"And he spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked, and I beheld the Lamb of God going forth among the children of men. And I beheld multitudes of people who were sick, and who were afflicted with all manner of diseases, and with devils and unclean spirits; and the angel spake and showed all these things unto me. And they were healed by the power of the Lamb of God; and the devils and the unclean spirits were cast out."
This is another part of Nephi's dream where he sees the Savior going forth among the people in the Old World and healing their sick. Heavenly Father sent His Son to heal us -- heal us from broken hearts, hurt pride, injustices, afflictions, disappointments, tragedies. His healing power can reach down through all levels of pain if we let Him. He can heal marriages, He can heal families.
I've mentioned before that I am recently divorced. I grew up in a divorced family, and one thing that I hated was the bitterness between my parents. Knowing how my mom felt, I felt so much guilt for wanting to spend time with my father, for looking forward to our summer visits. I felt even more guilt as I chose to move in with him after I graduated from high school. Even after 40-something years, every once in awhile you'd hear a snide comment. There were times when I wanted to shake her and say, 'Grow up!' What was more infuriating was that the divorce was all her choice. I didn't understand the bitterness and I knew I didn't want to have those feelings in my own life. A few weeks after I initiated my own divorce, my friend asked me if I was going to turn into one of those 'bitter divorcees'. Knowing my nature and my past history, I didn't think it was even possible. I'm one of the most peaceful kind of people I know, having no known enemies and feeling great compassion for people as a whole.
And then my stbx husband unleashed all his fury and hatred on me. It was like his true colors were immediately unveiled and he did everything in his power to hurt me, lied about me to my friends and neighbors and children, trying to turn them against me, and started removing things from our home while I worked during the day. Those 11 months were the hardest I'd ever had in my life up to that point, and that was his goal. He prolonged the divorce for no viable reasons, thus creating more attorney fees. After my home was awarded to me, it cost me another $400 in attorney fees just to get him to move out. I think I had every reason to hold bitterness in my heart. But I had never forgotten what my neighbor asked me from the very beginning.... "are you going to become one of those 'bitter divorcees"?
So I took my hurts to God. He helped me rise above the pettiness and do my best to act with grace and civility. He gave me the strength and faith to believe that everything would turn out as it should, and that He would make everything right. He kept my heart soft and forgiving, and helped me understand how mentally and emotionally sick my husband was. Helping me to further understand that my husband was projecting his self-loathing on to me aided me immensely. I don't want to paint a picture that I didn't have feelings of hurt or anger or bitterness. The difference was that those feelings didn't stay. They evaporated as I tried very hard to stay close to God and listen for His direction. The God I worship healed my hurts and reminded me that only His opinion of me mattered. I felt He helped others remember my true character, because I am still loved by many with the exception of his close work associates, who don't know me at all and chose to believe everything my husband reported. It has been so satisfying to reflect on the status of my heart and realize that I have no ill feelings towards my ex-husband. I choose to not communicate with him as a safety precaution, but that doesn't mean I haven't forgiven him.
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And I looked and beheld the Redeemer of the world, of whom my father had spoken; and I also beheld the prophet who should prepare the way before him. And the Lamb of God went forth and was baptized of him; and after he was baptized, I beheld the heavens open, and the Holy Ghost come down out of heaven and abide upon him in the form of a dove. And I beheld that he went forth ministering unto the people, in power and great glory; and the multitudes were gathered together to hear him; and I beheld that they cast him out from among them."
In a dream, Nephi is blessed to see the Savior of the World in the Old World going forth among the Jewish people. He was sent to show us the way to live and how to return back to Heaven. His example in the scriptures show us plainly the way we should live in order to bring us the most amount of happiness during this mortal period. He also shows us how to behave so we might become more like Him, thus more like our Father. We follow His example by exercising faith and being baptized by immersion, like Jesus did. We follow His example by forgiving, being kind and charitable. We follow His example of being non-judgmental. We follow His example of loving little children. We follow His example by teaching others about His gospel. We follow His example by praying to our Father. We follow His example of great compassion on all those around us. We follow His example of doing our best to help others heal. We follow His example by helping people who are blind to the mysteries of God, "see" once more or for the very first time. We follow His example of loving and fellowshipping others that might seem "dead" to spiritual things, that we might "raise them up" again. We follow His example by turning from the temptations of the world and finding out what God's will is for us, then follow it. The God I worship sent His Son as a sure example to follow.
I discovered something about God on the very first page. Moroni's introduction, or "Title Page" lets us know that these records (the Book of Mormon), which contain histories of 3 different civilizations, were written by way of commandment from God. The reasons he gives number 3 as well: (1) to 'remember the great things the Lord hath done...', (2) to discover 'covenants' and (3) to convince everyone who Jesus Christ is.
Records must be very important to God. The Book of Mormon has a subtitle: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. This particular record bears testimony of Jesus Christ. Perhaps God's commandment to write about these things was purely for our benefit. He didn't need the reminder. The people written about never saw the completed record. It must have been important to God for us to have something tangible we could hold in our hands. This record was abridged by a prophet of God, buried in the earth to keep it protected, then brought forth by another prophet of God. No series of scribes from different sects, no revisions by hand through hundreds of years, no different interpretations.
During a very unpleasant divorce, I wrote letters to God most every night in a personal journal. I can't remember what made me stop, but I "re-discovered" it 6 months after things were final. It was chuck full of recognized blessings, feelings of great love and peace from a Divine source, and an acknowledgement of the different windows and doors of opportunity that were opened to me during this time. This was a volume of my "personal scripture". I had forgotten probably half of what I'd written. Mortals forget -- that's just the human part of us. But I'm so glad that I had written many "great things that the Lord hath done" for me during that time period. It was my own record and witness of God's personal dealings with me and a witness of how intimate He could be.
Records are important to God, because He knows they will be important to us. We need these records to continually be reminded of God's love for us, his constant direction for us and to hear His voice at different times in our lives. I have read these scriptures multiple times, and depending on what phase of life I am in, there seems to always be something that stands out more than others, even though I'd read it dozens of times.
The God I worship feels His Word is important enough to be written down, preserved and brought forth and spread across the earth.
