Fear Not

 

A few days ago, after the explosions in Boston and Texas, a friend of mine wrote,

“I think we need to pray for the end of the world … I morphed into a 911 feeling with the Boston Marathon bombing.  I am tired of remembering where I was when … Kennedy was killed, Waco, OK City, Twin Towers 1, 911, anthrax, VA Tech, Sandy Hook, Boston … “

In a way I agree, I prefer remembering where I was when John Glenn orbited around the earth, the first man landed on the moon… But I’m not ready to pray for the end of the world.

Reminiscing about a movie I saw when I was a child, “Pollyanna,” I told her to write down each day on a card, one thing of beauty she saw each day. For me it was, the apple blossoms opening on a couple of our apple trees, a Queen Ann rose in luscious lavender at the nursery yesterday, two hot air balloons sailing across the sky this morning outside our dining room window, the sunset on the Sandia mountains, a sweet two year old pushing her stuffed monkey in a stroller at the mall.

I remember once my mom starting a gratitude journal. She decided that instead of complaining about her aches and pains, and sad feelings when someone spoke crossly to her, that she would keep a journal of only happy thoughts and things she was grateful for.

In his talk, Beautiful Mornings

Elder Bruce D. Porter  writes

"On a Thursday evening in Jerusalem, Jesus met with His disciples in an upper room to observe Passover. The men who joined Him did not know that this meal would someday be called the Last Supper. Had they known this and what it meant, they would have wept.

Their Master, however, perfectly understood that the ordeal of Gethsemane and of Golgotha would shortly begin. The darkest hours in the history of the world were imminent; nevertheless, Jesus said to them, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world”  John 16:33

We live today in an era of turbulence and uncertainty, a time the Lord prophesied to Enoch would be marked by “days of wickedness and vengeance” Moses 7:60 (Tribulation and difficult times may lie ahead, yet we too have cause for good cheer and rejoicing, for we live in the last dispensation, when God has restored His Church and kingdom to the earth in preparation for the return of His Son.

President Boyd K. Packer once spoke of his grandchildren and the increasingly troubled world in which they live. He said: “They will see many events transpire in the course of their lifetime. Some of these shall tax their courage and extend their faith. But if they seek prayerfully for help and guidance, they shall be given power over adverse things.”

And later he added: “The moral values upon which civilization itself must depend spiral downward at an ever-increasing pace. Nevertheless, I do not fear the future” (“Do Not Fear,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2004, 77, 78).

Brothers and sisters, we need not fear the future, nor falter in hope and good cheer, because God is with us, Trials may come, and we may not understand everything that happens to us or around us. But if we humbly, quietly trust in the Lord, He will give us strength and guidance in every challenge we face. When our only desire is to please Him, we will be blessed with a deep inner peace.”

So as spring shines it’s glory around us let us be grateful, and patient, and at peace.