1 NIFAI 19:16

 ʻIo, te ne toki manatuʻi ai ʻa e ngaahi motu ʻo e tahí; ʻio, pea mo e kakai kotoa pē ʻoku ʻo e fale ʻo ʻIsilelí, te u tānaki mai, ʻoku folofola ʻe he ʻEikí, ʻo fakatatau ki he ngaahi lea ʻa e palōfita ko Seinosi, mei he ngaahi vahe ʻe fā ʻo e māmani.
  -1 Nīfaí 19:16

ELDER HOLLAND - "THE BITTER CUP AND THE BLOODY BAPTISM"

 My Mom sent me this talk from Elder Holland when I was on my mission, and I read it often as it provided strength to me. It was given at a BYU devotional in 1987.

 http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=6989

"As time goes by, we ought--as a matter of personal maturity and growth in the gospel--to spend more of our time with and devote more of our energy to the good things, the best things, the things that endure and bless and prevail. This is why, I believe, family and true friends become increasingly important the older we get, and so does knowledge and so do simple acts of kindness and concern for the circumstances of others. Peter lists a whole handful of these virtues and calls them "the divine nature," and he promises us "divine power" in possessing and sharing them (see 2 Peter 1:3­8). These gospel qualities and principles, as I understand them, are the most important as well as the most permanent of life's acquisitions. But there is a war going on over such personal possessions, and there will yet be a bazooka shell or two falling into your life that will prompt--indeed, will require--careful examination of what you say you believe, what you assume you hold dear, and what you trust is of permanent worth.When difficult times come upon us or when temptation seems all around, will we be--are we now?--prepared to stand our ground and outlast the intruder? Are we equipped for combat, to stay loyal for as long as it takes, to stay true for the duration of the war? Can we hold fast to the principles and the people who truly matter eternally to us? "

"You see, a disciple of Christ--which I testify to you Joseph was and is--always has to be a disciple; the judge does not give any time off for bad behavior. A Christian always stands on principle, even as old Holland is out there swinging a pitchfork and screaming an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth--forgetting, as dispensation after dispensation has forgotten, that this only leaves everyone blind and toothless.
No, the good people, the strong people, dig down deeper and find a better way. Like Christ, they know that when it is hardest to be so is precisely the time you have to be at your best. As another confession to you, I have always feared that I could not have said at Calvary's cross, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." Not after the spitting, and the cursing, and the thorns, and the nails. Not if they don't care or understand that this horrible price in personal pain is being paid for them. But that's just the time when the fiercest kind of integrity and loyalty to high purpose must take over. That's just the time when it matters the very most and when everything else hangs in the balance--for surely it did that day. You and I won't ever find ourselves on that cross, but we repeatedly find ourselves at the foot of it. And how we act there will speak volumes about what we think of Christ's character and his call for us to be his disciples."

"The question then, for all of us milling around the Greyhound bus depot about to report for duty, is: When gospel principles get unpopular or unprofitable or very difficult to live, will we stand by them "for the duration"? That is the question our experiences in Latter-day Saint life seem most determined to answer. What do we really believe, and how true to that are we really willing to live? As university students--bright and blessed and eager and prosperous--do we yet know what faith--specifically, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ--really is, what it requires in human behavior, and what it may yet demand of us before our souls are finally saved?"

JOHN 9 - LORD, I BELIEVE

"And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this

world, that they which see not might see."

- John 9:39 

John's account of Christ healing a blind man on the Sabbath is one of my favorite miracles in the New Testament.  As do many of the miracles performed by Christ, it not only exemplifies the power of the Savior to heal, but also teaches important aspects of the Gospel that are easily overlooked.

The Book of John, or the Gospel According to St John, was written by John the Apostle. John was the brother of James, also a son of Zebedee, and before being called as an apostle, was a fisherman. John was present for the raising of Jarius's daughter, at the Transfiguration, in Gethsemane, and present for many other miracles and important teachings of the Savior. In the Gospel of John he refers to himself as, "the disciple whom Jesus loved." From Christ he received the named Boanerges, "a son of thunder." The Book of John deals primarily with the Judean ministry written with the purpose of testifying that Jesus is the Christ and that Jesus is the Son of God. (LDS Bible Dictionary) The writings of John, this specific account not being an exception, clearly fulfill this purpose.

