Practice makes progress; Jesus makes perfect.

“…when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated” (D&C 130: 21).

Curious. The Lord tells us that each blessing received from Him comes as a result of obedience. But He doesn’t specify whose obedience. What I mean is this: We can receive blessings because of our obedience…or—and we must consider this—because of someone else’s obedience. Think of it, our efforts at obedience here can be the catalyst through which the Lord grants blessings to others.

The angel told Alma the younger—who had been anything but obedient—that it was because of his father, Alma, that this angel had been sent by God to bring young Alma to a knowledge of the truth (see Mosiah 27: 14). Now, young Alma could refuse the blessing offered. He could have still rejected the angel’s message and continued on in his ways of sin and rebellion. But he humbled himself and saw in this blessing of divine warning, something he was completely undeserving of—“not of any worthiness of myself” (Alma 36: 5)—but something he would now take advantage of. After three days of the most bitter anguish of soul, he called upon Jesus Christ for mercy. And he received that mercy! And these blessings were offered to him, in part, because of another person’s faithfulness…that of his own father!

Now, looking at young Alma’s father, it was the obedience of Abinadi—allowing himself to be taken by King Noah’s men—that paved the way for blessings to come to Alma, Sr. For he, himself “was caught in a snare, and did many things which were abominable in the sight of the Lord” (Mosiah 23: 9). But Abinadi’s faithfulness and preaching were the means the Lord used to bring father Alma to repentance, and a mighty change of heart; Alma, Sr. then in turn preached to others, “and a mighty change was also wrought in their hearts” (Alma 5: 11-13). How many souls were eventually blessed and saved because Abinadi suffered himself at the Lord’s command to fall into the hands of Noah’s people! (See Mosiah 13: 2-4; 17: 9.)

Or, what of the brother of Jared, whose obedience brought great pleasure to the Lord! When he prayed for his brother, Jared, and their friends and families, “the Lord had compassion upon Jared” and “upon their friends and their families also” (Ether 1: 34-43). These many souls were blessed through the instrumentality of the brother of Jared’s faithfulness—because he was “a man highly favored of the Lord.”

Now, these are just a few examples, but history is filled with accounts where God blesses some individual or group of people because of the obedience of someone else. In fact, we don’t have to look beyond our own lives for such stories. What blessings have you received because of the faithfulness of a family member, or friend, or church leader? What blessings are others enjoying from God’s hand because of your obedience?

Finally, all of these are types of Christ, for ultimately, every blessing and good thing that comes to any one of us comes because of His obedience; “otherwise…there could no good thing come unto [us]” (Moroni 7: 24), and we’ll talk about this in depth at a later time. But for now, how many blessings do we get, because of Jesus’ obedience?

The prophet Zenos declared that the Lord was merciful to him when he prayed in the wilderness concerning those who were his enemies, “and thou didst turn them to me….when I did cry unto thee in my field…thou didst hear me….when I did turn to my house thou didst hear me….when I did turn unto my closet…thou didst hear me….when I have been cast out and have been despised…thou didst hear my cries….and it is because of thy Son that thou hast been merciful unto me…for thou hast turned thy judgments away from me, because of thy Son” (Alma 33: 4-11). Glorious truth! Here, a prophet of the Lord is saying in essence: ‘I deserve the judgments of God to come upon me; but the Father has turned those judgments away from me because of His Son!’

We practice and often fail in our obedience; but in our practicing, we are tutored and taught by the Spirit of the Lord. At first we might think: I’m doing such and such, keeping this commandment and responding to that duty, so I deserve, I deserve! But God is going to eventually get through to us and we will then realize that what we really deserve (because of our sins) is the judgment of God upon us. And yet—glad tidings of great joy!—our all-wise and loving Father has designed and engineered a plan that can bring mercy upon us rather than judgment, and all because of His Son!

Look at Jesus and His obedience. If any one deserves blessings, it is Jesus, who was perfectly obedient. And yet, one of the things that Jesus gets because of His absolute obedience is the power to claim his “rights of mercy” in administering blessings to the rest of us (see Moroni 7: 27). He deserves…so we get.

“Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased…Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life” (D&C 45: 3-5).

What an overly generous universe we live in, and all because of the Son of God!

(to be continued…)

This week, as a follow-up to last week’s post, I choose to share a few more of Elane Durham’s words about her experience while she was in the presence of Christ. What she learned from the Savior feels very useful to me in how I view myself and others, and I hope it will therefore be useful to you.

ELANE DURHAM (part 2)
“In [the] context [of being completely forgiven by the Lord] I was made aware that Christ knew and understood every single aspect of the incestuous abuse perpetrated upon me by my father. Yet I not only felt my Redeemer’s complete love and acceptance of me in spite of this, for I could finally see absolutely that it had not been my fault—but I was also allowed to feel His unconditional love for my father, which gave me great peace.

“I do not mean to imply that my father’s actions toward me were excused, for I knew they were not. In fact they were terrible sins for which he was absolutely accountable, and which he will one day need to acknowledge and deal with before he can have any sort of eternal peace such as I was then experiencing. But still Christ loved him perfectly, and I knew that through the power of that love my dad, if he chose, could one day be redeemed.

“In connection with that, for years I had felt tremendous guilt over my inability to get along with my mother. But now Christ allowed me to see how the estrangement between us had never been of my making, or by my choice. I was shown how my mother had been raised under the firm, Victorian hand of my grandmother, who had never taught her how to show or give love. I also saw how Mom, who had been two years old when her own father had died, had been pretty much fed and clothed and ‘cared for’ by her older siblings, and that two of them—brothers—had molested her. Thus she, like myself, had gone through abuse that was not of her own making, and had carried great shame and guilt through her own life. And oh, how my heart went out to her when I was given the knowledge of that.

“Again, however, accountability entered into this, for although Mother was in no way accountable for what had been done to her, she nevertheless carried the burden of her own choices, her own actions, just as I had done. In other words, she was accountable for what she had done to me. And like my father, to experience the peace I was then experiencing she would need to turn to Christ and work through her sins and mistakes.

“I had also felt like a failure because of the breakup of my marriage to my abusive first husband. But now, encircled in Christ’s love, I saw this man in a whole new light, and my guilt was erased as I came to realize that nothing I could have done would have saved that marriage. The man himself, I saw, had been severely abused by his alcoholic father. Thus, in his adulthood he was re-enacting the same sorts of things his father had done to him, seeking always [to have] the control that had been denied him as a child. And no matter what I would have done, or how I might have behaved, it would not have stopped his own headlong rush toward destruction.

“Seeing these things and events gave me understanding, and they also healed my pain by allowing me to forgive those who had been unjust with me. Here I had been feeling shame and guilt for things that I had no control over. But when Christ spoke to me telling me that these events I had felt so heavy-hearted over were not of my own making, but were instead the results of how I had been raised and the society that I had lived in, I was able to understand His words completely. And though by no means had I lived a perfect life, I knew that my sins and mistakes had been forgiven, and could not, therefore, keep me away from God’s love.

“[In fact,] He loved me regardless of them, and beyond that, regardless of what I had ever hoped to be or do….

“’What have you done for your fellow man?’ Christ asked again….

“I knew then that the Savior wanted me to understand that His question had to do, not with worldly things, but with how much honest and sincere love I had given to others, especially when it was hard for me to love them….

“…I knew of His desire that I become as Him. That was why He had asked twice, ‘What have you done for your fellow man?’ He showed me through His own life and atonement that everything about our lives, on earth as well as in the premortal realms…had to do with our relationships with others….

“[And] if I have assisted others in any way by making their lives better, even for a moment…then I will be rewarded with…spiritual power and…become more Christ-like.

“…I realized that I learn to love others through serving them….[Christ] had served me perfectly by willingly suffering and even joyfully giving His own life in my behalf, with no one but God to reward Him for it….

