Day 205 or 365 days of Solace: To Forgive and Be Forgiven

I laughed at the punchline of this joke today:

"before you become too critical of lawyers listen to the words of my good friend Jim Gordon: “It is true that some lawyers are dishonest, arrogant, greedy, venal, amoral, ruthless buckets of toxic slime. On the other hand, it is unfair to judge the entire profession by a few hundred thousand bad apples.” "

While that joke is funny, I most appreciated this lawyer James R. Rasband's, insights on Jesus Christ and the atonement.** I never used to be very good about forgiving people. I held onto wounds and hurts and I could not let things go. I am sure I have room for improvement, but the last few years (and especially this year), I have learned a LOT about forgiveness. Some of those lessons have been tremendously painful, but as strange as it sounds, I have learned so much in the process.

(Near the end he even talks about whether or not it's alright for Christians to take matters to court (quite interesting))

Feeling forgiveness for others, or being truly forgiven is one of the sweetest experiences on earth because it means that the flow of God's pure love has room in your heart and mind. 

I compare forgiveness to being released from a dark-celled prison sentence, and being set free in a bright beautiful garden of Eden!

I have read/listened to many speakers about forgiveness, and if you would like recommendations I will gladly give them to you if you request, but for now I hope you will take the time to listen to a few reminders on the topic. I firmly believe that forgiveness is a skill that every truly happy person has learned some degree of! IF you want to be Happy you know what to do....Forgive!

I like another perspective of forgiveness he covers. Something to think about! Excerpt below:

"But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. [Matthew 6:14–15]"

"That our own forgivenss should be conditioned on forgiving others can be a hard doctrine, particularly if the sin against us is horribly wrong and out of all proportion to any harm we’ve ever committed. Even harder, the Lord has indicated in modern revelation that “he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin” (D&C 64:9).

This is a very strong statement: if we refuse to forgive, there remaineth in us the greater sin. How can this be? As I hope to explain, our salvation is conditioned on forgiving others because when we refuse to forgive, what we are really saying is that we reject, or don’t quite trust, the Atonement. And it is our acceptance of the Atonement that ultimately saves us."

"Why is it that we sometimes have trouble accepting the Atonement as recompense for the harms we suffer at others’ hands? My experience is that we can sometimes forget that the Atonement has two sides. Usually, when we think about the Atonement we focus on how mercy can satisfy the demands that justice would impose upon us.4 We are typically quicker to accept the idea that when we sin and make mistakes the Atonement is available to pay our debts."

"Forgiveness requires us to consider the other side of the Atonement—a side that we don’t think about

as often but that is equally critical. That side is the Atonement’s power to satisfy our demands of justice against others, to fulfill our rights to restitution and being made whole. We often don’t quite see how the Atonement satisfies our own demands for justice. Yet it does so. It heals us not only from the guilt we suffer when we sin, but it also heals us from the sins and hurts of others."

With the help of God, and through the power of Christ's perfect atonement ALL forgiveness is possible.

Christine

Christimas in June (or: Celebrations)

I had an idea the other day.  I told my children we ought to celebrate Christmas this month.  They liked the idea, but had to make sure that we'd have Christmas in December too.  I assured them we would.

You may wonder why I suggested having a summer Christmas.  I wonder that too.  I thinks it's important to celebrate life.  By celebrating Christmas we will have some added fun summer plans.

My 12 year old kicked off our Christmas festivities by helping the younger children set up the tree, and then proceeded to make ornaments out of pine cones she and sister collected yesterday.  I helped find the glue gun and approved ribbons (we seamstresses won't allow some of our more special ribbons to be used!!).

I left the room during the process to finish something necessary, but returned a little while later to discover that they had cleverly begun decorating the Christmas tree.  There on the tree was a peanut butter smothered pine cone rolled in glitter!  I had told my 8 year old girl, earlier that day,l not to make pine cone and peanut butter treats for the birds.  Apparently she thought I really wanted one for the tree!

We generally are surprised by our tomorrows.  Sometimes they are shorter than planned.  I think it's explained here very well :

"None of us will be on earth very long. We have a number of precious years which, in the eternal perspective, barely amount to the blink of an eye."

"And then we depart. Our spirits “are taken home to that God who gave [us] life.”¹ We lay our bodies down and leave behind the things of this world as we move to the next realm of our existence."

"When we are young, it seems that we will live forever. We think there is a limitless supply of sunrises waiting just beyond the horizon, and the future looks to us like an unbroken road stretching endlessly before us."

