promised land

 

on the morning of january 1, 2014, i read the last page of the book of mormon. over the years, i have kept a list of completion dates in the front of my scriptures, and i have now read that sacred, treasured, beautiful volume sixteen times in my life. it just feels like it gets better every time. i have had incredible experiences over the course of those sixteen reads that have very thoroughly convinced me that the book of mormon is authentic and is holy, and that testimony has allowed me to gain faith in many sublime truths.

i was thinking today about the ways that the book of mormon has impacted my life, and about the lessons that i have learned from its content and narrative.  i realized that one central message in those pages is a truth i’ve often considered: hard is good. the text is full of stories of sanctification from hardship, beauty for ashes, redemption borne from suffering … and the existence of the book itself is an example of something miraculous and wonderful emerging from much affliction.

one of my favourite examples of the hard is good  theme in the book of mormon is the story of a people called the jaredites who made a long and very difficult journey across a wide ocean.
”…and it came to pass that they were many times buried in the depths of the sea, because of the mountain waves which broke upon them, and also the great and terrible tempests which were caused by the fierceness of the wind…”
faithfully recognizing that good must indeed come from this hard, “…they did sing praises unto the lord…did thank and praise the lord all the day long; and when the night came, they did not cease to praise the lord…”
and while they continued to be tossed by wind and waves, god watched over them, helping them to get from hard to good: “…no monster of the sea could break them…and they did have light continually, whether it was above the water or under the water.”
and eventually, they made it. “…and they did land upon the shore of the promised land. and when they had set their feet upon the shores of the promised land they bowed themselves down upon the face of the land, and did humble themselves before the lord, and did shed tears of joy before the lord, because of the multitude of his tender mercies over him.”

i don’t know what my promised land will look like.
but i believe in it.

{i shared some other inspired thoughts on the concept of beauty for ashes here}