Painful things happen even to the pure and the perfect....pain in this world is not evidence that God doesn't love you....

However dim our days may seem, they have been a lot darker for the Savior of the world. As a reminder of those days, Jesus has chosen, even in a resurrected, otherwise perfected body, to retain for the benefit of His disciples the wounds in His hands and in His feet and in His side—signs, if you will, that painful things happen even to the pure and the perfect; signs, if you will, that pain in this world is not evidence that God doesn’t love you….It is the wounded Christ who is the Captain of our souls, He who yet bears the scars of our forgiveness…These wounds are the principal way we are to recognize Him when He comes.  --Jeffrey R Holland

How does a group of individuals, all with different backgrounds and different perspectives on life, become a united community?

That’s what a community is

by Lloyd Newell [19 Jan 2020]

                       

How does a group of individuals, all with different backgrounds and different perspectives on life, become a united community? Well-known author and newspaper columnist David Brooks believes that the answer lies in how we see each other. “That’s what a community is,” he says, “a bunch of people looking after each other. A bunch of people seeing each other, and seeing each other deeply. Taking the time to really enter into relationships with each other and to depend upon one another. … That’s the glue that’s holding us together” (see “BYU Forum: The Lies of Meritocracy,” by Kaylee Esplin, Brigham Young University News, Oct. 22, 2019, news.byu.edu/intellect/byu-forum-the-lies-of-meritocracy ).

Can that really happen? Brooks believes it can and it does — when great teachers see deeply into their students, when loving spouses see deeply into each other. This kind of seeing goes beyond stereotypes and outward appearances, building bridges of understanding.

The aspen tree is an excellent metaphor for the unity and strength that can come from community. Above the ground, each aspen may appear solitary and strong in its beauty and majesty. Yet if we could see deeply, below the ground, we would find that each tree is connected with its neighbors through an enormous root system. An aspen gets its strength from its connection with the aspens that surround it. In a sense, the entire aspen forest is really one plant — one of the largest living organisms in the world. A single grove in central Utah, called Pando or “the trembling giant,” spans 106 acres, weighs an estimated 13 million pounds and consists of over 40,000 trees, all with the same genetic makeup (see “Pando (I Spread),” United States Department of Agriculture, fs.usda.gov).

If we open our eyes to see and our hearts to understand, we can build a community in a similar way. After all, we all share, if not the same DNA, then a common humanity. We all want happiness and peace; we all want to make a difference. Because we’re more alike in important ways than we are different, we already have it in us to see and know each other deeply, to look after each other, to build a strong community.

None of us is truly solitary, alone in this world. We are more like aspen trees. If we see and know each other deeply, we will come to understand that we all share common roots. We all need each other. That’s where we get our strength. That’s what a community is.

 

Goodbye Mr Chips by Leslie Bricusse

In the morning of my life I shall look to the sunrise.
At a moment in my life when the world is new.
And the blessing I shall ask is that God will grant me,
To be brave and strong and true,
And to fill the world with love my whole life through.

(Chorus)
And to fill the world with love
And to fill the world with love
And to fill the world with love my whole life through

In the noontime of my life I shall look to the sunshine,
At a moment in my life when the sky is blue.
And the blessing I shall ask shall remain unchanging.
To be brave and strong and true,
And to fill the world with love my whole life through

(Chorus)

In the evening of my life I shall look to the sunset,
At a moment in my life when the night is due.
And the question I shall ask only God can answer.
Was I brave and strong and true?
Did I fill the world with love my whole life through?

(Chorus)