Remember the pillar of light

 

The Atonement provides a way for us to mend everything that is broken.

..when faced with opposition we often ask “why” Why me? Why now? Why this?

when we should ask “what” what would be more constructive, “what” is  God trying to teach me.

There are places on this earth that have been made sacred by what happened there. According to the Old Testament, one of these places is Sinai, Horeb, or “the mountain of God” where the Lord appeared to Moses in the burning bush. As Moses approached the bush, the Lord said to him, “Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground”.

In a grove of towering beeches, oaks, maples, and other trees, about one quarter of a mile west of the Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith family home near Palmyra, 14-year-old Joseph Smith saw in vision God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, in the spring of 1820. This divine manifestation, in response to Joseph’s prayer to know the truth concerning religion and how he might obtain a remission of his sins, began the Restoration of the gospel in this final dispensation. It also made that grove of trees a revered place in the history of our Church a place we honor with the name “Sacred Grove.”

Trees always grow toward the light.

Trees require opposition to fulfill the measure of their creation.

Trees are best grown in forests, not in isolation.

Trees draw strength from the nutrients created by previous generations of trees.

Figuratively as we stand in the Sacred Grove, so stand always in your minds and in your hearts, in that sacred place and live true to the truths that God began to reveal there.

Remember, the life’s lessons that the Sacred Grove teaches:

When powers of darkness seek to destroy you as they once did an inquiring young Joseph Smith, stand in the Sacred Grove and remember the pillar of light, “above the brightness of the sun”.

When opposition and adversity hedge up your way and hope dims, stand in the Sacred Grove and remember that “all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good” (D&C 122:7).

When loneliness and isolation are your lot and you struggle to establish fulfilling human relationships, stand in the Sacred Grove with the community of Latter-day Saints who have covenanted to help bear your burdens and comfort you in your need.

And when experiences or people or conflicting truth claims challenge your faith and create doubt concerning the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, stand in the Sacred Grove and take strength and encouragement from the generations of faithful Latter-day Saints who have steadfastly stood there before you.

Marlin K. Jensen