When my days on earth are done
I'll be lifted above the world below
And I will seek the gilded gate
To welcome me to my eternal home.
I will approach the foot of Father’s throne,
I will kneel and I will weep
When in hope I give Him joy
For eternity to keep.
-
Cathryne
Allen
I
wrote recently on how important the Church is in our preparation for Zion. The
Church as an administrative institution is vital but the members of it even
more so. If there were no members, there would be no Church.
There
was a time when I was saved by two Wards I belonged to. The first was in my
youth when I walked away from my family to be baptised and the second was
following my divorce. I had never felt more loved and valued as I had in those
two wards. I survived both crisis of enormous loss because of Church members
who embraced me and would not let me become lost.
One
of the greatest lessons I learnt from the Old Testament is the importance of
belonging to a body of saints. Some of you will remember, when the children of
Israel conquered the promised land following their captivity in Egypt, they
were divided geographically by the River Jordan. The inhabitants of Canaan were ripe in
iniquity and idol worship, and as a thorough and complete cleansing of the land
was not achieved, they presented a very real threat to the covenant people
(Joshua 23:11-16).
Among the first to receive land were the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half
of Mannesah. They settled in the land of Gilead which divided them from the
rest of Israel by the river Jordan (Numbers 34:14,15; Deuteronomy 3:12,13;
Joshua 22:9). When these tribes settled they built an altar by that river.
When the rest of Israel heard of it they were outraged presuming the
altar was built for idol worship. They sent Phineas, the son of Eleazor the
priest, with the heads of the remaining tribes, to call these two and a half
tribes to repentance. In their defense, these tribes explained that the altar
was not made for any worship but was meant to stand as a witness to the rest of
Israel that the tribe of Reuben, Gad and Mannesah were united with them in the
worship of one true and living God.
These three tribes recognised that even though they were geographically
divided from the rest, they were still a link in the chain. They knew that if
they turned to the worship of other gods, the ripple effect would be
detrimental to the whole House of Israel. They recognised the importance of
unity in their righteousness.
Today the
chain, being the Church of Jesus Christ, spreads across the globe. It unites
me, who am an Australian, with you who are an American, European or African. It
unites us through our faith in Him who is the Saviour of all, regardless of
nationality, colour or culture.
Our faith
in Christ and our commitment to that faith is our commonality. It creates a
spiritual umbilical cord between us that tells us we are one. It tells us to be
united in spirit, in love, in care, because you don’t know who you can one day
save.
Next time
you take the sacrament, think about every member in every ward in every stake
in the world doing the same and that by it we are, like the Israelites of old "witnessing
between us that the Lord is God" (Joshua 22:34) and thereby keeping the
chain unbroken because one day this chain will bring us together to live with
Him in Zion in preparation for the celestial kingdom of our eternal home.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Sacrament Meeting by Doc Christensen)
A couple of
days ago I did a post entitled “Hearts of the Mothers”. I posted this picture
of the painting entitled “Farewell My Stripling Warrior” by Del Parson. I get
highly emotional whenever I think of the inspiration which the artist used for
this painting. This inspiration came to him when he watched his wife and his
son say their goodbyes at the airport as his son was leaving for his mission. His
wife was struggling to let go while the son, who was hugging her, was looking
past her at the plane that was waiting for him. He was ready to go.
Del Parson
said this farewell of his son made him remember the 2,000 Stripling Warriors
(Alma 53:17-22). It is always difficult to watch your children move on but
sending them off to war is another level of apprehension and anxiety. My
daughter had a turbulent teenage-hood so when she went on her mission, it was the
best eighteen months of my life. I knew where she was, what she was doing and
who was watching over her. And she was on home soil. My worries about her completely
ceased. She is now inactive again and the worries have returned as she
navigates her journey through this perilous life.
This
painting has made me reflect on our time on earth. I have wondered how the
tender feelings of our heavenly parents were affected as we ‘looked towards the
plane’, eager for new experiences, eager to prove ourselves, eager to be ‘grown
up’. Did we feel we had outgrown our heavenly home? The question, however, that
begs to be asked even more is, do we feel eager to return? When I reflect on
this question, I remember Alma recounting his conversion story to Helaman
during which he saw God sitting upon his throne and he said, his soul longed to
be there (Alma 36:22).
And now
that we are here, are we being Stripling Warriors exercising faith in God
worthy of our return? In his book, “But A Few Days”, Elder Neal A. Maxwell, spoke
of our home coming in these terms:
“If there
is an imagery upon which I would focus, it is two scriptures from the Book of
Mormon. The one in which we are reminded that Jesus himself is the gate keeper
and that ‘he employeth no servant there’ (2 Nephi 9:41). I will tell you…out of
the conviction of my soul…what I think the major reason is (why he ‘employeth
no servant there’), as contained in another Book of Mormon scripture which says
he waits for you ‘with open arms’ (Mormon 6:17). That’s why He’s there! He
waits for you with open arms. That imagery is too powerful to brush aside….It
is imagery that should work itself into the very center core of one’s mind – a rendezvous
impending, a moment in time and space, the likes of which there is none other……”
(Neal A. Maxwell, “But A Few Days”, p 7).
