon me, the tears flowed and then another realisation.

This revelation could not have come from any external source but only from the spiritual connection I have with the Saviour as one of His disciples. Only from Him…..because He is the one that received a glimpse into my human experience and my soul so that He would know how to ‘succor me according to my infirmities’ (Alma 7:12).

This morning gave me the greatest 10 minutes of my life. All honour, glory and praise be to my Saviour who has given me a portion of His mercy that I might know myself and through it show love to the person who right now needs it the most, me. In a month, I won’t know myself….

You have fed me from the banquet of your love;

Your arms have cradled me

in the eye of the heaviest storm;

You have led me to reach the heights of faith

to me unknown.

You are my Sovereign,

My wings of protection from the cold,

My eagle in flight

To pilot me home.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: In Solemn Prayer by Greg Collins)

OUR EARTHLY ABODE

 

I recently read a BYU speech by President Oaks in which he pointed out 20 ways that Satan uses to attack us through our strengths, not our weaknesses. He listed our strong desire to understand everything about every principle of the gospel as Number 3. He went on to say that this desire can cause us to search mysteries to which there are no answers rather than seeking greater understanding of the gospel principles (Dallin H. Oaks, “Our Strengths Can Become Our Downfall” June 7, 1992)

I have an example of this. Some years ago I did a post in which I quoted the seven days of Creation form the scriptures. I suggested the seven days were really 7,000 earthly years as 1 God’s day is our 1,000 years (Abraham 3:4; 2 Peter 3:8; Psalms 90:4). One reader called me naïve because according to the scientific evidence our planet is millions and millions of years old.

My comeback was that we don’t really know how long the creation took as time only is measured unto men (Alma 40:8) and that days of creation are really just “periods between two identifiable events – a division of eternity” (see “The Creation” by Russell M. Nelson, April 2000 GC). So because we don’t really know, I am going with what the scriptures say as a point of reference. She replied that scriptures were just symbolic and are not to be taken literally and that scientific proof cannot be ignored. I asked her if we should not then take the Atonement literally…..and I wondered by what method science can ascertain that something is 60 million years old…….she didn’t answer.

There are many theories about the age of the earth. One of them is that the earth was ‘organised’ from elements of older worlds which had come and gone (Moses 1:35). This appeals to me as the greatest explanation. The word “created” really comes from a Hebrew word which means “to organise”. The elements of everything are eternal and cannot be created out of nothing so the Lord’s power of creation is really His organising power.

And here is something important: “Apparently it was not easy for the Lord to present the creation story. It is obvious from His statements to Moses that He was conscious of the fact that the children of men do not have the present capacity to comprehend many of the eternal principles used during the creation process. To describe the creation in detail would have raised more questions than it would have answered.” (Cleon Skousen, “The First Two Thousand Years” p 19)

I tend to believe that even science creates more questions than its ‘proofs’ can answer but there will come a day when the Saviour returns and all things will be revealed to us including how the earth was made …..and then, its “purpose and the end thereof” (D&C 101:33,34)…..but we already know that, don’t we? And knowing that the purpose of the earth is OUR purpose is all we need to know for now.

But the most important revelation of all will not be how and what but it will be the magnificence of the God who created it……

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: The Creator by Chris Brazelton)

A BOOK OF ROOTS

 

I have gravitated towards the Old Testament during my entire Church membership and for one reason. It has so many roots: the root of our existence, the root of the Abrahamic covenant, the root of the identity of the House of Israel, the root of the generations of Christ.

I love beginnings and roots are beginnings. I love to see how things started and I love seeing people rise to great heights: Abraham, the father of the faithful with whom God made the greatest covenant ever for the benefit of the children of men; the mighty Jacob who became Israel; Moses, who rose to be the great lawgiver of God’s favoured people; the Plan of Salvation which propelled the Son of God to become the God of Creation and Redeemer of mankind. I love beginnings and I love evolvement.

The Old Testament begins with the root of Creation but to me it begins with its author, Moses, who wrote the first five books of the Old Testament and to whom was revealed the why and how we came to be here…..the most important part which was lost and which the population at large wonders about still.

