several weeks ago Cisco and I gave talks in our sacrament meeting at church on charity. I just wanted to keep this as a record for myself. It was a good process preparing for this talk and these are things i need to read often. especially during weeks like the ones i have been having lately where i have felt nauseated every day and sick to my stomach for no reason. My body seems to be rejecting the stress i am putting it through with finals and i am so worn out. i just need to remember that this will pass, it is only just a moment in the scheme of things. i am not alone dealing with this.
**for the few of you who stumble upon this post, please don't feel like you need to read the whole talk. it is a long talk. it is mostly just for my records.
We have been asked to speak on charity and at first my mind immediately went to helping the poor, the needy, and the sick but as I read more preparing for my talk, I realized what charity truly means to me.
I have grown and learned many things through the my experiences in life so far but one sure thing I’ve learned is that I cannot make it in this life on my own. We need the help of the lord because there is so much in this world that we don’t understand, can’t comprehend or simply cannot handle by ourselves.
My life has been filled with trails and oppositions that I have been unprepared to handle and many times have become depressed and discouraged.
Sometimes I am so overwhelmed with the stresses that life brings that I forget to turn to my Heavenly Father. It is in these times that my Heavenly Father knows the only way to reach me is through those around me. This happens in my life over and over and I am so grateful that my Father in Heaven can use those around me to reach me when I am struggling. It is these people that exemplify what charity really means to me. It is being there for other people in the happy times and the hard times. It is loving others the way Christ would love us. Christ is there to comfort us when we are in need of comfort but he would also celebrate our triumphs and successes with us. As we strive to develop the pure love of Christ, we will sincerely feel the sorrow of those we love as they feel their burden’s weighing down on them and will rejoice with them when they experience the joyous moments in life.
Charity is the pure love of Christ. It is the love that Christ has for the children of men and that the children of men should have for one another. It is the highest, noblest, and strongest kind of love and the most joyous to the soul. It is one of the greatest gifts we can receive from our Heavenly Father, and it is a gift and blessing we need to pray to receive.
I remember a talk from our last General Conference by Elder Uchtdorf called “You are My hands”. He tells the story of a statue of Jesus Christ that was severely damaged in a bombing in World War II. The statue had been a symbol for the people of this city of faith and of God’s presence in their lives.
He continues this story saying, “Experts were able to repair most of the statue, but its hands had been damaged so severely that they could not be restored. Some suggested that they hire a sculptor to make new hands, but others wanted to leave it as it was—a permanent reminder of the tragedy of war. Ultimately, the statue remained without hands. However, the people of the city added on the base of the statue of Jesus Christ a sign with these words: “You are my hands.””
I remember one specific example last year when I was really struggling with the trials I had been given. To put it simply, I was sick of them. I was ready for a different trial and felt like this trial had already taken everything out of me. I remember being in a slum for a long time and was having a hard time bringing myself out. One Sunday as I was sitting in Relief Society, I felt like a grouch and didn’t want to be around other people and was taking the opportunity to create a full-blown pity party for myself. A girl I had sat next to a few times came to sit next to me and as we got talking, she told me about some trials she was going through that were very similar to mine. My heart immediately was overcome with compassion and at the same time sorrow that I had not realized this is what my Father in Heaven had been trying to teach me. A peace came over me and I knew this was my Heavenly Father telling me I was not alone. Even though she was going through a hard time herself, she had felt the need to reach out to me. This simple act or compassion was the reminder I needed to turn myself around. I felt such an overwhelming love for this girl and wanted to do everything I could to help her out. This was just a taste of the pure love that is charity.
In President Hinckley’s book Standing for Something he talks about love as the Lodestar of life. He tells a story about how he and his brother would lie outside looking at the stars. Each night they would find the North Star. The North Star always held its position. It is also known as the Polar Star, the Polestar, or the Lodestar. He reflects on what the Polar Star came to mean to him, “I recognized it as a constant in the midst of change. It was something that could always be counted on, something that was dependable, an anchor in what otherwise appeared to be a moving and unstable firmament.” He goes on to say that “Love is like the Polar Star. In a changing world, it is a constant. It is something that, when sincere, never moves. It is the very essence of the teachings of Christ.”
Love can be the Polar Star of our lives in reaching out to those who need our strength. Every person has a trial, whether it is spiritual, emotional, or physical. For some it may be fear or loss of hope in life but we all have the capacity to reach out to those around us in distress. The Savior is our perfect example and mentor for how to reach out to others. If we are His hands, shouldn’t we do the same?
We should let our hearts and hands be stretched out in compassion toward others but must remember that true love requires action. As Elder Uchtdorf said, “We can speak of love all day long—we can write notes or poems that proclaim it, sing songs that praise it, and preach sermons that encourage it—but until we manifest that love in action, our words are nothing but “sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.””
It is one of the great challenges we face to follow our Saviors example and take the time and effort to care for others, and as President Hinckley said, “to develop and exercise the one quality that would enable us to change the lives of others—what the scriptures call charity.”
It is when we learn the power of the pure love of Christ that we come to truly understand what was written by John: “God is love; and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God” (1 John 4:16)”
President Uchtdorf ends his talk “You Are My Hands” with the reminder that “as we extend our hands and hearts toward others in Christlike love, something wonderful happens to us. Our own spirits become healed, more refined, and stronger. We become happier, more peaceful, and more receptive to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit.”
I want to close with a few reminders from the Hymn, “Lord, I Would Follow Thee”. It reminds us to “Pause to help and lift another, finding strength beyond [our] own.” "In every quiet heart is hidden sorrow that the eye can’t see.” I hope that to the wounded and the weary we may all show a gentle heart. I hope we can love one another as I know he loves us. He is our strength, our beacon, and we are his servants in this great plan.
I have no idea what is in store for me and I don’t know yet what the lord will ask of me. What I do know is that I will be able to get to the end because I have a testimony that Jesus Christ is my savior and trust that he will lead me to the great things the he has in store for me. He has blessed me by surrounding me with examples of charity in my husband, my parents, our bishopric and Relief Society sisters. I know that I can draw closer to him as I develop charity towards others and as others develop charity towards me.
I want to bear my testimony that I know the pure love of Christ is really one of the greatest gifts we can ever be given. I have felt His love and have felt his comforting arms around me in the most difficult of times. I have felt His joy as I get through those difficult times and have watched Him send strangers into my life to let me know that He is and always will be there for me. This life is not easy, but though our trials may be fierce winds, they are blowing us towards the promise land.
