Good Stuff

 

Kidney stones, flu, covid, flood waters from

broken pipes, divorce, $2200 car repairs, baby needing surgery, goodbyes, cancelled flights, and an unexpected death.  

These are all things that have happened not to me, but to those close around me in the last week.

Which can and will provide difficulties, discouragement, pain and suffering.  It's one of the collective experiences of humanity.

And YET..... thanks to our Savior those things aren't eternal.  

They still hurt.  They knock the wind out of us.  They can bring us to our knees.  But they aren't forever. 

As Joseph Smith was taught in D&C 121:7:

7My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

8And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.

9Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.

In the midst of the trials, I see the friends standing with my friends and my own opportunities for service.  

The janitor mopping the floors.  Colleagues showing up on their last day of vacation to help prepare classes for a coworker in crisis.  Vehicle lending and ride sharing. Cash quietly handed from one hand to another.  Meals and drugstore runs, and so many prayers.  

And you know what? 

So many of those things are exactly the kind of shining moments that Mr Rogers spoke of when he said,

"IN THE EXTERNAL SCHEME OF THINGS, SHINING MOMENTS ARE AS BRIEF AS THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE, YET SUCH TWINKLINGS ARE WHAT ETERNITY IS MADE OF - 

MOMENTS WHEN WE HUMAN BEINGS CAN SAY "I LOVE YOU," 

"I'M PROUD OF YOU. "

"I FORGIVE YOU"

"I'M GRATEFUL FOR YOU." 

THAT'S WHAT ETERNITY IS MADE OF:

INVISIBLE, IMPERISHABLE GOOD STUFF."

Yes, the problems will keep on coming. 

But never underestimate the invisible, imperishable good stuff.