THE SON

 

"A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works they had collected. When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son. 

About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands. He said: "Sir, you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and your love for art." The young man held out the package. "I know this isn't much, I'm not really a great artist but I think your son would have wanted you to have this."

The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture. "Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It's a gift", answered the young man.

The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected. The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection. On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. "We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?"

There was silence. Then a voice in the back of the room shouted: "We want to see the famous paintings! Skip this one." But the auctioneer persisted: "Will somebody bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?"  Another voice angrily: "We didn't come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids!" But still the auctioneer continued: "The son! The son! Who'll take the son?" Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the long time gardener of the man and his son. "I will give $10 for the painting." Being a poor man, it was all he could afford. 

"We have $10, who will bid $20?"

"Give it to him for $10. Let's see the masters."

"$10 is the bid, won't someone bid $20?"

The crowd was becoming angry. They didn't want the picture of the son. They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections.

The auctioneer pounded the gavel: "Going once, twice, sold for $10!"

A man sitting on the second row shouted: "Now, let's get on with the collection!"

The auctioneer laid down his gavel and said: "I'm sorry, the auction is over."

"What about the paintings?"

"I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings."

Much like the auctioneer, God's message today is: "The Son, the Son, who'll take the Son?"  

Because you see, whoever takes the Son, gets everything.

- Author unknown

He is my Sovereign,

He is the King of all kings,

He is my wings of protection,

He is my everything. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Jechoon Choi)

 

 

OUR ETERNAL HOPE

 

Imagine if our eternal destiny looked like this:

“….if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil….and our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself….” (2 N 9:9). Besides calling him the devil, Nephi’s brother Jacob, also called him ‘an awful monster’ and ‘death and hell’, meaning ‘the death of the body and also the death of the spirit’ (v10).

Cast your mind back to the pre-existence. We knew this ‘monster’ as Lucifer, the son of the morning, who was in authority in the presence of God and who sought the throne of the Only Begotten Son, whom the Father loved (D&C 76:25,26; 88:115). So great was Lucifer in the beginning that the very heavens wept over him when he rebelled and became the monster of death and hell (D&C 76:26). Imagine losing a son and brother with such great potential….and now he is compared to a thief (John 10:10) who seeks to steal, kill and destroy, for……

He is the collector of ruined lives,

The Master of ravaged souls.

He is the Son of the Morning,

His pride yielded irreversible cost

In the beginning we sorely wept

When his soul was forever lost.

 

According to Jacob, eternal misery could never be our outcome because of the goodness of our God who prepared a way ‘for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster’ (2 N 9:10). Because of the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel, ‘body and spirit shall be restored to itself again and all men become incorruptible and immortal’ (2 N 9:12,13). The heavens no doubt echoed as we sang and shouted for joy (Job 38:7) that one was chosen with such integrity of character, the dependability, the steadfastness, the selflessness, the perfection, the power, and all the divine attributes that would enable him to rescue us from hell. Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, became our hope of escape from the clutches of the one who would make us miserable forever.

 

If not for You,

Where would I be?

I would belong to the enemy.

 

If not for You,

Where would I be?

I would be lost in obscurity.

 

If not for You,

Where would I be?

Death would claim me for eternity.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Jesus the Symbol of Hope by Ivan Guaderrama)

GOOD THINGS TO COME

 

I watched this week a video detailing the tragic life of deceased Matthew Perry who struggled with alcoholism and prescription drug abuse from age 14. In his interview before his death Perry said he had a spiritual hole that he was always trying to fill with a material thing which just kept perpetrating his need for his addictions. These addictions became so severe that he found himself one day praying to God in desperation for help. As he did so, a light appeared in his room brighter than the sun emanating from a heavenly messenger. Even though he could not discern who it was, Perry said he knew he stood in God’s presence because he had never before been encased in such love as he then felt. This experience afforded him several years of abstinence and well-being, but Perry continued to struggle on and off with his addictions. This led him to open his home to rehabilitation of alcoholics. In one of his final interviews he said he wanted to be remembered for the work he did with people who needed help rather than for being an actor.