Can you
imagine such a reunion? The crimson drops of Calvary would become the happy
tears of home coming……
I
yearn to see the dwelling of Thy heart
And
remember the splendour of my home;
I
yearn to feel the closeness of Thy presence
And
the warmth of Thy embrace.
Grant
me Father eyes that I might see,
And
a heart that it might understand
The
power of Thy love and Thy eternal grace.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Farewell My Stripling Warrior by Del Parson)
I visited my favourite parable yesterday, the
Parable of the Prodigal Son, and I noticed something that took my breath away…..(Luke
15:11-32)
As you know, this was a story of an unsatisfied
son who grew weary of his family’s duties and his father’s wholesome discipline
and influence. He yearned for freedom from home ties and demanded his inheritance
be given him to make his own way in life. He went into a far country where he
spent that inheritance in riotous living and unrestrained indulgence. When the
inheritance was spent, he was reduced to the lowest and most degrading form of
service to a Jew, that of herding swine. He sank even lower to eat husks with
the pigs. Imagine such degradation and suffering as eating and sleeping with
pigs, especially with one of an honorable parentage who was raised with
servants and ate the best of food and never had to worry about his sustenance.
His suffering was extreme as he could see no favourable end to his situation.
He could sink no lower. He reflected on the home of his youth and the security
and safety he had there and how well provided even the servants were in his
home. And then the hope! He would go home to his father!!! The father who loved
him and was so reluctant to see him go. He would go home to the father who
would surely forgive him and allow him to serve him. He would go home to the
father who would lift him out of the misery he had fallen into. What exquisite
hope his father was to him! How that hope would have lifted him out of the mire
he was in and propelled him to return home!
We were somewhat like the prodigals when we
left our heavenly home. We knew of the risk that some of us may never return. What
hope our Father was to us by sacrificing His Beloved Son to ensure our return!
We were sure the Plan would work and the Saviour would implement that Plan
without hesitance and restraint. He would save us so that we could in our
lowest earthly moments say, I’ll go home to the Father! I can rise above the
mire of this telestial world and return to the splendor of my home. I can have
better than what I have sunk to. I don’t have to wallow in the mire and eat
husks…..I can have so much better. My Father will see my contrition and forgive
me. My Father will welcome me home…..
I wish to gift you my heart
Eternal Father of mine;
I wish to glorify Thy name
Through endless moments of time.
I wish to worship you each day that I
greet,
I wish to honour you with each breath that
I breathe.
Then one day soon when I kneel at your
throne
And bring you my deeds from my earthly
home;
Accept them with mercy,
Consider them bliss,
And greet me joyfully
With an holy kiss.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: He Lifts Me Up by Danny Hahlbohm)
I have moved house 16 times in the past 28 years. Wherever I go in Sydney, I am met with memories. Over the years, I have suffered much from lack of ‘belonging’. As I reflected recently on the lone existence I have led, I realised that no matter where I live on this earth, I will always feel that I don’t belong. In that moment of realisation, my understanding was opened to a greater truth. I came to comprehend what it means to live in a fallen world, that to be cut off from God’s presence is the greatest tragedy there is. Cain considered his banishment from His presence more than he could bear (Genesis 4:13,14). I am beginning to understand what he meant, now more than ever as I have distanced myself from the world a great deal and have begun to yearn for my heavenly home. We, like the ancients, are strangers and pilgrims on this earth (D&C 45:11-13; Jacob 7:26; Hebrews 11:4-13). A clear reminder to us that we should not get too comfortable here.
During my moment of reflection I also understood the need for the Atonement. I think the Saviour knew in the beginning what it means to be cut off from Father’s presence forever. I think this is why He yearned to save us from this devastation, hence so much emphasis on the sheep that are ‘lost’. A couple of years ago I had a revelation during which I was led to know that the Father loves His First Born Son the most because of what He has done for the rest of His children. Rightly so, because nobody deserves it more. Because of Christ’s sacrifice, I can now yearn for the eternal home and all the noble host of heaven I have left behind knowing that He has paved my way back.
How many tears will be shed on judgment day by ‘the lost’ when God’s presence is denied to them forever? Imagine how joyful will be some who enter His presence, to finally be home once again….but how much more joyful will be those who get there and bring somebody else with them…..(D&C 18:15,16)
I long to be where I once was,
A child in my eternal home.
I long to see the God of love
And with Him walk the heaven’s floor.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art by Greg Olsen)
