In the heart

 

Like Flame Unquenchable

Emily Freeman

Last week I had the opportunity to walk along pioneer grounds.

It’s something I have done many times because there is something about those trails that speaks to my heart.  But this time was different. Fresh snow lay fresh on frozen ground.

The cold Wyoming wind blew straight through layers of clothing, chilling any warmth the sun might bring, and slowly freezing my fingertips until they were numb.

The ground held onto the water, it puddled everywhere across the terrain and soaked into every step on the wet and muddy path.

I have walked those trails in 90 degree weather, dust blowing up around me, thirsting for cool water. But not last Wednesday. On that day I wondered where those pioneers found warmth.  At the end of each day, and in the middle, and when morning began again… And then I remembered the fire of the covenant that burned in their hearts.

“Let the fire of the covenant which you made in the House of the Lord, burn in your hearts, like flame unquenchable” (Brigham Young, 1846)

I read the front page of our news here in SLC today. It chilled me.

We, too, are walking on pioneering grounds.  Important conversations are being had.  But in the meantime I worry that hearts are growing cold. It is an important time to remember our covenants.

To let them burn in our hearts, like flame unquenchable. Our covenants must remain more important than our conversations. The answers that are being sought can be answered within those covenants. In quiet, not in crowds.

In the heart.