Mormon Musings

Mortal experience points evermore to the Atonement of  Jesus Christ  as the central act of all human history. The more I learn and experience, the more unselfish, stunning, and encompassing His Atonement becomes! When we take Jesus’ yoke upon us, this admits us eventually to what Paul called the “fellowship of [ Christ ’s] sufferings” ( Philip. 3:10 ). Whether illness or aloneness, injustice or rejection, etc., our comparatively small-scale sufferings, if we are meek, will sink into the very marrow of the soul. We then better appreciate not only Jesus’ sufferings for us, but also His matchless character, moving us to greater adoration and even emulation. Alma revealed that Jesus knows how to succor us in the midst of our griefs and sicknesses precisely because Jesus has already borne our griefs and sicknesses (see  Alma 7:11–12 ). He knows them firsthand; thus His empathy is earned. Of course, we do not comprehend it fully any more than we understand how He bore all mortal sins,

"If any has stumbled in his journey, there is a way back. The process is called repentance. Our Savior died to provide you and me that blessed gift. Though the path is difficult, the promise is real: 'Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow' (Isaiah 1:18)." Thomas S. Monson ,  "Preparation Brings Blessings," Ensign, May 2010, 66

5  And men are instructed sufficiently that they  a know  good from evil. And the  b law  is given unto men. And by the law no flesh is  c justified ; or, by the law men are  d cut  off. Yea, by the temporal law they were cut off; and also, by the spiritual law they perish from that which is good, and become miserable forever.   6  Wherefore,  a redemption  cometh in and through the  b Holy   c Messiah ; for he is full of  d grace  and truth.   7  Behold, he offereth himself a  a sacrifice  for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto  b none  else can the  c ends  of the law be answered.   8  Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God,  a save  it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who  b layeth  down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it ag

"We need to ponder in the scriptures and in the words of living prophets. We need to make plans which are not only wishes but covenants. And then we need to keep our promises to the Lord. And we need to lift others by sharing with them the blessings of the Atonement which have come in our lives." —Henry B. Eyring, " Help Them on Their Way Home ",  Liahona and Ensign , May 2010

Redeeming Jesus also “poured out his soul unto death” ( Mosiah 14:12 ; see also  Isa. 53:12 ;  D&C 38:4 ). As we on occasion “pour” out our souls in personal pleadings, we are thus emptied, making room for more joy! Another fundamental scripture describes Jesus’ having trodden the winepress of the “fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God” ( D&C 88:106 ; see also  D&C 76:107 ;  D&C 133:50 ). Others can and should encourage, commend, pray, and comfort, but the lifting and carrying of our individual crosses remains ours to do. Given the “fierceness” Christ endured for us, we cannot expect a discipleship of unruffled easiness. As we seek  forgiveness , for example, repentance can be a rough-hewn regimen to bear. By the way, let us not, as some do, mistake the chips we have placed on our own shoulders for crosses! Uniquely, atoning Jesus also “descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things” ( D&C 88:6 ; see also  D&C 122:8 ). How deep that desce

“Oh, it is wonderful to know that our Heavenly Father loves us—even with all our flaws! His love is such that even should we give up on ourselves, He never will. “We [might] see ourselves in terms of yesterday and today. Our Heavenly Father sees us in terms of forever. … “The gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of transformation. It takes us as men and women of the earth and refines us into men and women for the eternities.”   Joseph B. Wirthlin, “The Great Commandment,”  Liahona  and  Ensign,  Nov. 2007, 29–30.

Christ  said, “I am the true vine, and … ye are the branches.”   2   “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.”   3 “Abide in me” is an understandable and beautiful enough concept in the elegant English of the King James  Bible , but “abide” is not a word we use much anymore. So I gained even more appreciation for this admonition from the Lord when I was introduced to the translation of this passage in another language. In Spanish that familiar phrase is rendered “permaneced en mi.”  Like the English verb “abide,”  permanecer  means “to remain, to stay,” but even gringos like me can hear the root cognate there of “permanence.” The sense of this then is “stay—but stay  forever. ” That is the call of the gospel message to Chileans and everyone else in the world. Come, but come to remain. Come with conviction and endurance. Come permanently, for your sake and the sake of all the generation

As Jesus begins to have a real place in our lives, we are much less concerned with losing our places in the world.  When our minds really catch hold of the significance of the Atonement, the world's hold on us loosens. Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, November 1992, p. 67

