From the book, “The Power of Stillness by:
~Jacob Z. Hess, Carrie L. Skarda, Kyle D, Anderson, Ty R,Mansfield, The Power of Stillness (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2019) p.144-48
Salvation by Presence:
Compared to relief through avoidance, both Buddhist liberation and Christian salvation involve some degree of turning toward what is hard and what is painful.
Out of that, of course, a believer then turns toward God—not necessarily to distract from or take away all the pain magically (although this is how we all pray sometimes), but ultimately and fundamentally to seek a relationship and associated guidance in how to find redemption from it over time.
Henri Nouwen wrote by way of invitation, “Solitude is the place of our salvation. . . .It is the place where Christ remodels us in his own image and frees us from victimizing compulsions of the world.” Given that, he suggests that we ought to take responsibility for our own solitude and fashion our desert to where we can withdraw every day, shake off our compulsions, and dwell in the gentle healing presence of the Lord.
Wrenching Our Very Heartstrings
Although that healing presence is often tender, sometimes the Great Physician is committed enough to our growth that He is willing to let us undergo treatments that may hurt . . . sometimes, a lot! In sharp contrast to all the soothing self-help gurus, Jesus thus taught His followers to “take up your cross,” to the point of sometimes “crucifying” aspects of our lives that betray His will. The idea is portrayed memorably in C. S. Lewis’s portrayal of God’s deeply uncomfortable renovation process:
Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is he up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself. God will feel after and He will take hold of you and wrench you very heartstrings.“10
Referring to the suffering Jesus sometimes had His followers to endure. Joseph Smith was quoted as saying, “You’ll have all kinds of trials to pass through. And it is quite necessary for you to be tried as it was for Abraham and other men of God. .
Jesus had something to say about that. “The Son of man is come to seek and save that which was lost. . . . They that are whole (healthy) need not a physician; but they that are sick” (Luke 19:10; 5:31).
Could those most painful moments be when the good news of Jesus matters the very most?
That has been our experience.
It’s in our pain that Christ comes in and says, “That’s why I came. Let’s do this together!” Beyond forgiveness of sins alone, He offers far more: even power for those who feel powerless. Where else would the motivation come when our hearts don’t want it? Where would we find the insight to see change when our otherwise blinded minds can no longer see it?
Practically speaking, this becomes our choice, moment by moment: Do we run after some kind of stimulation to not feel this? Or do we take whatever we feel to Him—the One who has the authority, power and empathy (see Alma 7:12) to lead us to a redemption unmatched by anything else?
The best news of all is that He actually delivers! In contrast to all the worlds promises of relief, He actually comes through for us—and then stays with us after. In the communion of prayer, the remission of sacrament, and even the stillness’ of meditation, it is Christ whose light is “in all and through all things” and “which giveth life to all things.” (Doctrine & Covenants 88:6, 13). As King Benjamin added, It is He who is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath that you may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another: (Mosiah 2:21)
The Best News
As powerful as reminders of other points of doctrine can be—from pre-mortality to the Atonement of Jesus Christ, to eternal families—for someone deeply hurting and lost to their core, they might need to hear the bigger, simpler message of Jesus. That message is that tomorrow doesn’t have to be like today—and even this very next moment doesn’t have to be like the last one.
Scripture speaks of a “new heart,” a “new spirit,” and a “new life”— welcome possibilities for these wearied by their own past. No matter what has happened previously, the very next moment can be new—wholly fresh. Isn’t that truly the best news?
No therapy, no drug, no relationship, no movie, no accomplishment can offer the same relief. That’s what that mindfulness practice called the sacrament offers: a chance to start fresh, to have sins lifted from shoulders, and to place our feet on new ground in a new day. If people understood what was being offered in that ordinance, they might just camp out or line up early, to have sins lifted from shoulders, and to place feet on new ground, in a new day. ~Jacob Z. Hess, Carrie L. Skarda, Kyle D, Anderson, Ty R,Mansfield, The Power of Stillness (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2019) p.144-48