“…we are all children of our Father in Heaven, sisters and brothers, and because of that relationship [we each] hold a responsibility for everyone else. Individuals who understand this use their spiritual and physical gifts to bless and give comfort to the lives of everyone around them” (I Stand All Amazed, [Granite Publishing, 1998], pp. 33-46).

(to be continued…)

Are you willing to stoop down and consider the needs and desires of little children; to remember the weakness and loneliness of people who are growing old; to stop asking how much your friends love you, and ask whether you love them enough; to bear in mind the things that other people have to bear in their hearts;

To try to understand what those who live in the same house with you really want, without waiting for them to tell you; to trim your lamp so that it will give more light and less smoke, and to carry it in front so that your shadow falls behind you; to make a grave for your ugly thoughts and a garden for your kindly feelings, with the gate open—

Are you willing to do these things even for a day? Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world—stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death—and that the blessed Life which began in Bethlehem over nineteen hundred years ago is the image and brightness of eternal love?

Then you can keep Christmas. And if you can keep it for a day, why not always?

Late in the pioneer era, the Nelson family emigrated from Denmark and settled in the little town of Goshen, a dry, sandy, unyielding part of “Zion” at the foot of Utah Lake. Only with great difficulty could they eke out the humblest sort of living. This condition was particularly true when the father left his family to go on a mission.

The children and their mother suffered, sometimes acutely, from physical hunger—especially the hunger for fruit, which would not grow in Goshen. The Golden Apples of mythology, eagerly as they were sought, were less desirable to kings and princesses than were the luscious rosy apples of nature to the fruit-starved children of this little central Utah settlement.

Christmas was approaching, but the Nelson children were not excited about what Santa Claus would bring them. Of one thing they felt sure: he would bring them no surprises. Then one day the Nelson children saw something—something mysterious—something they felt they should not have seen. Mother was going into the house with a small packet and an air of great secrecy.

The next day when their mother was out working, temptation assailed the children. They stole up to the attic and came close to the old trunk, where the family treasures were kept and where things were hidden when hiding was necessary.

They did not open the trunk—that would not have been right—but they did wish to haunt the scene of mystery. Yet already the mystery was disclosed. Uhm! What a delicious aroma!

“Apples!” they cried. And again, in their awed voice: “Apples!”

The next day and each day thereafter until Christmas, the children returned to the attic to smell the fragrance of those apples and to anticipate the pleasure of setting teeth into their juicy firmness.

On Christmas morning each child received his round, rosy apple, and felt that indeed Santa Claus had been good. The other children ate their apples slowly, but young Nels looked at his, felt it, inhaled its fragrance and held on to it.

In the afternoon, when the other children went out to play, Nels carried his apple. A little neighbor girl came out. She had been very ill and looked pale, thin and starved. Many times Nels had felt sorry for her and had wished he might do something for her.

“Look!” he cried as she came nearer. “Look! This is my Christmas present!”

She looked and gasped. As Nels watched her, the fragile little body seemed to fade away, and he saw only a pair of eyes—great burning eyes fixed on his rosy apple. They did not ask, those eyes, nor did her voice make a petition. But Nels knew that here was the opportunity to do something for his friend who had been ill. The deeper hunger to be kind—to give joy to another—waged war with the sharp pangs of physical need for the luscious fruit.

With a great inner wrench he forced a smile and thrust the apple into her hand.

“Here,” he said. “You keep it for your Christmas.”

Nels wheeled about and ran off, hot tears burning his eyes. But his pain quickly turned to happiness—and did ever after—as he recalled the expression of ineffable joy on the face of a little girl who had been ill.

(Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star, December 1935, p. 810-811.)

One Christmas Eve when I was 12, I was out with my minister father doing some late Christmas shopping. We were both loaded down with packages and I was getting tired of it and a bit cross. I was thinking how good it would be to get home, when a beggar—a bleary-eyed, unshaven, dirty old man—came up to me, touched my arm with a hand like a claw, and asked for money. He was so repulsive that instinctively I recoiled. Softly my father said:

“Norman, it’s Christmas Eve. You shouldn’t treat a man that way.”

