Human Orbits

The same God that placed that star in a precise orbit millennia before it appeared over Bethlehem in celebration of the birth of the Babe has given at least equal attention to placement of each of us in precise human orbits so that we may, if we will, illuminate the landscape of our individual lives, so that our light may not only lead others but warm them as well.
(Neal A Maxwell, That My Family Should Partake, p. 86)

One By One

During the Savior’s visit to the Nephites in the Western Hemisphere, he told them that he had “drunk out of that bitter cup” (3 Nephi 11:11). He then extended the following invitation to the multitude gathered:

Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and . . . feel the prints of the nails in my hands and . . . feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world. [3 Nephi 11:14]

 The record indicates that the multitude went forth “one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety” (3 Nephi 11:15; emphasis added). Although the multitude totaled 2,500 souls, the record states that “all of them did see and hear, every man for himself” (3 Nephi 17:25). If each person were given 15 seconds to approach the resurrected Lord, thrust their hand into his side, and feel the prints of the nails, more than 10 hours would be required to complete the process.

 The record indicates that later in the day the Savior “took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them” (3 Nephi 17:21; emphasis added). The scriptures do not indicate how many children were there, but one surmises that in a multitude of 2,500, there must have been a few hundred. Again, it would have taken hours to complete the blessings.

 Why did Jesus take the time to invite each individual to feel the wounds in his hands and feet and put their hand into his side? Why did he bless each child rather than give a collective pronouncement? Would the personal touch of his hands and the power of his spirit be more efficacious in a “one by one” relationship? The answer is given by the Savior himself when he said:

 And ye see that I have commanded that none of you should go away, but rather have commanded that ye should come unto me, that ye might feel and see; even so shall ye do unto the world. [3 Nephi 18:25]

Suppose you had been in Bountiful that day and experienced a “one by one” relationship with the Savior of the world. You would have fallen at his feet. You, too, would know that he had drunk out of the bitter cup. You would feel some responsibility for the print of the nails in his hands and feet and the wound in his side. You would have seen the engraving of your image in “the palms of [his] hands” (1 Nephi 21:16). On occasion, speakers note that the impact of his appearance produced a season of peace that lasted two hundred years. The truth is that his appearance and teachings had an eternal impact on the lives of those present and for generations to come.

The Savior’s “one by one” invitation is consistent with the principle that salvation is an individual matter. The saving ordinances are administered “one by one.” Baptism, confirmation, and priesthood ordinations are performed individually. Missionaries are sent “two by two” to teach individuals and families and baptize “one by one.” Home teachers and visiting teachers are sent to “visit the house of each member” (D&C 20:47). Although the highest exalting ordinances are administered “two by two” and in families, saving covenants administered one person at a time form the foundation. The gospel plan provides for each individual to receive his or her own witness (see Alma 32, Moroni 10:3–5). Men and women are expected to know for themselves. More than that, the Savior knows each of us for who we are. As Paul told the Corinthians, “Now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

 As I have stated previously, there were many years in which I believed that the atoning process involved an infinite mass of sin being heaped upon the Savior. As I have become more familiar with the scriptures, my view of the Atonement has expanded. The Atonement involved more than an infinite mass of sin; it entailed an infinite stream of individuals with their specific needs. Alma records that Jesus took upon himself the pains, afflictions, temptations, and sicknesses of his people. In addition, he experienced their weaknesses so that he would know how to help them (see Alma 7:11–12). Isaiah prophesied that the Lord would bear “our griefs, and [carry] our sorrows”; that he would be “wounded for our transgressions” and “bruised for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:4–5). Paul explained to the Hebrews that Jesus tasted “death for every man” and woman (Hebrews 2:9). No wonder “his sweat was as it were great drops of blood” coming from “every pore” (Luke 22:44, D&C 19:18). Isaiah and Abinadi stated that when “his soul has been made an offering for sin he shall see his seed” (see Isaiah 53:10, Mosiah 15:10). And who are his seed? Those who follow the prophets (Mosiah 15:11–17).

Brothers and sisters, the Atonement was not only infinite in its expanse but intimate in the lives of God’s children. The Redeemer of the world is acquainted with each person’s infirmities. He knows your problems. He understands your joys as well as your sorrows. He knows the nature of the temptations that beset you and how they interface with your weaknesses. Above all he knows you and knows how and when to help you. Generally his help is given through the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit speaks quietly by generating thoughts and feelings within.

Merrill J Bateman "One by One" BYU Devotional September 9 1997

A Personal Atonement

The prophet Abinadi further states that “when his soul has been made an offering for sin he shall see his seed” (Mosiah 15:10). Abinadi then identifies the Savior’s seed as the prophets and those who follow them. For many years I thought of the Savior’s experience in the garden and on the cross as places where a large mass of sin was heaped upon Him. Through the words of Alma, Abinadi, Isaiah, and other prophets, however, my view has changed. Instead of an impersonal mass of sin, there was a long line of people, as Jesus felt “our infirmities” (Heb. 4:15), “[bore] our griefs, … carried our sorrows … [and] was bruised for our iniquities” (Isa. 53:4–5). The Atonement was an intimate, personal experience in which Jesus came to know how to help each of us.

The Pearl of Great Price teaches that Moses was shown all the inhabitants of the earth, which were “numberless as the sand upon the sea shore” (Moses 1:28). If Moses beheld every soul, then it seems reasonable that the Creator of the universe has the power to become intimately acquainted with each of us. He learned about your weaknesses and mine. He experienced your pains and sufferings. He experienced mine. I testify that He knows us. He understands the way in which we deal with temptations. He knows our weaknesses. But more than that, more than just knowing us, He knows how to help us if we come to Him in faith.

