Blessed Are They that Mourn
In one of Christ's most famous sermons, He told His disciples, "Blessed are they that mourn." Truthfully, I found these words a little unsettling. Can we only receive blessings through intense suffering? If life is going well, do I need to seek trials to be a true disciple?
I've been pondering this topic for months, and I finally feel like I have an answer that works for me.
When Christ suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane, I believe that He felt each one of our pains: from heartbreak to stubbed toes to appendicitis. He experienced every moment in which we feel embarrassed or upset or alone. He went through all this to be able to understand us perfectly. With that understanding, He is able to succor us, comfort us, and strengthen us.
We are commanded to become like Him, which means we too must succor, comfort, and strengthen others. But we may not have experienced imprisonment, anorexia, cancer, addiction, sexual assault, or depression. We may not be a minority, a refugee, or a member of the LGBT+ community. We may never have lost a job, lost a child, or lost our faith. Even if we have undergone a similar situation to someone else, our experiences will still be different.
We will never truly understand someone's pain, but we can try.
We can experience art, blogs, songs, books, movies, and articles that can open our eyes to another perspective. We can have more open conversations with others and truly listen to their experiences. We can strive for increased sensitivity in our words and actions. We can pray for understanding and an increased ability to love.
When Christ tells us to mourn, He means to have empathy, even if it's imperfect empathy. We must try to understand, and even if we can't, we must still love unconditionally.
Love was His greatest commandment. When we commit our lives to Him, we promise to love others. Another book of scripture words this promise as being "willing to mourn with those that mourn." The crowning characteristic of a disciple of Christ has always been love/charity, which I believe includes empathy and understanding.
Imagine if the whole world lived this way. During times of trial, we could find solace in our friends and neighbors. We would always have people to succor us, comfort us, and strengthen us. If the whole world mourned, we would all find comfort.
Until that day, we must remember that there is always One who perfectly knows our struggles, who is there to succor, comfort, and strengthen us.
I've been pondering this topic for months, and I finally feel like I have an answer that works for me.
When Christ suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane, I believe that He felt each one of our pains: from heartbreak to stubbed toes to appendicitis. He experienced every moment in which we feel embarrassed or upset or alone. He went through all this to be able to understand us perfectly. With that understanding, He is able to succor us, comfort us, and strengthen us.
We are commanded to become like Him, which means we too must succor, comfort, and strengthen others. But we may not have experienced imprisonment, anorexia, cancer, addiction, sexual assault, or depression. We may not be a minority, a refugee, or a member of the LGBT+ community. We may never have lost a job, lost a child, or lost our faith. Even if we have undergone a similar situation to someone else, our experiences will still be different.
We will never truly understand someone's pain, but we can try.
We can experience art, blogs, songs, books, movies, and articles that can open our eyes to another perspective. We can have more open conversations with others and truly listen to their experiences. We can strive for increased sensitivity in our words and actions. We can pray for understanding and an increased ability to love.
When Christ tells us to mourn, He means to have empathy, even if it's imperfect empathy. We must try to understand, and even if we can't, we must still love unconditionally.
Love was His greatest commandment. When we commit our lives to Him, we promise to love others. Another book of scripture words this promise as being "willing to mourn with those that mourn." The crowning characteristic of a disciple of Christ has always been love/charity, which I believe includes empathy and understanding.
Imagine if the whole world lived this way. During times of trial, we could find solace in our friends and neighbors. We would always have people to succor us, comfort us, and strengthen us. If the whole world mourned, we would all find comfort.
Until that day, we must remember that there is always One who perfectly knows our struggles, who is there to succor, comfort, and strengthen us.
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| Photo by Aarón Blanco Tejedor on Unsplash |
Carole M. Stephens, speaking in the context of the family, had similar thoughts when she spoke April 2015 General Conference:
ReplyDelete"I’ve never had to live through divorce, the pain and insecurity that comes from abandonment, or the responsibility associated with being a single mother. I haven’t experienced the death of a child, infertility, or same-gender attraction. I haven’t had to endure abuse, chronic illness, or addiction. These have not been my stretching opportunities.
So right now some of you are thinking, “Well then, Sister Stephens, you just don’t understand!” And I answer that you may be right. I don’t completely understand your challenges. But through my personal tests and trials—the ones that have brought me to my knees—I have become well acquainted with the One who does understand, He who was “acquainted with grief,” who experienced all and understands all. And in addition, I have experienced all of the mortal tests that I just mentioned through the lens of a daughter, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend.
Our opportunity as covenant-keeping daughters of God is not just to learn from our own challenges; it is to unite in empathy and compassion as we support other members of the family of God in their struggles, as we have covenanted to do."