God knew that this would happen so he promised Moses that He would ‘raise up another’ like him to restore His words which were taken away (Moses 1:40-41). Enter beloved Joseph who received this vital information through revelation whilst translating the Bible in June 1830 to February 1831.

Both these men prove one thing – God chooses His most valiant children for key positions on earth as they can be trusted to accomplish their assignments, because “the works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught (D&C 3:1)

God knew in the very beginning that Moses would have the fortitude to turn his back on the luxuries and glories of the Egyptian court, accept the role of a shepherd for forty years and then be called to lead 2 million people out of Egyptian bondage and slavery.

Imagine being an 80 year old shepherd, removed from a complicated life in Egypt and enjoying the ease of pastoral life until one day you happen to come across a burning bush and are asked to take the shoes off your feet and show reverence to the maker of the Universe (Exodus 3:4-5)

That sacred experience was the beginning of the tutoring of Moses to whom God revealed himself and showed him the roots of man’s identity who is in the similitude of God’s Only Begotten, the Saviour of all mankind (Moses 1:6). And then the greatest root of all, God’s purpose of creation of this earth and of all the living on it: “For behold, this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” (Moses 1:39) 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Moses by Greg Sargent)

ANGELS

 

Did Your angels miss You

When You left Your glorious throne?

Did their voices echo in a lowly stable

When you were so humbly born?

And did they weep for you

When you had to suffer alone?

 

Did they rejoice at your return,

Did they sound their trumps

To herald their joy?

And did they praise You forever more

As you reclaimed Your exalted throne?

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: An Angel's Descent by Greg Collins)

REVERENCE

 

During Christmas I posted an endearing picture of baby Jesus by Jenedy Paige. According to Facebook, that post reached 14.7 people. Many people commented to me how incredibly touched they were by that post and I know why. In it I conveyed all the research that the artist had made concerning the holy birth but what I know touched the hearts of many was her explanation I quoted of what she felt whilst the painting was evolving. She said it made her weep as she reflected on the Father’s feelings during His Son’s birth which foreshadowed His death.

I adore good art. It is one talent I wish I had. I follow many artists and have an enormous amount of copies of their paintings saved in my computer that I use for my posts. I always give accreditation when I use them because I want everyone to know who possesses such talent and I hope it is good advertisement of their work.

This past week I came across this painting titled La Pieta by a young Italian artist called Fabio Cuffari. It nearly stopped my heart. The richness of this painting was so visually arresting for me, I could not stop looking at it. I reflected on the many paintings of Christ’s birth I used this Christmas and remembered all of Mary’s love for her baby  reflected in them. When I look at this painting I still see the baby in Mary’s arms. A mother’s heart always remembers those first days of birth, even at death and this painting portrays that for me.

I am talking about this because I do not believe that AI could ever portray the feelings of the spirit in any piece of art because it was not created by its influence. I have seen AI pictures of Jesus with smooth and handsome faces but with abnormal hands and feet. We have recently had a few leaders talk about our use of AI for spiritual purposes. This is something we should take notice of very seriously:

“My dear brothers and sisters, as sophisticated as modern technology has become, it simply cannot simulate the wonder, awe, and amazement found in the kind of reverence born from the influence of the Holy Ghost. As followers of Christ, we need to be careful not to weaken our connection with God and His Son by using AI-generated content and images inappropriately.

“We should remember that relying on a modern technological “arm of the flesh” is an inadequate and disrespectful substitute for the inspiration, edification, and witness that can be received only through the power of the Holy Ghost.” (Elder Ulisses Soares, “Reverence for Sacred Things” April 2025 General Conference)

I am a writer and I am passionate about Christ and His gospel. What propels me and motivates me to write is the connection I feel with the divine when I do so. Like Jenedy Paige, my writing feeds my soul….and if it feeds mine, then it must feed some others. Many of my poems were inspired by good works of art and I know that the artist's inspiration had fed my own. Artificial intelligence cannot simulate that.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: La Pieta by Fabio Cuffari)

CLOUDS OF GLORY

 

When the Saviour came for the first time, He came as the Suffering Servant to ‘justify many’ through His Atonement, meaning He brought back into alignment with the Father many of His children, by bearing their iniquities and declaring them innocent and guiltless (Isaiah 53:11).

