Kings and Queens
During our services, the Queen of England made an appearance at the Cenotaph Monument outside Westminster Abbey, a tradition that has lasted nearly one hundred years, to lay a wreath of poppies in remembrance of all the soldiers from WWI. Ben and Andrew managed a few blurry pictures of the Royal family; our little group, again in the middle of a Tube strike, took a bus clear to Walthamstow, and toddled into the chapel some two hours later. I was paranoid about getting there on time; I definitely had a talk to give.
Charity
President Monson has in recent news released an addition to the three-fold mission of the Church. In addition to Proclaiming the Gospel, Perfecting the Saints, and Redeeming the Dead, the Prophet calls all us members to Care for the Poor and Needy. This latest development is entrenched in scripture, and stems from the teachings of Charity. If we are to Care for the Poor and Needy, we must develop Charity. But what is Charity? How do we get it? And how does it change us?
As members, we often struggle with the definition of Charity. Paul is confusing; he writes to Corinthians that “though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” When we think of Charity, usually some sort of work or good deed is immediately attached, but Paul says that giving all one’s possessions away is not Charity. Moroni tells us that “Charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever”. But what does that mean? He doesn’t mention collecting tins, service projects, or even fast offerings. Just pure love, like that of the most perfect Man who ever lived. How can we struggling, mortal humans develop that kind of love?
In Preach My Gospel, it reads in Developing Christlike Attributes: “A man once asked Jesus, ‘Which is the great commandment in the law?’ Jesus replied: ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.’ Charity is the pure love of Christ. It includes God’s eternal love for all His children. We are to seek to develop that kind of love [by praying] unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that [we] may be filled with this love.”
Charity is a gift from God, given through the Holy Ghost, given to those who earnestly pray for it.
Gene R. Cook said, “As difficult as charity is to describe, it is rather easily recognized in the lives of those who possess it.
• An aged, crippled grandmother who subscribes to an afternoon newspaper, knowing it will bring her delivery-boy grandson to her home every day where, at her knee, she teaches him to pray.
• A mother who, in hard economic times and scarcity of meat, seems to savor only chicken wings, to the puzzlement of all.
• A man who suffers an undeserved public chastisement, but humbly receives it anyway.
Is not the common thread in these examples charity, a selflessness, a not seeking for anything in return? All of our divine attributes seem to flow from and be encompassed by this one. All men may have the gift of love, but charity is bestowed only upon those who are true followers of Christ.”
He goes on, “Yet there stands the devil, the destroyer of this love, replacing it with anger and hostility. My friend William felt that way: hostile. It seemed that whatever happened, it was the Lord’s fault—an illness, a death, a wayward child, a personal weakness, an “unanswered” prayer—all of which hardened his heart. His inner anger, which could flare up in but a moment, was directed toward God, his fellowman, and himself. From his heart emanated unbelief, stubbornness, pride, contention, and a loss of hope, love, and direction. He was miserable! These destroyers of peace blinded William to God’s feelings for him. He could neither discover nor feel God’s love. He did not see, especially in those dark moments, that God was richly blessing him even still. Instead, he returned anger for love. Have we not all felt that at times? Even when we have merited love the least, He has loved us the most. Truly, He loves us first.
Now, my Christlike friend Betty was just the opposite. She encountered many of the same difficulties as did William, but because she felt God’s love, she suffered tribulation in the Savior’s name, partook of His divine nature, and thus gained a deeper faith in and a love for God, along with the strength to handle whatever might come. Her love for others increased. She seemed to even forgive others in advance. She learned how to cause them to feel her love. She learned that love shared is love multiplied. Finally, she learned to love herself more, being more kind, gentle, and long-suffering. She stopped her struggle for self-esteem and started loving herself the way God loved her. Her image of herself became His image of her.”
Elder Cook writes that a lack of charity blinded his friend, while it clarified the view of the other. A famous story in the Book of Mormon involves two missionaries teaching an unlikely group about charity; Alma and Amulek had received news that the Zoramites were worshipping idols and hurried east to fix things. What they found were Rameumptoms, built in every synagogue for the rich to pray from once a week. In Alma 32, they discover that the poor had all been cast out of the synagogues because of the “coarseness of their apparel—therefore they were not permitted to enter into their synagogues to worship God, being esteemed as filthiness...yea, they were esteemed as dross.”
Because these poor Zoramites were no longer allowed in the synagogues, they had created idols for themselves to worship from. They had forgotten the nature of God. They had forgotten they could pray and worship Him anywhere. And because the rich treated them like dirt, they began to see themselves that way, forgetting that they were children of God with eternal potential. Alma addresses both of these immediately; he teaches the poor in chapter 32 about developing faith in God. He explains the nature of God and reaffirms Man’s divine place as His children.
In 34:28 and in harsher fashion, Amulek says, “If ye turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted and impart of your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need—I say unto you, if ye do not any of these things, behold, your prayer is in vain, and availeth you nothing, and ye are as hypocrites who do deny the faith. Therefore, if ye do not remember to be charitable, ye ARE as dross, which the refiners do cast out (it being of no worth) and is trodden under foot of men.”
