To Those Most in Need of Comfort

"Yes, we who are so forgetful and even rebellious are never forgotten by Him! We are His 'work' and his 'glory', and He is never distracted." -Neal A. Maxwell (October 1981 General Conference)

     It's been a loooong time since I posted. I think I made this blog and then posted once, which is more pathetic that I care to say. But hey, that's what New Year's Resolutions are for, right?
     Ok, really, the only reason I'm posting right now is because there's something that I've been thinking about for the past few days. We had a lesson this past week in seminary about how our Savior knows how it feels to be misrepresented, betrayed, alone, etc. We were reading in John and covered scriptures mostly in chapter 18, but I kept getting distracted by my hyperactive brain and all the thoughts it was coming up with about our Savior and this developing thought of His loneliness.
     As the lesson went on, I began to think that we cannot complain to Christ about being alone, or feeling alone. He came to this Earth to perform the one task that is possibly the loneliest of all tasks to ever be performed on this Earth. No one could do it for Him or with Him, or even help Him do part of it. He had to do it all and He had to do it by Himself with only the support from His Father who was not even on the Earth with Him. Even His closest friends could not give Him real support or encouragement because they didn't understand what He had to do and that it had to be done. Throughout the New Testament, He tells His apostles that he hour is coming when the Prince will be cast out and lifted from the Earth (John 10:18-20; John 12:31-34), and they did not understand.
     I have since realized that it was all this that made Him the best to turn to in times when we most need comfort. The utter loneliness that He experienced was not a reason to turn away from him in those times because comparatively we have nothing to complain about, but gives us any reason we would ever need to run TO Him. 
     In Gethsemane, He went alone to suffer for our sins. We don't know really exactly what happened there, but Jeffrey R. Holland tells us that "In the moonlit silence of that Near Eastern night, every acute pain, every heartfelt grief, every crushing wrong and human hurt experienced by every man, woman, and child in the human family was to be heaped upon his weary shoulders. But in such a moment, when someone might have said it to him, he rather says to us, 'Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.'" (He Loved Them Unto the End, November 1989 GC) Everything I've gone through, everything you've gone through, He went through by Himself in the sacred Garden. And not just me and you, but everybody who has lived, will live, and is living on the Earth. He understands every sorrow and affliction they have encountered or will encounter. No matter what we're going through, and whether or not we're going through it alone, He went through it. And He did go through it alone. 
     Immediately following this, He was taken to Pilate and crucified. He carried His cross up the hill by Himself and died on the cross by Himself before who knows how many people who hated Him because He was not and is not of the world (John 7:7). Now that isn't to say that there weren't people who loved Him. He was loved. But all those who loved Him were helpless to the necessity of the great and last sacrifice of the Lamb, as it was not able to be a sacrifice of man (or of anything else) (Alma 34:10, 14). If there is anyone who has felt the fullness of being "alone", it is our Savior. 
     But the most interesting part is that we are not alone. We have Him, and the Holy Ghost, and we have our Father in Heaven, which is immensely more than what He had, as the presence of both these beings we're emovedf rom Christ as he was crucified (Matt 27:46; D&C 76:107) and they will never forget or forsake us. Elder Baxter once said, "God is forsaken in the all-too-human yet mistaken fear that God has forsaken us." There is no alone. He is always with us and He wants us to return to Him just as much as we do. He gave us the gift of the Holy Ghost (John 16:8, 13), not only to guide us to truth and remembrance, but to comfort us (John 14:16-17, 26). Nobody is ever alone, and Christ is the only one who's felt the closest to it. 
     During the times when those closest to us just don't seem to understand, instead of considering it a trial or even a punishment, let us consider it a testimony-builder, something that will bring us closer to Christ as we feel just a fraction of what he felt when He told his apostles and disciples of His purpose (John 12:27; John 18:27; Luke 19:10), and they simply did not understand. 
     During the times that we feel like the rest of the world hates us because we don't fit in, let's not only remember that the world hated Christ and He knows how we feel, but let's also remember that when we are hated by the world, it is because we are doing what we should. We should not want to fit in with the world, and if we refuse to, we are representing Zion well, and we will be exalted for it (John 17:14-16). 
     During the times that we feel most alone, let us remember that we are not. We are not because our Savior knows exactly how we feel. We are not because He gave us the Comforter to always be with us if our desires are righteous (DC 7:1; Proverbs 10:24). 
     Let us always remember the many gifts and blessings that come to us through the Atonement. Let us always change our perspective so that trials become opportunities, even blessings. Let us never forget our Savior and always keep Him close to our thoughts, and closer to our hearts. Let us recognize that He is not only the Savior, and the Redeemer, but our Savior, your Redeemer. Let us understand that our Savior loves broken things, and He is waiting for us to return to Him. 
     "Then all that was promised the Saints will be given,

And they will be crown'd with the angels of heav'n,

And earth will appear as the Garden of Eden,

And Christ and his people will ever be one.