Christ noticed individuals and looked after "the one." John writes that, "as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth." (John 9:1) Christ noticed this man as He was going about his father's business, He took time for someone that He found in need during the course of His traveling. His whole ministry was filled with meeting the needs of others, of uplifting the downtrodden, succoring the weak, and finding those in need. He paid attention to, "he that sat and begged." (vs. 8) If we are to be true followers of Christ - we ought to try to do the same.

Upon finding the blind man, the Savior's apostle's asked Him who had committed the sin to have caused such a disability, "this man or his parents?" (vs. 2) Christ responded that it was neither of them, "but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." (vs. 3) Here Christ not only declares this man free from serious sin, but also teaches why we are often given trials and burdens in life. Similar to what we are taught in the Book of Mormon, we are given trials, "that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions." (Mosiah 24:14) Christ teaches that we are given weakness, that the glory of God may be made shown in the healing, in the struggling, in the becoming whole - not only to the individual being healed, but and also to others. What a great goal for all of us to strive for, being able to be declared free of sin by the Savior and for the works of God to be made manifest in our lives.

Metaphors of light and dark are repeated throughout The Gospel of John. They not only testify of Christ being The Light of the World and His illuminating transcendental power, but also show the individual path of discipleship that we each must take of traveling from darkness to the light. The blind man who knew nothing but darkness since his birth, was at last allowed to see the light. Only through the healing power of the Atonement are we each enabled to truly leave the darkness of sin and unbelief for the light of Gospel truth. Like the blind man, this requires each of us to be humble, have faith, and practice obedience to be able to truly see. C.S. Lewis said, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” The Gospel truly gives us new eyes to see things as they really are.

Once the Savior had made clay and anointed the eyes of the blind man, He told him to go and wash in the pool. Cleansing by water is used throughout the scriptures as a symbol of the power of the Living Water to purify our lives. Washing was also part of the Law of Moses and strict cleanliness was imperative in all aspects of the ordinances and sacrifices of the temple and eating. Many of the great stories and miracles of Christ involve water. I find it interesting in this story that the blind man was required to wash to complete the healing. The power of the Atonement not only heals us, but washes us clean and makes us whole.

The Jews had such a problem with this miracle of Christ because He performed it on the Sabbath. According to the rules and traditions of the Pharisees, it was okay to prevent someone from dying on the Sabbath, but it was unlawful to heal. This tradition originated from the commandment not to perform work on the Sabbath. What the Pharisees didn't understand, is that this miracle does not show Christ breaking the Sabbath, but shows him fulfilling the commandment to do good on the Sabbath. (Matthew 12:12) This story teaches us that we are not to focus on physical outward details, but instead on fulfilling the inward higher purpose of the law, "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39) We are taught to focus on serving others and allowing the Savior to heal us from our imperfections - what the Gospel is all about.

I love the end of chapter 9 when the blind man later encounters his healer, sometime after the miracle has taken place. The man had been cast out by the Jews, and Jesus went again, "and found him." (vs. 35) It is clear that this man did not at first recognize with whom he spoke and that he was his Savior. I find it fascinating that the man never saw Christ before the miracle with his own eyes - not until the miracle had taken place and after the further testing of his faith by the Jews. Then the man is able to see Christ with his own eyes and to worship that man who made him able to see.

So it is with us today, we are asked to believe in and trust in a Savior whom we have not seen, we are to do what He asks, we are to," go wash in the pool" (vs. 7) of living waters, to cleanse ourselves, to purify our hearts, and we are to keep the faith during times of testing and ridicule from those that do not believe. And then we are to wait, to endure for that day when we too will see the Master Healer of our own lives. Then, only then, may we proclaim, with the man who once was blind, "Lord, I believe!" (vs. 38) and worship Him also.