By: Norberto Betita
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| My 2-year-old granddaughter Rohan Ashlei |
Sunday, November 12, 2017 was an exciting day for us in the family. Five of our grandchildren---ages eleven, seven, six, four and two---are participating in the Sacrament meeting presentation of the Primary Organization in our branch. All five have already memorized their parts. Saturday before practice I asked the youngest of them all---Rohan Ashlei--- to recite her piece. She stood high on the arms of two linked Narra chairs in the living room and excitedly recited, “Good morning brothers and sisters. I am a child of God.” I appreciated her and encouraged her to speak in the pulpit.
The presentation day came. The weather was very good and we went early to church. Perhaps fearful of the almost packed chapel, the two youngest of our grandchildren and another two among the primary children never made it to the pulpit. Yet the wonderful experience of witnessing those primary children performed their parts, declaring words to live by and singing songs of praise touched my heart. The performance may not have been that splendid, but the message that the presence of those twenty six primary children brought into such a simple Sacrament meeting presentation was one of reverence and admiration; a reflection of their willingness and humility to follow the Lord’s teachings; a reminder of the Lord’s admonition for us to be as a child in order to gain eternal life. In them I saw in contemplative imagination the meaning of the label on Greg Olsen’s painting---The Dandelion---posted on the artists Facebook account which reads: “The flowers of tomorrow are in the seeds of today.”
The Sacrament meeting presentation was then concluded with a message from my son, our district President. He stood with already misty eyes. After a brief introduction about his experiences as a child in his primary years in the church and how he had grown spiritually since those formative years, in a voice choked with emotion he quoted a scriptural block in Matthew 19: 13-15: “Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence.”
What dumbfounding and staggering such statements might have been to the disciples who first rebuked the children purportedly for reason that they do not want the Lord disturbed by those little ones, only to be taught of an underlying core principle and truth about the need to develop childlike character and humility if they are to be a part of the Kingdom of God. In the account of Luke the Lord added: “Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein” (Luke 18:17). Such was a touching account which stirred the heart and brought tears into the eyes of our District President whose mandate it is to minister and guide his small flock into developing qualities that is required “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). His wish must have been that the sheep of his fold might be able to grasp the wonderful message of humility and submissiveness that the passage portrays and shun the dirty appearance of pride, arrogance and pomposity which are prevalent in our present society. Those performing little children brought into our Sacrament Meeting a sunbeam which light reminds us of the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ and His submissiveness to the Father.
Our District President then related of an event during the visit of Jesus Christ to the Nephites in ancient America, where after healing the sick and afflicted with love and compassion upon them, the Lord also exhibited his deepest love and concern for the Nephites children. He quoted verses from 3 Nephi 17 thus:
“And it came to pass that he commanded that their little children should be brought.
“So they brought their little children and set them down upon the ground round about him, and Jesus stood in the midst; and the multitude gave way till they had all been brought unto him.
“And it came to pass that when they had all been brought, and Jesus stood in the midst, he commanded the multitude that they should kneel down upon the ground.
“And it came to pass that when they had knelt upon the ground, Jesus groaned within himself, and said: Father, I am troubled because of the wickedness of the people of the house of Israel.
“And when he had said these words, he himself also knelt upon the earth; and behold he prayed unto the Father, and the things which he prayed cannot be written, and the multitude did bear record who heard him.
“And after this manner do they bear record: The eye hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard, before, so great and marvelous things as we saw and heard Jesus speak unto the Father;
“And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father.
“And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying unto the Father, he arose; but so great was the joy of the multitude that they were overcome.
“And it came to pass that Jesus spake unto them, and bade them arise.
“And they arose from the earth, and he said unto them: Blessed are ye because of your faith. And now behold, my joy is full.
“And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them.
“And when he had done this he wept again;
“And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones.
“And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them.
“And the multitude did see and hear and bear record; and they know that their record is true for they all of them did see and hear, every man for himself; and they were in number about two thousand and five hundred souls; and they did consist of men, women, and children” (3 Nephi 17:11-25).