In his attempt to persuade the converted Hebrews struggling to stay in the Church, Apostle Paul wrote extensively in his epistle to them about the Saviour offering Himself as sacrifice for our sins that outranked any sacrifice offered by Levite priests. In so doing he named Christ as ‘the high priest of good things to come’ (Hebrews 9:11). Even though this had reference to Christ’s sacrifice bringing us eventually into God’s presence, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland used this description of Jesus to provide encouragement to those struggling in despair here and now. He said:

“There really is light at the end of the tunnel. It is the Light of the World, the Bright and Morning Star, the ‘light that is endless, that can never be darkened’ (Mosiah 16:9; John 8:12; Revelation 22:16)….To any who may be struggling to see that light and find that hope, I say: Hold on. Keep trying. God loves you. Things will improve. Christ comes to you in His ‘more excellent ministry’ with a future of ‘better promises.’ He is your ‘high priest of good things to come’. (An High Priest of Good Things to Come, Ensign, Nov 1999, p 36)

 

I look to Thee to lift me up

When into the depths of sorrow

I sink and comfort cannot find;

I look to Thee to lift me up

When nothing makes sense

In my troubled finite mind.

I look to Thee to lift me up

When forsaken I happen to be;

I look to Thee to lift me up

When trials seek to swallow me.

I will look to Thee to lift me up

When farewell I have to say,

Lift me up with tender mercies

In thine arms to gently lay.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Rescue Me by Yongsung Kim)

HOW GREAT THE JOY

 

 

 

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)

UNITY OF FAITH

 

 

She was a Greek woman from Tyre. A Canaanite of pagan birth held in derision by the Jews. She came seeking Jesus, a man of many miracles who had the power to heal. And so she came and begged the Master whose reputation of compassion spread through all of Galilee and the coasts of Tyre. Her relentless pleading pressed upon Jesus to heal her daughter who was ‘vexed with a devil’ (Matthew 15:22). And then this: she called Him ‘the son of David’. She, with not a drop of Jewish blood in her veins, a pure Gentile, knew what that meant….He was the Messiah of Israel. She, however, was ‘the dog that ate the crumbs off the children’s tables’ (Matthew 15:22-28). And this she humbly accepted because she was not of the ‘chosen race’. And so because of Her humility and her undaunted faith, the great Lord of Israel granted her heart’s desire and her daughter was healed ‘from that very hour’ (Matthew 15:28).

 

I was born and raised in Croatia. When I was a youth I moved with my family to Australia where I joined the Church some 40 years ago. For most of these years I felt disadvantaged because I had not been born as a child of the covenant, in Utah, to goodly parents. I felt I was not, so to speak, of a ‘chosen race’. I wondered why I did not qualify for that privilege. In time, however, that became less important and belonging to the household of faith came to mean so much more. As I have yielded my heart to God these 40 years, I have been given a  remembrance of my eternal identity. I carry with me every day a strong sense of who I really am and have always been. I have no words to explain it. With this awareness has come a strong understanding of myself as a woman of faith. Now it matters less where I was place in this life and more that I am like the woman from Tyre who became, through her faith, a part of the ‘chosen race’. 

 

The Saviour unites us from the four corners of the earth through our faith in Him and His saving power. Because of Him all races, nationalities and cultures are one through salvation in His name. He is the validator of all souls, the lifter of all hearts, the succor of the weak, the rewarder of the strong, the unifier of us all. 

 

Thy love burns within us ever so bright

We bear Thy holy name

And in Thee unite

through Gospel’s everlasting light.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Hope of the World by Greg Collins)

 

THE WILLING HEART OF THE SHEPHERD

 

How dear to the heart of the Shepherd

Is the flock of His sheep!

With tenderness and love

He watches over those in His keep.

How much do they love their Shepherd!

How closely they stay by His side,

With every footstep they follow

To forever with Him abide.

“….I lay down my life for the sheep…..No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of myself…” John 10:15, 18). How deeply significant is the operative word here which is ‘lay’. From God the Father, Jesus inherited the power of immortality, the power to live forever. An immortal being cannot die a natural death and neither can someone else take his life from him. As an immortal being Jesus was immune to death with the exception that He willed it and allowed it. How much this says about the Saviour who never had to experience death but willed Himself to die for the eternal welfare of us, His sheep!!! It takes the willingness to die to another level, does it not??? Cherish your beating heart, you were worth it…..

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art by Yongsung Kim)

(For further understanding of this concept see “Jesus the Christ” by James Talmage, p 418 and “The Mortal Messiah Book 3” by Bruce R McConkie, p 216-217)

THE BREAD OF LIFE

You have fed me from the banquet of Your love

With bread everlasting…….

