Monday, March 30, 2009

I Love Easter

I love Easter. I am so grateful for the reason we celebrate. The resurrection and atonement of our Savior. This is the most amazing blessing we have been given. A few years ago I read a book called 'Becoming' by Blaine and Brenton Yorgason. In their book they discussed the atonement very descriptively. The thought of what Jesus Christ suffered physically would have killed a normal man long before they finished their punishment of him. But ... what happened in Gethsemene, when he took the weight of the worlds sins on his pure self, where he bled from every pore .. for me .. a sinner. They said that for a man to bleed from every pore he would have to experience an explosion at close range ... and then they describe how our Father in Heaven had to remove his spirit so that Jesus could go through this alone. At any time he could have chosen not to do so. When I read in the scriptures the part where the Saviour says "My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me..." I imagine our Father hiding in the very corners of Heaven so he didn't have to watch his Only Begotten Son suffer so much. I am ashamed that I continually cause him pain. I am truly grateful that he did this for me so that I can repent. I love him so much.

I recently had the opportunity to go to New York City. I had a fantastic time and while I was there I attended a session in the Manhattan Temple. I love that I can be so many miles away from home and find myself feeling at home there. I love the Temple. I love how close the Heaven I feel in those Hallowed walls. I know that our Father in Heaven dwells there. What a beautiful haven settled within such an arguably worldly city.

I can't talk about New York without talking about Lady Liberty. I truly loved being so close to her and honoring what she stands for. I love going to LibertyIsland and being so close to her. I Loved walking around ground zero. Reading the plaques they have there honoring those who lost their lives. There is an old church that sits right next to where the world trade center stood. When the towers fell, most of the buildings around it had windows blow out and damage done to them .. all except this church. It was a church that George Washington attended at one time. I truly don't believe it was preserved by accident.

I know these are hard times for many of us .. I have to say how blessed I feel still. Love you All!! Happy Easter.

1 comments:

Ralph & Debbie said...

Ive heard his books are very very good. I refuse to read them tho based on how he treats people in real life. I cant say where i get the pleasure but i stay out of his way as much as possible. lol. Very very rude person. His wife on the other hand is delightful and i love her.
Great post connie and glad you had a wonderful trip. Yes we were told about that little church too, we never had time to go in it, we had five full days of total full days, saw so much but still so much we didnt see. But it really made it all real seeing it all.