Claudia recorded this experience during Michael’s first year of life. He was born on Sunday, September 2, 1973. The account was published in the March 1974 Cleverly Newsletter and as chapter 11 in Claudia, An Elect Lady. While this experience was not technically given as a sermon, it does represent an expression of Claudia’s testimony and seems to fit comfortably as a part of this collection.
Elder Boyd K. Packer once said that the only significant lessons he has learned in his life have been taught by his children. I too find Michael Adam is one of my best teachers.
A couple of weeks ago he learned how to roll over from his stomach to his back. To watch him struggle though just tore my heart out. He wasn’t sure what he was doing—it was all so new to him—and sometimes he would get so frustrated at his struggles. I wanted so much just to pick him up myself and turn him over—to save all that trouble and heartache—but I knew I couldn’t. The struggle made him strong and he couldn’t learn if I did it for him.
It occurred to me one day while I was watching him try that our earth life is but a type and shadow of eternity, a testing ground, and that parents have a very similar relationship to their children as our Heavenly Father has to us. With all this in mind, it came to me that the Lord watches over us too and sees our struggles. But like parents here on earth, He sometimes has to just let us struggle so we can learn more effectively through our experience and grow stronger.
"Know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good" (D&C 122:7).
“My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee over all thy foes” (D&C 121:7–8).
How well the Lord has said it. And realizing my own love for Michael Adam, I now have a deeper understanding of the Lord’s love for us and of why He gives us trials and tribulations. I am very grateful for these things and for a loving Father who would care enough to give us these learning experiences that we might grow.
Showing posts with label Love of God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Love of God. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
34. Trust in the Lord
I received my call to the Brazilian North Mission on Saturday, August 24, 1968. Scheduling problems required my talk in sacrament meeting to be the day after my call came and nearly a month before I was leaving home. I spoke in the sacrament meeting of the Nampa Fifth Ward, Nampa Idaho Stake, on Sunday, August 25, 1968. The following account of that meeting is taken from the introduction to my missionary journal.
Scheduling problems with meetings and such related complications required my talk in sacrament meeting to be the day after my call came and nearly a month before I was leaving home. This prevented our contacting many friends and relatives who might otherwise have been able to be there. Only the family living right at home was able to attend.
The bishop had asked me to select a speaker. I immediately considered Sister Ruby Hurren, a beloved friend, teacher, and neighbor. But she was ill at the time. I thought next of another favorite teacher and friend, Sister Myrtle Leavitt. She was happy to participate with me, even on the short notice. In the meeting she delivered an outstanding sermon, using some of my favorite Book of Mormon passages and characters as illustrations of certain points.
“He That Hath Clean Hands and a Pure Heart” was sung as a special musical number after Sister Leavitt’s talk. That too was a favorite. As I started to talk next, I quoted the scripture (Psalm 24) upon which the song was based and thanked them for singing it. The same number had also been sung at my last brother’s farewell.
After those comments I then offered my humble thoughts from brief notes as the Spirit directed. First I quoted the following passage:
“When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
“And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
“He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
“And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
“And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
“And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:13–19).
I then developed the theme that testimony comes only from the Spirit. I emphasized the importance of living by the Spirit, using this passage:
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
“Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil” (Proverbs 3:5–7).
How? By preparation, by study, by prayer. I used statements by Presidents David O. McKay and Hugh B. Brown about preparation.
President Brown said, “The war which began in heaven and has been going on ever since—a war in which the immortal souls of the children of men are at stake—is about to reach a climatic point. This appeal, therefore, is in a very real sense a call to arms.
“The call to be prepared is sent to each one of you by and from the President of the Church, the Prophet of God. It is of vital and of paramount importance. The preparation must begin at the center of your hearts and extend to the end of your fingers and toes. Each one of you may become the master of his fate, the captain of his soul. . . .
“We need stout hearts to meet the future, a future pregnant with unborn events and big with possibilities. We need faith to try, hope to inspire, and courage to endure” (Conference Report, Apr. 1968, 106).