“Persecuted and despised, He trod the thorny path of duty, “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”; and finally condemned by His people, who clamored to an alien power for authority to execute their own unjust sentence upon their Lord, He went to death by the torturing crucifixion prescribed for malefactors.”  (James E. Talmage, “Jesus the Christ”, p 357)

When He comes again, Christ will come as the King, trading the stench of the stable with the clouds of glory, and the government shall be upon His shoulders to reign on earth a Millenium of days as the Prince of Peace. This prophecy of the Millenial Messiah can be found in the Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price (see Det 18:15-19; Isaiah 9:6,7; Acts 3:22; 3 Nephi 20:23-24; D&C 133:63; JSH 1:40)

What touches my heart the most about the Second Coming is this…when He comes, the Saviour will come to His people Israel first. Unlike the first time, however, when He came to lift them out of apostasy and establish His Church through which all the nations of the earth would be blessed according to the Abrahamic Covenant, His Second Coming will be a jubilation amongst His people, who love Him, serve Him, and have accepted Him as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

This will be the order of His appearances: 1. To priesthood leadership at Adam-ondi-Ahman (Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14; D&C 116); 2. To His saints at New Jerusalem in America (3 Nephi 21:23-25; D&C 45:66-67); 3. To the Jews in Jerusalem (D&C 45:48; 51-53; Zechariah 12:10; 14:2-5); 4. Lastly, He will appear in glory to all mankind (D&C 45:44; 101:23; Matt 24:30; Isaiah 40:5; JST, Revelation 1:7) (see also the Institute Manual, Introduction to “The Lord’s Second Coming”, Chapter 36)

In the ‘meridian of time’ Christ was born amid obscurity to all except the faithful few who had been watching for the promised event. It is those few who recognised Him and accepted him. His second advent, however, will outnumber those few by the masses of His faithful saints. It will be a triumphant return.

Modern day revelation tells us that the coming of the Lord will overtake ‘the world’ as a thief in the night (D&C 106:4), meaning those who live in darkness rejecting the spiritual light of day will see the day unprepared and surprised.

But this is not us….as Apostle Paul tells us, that day cannot overtake us as a thief in the night because we are not in darkness…..we are “the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.” (1 Thessalonias 5:2-5). We will be neither unprepared or surprised. We are Israel, children of light. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Transcendent Glory by Greg Collins)

THE DOINGS OF AN ETERNAL GOD

 

“The Gospels are not biographies of Jesus; they are a collection of faith-promoting accounts from the Saviour’s ministry, that, if believed, will induce receptive souls to come unto Christ and partake of His goodness.”

-          Bruce R. McConkie, “The Mortal Messiah Book 1”, p 371

“No mortal can write the biography of a God. A biography is but the projection through the eyes of a penman of what the writer ‘believes’ were the acts and what he ‘feels’ were the thoughts and emotions of another man who had like feelings with his own.

“How, then can any mortal plumb the depths of the feelings, or understand in full the doings, of an Eternal Being? How can one of limited talent tell, in true perspective, the whole story of Him who has all talent, and tell it in such a way that other dustlike creatures will catch the vision and rejoice in the portrayal?

“….the true ‘Life of Christ’ must be written by the spirit of revelation and of prophecy, and cannot come fort until that millennial day when men, like the brother of Jared, have a perfect knowledge that God can show them all things. Only then will they be able to believe and rejoice in the heavenly account.”

-          Bruce R. McConkie, “The Mortal Messiah Book 1”, Preface xvii

“And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.”  (John 21:25)

I live in one moment in time

And try to comprehend it all

That surpasses my understanding,

Yet I heed the call.

 

I hear the eternal in every step I take

It is bringing me closer

To the God

 I must never forsake.

 

I want to be with Him

When angels bring me home;

I want to know The Son of God,

who is the meaning of it all.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Joy to the World by Greg Olsen)

A GOD OF SPLENDOUR

 

“He was the Only Begotten of the Father, the only Son born into mortality as the Offspring of an Immortal Being. He was both God and the Son of God. He was the Promised Messiah. No ordinary standards, no mortal measuring rods set forth his mortal stature and greatness. If we know and understand all these things we are in a position to learn of him as a mortal, as Man among men, as a God housed in clay, as earth’s Chief Citizen working out his own salvation, and as God’s Son doing the things for his fellowmen that no other could ever do.”