 Merrill J. Bateman "A Pattern for All" October 2005 General Conference

Your Plan of Salvation

Now this is what religion is all about. This is what the church is here for. The church is here to give us encouragement and guidance and direction and motivation. And cause us to want to do and in fact to do the things that will enable us to climb the straight and narrow path at the end of which is the glorious reward of eternal life. This is how we work out our salvation.

Now everyone really has a different personal plan of salvation. You make your own. You sit down and figure out where you are on the path that goes from repentance and baptism to the high reward of eternal life. And when you've determined where you are then you figure out what you have to do to take successive steps up that ladder. And they are different for every person. And then having so determined, live one day at a time, doing that day what's necessary to further the interest that is involved.

Bruce R. McConkie "How to Get Your Own Plan of Salvation" BYU Speech Apr 11 1972

Ship Painting

A mother sadly reported to her bishop that her three sons had left home and joined the navy. Why they had done this, in view of other opportunities for employment, further schooling, missions, or even another branch of the service, was very perplexing to this loving mother. The bishop tried to comfort her by explaining the need young people have to “break away” from home—but he, too, found their action unusual and difficult to explain.

 Then the bishop decided to visit the family home. As he entered the living room, his eye was immediately drawn to the large painting of a ship under full sail. It was the only piece of art in the room.

 “There is your reason,” he told the mother. “As your sons have grown up, you have told them every day through this painting of the romance and adventure of the sea. You have taught them well. No wonder they all joined the navy.” 

The message of this true story is obvious. Our home environment—specifically, visual images in the home—has an impact on our lives.

 This idea poses a number of questions for us as Latter-day Saints. Do we fully realize the influence of visual images in the home? What kind of images should be in a Mormon home? Can visual images help explain what we believe? Can our surroundings help us become more spiritual? Is it possible to develop more meaningful feelings about our heritage if we have visual materials of our ancestry available?

Ed Maryon  "Look at Your Walls. What Do You See?" Ensign Dec 1973

Where We Will Stand

Each day the forces of evil and the forces of good pick up new recruits. Each day we personally make many decisions that show where our support will go. The final outcome is certain—the forces of righteousness will finally win. What remains to be seen is where each of us personally, now and in the future, will stand in this fight—and how tall we will stand. Will we be true to our last-days, foreordained mission?

Great battles can make great heroes, but heroes will make great battle. You will never have a better opportunity to be a greater hero in a more crucial battle than in the battle you will face today and in the immediate future. Be warned that some of the greatest battles you will face will be fought within the silent chambers of your own soul. David’s battles in the field against the foe were not as critical as David’s battles in the palace against a lustful eye. We will each find our own battlefield. The tactics that the enemy will use against us will vary from time to time; he will feel after our weak spots. We must be alert to the devil’s devious designs, to the subtle sins and clever compromises as well as the obvious offenses.

 Ezra Taft Benson "In His Steps" 4 May 1979

The Atonement is an Individual Experience

Well, my dear sisters, the gospel is the good news that can free us from guilt. We know that Jesus experienced the totality of mortal existence in Gethsemane. It's our faith that he experienced everything- absolutely everything. Sometimes we don't think through the implications of that belief. We talk in great generalities about the sins of all humankind, about the suffering of the entire human family. But we don't experience pain in generalities. We experience it individually. That means he knows what it felt like when your mother died of cancer- how it was for your mother, how it still is for you. He knows what it felt like to lose the student body election. He knows that moment when the brakes locked and the car started to skid. He experienced the slave ship sailing from Ghana toward Virginia. He experienced the gas chambers at Dachau. He experienced Napalm in Vietnam. He knows about drug addiction and alcoholism.

Let me go further. There is nothing you have experienced as a woman that he does not also know and recognize. On a profound level, he understands the hunger to hold your baby that sustains you through pregnancy. He understands both the physical pain of giving birth and the immense joy. He knows about PMS and cramps and menopause. He understands about rape and infertility and abortion. His last recorded words to his disciples were, "And, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." (Matthew 28:20) He understands your mother-pain when your five-year-old leaves for kindergarten, when a bully picks on your fifth-grader, when your daughter calls to say that the new baby has Down syndrome. He knows your mother-rage when a trusted babysitter sexually abuses your two-year-old, when someone gives your thirteen-year-old drugs, when someone seduces your seventeen-year-old. He knows the pain you live with when you come home to a quiet apartment where the only children are visitors, when you hear that your former husband and his new wife were sealed in the temple last week, when your fiftieth wedding anniversary rolls around and your husband has been dead for two years. He knows all that. He's been there. He's been lower than all that. He's not waiting for us to be perfect. Perfect people don't need a Savior. He came to save his people in their imperfections. He is the Lord of the living, and the living make mistakes. He's not embarrassed by us, angry at us, or shocked. He wants us in our brokenness, in our unhappiness, in our guilt and our grief.

You know that people who live above a certain latitude and experience very long winter nights can become depressed and even suicidal, because something in our bodies requires whole spectrum light for a certain number of hours a day. Our spiritual requirement for light is just as desperate and as deep as our physical need for light. Jesus is the light of the world. We know that this world is a dark place sometimes, but we need not walk in darkness. The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, and the people who walk in darkness can have a bright companion. We need him, and He is ready to come to us, if we'll open the door and let him.

(Chieko N. Okazaki, Lighten Up, Preface, p. 174)