I was unrepentant. “Dad,” I complained, “he’s nothing but a bum.”

My father spoke strongly. “Maybe he hasn’t made much of himself, but he’s still a child of God.” He then handed me a dollar—a lot of money for those days and certainly for a preacher’s income. “I want you to take this and give it to that man,” he said. “Speak to him respectfully. Tell him you are giving it to him in Christ’s name.”

“Oh Dad,” I protested, “I can’t do anything like that.”

My father’s voice was firm. “Go and do as I tell you.”

So, reluctant and resisting, I ran after the old man and said, “Excuse me, sir. I give you this money in the name of Christ.”

He stared at the dollar bill, then looked at me in utter amazement. A wonderful smile came to his face, a smile so full of life and beauty that I forgot that he was dirty and unshaven. I forgot that he was ragged and old. With a gesture that was almost courtly, he took off his hat. Graciously he said, “And I thank you, young sir, in the name of Christ.”

(“It Happened on a Cincinnati Street”, Success Unlimited, [Chicago: Success Unlimited, Inc., December 1977], Vol. 24, No. 12.)

“If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain; if I can ease one life the aching, or cool one pain, or help one fainting Robin unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain.” (Emily Dickinson)

Being somewhat of a public figure can afford a life the possibility of doing good on a potentially grand scale. And for these many years, doing much grand-scale good has been my desire and the motive behind my work. I’ve wanted to reach as many people as possible through my music, and offer hope to those lacking in hope, as well as encourage greater confidence in our Father and Savior’s love for them. However, even though ministering to the masses may be honorable, it is not sufficient to bring about the soul-growth that God desires in both the one who ministers and the one who is ministered to. For, if we look at God, we see that while He often works in sweeping ways and brings about events that impact such an enormous number of people, He does His most lasting work heart to heart, face to face, one person at a time. And I am grateful that He has so mercifully reemphasized this truth to me over the last few years.

In the middle of 2009, I began to feel spiritually impressed that I was to stop all travel at the end of that year. I was to pull back, stay home, stop doing firesides or performances, and work on my “Son of Man” musical. At least I believed that was the main reason for this hiatus. But the following couple of years, as I began to feel my potential reach to the outside world diminishing greatly, I also began to feel less and less useful. This took me on a roller coaster of emotions and personal doubts…until God opened my eyes.

Looking back over the last decade or more, I have noticed that I have had, at any given time, a handful of dear friends who were in great turmoil. Each of their hearts have been breaking from such unrelenting pain, caused by a variety of terrors: spousal infidelity and betrayal, unwanted divorce, wayward children, chronic illness, life-threatening disease, addiction, loss of work, abuse, mental illness, and even demonic possession. Their eternal spirits have been aching…near to fainting…and the thought came to me with great impact…If I can just be useful to them…not ministering to thousands…but individually loving and giving encouragement to these few precious friends…if I can specifically pray for them, by name…if I can call them on the phone, or send emails, or lovingly place their treasured names upon a temple altar…and in some way, help them along their journey…so they can keep going, and not lose faith, or hope, or trust in the promises of God, then truly my life will have meant something. Certainly doing this for them will end up meaning everything to God who is their yearning, loving Father.

Bessie Anderson Stanley’s description of life-success is as follows: “…to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better…to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”

It’s really that simple. And true life-success waits for anyone who wants it! It doesn’t have to be on a grand scale in order to be eternally significant to God, or to be significant to one…or two…or three precious souls. Perhaps you will have an opportunity to affect many by some public act or creation…but more profoundly, you will have at your fingertips the chance to affect a few in a very lasting way…and it will be those who are closest to you in your circle of influence. For they have been put there by God for you to minister to. And who can measure the eternal significance and impact that your love and friendship will have as you “help one fainting Robin unto his nest again”?

Has one life breathed easier because you have lived?

Well, what about today? Is someone waiting to breathe easier now?

For…we are alive today, and now is what we have. Therefore, let us not live in vain!

:)