“Begin today to be the person you want to be; . . . immortalize today and all the tomorrows that lie ahead in order that your life may have eternal significance” (Conference Report, Apr. 1968, 100).
And President McKay said, “With all my soul, I plead with members of the Church, and with people everywhere, to think more about the gospel; more about developing of the spirit within; to devote more time to the real things in life, and less time to those things which will perish” (Conference Report, Apr. 1968, 144).
I mentioned this teaching from the Doctrine and Covenants:
“Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distill upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.
“The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever” (D&C 121:45–36).
When we pray we need a child’s faith. I quoted the song “I Am a Child of God.”
And the motivation for it all? Charity.
“But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure” (Moroni 7:47–48).
I closed by telling of my call to Brazil, where they speak Portuguese and not Spanish, and with my testimony that these things were true and I knew them to be true, for which knowledge I was grateful.
Bishop Eldon J. Yorgason stood next and started reading a letter from a young man in Seattle, Washington. I soon realized it was from Bob Russell, a special friend I had known from my previous year at BYU. He had written to the bishop about me. The closing lines that the bishop read were something like this: “I never knew Matthew Cowley, who was supposed to be a great man of faith. But I have known Dean Cleverly, and he has been a man of faith in my life.”
How humbled can a 19-year-old boy be after realizing the influence he wields in others' lives? I assure you he is very humbled. And very grateful. The nice things said after that, as the bishop finished and after the meeting, in all their sincerity, remained anticlimactic to those few moments earlier in the bishop’s remarks. Oh, what a challenge and a responsibility that meeting made me realize were to be mine! If met fully they were responsibilities to be shouldered only by a man, not a boy, and that a man of God.
My father and my brother Jerry offered the opening and closing prayers for the meeting.
Scheduling problems with meetings and such related complications required my talk in sacrament meeting to be the day after my call came and nearly a month before I was leaving home. This prevented our contacting many friends and relatives who might otherwise have been able to be there. Only the family living right at home was able to attend.
The bishop had asked me to select a speaker. I immediately considered Sister Ruby Hurren, a beloved friend, teacher, and neighbor. But she was ill at the time. I thought next of another favorite teacher and friend, Sister Myrtle Leavitt. She was happy to participate with me, even on the short notice. In the meeting she delivered an outstanding sermon, using some of my favorite Book of Mormon passages and characters as illustrations of certain points.
“He That Hath Clean Hands and a Pure Heart” was sung as a special musical number after Sister Leavitt’s talk. That too was a favorite. As I started to talk next, I quoted the scripture (Psalm 24) upon which the song was based and thanked them for singing it. The same number had also been sung at my last brother’s farewell.
After those comments I then offered my humble thoughts from brief notes as the Spirit directed. First I quoted the following passage:
“When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
“And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
“He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
“And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
“And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
“And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:13–19).
I then developed the theme that testimony comes only from the Spirit. I emphasized the importance of living by the Spirit, using this passage:
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
“Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil” (Proverbs 3:5–7).
How? By preparation, by study, by prayer. I used statements by Presidents David O. McKay and Hugh B. Brown about preparation.
President Brown said, “The war which began in heaven and has been going on ever since—a war in which the immortal souls of the children of men are at stake—is about to reach a climatic point. This appeal, therefore, is in a very real sense a call to arms.
“The call to be prepared is sent to each one of you by and from the President of the Church, the Prophet of God. It is of vital and of paramount importance. The preparation must begin at the center of your hearts and extend to the end of your fingers and toes. Each one of you may become the master of his fate, the captain of his soul. . . .
“We need stout hearts to meet the future, a future pregnant with unborn events and big with possibilities. We need faith to try, hope to inspire, and courage to endure” (Conference Report, Apr. 1968, 106).
“Begin today to be the person you want to be; . . . immortalize today and all the tomorrows that lie ahead in order that your life may have eternal significance” (Conference Report, Apr. 1968, 100).