-          Bruce R. McConkie, “The Mortal Messiah Book 1”  p 30

 

A God of splendour;

A babe of mortal birth;

All power surrendered

For the lowly of this earth.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Born This Day by Liz Lemon Swindle)

ESSENTIAL MORTALITY

 

“The eternal exaltation of Christ himself – though he was a God and had power and intelligence like unto his Father – was dependent upon gaining a mortal body, overcoming the world by obedience, passing through the portals of death, and then coming forth in glorious immortality with a perfected celestial body.

“Christ came into the world to work out his own salvation with fear and trembling before the Father. There neither was, nor is, nor shall be any other way for anyone. To house a spirit body, even that of a God, in an eternal tabernacle like that of the Father, requires a mortal birth and a mortal death.

“Christ wrought his atonement, first for himself and his own salvation, then for the salvation of all those who believe on his name, and finally and in a lesser degree for all the sons of Adam. “

-          Bruce R. McConkie, “The Promised Messiah”  p 456

 

Such magnitude of power

Of love, mercy and light

Cradled in small caverns

Of a baby’s heart.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Baby Jesus by Jennifer Hickey)

BETHLEHEM 2:

 

The little town of Bethlehem was historically known as a fertile region that grew ancient grain and provided bread for the whole of Judea including nearby Jerusalem. The town’s Hebrew name “Beit-Lechem” directly translates to “House of Bread”. Another symbolic significance of Christ’s birth for out of the House of Bread came The Bread of Life.

Through my research I discovered that unlike the genetically modified wheat today, ancient grain was a highly nutrient-rich superfood. It was higher in protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals. It basically contained every nutrient to sustain life which makes it understandable why Jesus would have applied the title of The Bread of Life to himself (John 6:35; 48)

With the exception of the Atonement, there is no sadder time of Jesus’ mortal life than the time He declared Himself to be The Bread of Life. Up to that moment, the Saviour’s popularity amongst the common people was immense and people thronged Him everywhere He went (Matthew 8:1,15:30; Mark 3:8,7:24,8:1; Luke 6:17,12:1) but finding this doctrine too hard to ‘bear’, many of His disciples ‘walked no more with him’ (John 6:66). From the time of this sermon, He was headed for the cross.

The sermon on The Bread of Life came on the heels of five loaves and two fishes. By this extraordinary miracle the Saviour ignited the fire of the Messianic prophecy. Hungry for freedom from bondage and oppression suffered for over 700 years, the Jewish nation was ready for deliverance. They did not expect to be told to ‘eat’ His flesh and ‘drink’ His blood (John 6:32-35; 51-58).  And so even the baptised and most converted to the Saviour abandoned Him and thus began the rejection of the common people easily manipulated by the leadership to propel Him to the cross.

This is the sad point. The reality of ‘eating and drinking’ the Saviour’s flesh and blood which they questioned was far more easily understood than it appears: “The process of eating and drinking were figures in every-day use by the rabbis of that time. Their failure to comprehend the symbolism of Christ’s doctrine was an act of will, not the natural consequence of innocent ignorance. To eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ was and is to believe in and accept Him as the literal Son of God and Saviour of the world, and to obey His commandments.” (James E. Talmage, “Jesus the Christ” p 342)

One cannot but wonder why the baptised and most converted were so easily swayed by the Jewish leadership to reject Christ as The Bread of Life. I think it’s a matter of being enlightened. Just as we eat bread on daily basis, we should be ‘eating’ Christ’s word every day to keep the fire of our conviction burning. That’s enlightenement. The spiritually enlightened will also see here the connection to the Sacrament.

The enlightened should see themselves in Peter’s response to Jesus when asked if the twelve will also go away: “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.”

Maybe Bethlehem didn’t give birth to The Bread of Life but to The Bread of Eternal Life…..