 

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 of 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. Having been fed so miraculously, they knew just who would deliver them as they sat on Bethsaida’s hill feasting on the miracle of ‘manna from heaven’. He had to be the one to break the bands of bondage and if He refused to do so they would take Him by force to make Him king (John 6:14,15). They did not expect to be told to ‘eat’ His flesh and ‘drink’ His blood instead (John 6:32-35; 51-58), even if by metaphor. Instead of being miraculously fed from heaven continuously, which would guarantee a life of luxury and ease they expected, they presumed they would be saddled with more laws, forgetting so conveniently the familiar Jewish metaphor of eating for spiritual benefit, to which Christ really referred through His sermon.  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. 

 

Eating the body of Christ as the bread of life extends beyond the sacramental table. It means feasting upon the words of Christ for they will tell us all things what we should do to obtain eternal life (2 Nephi 32:3). We must not only eat but feast, feast with hunger and gladness and eagerness and joy. We must revel and delight in the body that was offered on the altar of sacrifice so that we will never be in bondage to the enemy of all righteousness and we will be able to say, like Peter of old: “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life….” (John 6:67,68)…….to whom indeed???

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art by Eva Koleva Timothy)

 

THE HIGH MOUNTAINS OF ISRAEL

 

People flocked to Him wherever He went. Whether they recognised in Him the healer or the Messiah, one thing they knew for sure is that He would not turn them away. Following a  rigorous interrogation by Pharisees, Mark records that Jesus retreated into a house near Tyre seeking solitude but He could not deny anyone seeking Him ‘for He had compassion on all men’ (JST Mark 7:22-23).

 

This compassionate heart of Jesus led to feeding immense crowds of people on two separate occasions. When the apostles returned from their first  mission they presented themselves to Jesus to account for all their labours (Mark 6:30). Mark notes that the crowds thronged them so much that they could not find time or place to eat (v31). For this reason Jesus invited them to retreat with Him by ship to a solitary place. When they arrived and Jesus came out of the ship he saw a multitude of people who had run on foot out of all the cities to see Him (v33). Mark records that He was moved with compassion when He saw them ‘because they were as sheep not having a shepherd and He began to teach them…’ (v34). And when the day was far spent He would not send them away hungry but fed 5,000 men plus women and children with five loaves of bread and two fishes (Matthew 14:21). As with the first, so the second occasion of feeding 4,000 men beside women and children, who were with Him for three days, with seven loaves and a few little fishes, all because: “I have compassion on the multitude….” (Matthew 15:30-38)

 

In my favourite chapter of Ezekiel,  Jehovah speaks extensively about the shepherds of Israel who had scattered His sheep through neglect and then promises He would find them and feed them upon the high mountains of Israel (Ezekiel 34:2,4,11-16,25,31). Was He cognisant of the promise He made through Ezekiel when the physically and spiritually lame flocked to Him, like sheep seeking their Shepherd, feeding upon the compassion spilling from His soul and turning the high mountains of Israel into pasture hereto before unknown??

 

Compassion rent His godly heart

When He saw His scattered sheep,

Upon the high mountains of Israel

Running to His shelter, for His promise to keep.

A promise He would honour

That His lost sheep He would find,

Upon the high mountains of Israel

That heartless shepherds left behind. 

So His promise He valiantly fulfilled

As His sheep sat hungry on Bethsaida’s hill,

And fed upon the loaves and fishes

That multiplied upon His will. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: I Have Compassion by Greg Collins)

BLESSED ARE THE MEEK

 

“The Sermon on the Mount, including the Beatitudes, was delivered to true believers; to the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb (it was their ordination sermon), to the saints of the Most High God; to members of the Church of Jesus Christ; to people who had been baptize and who were in process of seeking the riches of eternity. To them – after holding out the blessed and sanctified wonders of gospel obedience, as these are stated in the Beatitudes – Jesus now says: “Ye are the salt of the earth….Ye are the light of the world.” That is to say: ‘Ye are the choicest and best people on earth; and ye must now be an example to all men, that others seeing your good works, shall come unto me and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah Book 2, p. 127)

 

Out of all the Beatitudes, I am most taken by this one: Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Even though the Saviour proclaimed himself to be “meek and lowly of heart” (Matt 11:29), He did not inherit the earth whilst here because as things are now constituted, the meek shall not inherit the earth until that fateful day when all things shall be done away with and the earth will receive its celestial glory. 

