Sally B. Palmer wrote:
Jesus said, . . . “In the barren deserts there shall come forth pools of living water; and the parched ground shall no longer be a thirsty land” (Doctrine and Covenants 133:29). He said his voice shall be “as the voice of many waters, . . . which shall break down the mountains (Doctrine and Covenants 133:22). Jesus said, “I will give unto him that is athirst . . . of the water of life” (Revelation 21:6).
The scriptures are full of images of Christ as water and of his atonement as the water of life. For me the Atonement is that ocean wave at the sea shore that makes everything smooth again. . . .
. . . . How can wrecked lives be restored; how can broken families be healed; how can destroyed bodies regain wholeness; how can wasted years be brought back; how can crushed hopes and testimonies be regained?
“Restoring what you cannot restore, healing the wound you cannot heal; fixing that which you broke and you cannot fix is the very purpose of the atonement of Christ, , , , There is no habit, no addiction, no rebellion, no transgression, no apostasy, no crime exempted from the promise of complete forgiveness. That is the promise of the atonement of Christ. . . .” That is a powerful statement from latter-day Apostle Boyd K. Packer (Ensign, November 1995, 19-20). Think of it when you lift that tiny paper cup to your lips Sunday morning and let those few drops slide across your tongue. This is just a symbolic portion of the mighty force of the living water. Not only can it heal the unhealable but its awesome power can change the landscape in other ways, too. It has the power to crash against the rocky cliffs, sending its spray high into the air; to crush huge boulders into sand, carve valleys out of mountains, and dash ships and cities into bits.
The Atonement is infinite. The ocean is endless; the waves constant. Eventually, every hole every gorge will disappear without a trace, no matter how ravaged the landscape, through the atonement of Jesus Christ. To Qualify for that wave of cleansing water, we have to repent of the wrong we have done. We must acknowledge the mess we’ve made, be sorry for its ugliness, and try to smooth it out ourselves. We may have to live with it for a time, while the tide’s out, suffering perhaps by having to put up with the gritty sand blowing about in our eyes, or the salt, or the debris that’s strewn around. But eventually the wave will come, and then, like Alma, we will exclaim, “Oh, what joy . . . yeah, my soul was filled with the joy as exceeding as was my pain!” (Alma 36:20).
Close your eyes; see the living water run into your soul and fill up your empty spaces with peace. Feel the cool spray on your cheeks, and hear the wavelet’s whisper. “Every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters (Isaiah 55:1) and with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3). ~Sally B. Palmer, The Gift of the Atonement (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2001). 96-97