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: The Nativity by Eileen Whitehead)

REDEEMER

 

“The Eternal Father well understood the diverse natures and varied capacities of His spirit-offspring; and His infinite foreknowledge made plain to Him, even in the beginning, that in the school of life some of His children would succeed and others would fail; some would be faithful, others false; some would choose the good, others the evil; some would seek the way of life while others would elect to follow the road to destruction.

“He further foresaw that death would enter the world, and that the possession of bodies by His children would be of but brief individual duration. He saw that His commandments would be disobeyed and His law violated; and that men, shut out from His presence and left to themselves, would sink rather than rise, would retrograde rather than advance, and would be lost to the heavens.

“It was necessary that a means of redemption be provided, whereby erring man might make amends, and by compliance with established law achieve salvation and eventual exaltation in the eternal worlds…..It was not His design that the souls of mankind be lost; on the contrary it was and is His work and glory, “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39).

“The offer of the firstborn Son to establish through His own ministry among men the gospel of salvation, and to sacrifice Himself, through labour, humiliation and suffering even unto death, was accepted and made the foreordained plan of man’s redemption from death, of his eventual salvation from the effects of sin, and of his possible exaltation through righteous achievement.”

-          (James E. Talmage, “Jesus the Christ” p 18)

FATHER’S CHARGE:

Long ago,

When you lived in my arms

You wanted to fly

In the vast expanse of the skies.

I gifted you wings,

And promised I would

Teach you to fly.

Just remember, I am here, but

It is your turn now,

To rise.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: All Is Calm by Gabriel Heaton)

BETHLEHEM

 

Bethlehem, the City of David, holds more importance symbolically than most of us know. That importance came through a noble woman named Ruth.

It is said by oral tradition that women in ancient Israel lived with a hope that the Messiah would come through their line. Ruth from Moab had no blood of Israel running through her veins.  She was a convert to the Lord, God of Israel ‘under whose wings she had come to trust’ (Ruth 2:12). When her Israelite husband died and left her with no children, Ruth became one of the lowliest of the earth, devoid of security or livelihood.

Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi also became destitute losing her husband and both of her sons. When Naomi encouraged her daughters-in-law to return to their kin and their ‘gods’, they wept. Orpah left but Ruth remained with these words on her tongue: “….whither thou goest, I will go; and whither thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.” (Ruth 1:16) Makes you want to weep…..

Ruth and Naomi left Moab and returned to Judea….to a small town called Bethlehem, no less.  Once there, Ruth consented to a ‘levirate’  marriage with Naomi’s next of kin, as was the custom in Israel. Through a levirate marriage, the woman was provided with children and restored to security and society.

Here is where things become interesting. The Hebrew word for a man who would step up to this responsibility was GO’EL. The King James Version of the Bible translates it as simply ‘kinsman’ but the proper and literal meaning of GO’EL is ‘redeemer’ (Rasmussen, “Introduction to the Old Testament”, 1:157)

This is how Ruth, a lowly woman of Moab became the symbol of Christ’s redemption: Her GO’EL was Boaz, an Israelite kinsman of Naomi. Boaz became Ruth’s redeemer and restorer of all she had lost. Boaz and Ruth had a son whose name was Obed, who became the father of Jesse, who was the father of King David, who was a progenitor of Mary, who was the mother of Christ……

This is why the importance of Bethlehem…..and righteous Ruth through whose line came Christ the King. Consider for a moment how Christ redeems us from our fallen state and restores us to the presence of the Father, AND grants us eternal posterity through His power of exaltation. The Saviour himself affirms His role as the GO’EL when He refers to himself as the bridegroom and us, Israel, as the bride (Matthew 25:1-13; D&C 33:17; 65:3; 88:92; 133:10).

He is the greatest GO’EL of all….. the Redeemer, the Restorer, the Hope of Israel, the Rock of our Salvation, the Son of God who will one day sit on the throne of His ‘father’ David (Luke 1:32).

And it all started in a little town called Bethlehem…..

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Birth by Dan Burr)

A SHEPHERD AND A LAMB

 

How very fitting it is that the birth of the One who would proclaim himself to be both a Shepherd and the Sacrificial Lamb would grace the green pastures of a little town called Bethlehem.

But not only sheep were cared for in Bethlehem but also special blemish free lambs ‘because they were destined for sacrifice on the great altar in the Lord’s House, in similitude of the eternal sacrifice of Him who would atone for the sins of the world. (see Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah Book 1, 347).

