"I shall not attempt to paint to you the feelings of this heart, nor the majestic beauty and glory which surrounded us on this occasion; but you will believe me when I say, that earth, nor men, with the eloquence of time, cannot begin to clothe language in as interesting and sublime a manner as this holy personage. No; nor has this earth power to give the joy, to bestow the peace, or comprehend the wisdom which was contained in each sentence as they were delivered by the power of the Holy Spirit! Man may deceive his fellow-men, deception may follow deception, and the children of the wicked one may have power to seduce the foolish and untaught, till naught but fiction feeds the many, and the fruit of falsehood carries in its current the giddy to the grave; but one touch with the finger of his love, yes, one ray of glory from the upper world, or one word from the mouth of the Savior, from the bosom of eternity, strikes it all into insignificance, and blots it forever from the mind. The assurance that we were in the presence of an angel, the certainty that we heard the voice of Jesus, and the truth unsullied as it flowed from a pure personage, dictated by the will of God, is to me past description"
Joseph Smith--History 1:75 (selection)This is part of the eighth paragraph of verse 75, in case you want to find it in context. :) I really like this part because it paints an awesome picture of what it is like to stand in the presence of an angel, or to listen to a message from God. It isn't just the difference between a singing telegram and a glowy costume... it isn't showmanship or drama. You can tell here that Joseph wasn't even able to describe it adequately, but that it was so far beyond our experience that he tries to compare and fails. In beauty, in eloquence, in interest, in joy, in peace, in wisdom... it surpassed anything on this earth. ... That's huge. :) And he says that things can snowball and get dramatically worse and worse until everything in falling apart, and STILL, one word from the mouth of the Savior banishes all of it to insignificance. And, I think sometimes we catch a glimpse, or we get a taste of what he is talking about.
There are moments in our lives, where we, for a moment, are able to breathe the pure air of heaven. To see or taste or hear some part of that unsullied truth directly from God, and those moments make all the rest of life worthwhile... that joy puts our pains and weaknesses and obstacles to shame, and we know ... we KNOW ... in those moments that we can overcome anything, if this is the reward... because it is the only thing that really matters. All the rest is trivial.
And then, of course, we slowly forget. We get caught back up in the perspective of the world. We start thinking, again, that all of this is just too hard... too big, too overwhelming. And that is why God keeps saying in the scriptures remember, remember. And he keeps asking us to read and to pray. To study and ponder. Because that's how we get to those moments... and that is also how we remember them.
Today, let's remember those moments in life that make all the rest worthwhile. Let's look to God for the pinnacle of all the things that we yearn for. And let's remember that our troubles aren't as bad as we usually think they are. With God, we can not only overcome anything bad... we can learn a higher level of anything good. That's amazing. :)
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