And President McKay said, “With all my soul, I plead with members of the Church, and with people everywhere, to think more about the gospel; more about developing of the spirit within; to devote more time to the real things in life, and less time to those things which will perish” (Conference Report, Apr. 1968, 144).
I mentioned this teaching from the Doctrine and Covenants:
“Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distill upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.
“The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever” (D&C 121:45–36).
When we pray we need a child’s faith. I quoted the song “I Am a Child of God.”
And the motivation for it all? Charity.
“But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure” (Moroni 7:47–48).
I closed by telling of my call to Brazil, where they speak Portuguese and not Spanish, and with my testimony that these things were true and I knew them to be true, for which knowledge I was grateful.
Bishop Eldon J. Yorgason stood next and started reading a letter from a young man in Seattle, Washington. I soon realized it was from Bob Russell, a special friend I had known from my previous year at BYU. He had written to the bishop about me. The closing lines that the bishop read were something like this: “I never knew Matthew Cowley, who was supposed to be a great man of faith. But I have known Dean Cleverly, and he has been a man of faith in my life.”
How humbled can a 19-year-old boy be after realizing the influence he wields in others' lives? I assure you he is very humbled. And very grateful. The nice things said after that, as the bishop finished and after the meeting, in all their sincerity, remained anticlimactic to those few moments earlier in the bishop’s remarks. Oh, what a challenge and a responsibility that meeting made me realize were to be mine! If met fully they were responsibilities to be shouldered only by a man, not a boy, and that a man of God.
My father and my brother Jerry offered the opening and closing prayers for the meeting.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
31. Glad Tidings of Great Joy
A bishopric message written on November 28, 2000, for the December 2000 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette.
Christmas. What a glorious time of year! A time when love and hope and light fill our darkened world for a brief moment. A season when generosity and good will and charity enlarge our souls just a little more.
And all this because a baby was born. In every age the glad tidings of great joy center in one pivotal truth: “the great and wonderful love made manifest by the Father and the Son in the coming of the Redeemer into the world” (D&C 138:3).
To the shepherds of ancient Judea: “I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10–11).
To the prophets of ancient America: “I am come to declare unto you the glad tidings of great joy. . . . For behold, the time cometh . . . that with power, the Lord Omnipotent . . . shall come down from heaven” (Mosiah 3:3–5).
The witness of the resurrected Christ Himself: “This is the gospel [literally the good news, the glad tidings] which I have given you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father” (3 Nephi 27:13).
And in our own day: “This is the gospel, the glad tidings, which the voice out of heaven bore record unto us—That he came into the world” (D&C 76:40–41).
Why? “To be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness; that through him all might be saved” (D&C 76:41–42). “That through his atonement, and by obedience to the principles of the gospel, mankind might be saved” (D&C 138:4). Good news indeed!
I close this message, my witness that Love Personified came into the world that first Christmas 2000 years ago, with a little Christmas poem I wrote some years ago:
He came,
The one bright perfect Light,
He came
To chase away the misted darkness of the night
And make my narrow pathway plain.
He died,
The sinless Son of God,
He died
To ransom me from sin's exacting, heavy rod,
And death, my death to set aside.
He lives,
The wondrous name of Love,
He lives
Who lifts my earth-stained soul, now cleansed, to home above,
And glory there forever gives.
Christmas. What a glorious time of year! A time when love and hope and light fill our darkened world for a brief moment. A season when generosity and good will and charity enlarge our souls just a little more.
And all this because a baby was born. In every age the glad tidings of great joy center in one pivotal truth: “the great and wonderful love made manifest by the Father and the Son in the coming of the Redeemer into the world” (D&C 138:3).
To the shepherds of ancient Judea: “I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10–11).
To the prophets of ancient America: “I am come to declare unto you the glad tidings of great joy. . . . For behold, the time cometh . . . that with power, the Lord Omnipotent . . . shall come down from heaven” (Mosiah 3:3–5).
The witness of the resurrected Christ Himself: “This is the gospel [literally the good news, the glad tidings] which I have given you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father” (3 Nephi 27:13).