The interesting thing about this story is that the missionaries did not tell the RICH to take care of the poor and needy, but the poor, who had no money or means to do so. Charity for these Zoramites had nothing to do with material wealth, but with the truth. They needed to remember the TRUE nature of God and the TRUE nature of man, which became a struggle after being treated so badly. The rich were blinded by their own silks, gold adornments, and the poor’s coarse apparel. The rich thought themselves superior to the poor. But the poor began to see clearly the love an Omnipotent God had for them, and began to see themselves as He does. They no doubt began to realize that rich or poor, we are all children of God and He loves us equally.
But in our busy, stressful lives, we often forget to see each other as Christ sees them. Bonnie D. Parkin asks, “Do we judge one another? Do we criticize each other for individual choices, thinking we know better, when in fact we rarely understand another’s unique circumstance or individual inspiration? Have we ever said, “She works outside the home.” Or, “Her son didn’t serve a mission.” Or, “She’s too old for a calling.” Or, “She can’t—she’s single.” Such judgments, and so many others like them, rob us of the good part, that pure love of Christ.” I suppose then we are as useful to the Lord as those Zoramites on the Rameumptom.
Elder Marvin J. Ashton beautifully observed: “Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don’t judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone’s differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn’t handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another’s weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other.”
Preach My Gospel continues, “As you follow this counsel and strive to do righteous works, your love for all people will increase...You will come to feel a sincere concern for the eternal welfare and happiness of other people. You will see them as children of God with the potential of becoming like our Heavenly Father...You will avoid negative feelings such as anger, envy, lust or covetousness. You will avoid judging others, criticizing them, or saying negative things about them. You will try to understand them and their points of view. You will be patient with them and try to help them when they are struggling or discouraged. Charity, like faith, leads to action. You will develop charity as you look for opportunities to serve others and give of yourself.
This story teaches us that Charity is a kind of wisdom or discernment—it is the ability to see things as they truly are. These things are simple and yet often hard to see. The TRUTH is that we are all children of our Heavenly Father with limitless potential to become gods and goddesses ourselves, endowed with all power, glory, and honor, reigning effortlessly over kingdoms as righteous rulers, blessed for all eternity. Such a sight would render us speechless and on our knees in moments. Kings and Queens. In such a sight, what else can you do but serve them?
Moroni closes chapter 7 by saying: "If so, his afaith and hope is vain, for none is before God, save the cmeek and lowly in heart; and if a man be meek and lowly in heart, and dconfesses by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have charity." (Moroni 7:44)
I have had some beautiful moments in my life where I’ve seen someone the way the Savior does. It’s not all the time—I’m still working on that particular Christlike attribute. But I bear you my solemn witness that the poor and needy are not what they appear to be. I encourage you to pray to be able to see everyone the way Christ sees them, and he promises that there will be no end to your blessings. I testify that this Church is true, that President Monson is a living prophet today, that Joseph Smith did see God the Father and Jesus Christ, and that through Christ's Atonement, I too can see and dwell with them. I leave these things with you in His name, amen,
The Abbey
Confession: We were given twelve pounds to go to Westminster Abbey, but those were my last twelve pounds for the rest of the trip; I still had Oyster cards to refill and places like the Imperial War Museum to get to. This was why I was excited for Evensong. We went directly from church through the dark, frigid air and stood in line outside for our little concert. I was warned by Liz and Carolyn that I wouldn't be able to see anything; walking in, the nave had little chairs set up in neat rows underneath the organ (I was sad not be able to see him play at all), but I stared up at the copper stone pillars, at the epitaphs engraved in the flagstones underfoot, that unknown soldier's tomb covered in poppies, and the gorgeous statues carved into the walls. I definitely saw the final resting place of Newton and Darwin just sitting in my little chair.
Liz looked up from the program and sprinted across the roomto hug someone she saw; apparently some great friends from America found her in the Abbey. She asked to go sit by them and I thought how incredible it was that she cared about us enough to even ask. Kaitlyn and I (both former organ students) told her to go, and sat to enjoy the music. It was about forty-five minutes; in Remembrance Day fashion, the songs included one written about the Blitz over York (we were totally there!), an elegy for the soldiers, and a final march about the perserverance and bravery of the British people. It was so cool to hear the stops echoing across the abbey and wondered if you couldn't just hear it outside.
Afterwards, we wandered the grounds in search of the Cenotaph and found little patches of those poppy crosses we planted at Serre Road Cemetery; each was laid if you knew someone killed in WWI--it was like being back at the real cemeteries. Flowers just went on for yards and yards, packed closer than dominoes in the hard earth, lit by the nearby streets and darkened by the shadow of the church. We couldn't help but hush at the reverence shown by England for their kindred dead. The Cenotaph was the same way; after the Queen appeared, the poppy wreaths were packed onto the base like soil and the monument would grow into a tree.
In many ways, I'm glad that we don't have the reasons the UK does for having Remembrance Day; however, it was really humbling to see all these different Britons, gathered in the square, in the church, on the sidewalks, all with poppies pinned to their coats, united, silently considering the impact WWI still has on their country. We Americans don't have anything to compare. Sometimes I wish we did.