The Lord has always been deeply compassionate and loving to those who suffered misery and woe as consequences of sin. In His prayer, He expressed to the Father His sincere concern for the wickedness of the house of Israel. He groaned and knelt in pleadings for them. The expressions of those present listening and witnessing the Lord’s earnest petition to the Father were awe-inspiring. What makes the account even more sentimental was that after the Lord had prayed, “he wept.” His intense and passionate prayers and supplications for the Nephites’ relief brought tears into His eyes. His weeping was not only about his concern for the sufferings of the sinners, but those were also silent tears of joy for the faithfulness of the Nephites people.
The Lord Jesus Christ is no stranger to weeping. He has been described by Isaiah as “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). Accordingly, in His ministry crying must have always been a part. He “wept over” (Luke 19:41) Jerusalem because of her rejection of Him. “He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto” the Father who “save him from death” (see Hebrews 5:7). Showing His sympathy and compassion to the grieving sisters and friends, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35) at the death of Lazarus.
In that Nephite visit account, after the Lord blessed the children one by one, he wept again. And the event of the angels coming from heaven as it were in the midst of fire, ministering to the children, showed us a glimpse of how Heavenly Father through His only Bogotten Son---Jesus Christ--- loves His children and how he feels of their afflictions, anguish and pain as to send heavenly ministers to comfort them. He provided us a quick clear look and an aura of the eternal possibilities of living in the celestial mansions in His heavenly kingdom in joy and glory, surrounded by ministering angels.
In one earlier account of Matthew, Jesus’ disciples asked Him the question, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” His response must have startled His listeners as He “called a little child unto him and set him in the midst of them,” at which instance He then said, “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Then He declared in no uncertain terms and without reservation, this most profound admonition and assurance: “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:1-4).
We are in the times when the world is ripened in inequity; when worldliness and abomination has impregnated the substance of our moral caricature and pervaded the air of vice and evil; when hate has become a common language and “pride,the great vice” (Ezra Taft Benson)commonplace. His unequivocal declaration for each of us to be as a child in order to be able to enter into the kingdom of heaven should leave for us no room for doubt. He is simply teaching us that to be humble is to develop the attributes of a child as enumerated by King Benjamin in his sermon: “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father”( Mosiah 3:19).
Becoming as a child is a process of ongoing spiritual growth and development in which the ultimate goal is to acquire childlike qualities and other higher virtues of spiritual submissiveness such as, but not limited to, gratitude, reverence and service to others, and willing submission to the will of our Heavenly Father.
The presentation day came. The weather was very good and we went early to church. Perhaps fearful of the almost packed chapel, the two youngest of our grandchildren and another two among the primary children never made it to the pulpit. Yet the wonderful experience of witnessing those primary children performed their parts, declaring words to live by and singing songs of praise touched my heart. The performance may not have been that splendid, but the message that the presence of those twenty six primary children brought into such a simple Sacrament meeting presentation was one of reverence and admiration; a reflection of their willingness and humility to follow the Lord’s teachings; a reminder of the Lord’s admonition for us to be as a child in order to gain eternal life. In them I saw in contemplative imagination the meaning of the label on Greg Olsen’s painting---The Dandelion---posted on the artists Facebook account which reads: “The flowers of tomorrow are in the seeds of today.”
The Sacrament meeting presentation was then concluded with a message from my son, our district President. He stood with already misty eyes. After a brief introduction about his experiences as a child in his primary years in the church and how he had grown spiritually since those formative years, in a voice choked with emotion he quoted a scriptural block in Matthew 19: 13-15: “Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence.”
What dumbfounding and staggering such statements might have been to the disciples who first rebuked the children purportedly for reason that they do not want the Lord disturbed by those little ones, only to be taught of an underlying core principle and truth about the need to develop childlike character and humility if they are to be a part of the Kingdom of God. In the account of Luke the Lord added: “Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein” (Luke 18:17). Such was a touching account which stirred the heart and brought tears into the eyes of our District President whose mandate it is to minister and guide his small flock into developing qualities that is required “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). His wish must have been that the sheep of his fold might be able to grasp the wonderful message of humility and submissiveness that the passage portrays and shun the dirty appearance of pride, arrogance and pomposity which are prevalent in our present society. Those performing little children brought into our Sacrament Meeting a sunbeam which light reminds us of the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ and His submissiveness to the Father.
