Sometimes it takes awhile for my ideas to converge and then coalesce sufficiently to write a blog that (hopefully) conveys something worth reading. This one has been weeks in the making–kind of like a fine sourdough bread starter, with thoughts bubbling to the surface constantly, yet still not ready to throw in the pan and bake–until now. It all started about a month ago during the weekly Come Follow Me get together that we host at our apartment each Monday night for a group that is comprised of young adults that are all recent converts. One of them–someone that Sister Bates and I helped teach and that I baptized–made a comment that got my attention. By the time other members of the group had agreed with her comment, it is fair to say that I was a little shocked. Perhaps I should explain.
Let me start with this quote from Rest unto Your Souls, a talk given by Per G. Malm during the October 2010 General Conference.
In our day-to-day actions, it is often the small and simple things that will have a long-lasting impact (see Alma 37:6–7). What we say, how we act, and how we choose to react will influence not only ourselves but also those around us. We can build up, or we can tear down. A simple and positive example is a story told about my grandmother. She sent one of her young children to buy some eggs. The trusted child was probably joyfully walking home along the road, but most of the eggs were broken when the child arrived home. A friend of the family was there and admonished my grandmother to scold the child for behaving so badly. Instead, Grandmother calmly and wisely said, “No, that will not make the eggs whole again. We will simply use what we can and make some pancakes that we can enjoy together.”
I will come back to this quote later, but probably not in the way you are imagining.
But now let’s travel back in time a few weeks to our Come Follow Me group. We were discussing 2 Nephi 20-25, and people were taking turns reading passages that had stuck out to them. One of them read from 1 Nephi 20.
18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments—then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.
Then she matter-of-factly turned to the others and said (in French) “I don’t know about you all, but I have not found any peace since joining the church.” Then, one by one, the others began agreeing with her, indicating that they also had failed to find peace in their lives by joining the church. At first I was in denial, thinking that it was possibly my suspect French comprehension, and they weren’t really saying what they were, in fact, saying. But then I realized that my French comprehension was just fine, thank you, but my feelings–and perhaps my pride–were not.
In fact, all of a sudden I felt like the little boy in Elder Malm’s talk. Sister Bates and I had been called and sent to Québec to go find some eggs and bring them back home, metaphorically speaking. And we had done so joyfully. But now, I looked in the basket, and all of the eggs were somehow broken. Or so it seemed to me at that moment. My thoughts immediately turned to John 14.
27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Why didn’t they feel that peace? But, as I began to think about it, what kind of peace was Christ really referring to? Maybe the answer lay in His saying that it was “my peace”, coupled with that simple but meaningful parenthetical: “not as the world giveth.” Elder Ballard once asked this very question and came up with a similar answer:
Was He promising His beloved associates the kind of peace the world recognizes–safety, security, with the absence of contention or tribulation? Certainly the historical record would suggest otherwise. Those original Apostles knew much of trial and persecution throughout the remainder of their lives, which is probably why the Lord added this insight to His promise: “Not as the world giveth, give I unto you.”
All of these young recent converts had experienced–and were still feeling the effects of–extremely difficult physical and/or emotional circumstances during their lives. Such that the place they are in now is nothing short of a miracle. Maybe I had been expecting too much too soon with them. Part of me was afraid that perhaps they were more like Humpty Dumpty–or Elder Malm’s grandmother’s eggs–and would never be able to be put back together again. Perhaps the best that they could do was just muddle through life and enjoy some pancakes together. I mean, pancakes aren’t so bad. Up here they call them crêpes and they are pretty darn good. But still.
As my mind drifted back to the conversation that was continuing around our dinner table, I heard one of the young adults musing that perhaps finding peace was a lifelong journey. He expressed confidence that if they all continued along the path, they would eventually find it. The discussion ended shortly afterwards on a positive note.
In John 16, the Savior said:
33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
As Elder Ballard put it:
Peace—real peace, whole-souled to the very core of your being—comes only in and through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. When that precious truth is discovered and gospel principles are understood and applied, great peace can distill in the hearts and souls of our Heavenly Father’s children. Said the Savior through Joseph Smith, “Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me” (D&C 19:23).
Do any of us really find peace during this life? Certainly not as the world giveth. And is that the worst thing? As I think about where each of these individuals started out, where they are now, and the amazing things that still remain in their respective futures, I have faith that maybe, just maybe, the members of our fledging group are going to be just fine. Maybe, instead of noticing the broken bits of egg in the bottom of the basket, I should have been more focused on the newly-hatched chicks that have emerged.