Fully Love and Believe

“Problems will come into all of our lives; it’s part of just being here upon this earth. And some people think that religion or having faith in God will protect you from bad things. I don’t think that’s the point. I think the point is that if our faith is strong, that when bad things happen, which they will, we’ll be able to deal with them. … My faith never wavered, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t have depressions. I think for the first time in my life, I was pushed to the limit, and literally there was nowhere to turn, and so I turned to the Lord, and to this day, I feel a spontaneity of joy.” Jack Rushton, quoted in D. Todd Christofferson's talk "The Joy of the Saints"

Jack Rushton was an amazing man.  I don't remember him, as he counseled my parents when they got married and was my bishop when I was one to two years old, but all through my life I heard stories of his struggles and great faith.  A few years after my family moved to central California Jack suffered an accident while body-surfing in the ocean.  He became a quadriplegic.  Yet even in his struggles he continued to have great strength and the ability to believe.

It's been interesting not attending church in person these last couple months.  It's strange not dressing up and going to take the sacrament.  The real struggle has been making Sunday feel different than the rest of the week.  Michael and Krista have their kids dress up when they do their at home lesson and sacrament.  That's a good way to go about it.  I must admit that I study the lessons still in my pajamas.  And, won't lie, it's been kind of nice.

I've been finding different resources to highlight my studies.  One such resource is the Book of Mormon Central YouTube Channel.   Their Come Follow Me lessons remind me of past Institute of Religions classes, which I loved so much as a young adult.  Institute classes healed my soul when moving to Utah at 19.  Anything that reminds me of Institute gets me excited.  In their lesson for Mosial 4-6, they highlighted the verses for Mosiah 4, 9-10, bringing the most beautiful meaning:

"Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.  And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them."

The lessons are taught by two teachers, one of which breaks down the meanings of words.  He broke down the word for "believe". "Be" = Fully, 100%.  "Lieve" = Love.  Believe can mean Fully Love when you look at the word's root.  Replacing "believe" with "fully love" in the above verses brings such a beautiful meaning.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.

I love nerding out over spiritual stuff. :0)