Our District President then related of an event during the visit of Jesus Christ to the Nephites in ancient America, where after healing the sick and afflicted with love and compassion upon them, the Lord also exhibited his deepest love and concern for the Nephites children. He quoted verses from 3 Nephi 17 thus:
“And it came to pass that he commanded that their little children should be brought.
“So they brought their little children and set them down upon the ground round about him, and Jesus stood in the midst; and the multitude gave way till they had all been brought unto him.
“And it came to pass that when they had all been brought, and Jesus stood in the midst, he commanded the multitude that they should kneel down upon the ground.
“And it came to pass that when they had knelt upon the ground, Jesus groaned within himself, and said: Father, I am troubled because of the wickedness of the people of the house of Israel.
“And when he had said these words, he himself also knelt upon the earth; and behold he prayed unto the Father, and the things which he prayed cannot be written, and the multitude did bear record who heard him.
“And after this manner do they bear record: The eye hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard, before, so great and marvelous things as we saw and heard Jesus speak unto the Father;
“And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father.
“And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying unto the Father, he arose; but so great was the joy of the multitude that they were overcome.
“And it came to pass that Jesus spake unto them, and bade them arise.
“And they arose from the earth, and he said unto them: Blessed are ye because of your faith. And now behold, my joy is full.
“And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them.
“And when he had done this he wept again;
“And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones.
“And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them.
“And the multitude did see and hear and bear record; and they know that their record is true for they all of them did see and hear, every man for himself; and they were in number about two thousand and five hundred souls; and they did consist of men, women, and children” (3 Nephi 17:11-25).
The Lord has always been deeply compassionate and loving to those who suffered misery and woe as consequences of sin. In His prayer, He expressed to the Father His sincere concern for the wickedness of the house of Israel. He groaned and knelt in pleadings for them. The expressions of those present listening and witnessing the Lord’s earnest petition to the Father were awe-inspiring. What makes the account even more sentimental was that after the Lord had prayed, “he wept.” His intense and passionate prayers and supplications for the Nephites’ relief brought tears into His eyes. His weeping was not only about his concern for the sufferings of the sinners, but those were also silent tears of joy for the faithfulness of the Nephites people.
The Lord Jesus Christ is no stranger to weeping. He has been described by Isaiah as “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). Accordingly, in His ministry crying must have always been a part. He “wept over” (Luke 19:41) Jerusalem because of her rejection of Him. “He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto” the Father who “save him from death” (see Hebrews 5:7). Showing His sympathy and compassion to the grieving sisters and friends, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35) at the death of Lazarus.
In that Nephite visit account, after the Lord blessed the children one by one, he wept again. And the event of the angels coming from heaven as it were in the midst of fire, ministering to the children, showed us a glimpse of how Heavenly Father through His only Bogotten Son---Jesus Christ--- loves His children and how he feels of their afflictions, anguish and pain as to send heavenly ministers to comfort them. He provided us a quick clear look and an aura of the eternal possibilities of living in the celestial mansions in His heavenly kingdom in joy and glory, surrounded by ministering angels.
In one earlier account of Matthew, Jesus’ disciples asked Him the question, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” His response must have startled His listeners as He “called a little child unto him and set him in the midst of them,” at which instance He then said, “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Then He declared in no uncertain terms and without reservation, this most profound admonition and assurance: “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:1-4).
We are in the times when the world is ripened in inequity; when worldliness and abomination has impregnated the substance of our moral caricature and pervaded the air of vice and evil; when hate has become a common language and “pride,the great vice” (Ezra Taft Benson)commonplace. His unequivocal declaration for each of us to be as a child in order to be able to enter into the kingdom of heaven should leave for us no room for doubt. He is simply teaching us that to be humble is to develop the attributes of a child as enumerated by King Benjamin in his sermon: “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father”( Mosiah 3:19).
Becoming as a child is a process of ongoing spiritual growth and development in which the ultimate goal is to acquire childlike qualities and other higher virtues of spiritual submissiveness such as, but not limited to, gratitude, reverence and service to others, and willing submission to the will of our Heavenly Father.
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