Hello to my 7+ dedicated readers! :) It is apparent that this blog has not been an outlet for me over the last six months. Stresses from various different sources have kept me from taking the time to write here, and over the weeks and months posting to this blog became a failure in cost-benefit analysis: the time and effort required to write a quality post seemed to far outweigh the perceived benefits to myself, as well as anyone who might read it; however, I happy today that I have this forum still alive to express some of my thoughts on this Easter weekend. I know that the Savior lives. I know that he "walked a mile in my shoes" as one of the songs on this blog illustrates. I know that this mile (and then some) was the hallmark of the Atonement, that infinite gift which helps all of our natures change. I know that there is a Balm in Gilead, and that is what I'd like to talk about further at this time.Last night around 12:30am I was awake thinking about how I don't measure up to the expectations that the Savior has for me, and honestly, many of the expectations I often unduly place on myself. I picked up my journal to write my daily three ways that I've seen the hand of the Lord in my life, and opened up to my General Conference notes. I scarcely had gotten through two pages of my journal when I arrived at a note I had written during President Henry B. Eyring's talk during the Saturday Morning Session:
"Many trials come not due to sin, but because the Lord wants you a little more polished"Those words brought a flood of thoughts into my mind, and I was all but forced to write what the Spirit dictated to me at that time. I know it was the Spirit because many times before have I read my notes without having such a reaction. And I know that the purpose of my writing what I wrote late last night will be of help or inspiration to someone who chances upon their words. It is for this purpose that today I return to blogging. If that person is you, may these words lift, comfort, or inspire you to be just a little better than you were yesterday. I testify that there is a Balm in Gilead.
Just as sin is merely a symptom of our fallen state, things we do to gain the Spirit are merely topical balms that wear off when not constantly applied; we can also apply too much to the point that the excess is wasted, as the balm is not absorbed any deeper than a superficial level. We get more out of these balms as we gain greater capacity to absorb them. The reason why we are not given all light and knowledge in a single twinkling is because it would be lost on our relatively resistant, human souls. Rather, the way of God is a way of conservation, a way that allows us to use as much light and knowledge as our agency and current state allow us to receive. The way to receive more is to be capable of and willing to receive more, and this change only occurs as our receptacles change; the only issue is that we are not capable of changing our ability to receive. Our agency takes us only as far as our frailties can endure--the rest is subsumed in the changing power that is the Atonement of Jesus Christ!
There is a Balm, that, when applied, sinks to the utter core, deeper than any of us dare to know. It can heal us of our outward transgression of a law that brings inward sorrow. A broken heart and a contrite spirit are the condition necessary for this Balm to seep into its intended place, but we still must let it in by sacrificing these unto the Savior. Our agency is the bonding agent that allows our broken heart and contrite spirit to interact with the gift of the Atonement, which creates a change in our core. We begin to live more as a function of that core, with greater integrity, our spirit lifted by the Savior. The beauty that comes from the message of the Master is that whenever we wish, we can exchange our broken heart and contrite spirit for a spirit lifted up and out of the degrading ways of the world, and ever a little more like He who created us. This is the Plan of Salvation, this is the Atonement, this is existence in our mortal frame.How grateful I am for this knowledge! I hope that my testimony this day has touched your heart, and led you to think and do a little more like the Savior thinks and does. This Easter I hope that you remember the newness that comes from living the Gospel. We all have the chance to apply the soothing Balm of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and be healed. Let us remember this Easter that He lives, and as such so may we.
With Love,
Sean
Have a great week!
