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The Church's New Easter Video

JLHPROF

By JLHPROF
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JLHPROF Grand Master

JLHPROF

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BZqTRSVA1YA

(Sorry, don't know how to make it viewable on the board so I linked instead)

 

 

Because He Lives

Jesus Christ lived. He walked the Holy Land, working miracles and teaching truth. Then He was crucified. But His death was not the end. Because of His Resurrection, we will live again. Because of His sacrifice, we can rise above sin to experience true joy. Because He lives, we can find His help and healing every day of our lives.

 

Have to say, I really like it.  One of the more uplifting Easter tributes I've seen.

I'm sure it will be everywhere at Conference next week.

Edited by JLHPROF
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Calm Grand Master

Calm

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Your link had too much info.  Either search info or "embedded" threw it off.  I went to youtube and did a search on the title and if you look at my link you can see it has less code in it.

 

Beautiful video.

Edited by calmoriah
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halconero Grand Master

halconero

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I've been largely absent the past while due to a number of life events that have largely left me incapacitated. In December I was stabbed in a mugging, contracted a severe sepsis infection, and it is only because of some honest-to-God miracles that I'm here. Subsequent to that, I experienced an abnormally difficult recovery time, only to be diagnosed with cancer.

 

In these moments of physical difficulty, compounded by the betrayal of friends, the ending of relationships, and familial difficulties, I can truly testify that Christ is with us in our infirmities and the hope and peace that the Resurrection brings is real. It is not a fear of death which gives me hope, but the taste and anticipation of eternal growth, love, vitality, and energy. It is truly a hope which anchors the soul.

 

I recently heard a good explanation of hope in the form of a modern day parable, based on true events:

 

The Parable of the Cookies:

There once existed two workers labouring in a vineyard in the mountains of Peru. One took the work very seriously, while the other focused his life around his favourite activity: eating. Every morning, before work started, he would go to the store while the other waited, buy a packet of cookies and leave them at home before heading off with the impatient companion.

All day long they would toil, mending broken posts and lines, pruning and trimming vines, and making sure there were no pests. Both worked hard, but frequently the eater would comment on how excited he was to be able to eat the cookies waiting for him at home. In moments of trial or difficulty, when the pests got to the grapes before they could rescue them, or when a frost took some of the produce before it was covered, the same worker would always comment that at least he always had those cookies waiting for him back home.

The other grew frustrated with him. He asked himself how this man could be so materialist, and so wrapped up in his sweets when there were obviously big problems to be dealt with in the vineyard. Over time however, he noticed that the other man never stopped working, but that he was simply happy while he worked. The thought of future enjoyment in those cookies sustained him in the midst of toil, while the other was leftt feeling only frustration and pain with the difficulties before him.

Hope doesn't need to be whimsical desire. It can be a sustaining trust, and even more so a "taste" of future happiness and joy to come. There are spiritual, emotional, mental and sometimes even physical cookies waiting for us. Hope in those isn't simply an anticipation of them, but an anticipation coupled with memory of the sweet taste of those blessings, privileges, joys (pick your word). It is that hope which sustains us in work, labour, toil, sorrow, difficulty, and pain.

Remember, there are always cookies waiting back home.

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Brothers and Sisters, we can have an active hope in the Resurrection of Christ, which is the hope for a better world. It is the active anticipation of the Resurrection predicated upon small tastes given to us via the Holy Ghost. It anchors our souls in trials, and like so many others I can truly testify that I have received a witness of that Resurrection through the Holy Ghost.

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JLHPROF Grand Master

JLHPROF

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I've been largely absent the past while due to a number of life events that have largely left me incapacitated. In December I was stabbed in a mugging, contracted a severe sepsis infection, and it is only because of some honest-to-God miracles that I'm here. Subsequent to that, I experienced an abnormally difficult recovery time, only to be diagnosed with cancer.

 

In these moments of physical difficulty, compounded by the betrayal of friends, the ending of relationships, and familial difficulties, I can truly testify that Christ is with us in our infirmities and the hope and peace that the Resurrection brings is real. It is not a fear of death which gives me hope, but the taste and anticipation of eternal growth, love, vitality, and energy. It is truly a hope which anchors the soul.

 

 

I am so sorry for the trials you are walking through.  I pray the Lord will bless you with an increase in his comfort and peace.

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Calm Grand Master

Calm

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I've been largely absent the past while due to a number of life events that have largely left me incapacitated. In December I was stabbed in a mugging, contracted a severe sepsis infection, and it is only because of some honest-to-God miracles that I'm here. Subsequent to that, I experienced an abnormally difficult recovery time, only to be diagnosed with cancer....

Are you on your own? Is there anything we can do?

Did this happen in the last three weeks since you last posted? I mean the cancer diagnosis....have they more details so you know what's ahead for you?

PS: I want to slap you on the side of your head for not saying anything before.

Edited by calmoriah
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halconero Grand Master

halconero

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Are you on your own? Is there anything we can do?

Did this happen in the last three weeks since you last posted? I mean the cancer diagnosis....have they more details so you know what's ahead for you?

PS: I want to slap you on the side of your head for not saying anything before.

 

On my own in Toronto. My family is in BC out west. My mum will be flying out though to help with recovery after the operation. Prayers are always appreciated!

 

Yeah. It's stage one colon cancer. There was talk of shrinking it with radiation, but that doesn't appear to be necessary. So just a slash job.

 

In all honesty...if it hadn't been for what happened in December, they might not have caught it at the time that they did. I'm not sure if I'm thankful for the event exactly, but I am thankful that whatever evil happened to me was ultimately transformed by God for my benefit.

 

I had to go through a change of mindset these past few months. After everything occurred, my best friends and roommates did some pretty mean and spiteful things to isolate me from the branch members and from other relationships. I was bitter, and while I didn't question my testimony or God, I will be honest in saying that I understand how Job felt a lot more.

 

Job never wavered in his testimony of God or Christ. That much is clear. He did misunderstand the mercy and justice of God though, and what it meant for him, as did I. I had this notion for a while that because of my obedience, God would bless me with justice in the form of clearing everything up with my friends, making sure the truth came out, and repairing broken and burned relationships. I would be completely fine physically, and could continue progressing. I pegged my happiness to that, and reasoned that it was a righteous desire.

 

Much like Job, I had to experience a spiritual journey in which I relearned the plan of salvation, the Atonement, and the meaning of mortality. I had to come to the point where Job was at in the last chapter where he could actually say to God (updated meaning from somewhat antiqued KJV) "I know you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted...therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. I will speak, and you will hear; I will ask, and you will teach me. I had heard of you by hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you. Therefore...I repent."

 

Job didn't have to repent from some serious sin, except misunderstanding the justice and mercy of God, and how wonderful those things actually are when truly understood. My happiness does not need to depend on temporal, mortal justice. My happiness is dependent on asking of God, learning from him, relying on the Atonement, and developing a hope in Christ's Resurrection.

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