This semester in
my class for Eastern Religious Thought, we studied various ancient authors from
the Orient. I struggled to connect with one in particular who taught his
followers that no God existed, nor did he believe many other beliefs connected
to the Plan of Salvation as we know it. His influence has been felt not only in
the Orient, but all across the world as he teaches the doctrine of avoiding
suffering. He professed that the domestic life, such as marriage and family,
causes the greatest of suffering and that if one would choose homelessness and
deep studies in his teachings, that each would arise above all suffering.
Yesterday in
class, an epiphany illuminated my understanding of why his sole focus rested
upon the avoidance of suffering.
I contemplated
first what Heavenly Father teaches us of trials, tribulations and suffering. In
the New Testament, Paul professed to the Corinthians that God gives men
weakness so that they may triumph over them. The well-known scripture in Ether
teaches that if we come before God, he will show unto us our weakness. And then
He continues, “I give unto men weakness that they may be humble and my grace is
sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble
themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become
strong unto them.
President Eyring
reinforced the principle in the most recent General Conference when he directed
his remarks to “those who are in the midst of hard trials, who feel their faith
may be fading under the onslaught of troubles.” He then clarified what Paul and
Moroni and many other prophets, seers and revelators have taught. President
Eyring continues, “Trouble itself can be your way to strengthen and finally
gain unshakable faith.”
If the purpose
for troubles, trials and suffering is to turn us to God, according to these
prophets, then it would be very important that this professor of the avoidance
of suffering, who does not believe in a god, must remove suffering from his
doctrine to prove that we don’t need a god to relieve our suffering. Great
satisfaction filled my heart yesterday, as I learned of this truth more deeply.
Our weakness and trials have the ability to help us remember our Heavenly
Father and the Savior.
Having
established that life’s problems can turn our hearts to our loving Heavenly
Father, I would like to focus our minds toward the temple and how making and
keeping our temple covenants endows us with power and the blessings to overcome
problems. Our beloved prophet Thomas S. Monson told us last year, “The world
can be a challenging and difficult place in which to live. We are often
surrounded by that which would drag us down. As you and I go to the holy houses
of God, as we remember the covenants we make within, we will be more able to
bear every trial and to overcome each temptation. In this sacred sanctuary we
will find peace; we will be renewed and fortified.” (Thomas S. Monson April Conference 2011)
Robert D. Hales
echoed President Monson a few weeks ago, “Through the Savior’s Atonement and by
following [the] basic patterns of faithfulness, we receive ‘power from on high’
to face the challenges of life. We need this divine power today more than ever.
It is power we receive only through temple ordinances.”
As we attend the temple frequently, we will continue to
build our foundation upon the rock of our Savior Jesus Christ and as Helaman of
the Book of Mormon promises, “when
the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind,
yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it
shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless
wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a
foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.” (Helaman 5:12)
Often, I am
reminded of one of my favorite literary characters, Jane Eyre who faces a
severe trial and must choose between a man whom she loves deeply or to obey
God’s command to not commit adultery. Her heart aches intensely as she
struggles for what would become a choice for happiness or misery. She walks out
into the garden and makes a choice, “I will keep the law given by God;
sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles received by me when I was
sane, and not mad—as I am now. Laws and principles are not for the times when
there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul
rise in mutiny against their rigor; stringent are they; inviolate they shall
be. If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their
worth?”
Jane Eyre sees
her commitment to God as one of the most valuable possessions and it gives her
the strength to overcome her greatest trial. If Jane, who is not endowed in the
Holy Temple, is strengthened to this extent, by virtue of her obedience to the Ten
Commandments, how much more are we blessed as we make and keep our covenants in
the Lord’s Holy Temple.
As Jane went
into the garden to make her choice, similarly we go to our garden, within the
walls of the temple. It is in that garden where we make our choices, where we
seek for guidance, for answers, for counsel and for peace. Not only is it our
garden, but also we learn of the original garden given to Adam and Eve and we
learn more deeply how to fully partake of the all-encompassing blessings of the
Atonement wherein, that other garden, that lonely Garden of Gethsemane, the
Savior suffered for our sins.
As recorded in
the Doctrine and Covenants, He says, “For behold, I, God, have suffered these
things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;
“But if they
would not repent they must suffer even as I;
“which suffering
caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and
to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I
might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—
“Nevertheless,
glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the
children of men.”
You and I know
that the abundant blessings of the Atonement are felt even more keenly as we make
ourselves worthy to enter into the Lord’s House; the Holy Temple. Although our
trials and suffering can never be avoided, as our author from the Orient
suggests, but they can be lifted as we yoke ourselves to the Savior, becoming
worthy to make and keep our temple covenants.
As I conclude, I
reiterate that our trials and sufferings truly lead us to our creator and to
the temple, that our weakness may be strong unto us. At the end of John
Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost, after Adam and Eve have been expulsed from
the Garden of Eden, Adam realizes that more good will eventually result from
the Fall that could have been possible without it. He recognizes the great
blessings to mankind in the way of forming family relationships and he
proclaims heavenward,
O goodness infinite, goodness immense!
That all this good of evil shall produce,
And evil turn to good; more wonderful
Than that which by creation first brought forth
Light out of darkness! full of doubt I stand,
Whether I should repent me now of sin
By mee done and occasion’d, or rejoice
Much more, that much more good thereof shall spring.
To God more glory; more good will to Men
From God, and over wrath grace shall abound.
(XII. 469–478)
Dear friends, I testify to you of the power and blessing to overcome the problems we
face. I reiterate the words of President Eyring that “There is nothing that has
come or will come into your family as important as the sealing blessings.” And
to this I testify in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
