Gently awaking, and flat on my back, quiet and still in my non-motion recline- the talk filled my mind as seemingly unending tears coursed down my cheeks and into my ears and then down my cheeks to my pillow.
I mourned and wept and prayed and pleaded and questioned (not the happenings or the talk contents) but...what about our children...our grandchildren...our relatives...our friends? What about our fellow members--those nearby and those far away...our neighbors? What about this virus...the pending disaster afterwards- personal economics...world economics...dreams and plans that will not come to pass?
My heart pleaded for all the above and at the same time asked...What can be done? What can I do?
The gravity of the situation is...I cannot make any of this go away. It is what it is and it's a part of prophecy foretold about the last days. This is the signs of the times. You know by now that I'm a believer in the if/then of living my spiritual life. If you do as scripturally mentioned then you will receive the promised blessing. That is a scriptural promise that I hold to. (D&C 130:20-21;132:5)
There is no way I can stop the happenings. I am also a believer in feeling personal peace. You also know that if I can feel inward peace...the assurance that comes from that, no matter the direness of any situation, then I can be okay. I then know that I can deal with a freight train coming at me and know that the switch-man will pull that lever, and even if he arrives late for that switch and disaster happens to me or to those I love...I can still be at peace with that blessed assurance of the peace that passeth all understanding.
How long I was engaged in this early morning experience I don't know. I know it was a long time and I know that I've not explained it very well and have just shared an overall description, of a part of it but I tried.
I pled for understanding of the things that are so bothersome to me in the talk. I plead for what should I do? what can I do? is there a measure of peace anywhere in the talk that I can cling to?
To my mind came the thought to re-read the talk again about the world weeping. I re-read the talk again. That is in the very 2nd paragraph. I looked at the article title...The Future of the Church: Preparing the World for the Savior's Second Coming. I realized that my part in preparing the world at large, is me preparing my world that is small in comparison.
And then, as a wonderful personal blessing...the answer I pled for...I found the if/then clause that I so longed for!! A promise! Promises!
However, I promise you that as you follow Jesus Christ, you will find sustained peace and true joy. As you keep your covenants with increasing precision, and as you defend the Church and kingdom of God on the earth today, the Lord will bless you with strength and wisdom to accomplish what only members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can accomplish.
That entire section of Face the Future with Faith, when I re-read the talk for the umpteenth time, seemed bathed in new light.
I do believe as I continue to study and ponder in preparation for General Conference that other things will be said that dove-tail with this!
the talk here
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this Just now seeing it for the first time!
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