GOD'S BOXES

 

 

I have in my hands two boxes

Which God gave me to hold.

He said: “Put all your sorrows in the black

And all your joys in the gold.”

 

I heeded His words, and in the two boxes

Both my joys and sorrows I stored.

But though the gold became heavier each day,

The black was as light as before.

 

With curiosity, I opened the black.

I wanted to find out why,

And I saw, in the base of the box

A hole which my sorrows had fallen out by.

 

I showed the hole to God,

And mused aloud: “I wonder where my sorrows could be?”

He smiled a gentle smile and said:

“My child, they are all here with me…”

 

I asked God why He gave me the boxes,

Why the gold, and the black with the hole?

He said: “The gold is for you to count your blessings,

The black is for you to let go.”

 

-        Arielle Perkins

(Art: Lord of Light by Chris Brazelton)

DIVINE MOTHERHOOD

 

“Motherhood is near to divinity.

It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind.

It places her who honours its holy calling and service next to the angels.”

 

-        The First Presidency: Heber J. Grant, J. Reuben Clark, David O McKay

-        (1918-1945)

What are children to a mother

If not gifts from heaven’s door;

As jewels from God’s own bosom

Gifted to her heart forever more.

Entrusted with the greatest charge

Sealed with hope of tender care;

From His hands

To mothers given

As gifts of worth beyond compare.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

ART: Mercy’s Light by Annie Henrie Nader

THE MEDIATOR

 

“Each of us lives on a kind of spiritual credit. One day the account will be closed, a settlement demanded. However casually we may view it now, when that day comes and the foreclosure is imminent, we will look around in restless agony for someone, anyone, to help us….

Unless there is a mediator, unless we have a friend, the full weight of justice untampered, unsympathetic, must, positively must, fall on us. The full recompense for every transgression, however minor or however deep, will be exacted from us to the uttermost farthing.

But know this: truth, glorious truth, proclaims there is such a Mediator.

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim 2:5)

Through Him mercy can be fully extended to each of us without offending the eternal law of justice. This truth is the very root of Christian doctrine.”

(Boyd K. Packer, The Mediator, General Conference April 1977

 

Be still my soul

And know that He leads you

By the voice of His heart.

He beckons and He calls

Your spirit to ignite

To truth and godly path.

 

His love will find you,

He will lead you and save your soul,

He is the Shepherd

Who will answer your call.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: AI Generated)

IN HIS ARMS

 

I wandered and strayed in unknown paths

Far from my eternal home;

I knew not where to find You

And how to become Your own.

Then You came when I was trapped

In brier, bleeding, helpless and all alone.

You worked so gently while your hands were

Bleeding much more than my own.

I now take the roads I know

And avoid the paths unknown

I remember Your arms that held me

And how they felt like 'I am home'. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: AI Generated)

THE JOY

 

In my hour of solitude

I sought to worship Thee.

My spirit hungered and was filled

With joy that found me. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art:  Find Perfect Joy by B. Laura Wilson)

ETERNAL DESTINY

 

"I have stood in the Garden of Gethsemane on many occasions. I've contemplated in my mind the suffering, the agony of the Savior. That agony that was experienced when our Heavenly Father permitted him, in a way our minds cannot even comprehend, to take upon himself the pain and sins of all mankind. My soul was filled with sorrow as I've thought of his great sacrifice for mankind.

I've stood beneath Golgotha, the place of the skull, and contemplated the humiliation of the crucifixion which led to our Saviour's mortal death, but which brought to pass his and all mankind's immortality. And again my soul has been subdued.

And I've stood in front of the garden tomb and imagined that glorious day of resurrection when the Saviour emerged from the tomb alive, resurrected, immortal. In that contemplation my heart has swelled with joy.

Through these experiences I've felt to pour out my soul in thanksgiving and appreciation to our Heavenly Father for the love which he and his Son have given to us through the glorious atoning sacrifice." 

(President Howard W. Hunter, Teaching of Howard W. Hunter, page 9)

If You were not,

I would not be,

Silence would have wept at Calvary!

 

If You were not,

I would not be,

As death would claim me eternally.

 

If You were not,

I would not be,

Joyless would be my destiny.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Upon The Cross by Greg Collins)

THE SHEPHERD

 

"Isaiah spoke of those tender moments when the Lord would "gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom" (Isaiah 40:11).  Elder Orson F. Whitney experienced such a glorious moment when he saw a marvelous manifestation of the Saviour. In his dream, he said, "I ran [to meet Him]....fell at his feet, clasped Him around the knees, and begged Him to take me with him. I shall never forget the kind and gentle manner in which He stooped, raised me up, and embraced me. It was so vivid, so real. I felt the very warmth of his body, as He held me in his arms."  Who would not long for that warmth, that embrace?

To be cast from the presence of the Holy One is estrangement of the worst kind. It is to take from us that which means most - our sense of belonging to the divine family. It is to strip us of security and self-worth in one fatal blow. It is like earing the suckling babe from her mother's bosom, sending the wayward child to his room, or sentencing the incorrigible to solitary confinement. It is akin to restricting our communication with a loved one to the telephone; the lines can be clear, the conversation frequent, but the happeiness that comes from being in another's physical presence is missing."

(Tad R. Callister, The Infinite Atonement, p 29, 41)

How dear to the heart of the Shepherd

Is the flock of His sheep;

With tenderness and love

He watches over those in His keep.

How much do they love their Shepherd!

How closely they stay by His side!

With every footstep they follow

To forever with Him abide.

 

-        Cathryne Allen 

(Art: AI Generated)