 

So many of us are clinging to earthly possessions and aspire to acquire more. The Saviour had neither gold nor silver nor houses nor lands nor kingdoms when He was here. The riches of this world were but a fleeting moment in time for Him and He had no interest in them. So lowly was the Saviour that he directed Peter when the tax collector came to catch a fish in whose mouth was lodged a coin, to pay a levied tax for both of them (Matthew 17:24-27). So much power yet ‘foxes had holes, and birds of the air had nests; but the Son of man had nowhere to lay His head’ (Luke 9:58). The self-restraint in using His power only for the good of others is beyond commendation. Such is the God we worship and follow, such is the God we love…..are we ready to let go off the world and be the salt of the earth and the light of the world???

 

 

 - CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Artist Unknown)

IN COMPASSION AND MERCY

 

Jesus was touched with a feeling of their infirmities.

Those cries pierced to His inmost heart;

The groans and sighs of all that collective misery

filled His whole soul with pity.

His heart bled for them;

He suffered with them;

Their agonies were His;

So that Matthew recalls…

With a slight difference of language,

The words of Isaiah,

“Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.”

(Matthew 8:16,17)

-       Frederick Farrar, Life of Christ, p 182

 

That Christ had compassion towards the suffering during his mortal life can never be disputed.  He wept with those who ached and healed indiscriminately all who came to Him in faith. Now consider His mercy manifest through the healing miracles, not only toward the sick and the afflicted, but toward the unbelievers as well. In many instances, the Saviour forgave sins prior to the physical miracle of healing, which in reality was of more importance than the healing that followed. The miracles of healing were an avenue of His proclamation of His divinity but they were only secondary. When Christ said, ‘thy sins are forgiven thee’ He was in fact proclaiming that He had power on earth and in heaven to forgive sins. But forgiveness is something that cannot be seen with a naked eye and so the physical healing that followed was a means to satisfy man’s need for physical proof of His divine power. And so the miracles of physical healing came secondary as proof of His power to heal spiritually.  I see in this amazing mercy toward the unbelieving and those hard of understanding, even for those who plotted His death and had no willingness to believe. But such is the nature of the manJesus the Christ, the Saviour of the world, the God of heaven and earth. Hismercy is extended to the just and the unjust and His salvation is offered to all who will come unto Him because He is the light, the truth and the way, the only way……..

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Lord, I Believe by Liz Lemon Swindle)

A KINGDOM FOR A KING

 

“When I was president of the Southern States Mission, one of our missionaries preached on that dream of Nebuchadnezzar in one of our meetings where we had some investigators, and I stood at the door to greet them as they went out. A man came up and introduced himself as a minister and he said, 'You don't mean to tell me that you think the Mormon Church is that kingdom, do you?' And I said, 'Yes sir, why not?'. He said, 'It couldn't be.' I said, 'Why couldn't it?' And he said, 'You can't have a kingdom without a king, and you don't have a king, so you don't have a kingdom'. 'Oh', I said, 'my friend, you didn't read far enough. You just read the seventh chapter of Daniel, where Daniel saw one like the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, "and there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him" (Daniel 7:14). 'Now', I said, 'my friend, tell me how can the kingdom be given to him when he comes in the clouds of heaven if there is no kingdom prepared for him? That is what we Latter-day Saints are doing." (In CR Oct 1975, pp 76-77 or Ensign Nov 1975, p 51)”

 

Many of us are wondering how much more wicked the world has to become before the King of Heaven makes His appearance but only a few of us are wondering how much more righteous WE have to become before He can come.  It’s more the state of US, His covenant people that will determine the time than the state of the world. Why? Because a King cannot come if there is no kingdom. Since the Lord works through us and He honours our free agency, our wickedness and righteousness can impede or accelerate His work (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual, p 258).

 

I am always amazed when I hear a teacher at Church ask this pointless question: “If you knew that the Saviour was coming tomorrow, what would you do to prepare?”  I am equally amazed by some answers such as, missionary work. How much missionary work could you do in one day to make up for years of not doing it? My answer is, you could do nothing in one day to prepare for His coming, the time to prepare is NOW! The Kingdom awaits…. 

