Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
I get it –at least in part— of why the Lord did what He did. It has become all too clear for me; if only I could explain it in words as well as I can feel it. It is a feeling deep within my soul, deep within my heart that one can only feel to know what it is like. I have felt it; I try to draw near unto Him and I feel Him drawing nearer unto me. I knock, and He answers; I have asked and He has given it unto me. If only I could give you this feeling I now feel, it is a feeling no one can feel unless they have taken up their cross and begun to follow Him.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus Christ didn't just die for us; He dedicated His entire life to defining the path for us, leading the way for us and giving the light to us by which we could direct our lives. How great is His love! Should we not try and lead a life like He led? If we truly love someone we will give them our all; we will give them our very selves, just as He did for us.
Why? Well that’s what He has been teaching me for the past six months after having returned from the greatest journey of my life. Never would I have imagined that I could have learned as much –maybe even more— about the Lord after my mission (for those who might not understand what “my mission” means read Nobody ever said that life was easy it explains what a mission is and how it impacted me). I've seen what the Lord has in store for me in this life more in the last six months than I have seen before. He has broadened my vision and enlarged my sight. I am sure he tried to show me before, but I wasn't ready for it, I couldn't live up to it. But now it is all different. I feel the power of the gifts that He has given me; I feel the love that He has taught me, I feel closer to Him.
During the mission I lost two years of my life for His cause, but in turn I found myself. I established who I would become in this stage of mortality because of the fact that I was willing to sacrifice for His cause. That being the case He took me, a lump of carbon and now, only recently, I am starting to see the clarity which is found in the “diamond in the rough”. We all have a purpose, and each purpose is different and equally important to God that we complete, that we live up to. I don’t know why, but I have been able to empathize with others, I am able to feel a deep love for all people, and because the Lord has given me that gift, He expects me to use it to benefit His other children. He expects me to lift the hands that hang low, to strengthen the feeble knees, and to help the heart that has lost hope.
I know what it is like to feel helpless, hopeless and heartless. And let me tell you, it doesn't feel good. That is what inspired me to begin writing again. To begin to express myself and make known how I feel, so that maybe, just maybe I could reach out to those who were once like me: without hope, without direction. And because I was once without a sure direction in life, I have ever since sought to know the mind of God and what He wants me to do. I am a very religious person, and I can honestly say that my love for God is greater than anything else that is in my life. I desire to please Him in every aspect, and that has lead me down the path less traveled, the path to perfection.
Now, you might say, “Well that’s silly, nobody can be perfect, it is impossible!” You are right. Personally I could never be perfect on my own accord, but with the strength and the love that Jesus gives to me, anything is possible. Anything is possible when we get out beyond ourselves and we include that Higher Power in our lives, allowing us to receive a strength beyond our own which leads us to make possible the impossible.
But I have digressed from the point I wanted to make here. Today I learned why the Savior of all mankind drank the bitter cup. It just clicked; six months –possibly even more— of carefully planned experiences all leading up to this moment, the moment in which the sorrow was swallowed up by the joy that I felt after having received a letter from a very good friend whom I truly love. This friend expressed, that which they could in words, their gratitude for having met me, for me having help heal them. I wish I could share parts of this letter with you, but I feel that it would be inappropriate to do so in this setting, because it is something special to me, something sacred to me. But just know that the words expressed to me through the letter they wrote brought me a joy that rarely I have felt, in fact I have only felt when I was doing the will of the Father and not my own.
The last three months or so with this person have been some of the best in my life, yet they have been some of the hardest as well. Seeing the one you love struggle never is fun, never is enjoyable; it is always hard and at times bitter. But having those whom you love tell you that you have helped them, that you have healed them, it is exhilarating, it is euphoric; truly it is something words cannot aptly describe. Those feelings are why Christ walked down the incredibly narrow and lonely path. I understand what it feels like, at least in a very small part, to have helped save someone.
With Love,
William Glade
The one walking beside you.
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