Christ’s Grace Is Sufficient to Cover Us A BYU student once came to me and asked if we could talk. I said, “Of course. How can I help you?” She said, “I just don’t get grace.” I responded, “What is it that you don’t understand?” She said, “I know I need to do my best and then Jesus does the rest, but I can’t even do my best.” She then went on to tell me all the things she  should  be doing because she’s a Mormon that she wasn’t doing. She continued, “I know that I have to do my part and then Jesus makes up the difference and fills the gap that stands between my part and perfection. But who fills the gap that stands between where I am now and my part?” She then went on to tell me all the things that she  shouldn’t  be doing because she’s a Mormon, but she was doing them anyway. Finally I said, “Jesus doesn’t make  up  the difference. Jesus makes  all  the difference. Grace is not about filling gaps. It is about filling us.” Seeing that she was still confused, I took a piece of

Everything in the Gospel teaches us that we can change if we really want to, that we can be helped if we truly ask for it, that we can be made whole, whatever the problems of the past. Jeffrey R. Holland, address to religious educators at a symposium on the New Testament, Brigham Young University, August 8, 2000

"My dear young friends, when the captain of a long-range jet passes the point of safe return, and the headwinds are too strong or the cruising altitudes too low, he might be forced to divert to an airport other than his planned destination. This is not so in our journey through life back to our heavenly home. Wherever you find yourselves on this journey through life, whatever trials you may face, there is always a point of safe return; there is always hope. You are the captain of your life, and God has prepared a plan to bring you safely back to Him, to your divine destination." Dieter F. Uchtdorf ,  "Is There a Point of No Return?" New Era, June 2010, 3

Blessed be the Father for his loving-kindness in giving his Only Begotten as Our Redeemer! We do not know, nor could we appreciate if we did, the feelings of the Father as he watched his firstborn go through the Atonement. How great our Father is. Blessed be the Son, Jesus Christ, for his loving-kindness in atoning for our sins. I "scarce can take it in" ("How Great Thou Art"). Whenever you and I witness and experience in a human being impressive loving-kindness, we marvel--and we should marvel. But such highly developed loving-kindness is still not closely comparable to Jesus' loving-kindness. So it is with each of his qualities about which I have spoken tonight. When we are fortunate enough to experience the stirring samples of likeness, these are real and wonderful experiences, but they are not yet fullness. They are not yet the fullness found in Jesus. Even so, he of fullness clearly and kindly beckons us to develop that greater likeness in our lives which p

by his own words, one of President Packer's most important talks: http://lds.org/ensign/1977/05/the-mediator?lang=eng

The Atonement...was infinite in the divineness of the one sacrificed, in the comprehensiveness of its coverage, and in the intensiveness--incomprehensible to us--of the Savior's suffering  Elder Maxwell, " Not My Will " p. 51 The cumulative weight of all mortal signs--past, present, and future--pressed upon that perfect, sinless, and sensitive Soul!  All of our infirmities and sicknesses were somehow, too, a part of the awful arithmetic of the Atonement.  (See Alma 7:11-12; Isaiah 53:3-5; Matthew 8:17) Elder Maxwell, Ensign, May 1985, p. 73 There will be no end to the ripples of the Resurrection resulting from the infinite Atonement. Elder Maxwell, Ensign, November 1988, p. 33 Jesus' marvelous meekness prevented any "root of bitterness" from "springing up" in Him (Hebrews 12:15).  Ponder the Savior's precious words about the Atonement after He passed through it.  There is no mention of the vinegar.  No mention of the sco

Lucifer, who has no future, thus desperately tries to persuade men that they have no future either.  He desires that all men might be miserable like unto himself.  (2 Nephi 2:27)  Misery likes company, especially ultimate misery.   Elder Neal A. Maxwell

In the Garden of Gethsemane As a young missionary, Elder Orson F. Whitney (1855–1931), who later served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, had a dream so powerful that it changed his life forever. He later wrote: “One night I dreamed … that I was in the Garden of Gethsemane, a witness of the Savior’s agony. … I stood behind a tree in the foreground. … Jesus, with Peter, James, and John, came through a little wicket gate at my right. Leaving the three Apostles there, after telling them to kneel and pray, He passed over to the other side, where He also knelt and prayed … : ‘Oh my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will but as Thou wilt.’ “As He prayed the tears streamed down His face, which was [turned] toward me. I was so moved at the sight that I wept also, out of pure sympathy with His great sorrow. My whole heart went out to Him. I loved Him with all my soul and longed to be with Him as I longed for nothing else. “Presently He arose and wal