We Israel, Thy chosen seed

Bow before Thee on bended knee.

Strengthen us in the hour of our need

That we might never stray again

And cause Thee sorrow;

And help us wait for Thee

in the dawning of tomorrow.

 

 - CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Time Is At Hand by Danny Hahlbohm)

AS I LIVE

 

 

There is a certain phrase I have noticed in the scriptures where the Lord bears witness of His existence. This phrase is: “AS I LIVE”. It is mostly used in conjunction with His promises to carry out judgment on rebellious Israel, or blessings in time of gathering. To me, the Lord is simply bearing witness of Himself. This phrase can be found in Ezekiel 11 times: 5:11; 14:16; 16:6,48; 17:16,19; 18:3; 20:3; 33:11; 34:8; 35:6.

 

There is another phrase in Ezekiel that the Saviour uses often that He will affirm His existence to us either through His just punishment or His saving grace and that phrase is: “YE SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD”. It can be found in Ezekiel 21 times: 6:7,14; 7:4,9; 11:10,12; 12:20; 13:9,14,21,23; 14:8; 15:7; 16:62; 17:21; 24:24,27; 25:5,7; 36:11; 37:6. This phrase is also used in conjunction with His promise to carry out His judgment upon the inhabitants of the earth where He proclaims: “and they shall know that I am the Lord” (6:14; 30:19,26; 32:15; 35:4,9,15; 38:23; 39:6) thus flooding the earth with knowledge and proof of His existence. 

 

I can bear witness to the ‘saving grace’ nature of the second phrase. Some time ago, I took a certain petition to God in prayer and, as is my custom, I retreated to the scriptures afterwards to see if He would give me an answer through His written word. The scriptures opened to a page with only one phrase highlighted: “Ye shall know that I am the Lord”……I knew in that instant that the Saviour lived, that He had heard my prayer, and that He would grant me my heart’s desire. I knew that I was kneeling in front of Him who has all power, might, mercy, wisdom and love. I knew the Lord that day because He bore witness to me of His reality. 

 

How great Thy wisdom,

How great Thy mercy,

How great Thy love

That fills my joyful heart;

How very great Thou art!

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Artist Unknown)

HERITAGE OF JACOB

 

 

 

Isaiah has, once again, tugged at my heartstrings today. I have understood for a while now the law of the Sabbath and the direct blessings that stem from it, namely: divine protection, temporal plenty, and spiritual power. However, Isaiah chapter 58 has taken this to another level for me.

 

Isaiah referred to the sabbath day as ‘the holy of the Lord’ (v 13).  Holy means to be sanctified or be set apart for the work of God. This again I knew because Sabbath day is the day of sanctification. So important did Jehovah consider this concept that He made non-observance of the Sabbath, anciently, punishable by death to symbolise spiritual death that would come from abstinence of sanctification. 

 

Isaiah added another blessing as a promise for Sabbath observance when he said the Lord would cause us ‘to ride upon the high places of the earth’ (v14). Since mountains and high places of the earth have anciently always been sites of revelation and communication with God, this would suggest that keeping the Sabbath holy would entitle us to the same. But this is what caught in my throat as I read the finish of that sentence: ‘….and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father’ (v14). As ‘heritage’ comes from the same root as ‘heir’ and ‘inherit’, it means only one thing: exaltation, even as our righteous father Jacob, or Israel, the father of our covenant, has received it (D&C 132:37).

 

This is not all. Chapter 56 says that anyone who observes ‘sabbaths’ will be exalted. Anciently, all Israel’s festivals and feast days such as Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles, the day of Atonement and the weekly sabbath day were grouped together under the term ‘sabbaths’. Jehovah referred to the observance of these sabbaths as ‘taking hold of my covenant’ (v6), meaning that these sabbaths embraced the entire Mosaic law. It is obvious then that sabbath observance alone does not guarantee exaltation but the observance of the entire law of the gospel does.

 

I have heard it say that the extent of our Sabbath day observance is a good indication of our devotion to God the Father and His Son, who laid the foundations of this earth in order that we might ‘ride upon its high places’ and be fed with the ‘heritage of our father Jacob’. This is a devotion that is for the serious followers of Christ. This is a devotion for those who truly love Him and the Father who sent Him.

