Wise Men Still Seek Him

Wise men seek Him still.

While anyone who knows me can attest that I have a flare for the dramatic, I've never really been a fan of theatrics when it comes to sacred things. Certain aspects of things like pioneer trek reenactments can make me feel uncomfortable, simply because that's not how I feel the spirit. So when Relief Society on Sunday started off with a Christmas tree with presents on it, and the lesson was for different sisters to go up and unwrap the gifts of Christ, I confess that I rolled my eyes a bit and started reading a talk on my phone. The Relief Society president in the ward I was attending had just been released, and one of the sisters in the ward told me that it was because she's been incredibly sick for the past several years without any relief in sight. As the women started opening the "gifts" on the tree, they would call up the next sister to open the next one. When the newly-released Relief Society president went up and opened her "gift," she read, "this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people… and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.”

Needless to say, quite a few people were crying by the end. Some might call that a coincidence, that a woman suffering deeply from physical illness pulls a wrapped quote off a Christmas tree that talks about the power of Christ to heal, and to succor those with illness. But I don’t buy that. I felt chagrined that I was skeptical of this teaching method, when clearly there were people getting the support they needed from it. As always, God is aware of what’s going on, and taking care of things.

I think for me, that is a true spirit of Christmas; all that is unfair about life WILL be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. There are so many times when it seems that’s an impossible statement, when you look around at all the injustice in the world. But incredibly enough, I believe it with all that I am. It is precisely the difficulties of this life that make the light of Christ so beautiful to me. He is the light because it is through Him that we can see everything around us. “May the beautiful lights of every holiday season remind us of Him who is the source of all light.”

Looking back, it’s been a rough year. It’s been a wonderful year. A year full of miracles, loneliness, tender mercies, frustration, music, tears, long days followed by late nights, change and moments that made me laugh so hard it hurt. Throughout all of it, I feel great hope for what is to come. Because fortunately, I’m not the one in charge. Merry Christmas, all you wonderful, lovely people!