And so the greatest lamb without blemish was born as the sheep grazed and the shepherds watched in the stillness of that Meridian night. It was as if He had come among His own.

When Jesus was born, an angel appeared to these shepherds and announced the birth of the Saviour ‘which is Christ the Lord’. He told them they would find ‘the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger” (Luke 2:9-12). This the shepherds would understand for they had lovingly wrapped many lambs in swaddling cloths and placed them in a manger until they were taken to the Temple for sacrifice. They knew that the baby they would find in there would be the perfect Lamb of God.

There are many teachings and scriptural references to the Saviour’s role as our Shepherd. What is worthy of notice here is this. Every lamb has a shepherd…..a lamb cannot survive without the care of a shepherd. The Saviour is called the Lamb of God because God the Father is His Shepherd and has been from the beginning of time.

The Father is the perfect Shepherd and the Son is the spotless lamb who follows. He does this in perfect obedience because He is the perfect Son (John 8:29; 10:17-18). Where did the Saviour learn to be a shepherd? He learnt it from His Shepherd because ‘He does nothing but what He has seen the Father do’ (John 8:26,28,38)

The Saviour made 163 references to the Father during His visit to the Americas and 15 references of His obedience to Him, the greatest being ‘the cross’ to which the Father sent Him that He might draw all men unto Him….so that all His sheep might follow…..(3 Nephi 27:14)

Be still my soul

And know that He leads you

By the voice of His heart.

He beckons and He calls

Your spirit to ignite

To truth and godly path.

 

His love will find you,

He will lead you and save your soul,

He is the Shepherd

Who will answer your call.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Sweet Sleep In the Manger Lowly by Greg Collins)

LITTLE LAMB

 

“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”  Luke 2:7

Some years ago, the artist Jenedy Paige, felt that she needed to do a painting of baby Jesus. In her extensive research she discovered that the manger would have most likely been carved out of white limestone and that it was also unlikely that Jesus was “asleep on the hay” as grass was available on the hills surrounding Judea year round. They really would have had no need to store hay, and the mangers were most likely used for water.

She also learnt that “swaddling cloths” were not scraps of fabric indicating poverty but were actually a big part of the Israelite culture. They were in reality 5-6” wide strips of linen which were embroidered with symbols of the ancestry of the bride and groom symbolising the coming together of two families. These bands were wrapped around the hands of the couple at the wedding ceremony. The swaddling bands Jenedy Paige painted suggest that the bands the Savior was swaddled in may have included the Lion of Judah and the stem of Jesse.

Her feelings about the painting touched me the most:

“As I sketched and worked, my heart was so full as I uncovered this image. For when you take away the Hollywood drama, the traditions of centuries, the wood and the hay, all you’re really left with is a babe in white linen on white stone. And my mind immediately went to the purpose of the Savior’s life:

“He was born to die. He came as the sacrificial lamb for all mankind; so how fitting that He would begin his life on a stone altar of sorts, and be wrapped in white linen, like he would after His death. And of course he would be placed in a trough for water, for He would be Living Water, and would bring life to all. I also found myself weeping for the Father, and how it must have felt to see His Son begin life foreshadowing His death. My heart was so full of gratitude that He would send His Only Begotten to be the Savior for us all. That He would send His Son, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, to die so that we all might live. What good news, what comfort and joy, what a gift was given to us all. O come, let us adore Him!”  (JENEDY PAIGE)

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Little Lamb by Jenedy Paige)

 https://jenedypaige.com/products/little-lamb-prints

HOPE OF ISRAEL

 

“He was not an ordinary man. He was the great Creator housed in a tabernacle of clay. He was the Eternal Jehovah ministering among men. He was God’s Almighty Son doing the things his Father sent him to do. He inherited from the Father of his mortal body the powers and characteristics of his Perfect Parent. He was placed in a position to excel all men. He was the God of Israel taking his place and receiving his lot and inheritance among that chosen people.”

