“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?