They were in one, the children of Christ

Corona living. 

Is getting pretty old. 

I wish I could say that I loved living in uncertainty or that I loved the oppressive nature of stagnation. But I do not. I love movement. I love predictability. I love opportunity for growth, development and change. 

It sure seems like the world and our lives are in a stand still that is never going to let up.

I know that is not true. If there is one surety in life it is the truth that change is constant. Even in corona living I have had many changes take place- I had experience dating someone, we bought a golf cart, my kids go to hybrid school and I got a job to be a ski instructor this winter. There are things happening and changing all around me. 

But there is still this heaviness that overlays our lives. Everyone I talk with has felt it or currently feels it in some way, shape or form. There is a longing for times past and a yearning to hope for better days ahead. But the future is still so unclear. 

What will happen with the election? Is the vaccine going to set us free? Will our kids ever go back to regular school? Can we travel or go to concerts or sporting events again? Is Jesus coming soon? 

I wish we could know the answers to all of these questions. I wish we could know what is coming and WHEN things will get better. It would be so nice to have a crystal ball.

However, it seems like that is the test. The NOT KNOWING. The inability to see what is ahead and therefore the need to walk by faith. To trust. To do our best and then give the rest to the Lord and believe that He sees the end from the beginning. That because He knows we do not have to. 

There are many things that I am grateful for. That have helped me to feel comfort and peace even in the midst of so much that is unknown. 

I have access to scripture- to God's words for people here and now.

I was able to listen to and re-listen to the words of living prophets. People who hear what God wants us to know and do TODAY and communicate that information to us. 

I have access to priesthood power through my covenants. Those promises that I made with my Heavenly Father in the temple through ordinances that give me access to His power to bless my life and the lives of the people that I love. 

I have the support of family and friends. People who literally help to lift my burden by caring for me and our children and who are there to talk to and offer comfort and support. I am not alone and continually receive the care and love of the Lord through the good people in my life. 

And I have Jesus. I have a Savior and know and am known of Him. 

I just finished reading in 4 Nephi 1: 1-18 about what life was like for the people after Christ came to visit the Americas. It was such a wonderful time to read about. Just the description of that life- how the people of that generation lived peaceably and with no contention for 200 years is something I cannot even understand but which captures my imagination with its beautiful reality. What a time to be alive! 

I started thinking about Mormon, who compiled the record and who lived at a time completely opposite to what he was writing about in 4 Nephi. He lived in a day of war, bloodshed and total disregard for human life. His day was one in which people hated each other and had no place for faith or God or humanity. It must have been so awful.

Now, while our time is not yet like Mormon's, I feel in a new way for how he must have relished reading about this people who lived after the coming of Christ. Why his exclamations are so powerful- saying "How blessed were they!" and "There could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God." 

He must have loved to read about a time when people were so pure and good and lovely to each other that the Lord was able to bless them in all of their doings. When they had peace and did not contend with each other. When there were no bad things- no murders, no lyings, no plundering, no whoredoms, no strife. NONE. What would that be like?

As part of my study the manual asked this question- how did the people maintain divine peace for so long? And the reading gave one answer. In verse 17 it states "they were in one, the children of Christ and heirs to the kingdom of God."  

I think the relationship between these two things is critical. First, the people of this time understood their identity. Each person knew that he or she was a child of Christ. That they were His and born of Him through the covenant they made at baptism. They had taken His name upon them and were trying to live as He lived. And second, once each person knew his or her true identity as a child of Christ, they were able to be one. United in purpose to lift, serve, help and build up the people around them- whom they also saw as children of Christ and fellow heirs of the kingdom of God. 

And as I have pondered these thoughts this morning my feeling is that my offering at this time- the thing I can "do" when it feels like so much is out of my control is to solidify my faith in my own identity as a daughter of Christ. As one of His followers and disciples. And then to help the people around me. My children. My family members. The young women in my ward. My friends. To know and understand and feel the same thing- that they are daughters and sons of Christ. Born of Him through baptismal covenant and heirs of God's kingdom through His grace.

I think that is the great challenge of our day. The fight with Satan for the control of our identity. Who we view ourselves as and whose we think we are. It seems to all be coming down to that- the fight for our identity both individually and collectively as a people. And as long as I have breath I will fight to remain true to my real identity- a daughter of God and an heir to His kingdom through the merits, mercy and grace of Jesus Christ. 

I am grateful for the example of a people who knew who and whose they were. Who were true to that identity and who reaped the benefits both as families and collectively as a society for living as the children of Christ. I know this unity is possible for us today- even as the world is in strife around us. It is something we can do- to hone our own sense of identity as children of Christ and heirs to God's kingdom and then help others to make or be true to their covenant to do the same. And doing so may just make all the difference.