-       Bruce R. McConkie, “The Mortal Messiah Book 1” p 30

The Saviour made it clear during His ministry that He was sent to ‘the lost sheep of the house of Israel’ (Matthew 15:24). The Kingdom of Judah had lost its way and by 70 AD it would be scattered throughout the world. The Ten Tribes of the Northern Kingdom had already been lost. The House of Israel had one hope and that was the arrival of the Messiah.

And so the Messiah was sent to save the spiritual fabric of the chosen people of God who rejected Him. On all accounts it seemed as it was all lost except for one thing. The Saviour had sworn He will never forget His covenant with Israel (Deut 4:31; Lev 26:44,46; Isaiah 49:15,16; 2 Kings 13:23).

What the Saviour accomplished during His earthly ministry, by organizing His Church, propelled the chosen generation of royal priesthood to take the purity of His Gospel to the nations of the earth in fulfilment of the Abrahamic covenant (Matthew 28:19,20). And thus nothing was lost but everything gained. The sacrifice exacted, the Gospel given to the world for their adoption into the favoured House of Israel, the promise to Father Abraham kept.

By virtue of our discipleship, we are privileged to join in the Saviour’s role as the Hope of Israel. Consider President Nelson’s explanation of our significant role within this Hope after he quoted Nephi saying the Abrahamic covenant will be fulfilled in the latter days by all of the House of Israel (1 Nephi 15:18):

“When we know who we are and what God expects of us, we are filled with hope and made aware of our significant role in His great plan of happiness. The day in which we now live was foreseen even before Jesus Christ was born…These are the latter days. We are the ones foredetermined and foreordained to fulfill that promise.

“We are, in fact, the hope of Israel. We are God’s treasure, reserved for our particular place and time.”   (Quotes from President Russell M. Nelson, “Daily Joy”)

 

 Hope of Israel

Who would not see us lost,

Who rescued our souls

Never counting the cost. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: All Is Calm by Gabriel Heaton)

THE FAVOURED ONE

 

“How almost unthinkable it is that a God should become a man; that the Creator of all things from the beginning should come down and be himself created from the dust of the earth; that he being infinite forever should become finite for a season; that the Maker of men should become subject to them; that he who has ascended above all things should now descend below them all; that he who knows all things and has all might, power, and dominion should begin anew, as it were, and go himself from grace to grace until the eternal fulness was his once again.

“And yet how normal and right such a process is! How could it be otherwise? If the plan of salvation, ordained by the Father, was to enable all of his spirit children to advance and progress and become like him, then Jehovah also was subject to its terms and conditions. And how better could he be favoured above all others than to be born, not of mortality only but of Immortality, not of man only but of God, not of the earth only but of Heaven?!”

-          Bruce R. McConkie, “The Promised Messiah”, p 454-5

I have always felt that the Saviour was favoured of the Father. One year, in connection with a personal revelation I received, I came to understand that the Father loves Him the most, for what He has done for the rest of His children, for His perfect obedience and for being His only child in mortality. I had opposition to that theory but I would not be convinced otherwise. I would never dare to expect the same level of entitlement for anything that is due to the Saviour. There is only one “My Beloved Son”.

I looked up to You

When in my beginning.

I saw Your strength,

Your care, Your undying love,

And I knew only YOU

Could make up for what

I alone could not do.

 

You are our Deliverer,

You are our King,

You are our holy grail,

You are our everything.

 

We will never follow

  the footsteps of any other,

You will ever be

our Beloved Brother.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Mary and Son by Rose Datoc Dall)

MARY, DID YOU KNOW?

 

Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Would one day walk on water?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Would save our sons and daughters?

Did you know that your baby boy

Has come to make you new?

This child that you delivered,

Will soon deliver you.

 

Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Will give sight to a blind man?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Will calm the storm with his hand?

Did you know that your baby boy

Has walked where angels trod?

When you kiss your little baby

You kiss the face of God.

 

The blind will see, the deaf will hear

The dead will live again

The lame will leap, the dumb will speak

The praises of the Lamb.

 

Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Is Lord of all creation?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Would one day rule the nations?

Did you know that your baby boy

Is heaven’s perfect Lamb?

That sleeping child you’re holding

Is the great, I am.

 

-      Written by: lyrics by Mark Lowry and music by Buddy Greene

-      Art: Mother of God by Lester Yocum