3 Nephi 8

(November 24, 2014)

                It is so difficult, from our mortal frame of reference, to really understand much of anything that is going on even in our own lives.  For example, we are seeing the destruction in the land and the weep and the wailing.  Mormon recounts those who cried out that they wished they had repented earlier, but surely there were others righteous enough to have survived but still sufficiently limited in their perspective to blame God for the destruction that happened.

                Either way, what really happened in this chapter?  What really happened was that the Atonement – the single most important event in the history of the world and the great victory of the Savior – was completed.  I envision the Savior stepping over the Veil to a glorious host of angels (of which, I imagine, I was one) singing triumphant praises because our faith in the Savior was shown sound as He completed His work upon the Earth.  On one side of the Veil, jubilation.  On the other (in both the New World and the Old World), sorrow and devastation.

                Of course, jubilation was the proper response (although we cannot fault the sorrow by any means).  But we should allow our own feelings during times of trial and sorrow to be tempered by reflection on these things.  When we suffer, when we hurt, even when we feel destroyed – do angels on the other side of the Veil weep with us, or do they rejoice because they understand the purpose of our trials and the victories contained within them?  We are to endure to the end, and by very definition that means that we will face struggles and hardships, but our perspective is limited and it is important that we recognize and remember that.