THE WISH

 

O that I were an angel, and could have

The wish of mine heart,

That I might go forth and speak

With the trump of God,

With a voice to shake the earth,

And cry repentance unto every people!

(Alma 29:1)

Is there a more poetic scripture in the Book of Mormon than this?

Alma affirmed that God grants unto men according to their desire (Alma 29:4). Consider the process of fulfilment of desires and how they affect our personal development and eventually determine our eternal blessings:

“Desires….become real determinants, even when, with pitiful naivete, we do not really want the consequences of our desires…..therefore, what we insistently desire, over time, is what we will eventually become and what we will receive in eternity….Righteous desires need to be relentless, therefore, because, said President Brigham Young, ‘the men and women, who desire to obtain seats in the celestial kingdom, will find that they must battle every day’ (in Journal of Discourses, 11:14). Therefore, true Christian soldiers are more than weekend warriors…..” (Neal A. Maxwell, “According to the Desire of Our Hearts”, October 1996 GC)

It is clear that educating and cultivating our righteous desire means doing everything possible that is our part in its fulfilment. The cultivation of Alma’s desire began with something extremely personal – born out of his own painful repentance and godly sorrow, Alma came to sorrow greatly and continually for the sins of the people (Alma 7:5; 8:10,14; 31:1,2,30,31; 35:15). This sorrowing evolved into relentless missionary service so much so that ‘he could not rest’ when his sons went to preach ‘and he also went forth’ (Alma 43:1). I am also certain that his personal spiritual preparation was such that the time came for him to be given to speak with the tongue of angels (2 Nephi 32:2).

Alma’s desire to be an angel preaching repentance was no doubt realised past his natural mortal life. We are told that he was translated, even like Moses ‘to be a ministering angel unto many planets’ until the time of resurrection (Alma 45:18,19; Deuteronomy 34:5,6; Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 4:210)

Alma, who was once one of the 'very vilest of sinners' (Mosiah 28:4) became Alma who led the Nephite armies in battle, who sat naked with Amulek in dungeons, who was spat upon by the unrepentant, who dumbfounded an anti-christ, who baptised thousands of souls unto repentance (Alma 4:4,5), and who the Lord in the end took up unto himself (Alma 45:19).  This is where Alma’s wish of the heart took him.

 

ODE TO ALMA:

He stood between you

And the gaping jaws of hell,

He cherished your soul

And snatched you from everlasting

Misery of the damned.

He planted the seed of faith

In your willing heart

But you, you tilled the ground

And nurtured the tree of faith

Growing the fruit, so exquisite and sweet.

So heavy in your overflowing arms

You sought to feed the spiritually maimed.

He who stood at the gates of Hell

Your soul to save

Gathered the fruit,

Your path to His throne to pave.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: O That I Were An Angel by Jay Bryant Ward)