“And the Angel said unto Mary, “He is
not here: for he has risen”
This is our final week of New Testament. What
a blessing it has been to study the gospels and review the birth and finally
the Resurrection of the Savior. I was impressed that it was the women to go the
extra mile to tend to the body of Jesus, and then find he had risen. Angels
told them to run and spread the good news. How long would it have been to learn
of this miracle if they hadn’t felt in their hearts to serve him further?
The song “As Sisters in Zion” (LDS hymns pg. 309),
tells us that the “errand of angels is given to women”. The sisters in many
ways are there for the gentle touches. So Mary and the other women felt to
visit the tomb to add to the burial rituals. They were devout disciples of the
Savior, and faithful in every way. If we endure to end, we will show we are
faithful to the gospel.
A New Principle?
Faithful, a new basic principle of the gospel.
I found this article enlightening on the subject. There is more on the site
included below.
“For several generations, Latter-day Saint
discourse has privileged four basic principles and ordinances of the gospel. In
2004, however, the historic introduction of a comprehensive missionary handbook
featured five principles and ordinances in its lesson on the gospel of Jesus
Christ. This was followed in 2010 with a revised handbook
for Church leaders which, under the heading “The Gospel of Jesus Christ,” lists
the same five principles:
1. Faith in Jesus Christ
2. Repentance
3. Baptism of water
4. The gift of the Holy Ghost
5. Enduring to the end
This quintet of basic principles now appears
to be systematically reflected in all curricular materials produced by The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The fifth principle seems to have
been introduced without any fanfare or even notice.
One of
the earliest of these, apparently composed by Brigham Young’s brother Joseph in
1836, was published in a Boston compilation of American religious creeds and
clearly acknowledged the Book of Mormon requirement that Christ’s followers
endure to the end: “to ensure eternal life, a strict obedience to all the
commandments of God, must be observed, to the end.” Most
influential were the writings of Parley P. Pratt. His 1840 Late Persecution
of the Church included earlier material, but featured a new introduction
enumerating and briefly explaining five principles of “Theology held by this
Church.” The first four of these are preserved in the current fourth article of
faith. In elaborating on the fourth principle, Pratt lists all the duties
incumbent on a new Church member: “in short, to continue faithful unto the end,
in all the duties which are enjoined by the Law of Christ.” (Noel B. Reynolds is a professor emeritus of political science at BYU. https://rsc.byu.edu/pt-pt/node/7582)
Let us too
endure to the end.
In marriage, enduring to the end is not how we want our journey
together to be. Yes, we want to endure getting an education, raising children,
working, illness, and commitments to all places we are needed. But I have written how marriage should be, so even though we need to
stick it out, we need to enjoy the time we have together. I also talked about
being faithful. Let us be faithful to spouse, children, church, community, and
country. Just do it!
My husband discovered a nest outside our window in the bushes he
was trimming this week. There he saw four eggs and then the faithful couple of
Scrub jays tending to them. We read that they will mate for life. If they can
be true to each other, how much more can we do to be eternally together?