...And Jesus will say to all Israel, 'Come home.'"

(Text: William W. Phelps, 1792-1872. Included in the first LDS hymnbook, 1835.

Music: Henry Tucker, ca. 1863)

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So I was thinking the other day (I was playing the piano at the time) about people who are conceited. Ok now this subject confuses me.

When you are trying to describe a conceited person (not that I am encouraging this as that would be gossiping...) if you dig deep enough you realize that that person is overconfident. However, if you dig deeper, you could see that they are actually really insecure. The same things that made them seem confident in the first place could also make them seem insecure. Let me give an example.

Ok, for the sake of this whatever-it-is, let's say that this person wears very nice clothes. Now this could be an insecurity and it could mean nothing at all. It could just mean that they like (and can afford! haha) nice clothes.

So if they can afford nice clothes, that probably means that they have some money. This may be something that can give them a confidence boost. (In which case it would be a CAUSE of conceit, not an EFFECT).

Now say that this person is very athletic and good at their sport(s). This could also be a cause of conceit. The effect would be that they would show off their skills. However, if they are showing off, does that mean that they are insecure and that they have to show off so that they can use peoples' reactions to define them, which could, again, cause conceit. So the cycle continues.

Ok. Now it's getting confusing.. Allow me to confuse you just a little bit more.

This person has many friends, which is another thing that could potentially be a cause for conceit. Now going back to their clothes, could it be possible that the reason they wear these clothes is to impress their many friends? Now this of course depends on the type of friends the person has, but let's just say that yes, this is possible. Which could mean that this person uses their clothes to define them, which would be an insecurity. Because, honestly, a person who is secure and confident doesn't really care about the clothes they wear anyway. But not all the time.

Ok, so this person's general appearance is very nice to look at, not just because of their clothes but because of his/her face/hair, etc. This person is very attractive. Now let's say it's a girl. All the guys like this girl. This could make the person conceited, but it could also make the person feel insecure, as if she has to put on a show for all of them.

I did research on self-esteem for a school project, and I learned that there are three classifications of people with low self-esteem. One of the classifications is known for their fear of failure. Now this person seems to me like they could potentially be very afraid of this. Their many gifts and securities could end up as a liability.

Now, this isn't all of the examples, but going off of this, what do you think? Is there really a conceited person out there? Or are they all really insecure? I suppose it's possible that there could be, but they have so many ironic liabilities, that even if they were, there's no guarantee they could ever stay like that. They're too vulnerable! I don't know. I seriously confused my self and I probably just confused you now too! But comment! Tell me what you think!

My Teddy Bear

Teddy bears, as most people know, are very common things. Most people have one or have had one sometime in their life. Why do humans have such an attachment to teddies? I think it's because of the unfaltering, unfailing protection and support that they provide.
Fear is a concept that we learn as very young children. Some of our first fears were somehow associated with monsters lurking under our beds or in our closets. And when we were afraid, our first instinct was to find protection. Thus, protection or safety was another concept that we learned early in our life. As young kids, we had teddy bears and night lights to get us through these rough nights. Some of us still do. (Guilty!)
However, as we get older we start to depend less on stuffed friends and more on other, less tangible things. When burdens of the world start to weigh down and we begin to feel that fimliar suppression, we need something to turn to. Despite the temptation, there does come a time when we must graduate from teddy bears. Some people turn to enlightenment that the scriptures bring, some depend on books and novels with plots that they can lose themselves in.
I've come to realize that other than the gospel and my Savior, the most trust-worthy, comforting thing I have to turn to is music.
There is something about chord progressions and rhythms that provides a protecting distraction that cannot be broken by hardly anything. Every time I sit down at a keyboard and begin to play, the tension from my mind and my muscles is carried away with each tone and is replaced with inspiration and solutions. The instrument is at my control.
I am so grateful for this gift that God has given this world. It is one the greatest things God has provided us. I am grateful for the opportunity I have to express myself through music. I'm grateful that Heavenly thought to create these grown-up teddy bears to get us through the hardships of this world, and I'm grateful for every time that I have reached a solution through music.