I was very interested to read the Church’s statement on what members could do to help mitigate the tragedy in Haiti.
“Money is not the only need in Haiti. People are frightened, bewildered, and wholly uncertain about their future. In addition to what people can do in helping with food, water and shelter, there needs to be a calming influence over that troubled nation. We invite our people everywhere to supplicate God for a spirit of calm and peace among the people as urgent aid and reconstruction efforts continue” (lds.org/Newsroom 22 January)
The only balm for disaster in our lives is the Spirit. I think of those patient, stunned children lying in the road in Haiti, too ill and dehydrated even to move. I know they are traumatized, but I also know that they are not forgotten. The Light of Christ is within them, and should they die from this horrendous event, they will be clasped in the arms of their Savior and know more love than they ever thought possible.
How can we apply this to our own, equally fragile lives? Should we fear? Should we be anxious? The answer comes in the above scripture from the Lord to Oliver Cowdery.
Fear, doubt, sin, and pride .are the greatest stumbling blocks to faith. So, as part of following the standard advice, “If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear,” we need to concentrate not only on disaster preparedness, but most importantly on spiritual preparedness.
It is past time that we set our spiritual houses in order. For many years, I was beset by fear and anxiety that totally crippled me, and prevented me from gaining the faith I needed to be healed from a long illness. I had repented and continued to repent from every sin I could think of, and my illness had humbled me to the dust, but I held on to my fears. I could not give them up. However. the more I came to understand the atonement, the more I realized that to “look to me in all things” meant that we had to develop trust. We aren’t looking to Him in all things if we are concentrating on our checkbooks, our children’s faults, the news of the world. Looking to him in all things means literally that. It is a form of consecration. Consecration of our hearts, souls, and minds, so that we are conditioned to pray each day about all our fears, worries, and concerns and lay them all on the altar, summoning the faith in the atonement to know that “I can do all things through Jesus Christ which strengthened me.” If we truly take this as our watchword, we will have the faith necessary to feel the peace of the Spirit, and will be enabled through the grace of the atonement of our Elder Brother to endure what must be endured, and to do what must be done.
I learned this lesson in a very dramatic fashion. As soon as I finally understood the reality of grace to help me trust my Savior in all things, I put my whole life’s worth of worries and fears on the altar. I felt them physically leave my body. My chest was no longer constricted. My breaths were no longer shallow. And then, within the week, the new medication that dramatically healed me was found and administered to me by my doctor.
A habit of a lifetime of worry cannot be easily overcome, so I spend many hours in the Celestial Room, trying to be very quiet in my heart and soul so that I can identify new worries and give them to the Lord. At the same time, I often receive instruction. But, always I leave with the warmth of the Spirit comforting me, validating in my mind and heart that no matter how things appear to me, the Lord of the Universe is in control. I leave my doubt and fear at the doors of the temple, and strengthened beyond my own capacity, go out into the world and do what is requisite for the mission and responsibilities the Lord has given me.




