Today at church we had a wonderful lesson on hope based on a talk entitled "Hope" given by one of the LDS General Authorities (click the title of the talk to see the whole thing, which I recommend).
The teacher of the class opened by asking "What is the difference between 'faith' and 'hope'?" This question really made me think. This afternoon I went back and read the entire talk and found this statement to be the most helpful explanation: "faith is rooted in Jesus Christ. Hope centers in the Atonement. Charity is manifest in the 'pure love of Christ.'" To me it boils down to this: we have faith in what is, we hope in what can be.
The talk also mentions the story of a 73 year old Scottish woman who made the trek across the country to try to gather with the Saints in the Salt Lake Valley in 1856. This woman was a part of the ill-fated Martin Handcart company and died in North Dakota, not reaching her destination or family there in Zion. Her last words illustrate the faith and hope that we can all have if we take the steps necessary and head in the right direction...even if we do not reach our goal. She said, "Tell John [her son in SLV] I died with my face toward Zion."
That story struck me. Despite all her suffering and sacrifice, she did not get the result she had worked so hard for or desired, but she did not curse God or ask why. She still had hope, rooted in her faith, and she gave it her all. She died with her looking toward Zion. As I reflected, I realized I can apply that in my daily life. I hope I can achieve all the righteous desires of my heart, but if I take the necessary steps and still don't quite make it, like this pioneer woman, I know that my 'face is towards Zion.' I would like to think that at the end of each day, I can lay my head down with my face toward Zion, even if things don't go perfectly and I don't get everything I want. One of the women in the class added, "This life is not the reward, this life is the test. We can do everything right and wonder where all our blessings are, but we need to remember that they may not come in this life because we are here to be tested. The rewards may not come until later."
This whole idea finished a thought that had occurred to me as I reflected on an unfortunate situation I find myself in. I worked very hard and got great results for many years on some stuff, but at the end of it things did not end quite as well or positively as I would have liked. It may in fact, negatively impact my future. But when I realized that I didn't do anything wrong or anything to regret, I knew the Lord would take care of me. I may not get the results that I originally desired, but knowing that I truly did the best I could and hoping for good things in the future, my face is towards Zion and I can be happy about it.
Elder Snow had a great quote about hope and hopes, "Hope can inspire dreams and spur us to realize those dreams. Hope alone, however, does not cause us to succeed. Many honorable hopes have gone unfulfilled, shipwrecked on the reefs of good intentions and laziness." LOVE that. How many unfinished projects or aspirations do we have that we have not achieved just because we didn't do it?! That really motivated me to stick with some projects that I have been tempted to abandon on the 'reefs of good intentions and laziness.'
Anyway, I'm not normally so preachy, but I was really inspired by this, so I thought I'd share.
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