"However, the older we get, the more we tend to look back and marvel at how short that road really is. We wonder how the years could have passed so quickly. And we begin to think about the choices we made and the things we have done. In the process, we remember many sweet moments that give warmth to our souls and joy to our hearts. But we also remember the regrets—the things we wish we could go back and change." 

Dieter F. Uchtdorf (Full article here: Of Regrets and Resolutions 

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We will be celebrating Christmas soon.  We will read the story of Jesus found in the bible, and the children will act it out. (That's always fun!!  This Christmas both our little boys cried over wanting to play baby Jesus so we had two baby Jesus'--  a 3 year and a 5 year old Jesus---and I'll tell you , it's one of the funniest nativities we've ever had.  One of these days I may even post the video of it for you!) We will make Kouva (a secret family recipe of a special 3 layer German Coffee cake--sweet bread layer, sour cream, and buttery sweet crumble topping) and have hot chocolate.  We will give gifts and play games.

The fun began mounting today as we drew names for a special person for the week to do something nice for or to give a gift to.  I was surprised to see such interest. 

 

My 14 year old son was a hum-bug about it at first, but when he learned he'd get 1 homemade gift, and 1 store bought gift (maybe recycle:)  he decided he liked the sound of it.  My 14 year old started making his little sister (he drew her name from the bowl) a very cool wooden coin collecting gadget.  He cut it on  my table saw and then started nailing the foundation of hits already drafted out idea!  I was so happy to see him busy this way!

K's pop-up thank you card!

Later I discovered that my daughter had given her Dad a popup card she made him, which thanked him for taking her fishing Saturday.  Oh, how cute and sweet!

Many other things have been going on in the excitement of a summer Christmas.  I'll have to let you know how it goes!

For now, here are a few more words to consider from that amazing speaker, Dieter F. Uchtdorf:

"We shouldn’t wait to be happy until we reach some future point, only to discover that happiness was already available—all the time! Life is not meant to be appreciated only in retrospect. “This is the day which the Lord hath made … ,” the Psalmist wrote. “Rejoice and be glad in it.”⁶

"Brothers and sisters, no matter our circumstances, no matter our challenges or trials, there is something in each day to embrace and cherish. There is something in each day that can bring gratitude and joy if only we will see and appreciate it."

"Perhaps we should be looking less with our eyes and more with our hearts. I love the quote: “One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.”⁷

"We are commanded “to give thanks in all things.”⁸ So isn’t it better to see with our eyes and hearts even the small things we can be thankful for, rather than magnifying the negative in our current condition?"

"The Lord has promised, “He who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold.”⁹

"Brothers and sisters, with the bountiful blessings of our Heavenly Father, His generous plan of salvation, the supernal truths of the restored gospel, and the many beauties of this mortal journey, “have we not reason to rejoice?”¹⁰

"Let us resolve to be happy, regardless of our circumstances."

Of Resolutions

"One day we will take that unavoidable step and cross from this mortal sphere into the next estate. One day we will look back at our lives and wonder if we could have been better, made better decisions, or used our time more wisely."

"To avoid some of the deepest regrets of life, it would be wise to make some resolutions today. Therefore, let us:

• • Resolve to spend more time with those we love.
  
• • Resolve to strive more earnestly to become the person God wants us to be.
  
• • Resolve to find happiness, regardless of our circumstances."
  

"It is my testimony that many of the deepest regrets of tomorrow can be prevented by following the Savior today. If we have sinned or made mistakes—if we have made choices that we now regret—there is the precious gift of Christ’s Atonement, through which we can be forgiven. We cannot go back in time and change the past, but we can repent. The Savior can wipe away our tears of regret¹¹ and remove the burden of our sins.¹² His Atonement allows us to leave the past behind and move forward with clean hands, a pure heart,¹³ and a determination to do better and especially to become better."

"Yes, this life is passing swiftly; our days seem to fade quickly; and death appears frightening at times. Nevertheless, our spirit will continue to live and will one day be united with our resurrected body to receive immortal glory. I bear solemn witness that because of the merciful Christ, we will all live again and forever. Because of our Savior and Redeemer, one day we will truly understand and rejoice in the meaning of the words “the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ.”¹⁴

"The path toward fulfilling our divine destiny as sons and daughters of God is an eternal one. My dear brothers and sisters, dear friends, we must begin to walk that eternal path today; we cannot take for granted one single day. I pray that we will not wait until we are ready to die before we truly learn to live."

Dieter F. Uchtdorf 

I hope you will look for opportunities today to find reasons to feel grateful and to celebrate life, and make memories.  I close with a scripture that emphasizes that our choices and good works have long term results.

• Doctrine and Covenants 64:33
  33 Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.
  

Look for ways to celebrate.  The possibilities are endless! 

Christine