For Part One, click the link here.
Directly after the first quote Elder Franklin D. Richards gave in his talk, "The Purpose of Life: To Be Proved", came the second. It's an offering by the poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox:
The Quote
“All those who journey, soon or late,
Must pass within the garden’s gate;
Must kneel alone in darkness there,
And battle with some fierce despair.
God pity those who cannot say:
‘Not mine but thine’; who only pray:
‘Let this cup pass,’ and cannot see
The purpose in Gethsemane.”
The title of the poem is "Gethsemane", a very haunting poem. I think the reason this poem is included in a Conference talk and is now scripture is simply the final line.
What is the purpose of Gethsemane?
For those readers who may not understand what I mean, Gethsemane refers to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus Christ went with his apostles after he observed Passover with them - what is referred to as the Last Supper.
It was there that Jesus Christ, in a manner difficult for us to understand, began the process of carrying all the sins, all the mistakes, the sufferings and the weaknesses of all the people who have ever lived, who live now, and who ever will live - billions of people's baggage dumped on one perfect man. This whole process culminated in His crucifixion on Calvary.
When he was in the garden, he prayed to God and asked for this great painful burden - one that would have killed a mortal man - to be taken from him. "Let this cup pass from me." He didn't like it. It didn't exactly tickle.
But He also said, "Not my will, but thine be done" as is shown in the verse above. Because He was doing it for us.
Into every person's life, a similar pattern emerges. Pain, disappointment, weakness, sin, and tragedy comes. We suffer alone. No one understands. How can we continue on?
At this point, we have a choice. We ask Him to take away our pain. If He doesn't, and we see this as the will of a vindictive God who doesn't care and isn't fair, we curse Him. We turn from Him. Our heart and our insides turn to stone, and life is never the same.
Or...we turn to Him. We will ask Him to take away our pain, because He could. Maybe He will, and we are grateful in that when that happens.
Maybe He won't. Maybe instead, He listens. He comforts us, and helps us carry the burden we now carry for a time. No burden lasts forever, but some burdens last for as long as life lasts.
He never turns away from us, though. Even when we can't hear Him or feel Him, He is there. He watches. He sits with us. He reaches for us. He walks with us. He sends others to offer some relief. He nudges us in the right direction. He brings small bits of beauty to our attention when we are looking for it.
