President Nelson wrote this for a newspaper, so it was written for a general audience, not just members of the church. It is a wonderful piece about the blessings that can come only from God to His children and how a belief in God blesses us.
This made me think of what the Lord taught the Samaritan woman at the well. He is the source of living water--something only He can give. We cannot get it anywhere else or in any other way than to believe in Him and seek His blessings in our life.
Editor's note: LDS
President Russell M. Nelson wrote this piece as part of his visit to the Valley
on Feb. 10.
My wife, Wendy, and I visited
Paradise, California, last month to meet with and comfort those affected by the
horrific Camp Fire that left as many as 86 dead and destroyed more than 18,000
structures last November.
When we planned our visit,
we had no way of knowing that just 40 hours prior to our leaving, we would lose
our daughter Wendy to cancer.
We flew to California with
heavy hearts.
In Paradise, we witnessed
utter devastation. The city was destroyed. The aftermath was staggering —
families homeless, businesses gone, children still haunted by the night they
fled for their lives.
But that tragedy also
revealed the best of humanity — first responders racing to help others as their
own homes burned, families helping older neighbors out of harm’s way, residents
and neighbors working tirelessly to help the refugees.
As we tried to comfort
those still reeling from the disaster, they seemed more concerned about how we
were doing in our time of loss.
As we tearfully looked
into each other’s hearts, the blackened chimneys and a sea of ash seemed to
fade into the background. Our shared faith that God would heal our hearts and
help us rebuild our lives knit our hearts together in love and allowed us to
experience “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).
We flew home sobered by what we had seen but also inspired by the goodness of
so many. We were comforted by the reassurance that God watches over His
suffering children.
If there is anything I’ve
learned in my 94 years of living, it is that a life with God is far better —
more filled with hope — than one without Him. Faith in God is, and has always
been, the pre-eminent force for good in this world. It is the most enduring
source of peace for minds and hearts.
What we experienced in
Paradise, with men and women whose hearts were open to God, stands in stark
contrast to much of what we see in the world today. I fear that many are
standing on the edge of a spiritual and emotional precipice. Not long ago,
belief in God was a given and expressions of faith the norm.
But in recent years, we
have experienced a shift from a world in which it seemed impossible not to
believe in God to one in which faith is simply an option — and far too often
subject to ridicule.
When God is removed from
our collective conscience, there are sobering ramifications. Rabbi Lord
Jonathan Sacks, formerly Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the
British Commonwealth, insisted that “what the secularists forgot is that Homo
sapiens is the meaning-seeking animal."
"If there is one
thing the great institutions of the modern world do not do, it is to provide
meaning” ("Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence" [2015],
13). Indeed, human souls yearn to
understand the purpose of life and to realize that God knows and cares about
them.
As a young surgical
resident at the University of Minnesota Hospitals in the early 1950s, I was on
the research team that built the heart-lung machine that allowed the first
surgical access to the open, beating human heart.
Working alongside
brilliant minds (there and elsewhere) was exhilarating. But human intelligence
has its limits. As a surgeon, I repaired hundreds of hearts. But my skills
could not heal heartache, or erase grief, or salve emotional wounds. Nothing
man-made can ever approach what God can do for His children.
The most able minds cannot
offer redemption from sin or heal our hearts from emotional pain. They cannot
generate enduring hope or joy. They cannot promise life after death or the
potential of being with our loved ones beyond the grave. They cannot generate
peace of mind.
But God can. Our spiritual
DNA is His DNA. If our hearts are open to Him — if we believe in the divinity
of the Father and His Son — we can rise from the ashes of our lives and become
the men and women we were sent to earth to become.
I THOUGHT I
KNEW HOW TO REPAIR HEARTS
After three decades of
doing cardiac surgery around the world, I thought I knew a little something
about repairing hearts. Then I was called as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus
Christ. In that moment, my focus shifted instantly to healing hearts another
way — by turning all who will listen to the Master Healer, Jesus the Christ.
For the last 35 years, I
have traveled the world, meeting with millions of men and women in more than
130 countries. I’ve witnessed the effects of poverty and wealth, seen the
impact of education and the lack thereof, met the high in station and the
humblest of souls, and been gratified by humanitarian outreach from so many who
care deeply about the human condition — including the Church I now have the
privilege of leading.
But the most profound
thing I’ve witnessed is the unrivaled difference that belief in God and His
Son, Jesus Christ, has in a person’s life. There is simply nothing to compare
with the refining, ennobling strength and meaning that come into the life of a
devoted believer and servant.
This is not to suggest
that faith in God eliminates challenges. It does not. We will all experience
the vicissitudes of life.
Financial stress, ill
health, fractured relationships and dreams, personal loss, unfairness at the
hands of conspiring men and women — each of these can fill our hearts with
anxiety and fear.
But it is my conviction
that our Savior can strengthen and enable us to reach our highest highs and be
able to cope with our lowest lows. As an ordained Apostle of Jesus Christ, I
invite you to seek to know for yourself that He is the Master Healer. He has
the capacity to heal you from sin and sadness, from despair and heartache. I
saw this healing balm among the people of Paradise, California, and I have felt
it personally again and again, including recently in the passing of our
precious daughter.
Whatever your faith
tradition or personal circumstances, as a servant of the Lord, I invite you to
look to Him and make Him the center of your life. Pour out your heart to God
and ask Him for His help. He will infuse your life with meaning and fill your
heart with hope that transcends anything the world can offer.
Russell M. Nelson is
president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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