And in our own day: “This is the gospel, the glad tidings, which the voice out of heaven bore record unto us—That he came into the world” (D&C 76:40–41).
Why? “To be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness; that through him all might be saved” (D&C 76:41–42). “That through his atonement, and by obedience to the principles of the gospel, mankind might be saved” (D&C 138:4). Good news indeed!
I close this message, my witness that Love Personified came into the world that first Christmas 2000 years ago, with a little Christmas poem I wrote some years ago:
He came,
The one bright perfect Light,
He came
To chase away the misted darkness of the night
And make my narrow pathway plain.
He died,
The sinless Son of God,
He died
To ransom me from sin's exacting, heavy rod,
And death, my death to set aside.
He lives,
The wondrous name of Love,
He lives
Who lifts my earth-stained soul, now cleansed, to home above,
And glory there forever gives.
Friday, April 18, 2008
20. Springtime
A bishopric message written on Monday, April 27, 1998, and published in the May 1998 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette.
Springtime. What a glorious time of year. A time of rebirth and renewal. A time of hope and promise. A time when the very earth bears record of Him who made it (see Moses 6:63; 2 Nephi 11:4 Alma 30:44; and Helaman 8:24).
Although in concert with the rest of the Christian world we celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus at Christmas time, we believe from latter-day revelation that it really happened in the spring of the year, during that season when shepherds would be “abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night” (Luke 2:8).
It was also in the spring of the year, at the season of Passover, when the Lamb of God worked out what Elder Neal A. Maxwell has called “the awful arithmetic of the atonement,” causing the Savior “to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit” (D&C 19:18) that He might take upon Him the pains and the sicknesses and the infirmities and the sins of His people (see Alma 7:11–13).
It was also on an early spring morning, the first day of the week, when faithful women arrived at an empty tomb to become the first witnesses of His glorious resurrection.
And it was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of 1820 that the boy Joseph walked into a grove of trees near his New York farmhouse and, in answer to his humble prayer, saw the Father and the Son in that glorious vision that opened the dispensation of the fulness of times.
These and a score of other springtime events associated with the gospel of Jesus Christ—such as the restoration of the priesthood in May 1829 and the organization of the Church in April 1830—all remind us of “the great and wonderful love made manifest by the Father and the Son in the coming of the Redeemer into the world; that through his atonement, and by obedience to the principles of the gospel, [we] might be saved” (D&C 138:3–4).
May God bless us, as we enjoy this season called spring, to remember always these evidences of His love.
Springtime. What a glorious time of year. A time of rebirth and renewal. A time of hope and promise. A time when the very earth bears record of Him who made it (see Moses 6:63; 2 Nephi 11:4 Alma 30:44; and Helaman 8:24).
Although in concert with the rest of the Christian world we celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus at Christmas time, we believe from latter-day revelation that it really happened in the spring of the year, during that season when shepherds would be “abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night” (Luke 2:8).
It was also in the spring of the year, at the season of Passover, when the Lamb of God worked out what Elder Neal A. Maxwell has called “the awful arithmetic of the atonement,” causing the Savior “to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit” (D&C 19:18) that He might take upon Him the pains and the sicknesses and the infirmities and the sins of His people (see Alma 7:11–13).
It was also on an early spring morning, the first day of the week, when faithful women arrived at an empty tomb to become the first witnesses of His glorious resurrection.
And it was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of 1820 that the boy Joseph walked into a grove of trees near his New York farmhouse and, in answer to his humble prayer, saw the Father and the Son in that glorious vision that opened the dispensation of the fulness of times.
These and a score of other springtime events associated with the gospel of Jesus Christ—such as the restoration of the priesthood in May 1829 and the organization of the Church in April 1830—all remind us of “the great and wonderful love made manifest by the Father and the Son in the coming of the Redeemer into the world; that through his atonement, and by obedience to the principles of the gospel, [we] might be saved” (D&C 138:3–4).
May God bless us, as we enjoy this season called spring, to remember always these evidences of His love.
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