 

I have no life but this

To follow the path to Thy throne

To be greeted with a holy kiss,

And know the reality of such bliss.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: As I Have Loved You by Greg Olsen)

DIVINE RESPONSIBILITY

 

Every time I open the book of Isaiah, it reveals to me the Son of God: His compassion, His longsuffering, His forgiveness extended to the House of Israel. It lifts me to higher ground whenever I ingest any prophecy, any witness, any wisdom from the pen of a prophet who appealed to Israel’s sense of ethnicity and origin of its’ power, namely, the God Jehovah. 

 

The scripture that caught my attention recently is this one where Jehovah tells ancient Israel that if only they had hearkened to His commandments, then their peace would have been as a river, and their righteousness as the waves of the sea (Isaiah 48:18). I understood the peace being as a river which is calm and serene but I had to think about the righteousness being as the waves of the sea.  I live in Australia and enjoy frequent trips to the beach where I have observed the waves of the sea. As I reflected on this, I understood why the Lord used this metaphor. The waves of the sea run into each other…and they cover the earth as they roll over it. I then read chapter 49 and could see the Lord’s wisdom in using this metaphor as He proclaimed the House of Israel to be His servant  in whom He will be glorified (v 3).  

 

My heart literally burned as I read the Lord say that not only will He make us mighty in restoring the preserved Israel but that He will also make us a light to the Gentiles, that we may be the means of salvation to the ends of the earth (Isaiah 49:6). In other words, we will be as the waves of the sea as our righteousness spreads over the earth and touches the souls of scattered Israel and Gentiles alike. We will roll forth to the ends of the earth glorifying Jehovah’s name and bringing salvation to the living and the dead (v 9a). We, the modern Israel  will do this, because ‘Jacob is the lot of His inheritance’ (Deuteronomy 32:9) and Ephraim is His firstborn (Jeremiah 31:9). This is what ancient Israel missed out on being as they joined the idolatrous nations surrounding them instead. But this now is our privilege and if we walk up to it, ‘the Gentiles shall see our righteousness’, and we shall be ‘a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of our God’ (Isaiah 62:2,3).

 

Thy love burns within us ever so bright

We bear Thy holy name

And proclaim Thy salvation

To the ends of the earth.

We are the servant in Thy might,

We are Israel, children of light.

 

 

 

 - CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art by Annie Henrie Nader)

 

BEAUTIFUL MORTALITY

 

 

I was in tears watching the recorded live performance of Benedictus by 2CELLOS. It was as if the cellos were speaking to my soul under the magnificent skill of the two most talented musicians I have come across. I am amazed at the beauty which exists in our humanity despite all the evil acts we seem to be capable of. I am amazed at this life with the full spectrum of experiences and emotions that enrich us and lift us to higher ground amidst sorrow, pain and suffering.

 

I was perusing one of my old journals the other day and I came across a list I had written in 1996 entitled “The Simple Things That Make Me Happy”. Here are some of them: a new leather bound book; the shade of a tree; the smell of freshly cut rosemary; poetry; receiving a letter; reading in bed; a new pen; writing; a warm room in cold weather; libraries; beautiful stationery; wearing perfume. As I read this list I realised I have lost sight of what I enjoyed about mortality. Over the years I got lost in being too serious dealing with my trials and too zealous in striving to ‘rise above the world’. I wonder how many joys I have missed. I know that somehow I need to ignore the bad that is happening in the world and cultivate a more sincere gratitude for my mortal imperfect experience. One day my life here will become a distant memory and I don’t want it marred with regret.

 

I stand in awe of the God of creation. I marvel at the magnitude of this planet and the complexity of human body that could only come into existence through the hands of His power but I marvel more at His sacrifice at Calvary without which this creation would be in vain. I don’t know how He did it but I stand in awe that He did. I stand in awe and give glory to His name for all that I am and all that He has made of me in this life of diversity. 

 

May the memories of our sojourn here be sweet and may we ‘wish that life should not be cheap but sacred….the days to be as centuries, loaded, fragrant’ (Ralph Waldo Emerson).

 

I wish that I could silence

The murmurings of my heart;

I wish I could be joyful

Despite this temperamental life.

I wish I could be grateful for

Every fallen tear

And accept my trials

Without a trace of fear.

I want to remember the beauty

Surrendered by the withered rose

And never let it drift too far;

I want to take it with me

Past the grave

When I am called to cross the bar.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Consider the Lillies by Eva Koleva Timothy)