Opportunity is the Blessing

My family watched a movie recently, Evan Almighty. It was a cute film, one I would strongly recommend. Morgan Freeman plays God and and Steve Carell a US congressman who is given the task from God to build an ark. I won’t tell you the whole plot, but suffice it to say that Evan runs in to some obstacles while starting the project. One of those is convincing his wife that he actually is acting under God’s command. She is a good woman but she simply does not understand him. So finally she takes the kids and drives off, leaving Evan alone with his work.

Then something happens. She meets God. Well… she doesn’t know it’s God, but he start a conversation with her. And the words he speaks affect her so deeply (of course) that she immediately turns around to go home to her husband. These are the words God tells her:

If someone prays for patience, does God give them patience? Or does He give them the opportunity to be patient?
If they pray for courage, does God give them courage, or does he give them the opportunity to be courageous?
If someone prayed for their family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm, fuzzy feelings? Or does he give them opportunities to love each other?

When I heard that I had to stop, rewind and look at it again. I was struck by the profoundness, yet simplicity of those word. I thought to myself: Yes, of course! Whatever we gain in life of real value, we gain through our experiences. So if God wants to bless us, sure, theoretically he could just send blessings our way without any effort on our part. But then we would loose the real blessing: the opportunity; meaning the work, effort, and experience associated with these important attributes (like patience, courage, and love).

For example, what good will it do if your heart was suddenly struck by a thunderbolt of love? Will you love become stronger? Maybe for a short time, yes, but then what? It’s like when people instantly fall head over heals in love. Most of them fall just as fast out of love. Why? Because there is nothing substantial there to hold their love together. What really matters are the opportunities given us to show love. And those moments can be big or small: saying “yes” at the alter - and meaning it; massaging a sore back; helping your wife with the diapers and dishes; communicating your feelings openly and honestly; carrying a crying baby at night so your loved one can sleep; and in Evan’s case… building an ark.

I learned a lesson that day, that I would not complain so much about the lack of this or that in my life. Instead I would be grateful for every single opportunity to do something about it. Because what is an opportunity, really? Isn’t it our very own chance to prove ourselves? Isn’t it a chance to plant that seed which will grow up to be that very fruit we wish to partake of in the future? Isn’t it our chance to create the surroundings we wish to live in.

Think of all the opportunities in life. Aren’t those the greatest blessings?

Baby Born with Two Faces

Do you ever seize to be amazed? In India a baby girl, Lali, was born with two faces, a very rare condition knowns as craniofacial duplication. When I saw this photo I thought, “Oh no! Poor child. Poor family. How will they ever survive this enormous trail?” But then I read the article in the Chicago Tribune. I was simply awestruck. Instead of feeling “cursed” by God (or the gods), this family actually feels blessed, even believing the child to be the reincarnation of a Hindu goddess. They plan to build a temple in her honor, and people are visiting them every day bringing gifts and money. Their poor little village is now known all across the world. The other blessing is that the girl actually is doing well physically. Her parents say Lali is fine, just like any other child.

Naturally, life will be become more and more difficult for the girl as she grows up, but I am still impressed how this family has taken on this seemingly impossible challenge and turned it around; they only see their child as a blessing for the family, nothing else. Talk about a positive outlook. I hope the grace of God will continue to wrap its arms around little Lali - especially in the years ahead.

Our Saviour’s Love

“We love him, because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

It’s been a good Easter. The family has been together a lot. My mother-in-law, Silvana, has also been here. She is really sweet. She took all of the kids one night so Angelica and I could have a date for the first time in who knows how long. Having small children is wonderful, but being alone with your wife now and then is worth gold. But the weird thing… not long after you leave your children, you start missing them, even though you finally got the chance to get away for awhile.

I think what made it such a nice Easter celebration was that it got off to a wonderful start. On Friday morning I had planned to sleep in, but our bed got invaded very early by creature who looked just like our kids. Oh great, I sighed, there goes my much needed rest. But after doing my ritual stretching and eye-opening exercises I started to feel good, a feeling that also came from the peaceful serenity of the moment; there we were, all five of us, lying next to each other, and it was calm. Yes, calm. No kids jumping on my stomach. No teasing. No whining. Then Clara leans over to her mother, puts her hands on Angelica’s cheeks, and says: “Love…”

While Angelica is in tears from hearing Clara attempting to say “I love you” for the very first time (at least so we could understand her), Johannes is the next to surprise us. He said: “You know, I would die for Clara!” Hearing him, but not altogether ready for such profound words so early in the morning, I said: “What!” He answered: “If something bad was about to happen to Clara, and she might die, then I would want to die in her stead. Because I have lived so long, but she has her whole life in front of her.” Without saying much I just hugged him. He sure has his good moments.

Then Angelica and I looked at each other. We were thinking the same thing: Where does all this love come from? Not that I think we are an unloving family, but our regular mornings don’t usually spoil us like this. Maybe that was the answer: This was not a regular morning. Instantly I remembered. It was Easter Friday. That was day our Lord and Saviour suffered and died on the cross, for the sake of all mankind. At times you just have to follow your heart, so I grabbed the Bible and asked if I could read something for everyone. No one protested (another miracle). So I opened the Gospel of Luke and read his account of the last supper, the suffering in Gethsemane, the false trails, and the final degradation of Jesus when he was nailed on the cross.

After finishing we spoke with our children about the atonement of Christ, and how blessed we were to have felt His unconditional love in our lives, also this very morning. I am convinced that having that peaceful start of Easter made it much better than what it otherwise would have been. But it wasn’t thanks to us. It was thanks to Him! He knew what we needed.

But you know, what we need is no different from what you need. We all need God’s love. It’s the only sure remedy for all the corners of this ol’ world - your’s too.

An Easter Angel

One of many things I love about our Church is that it invites us to not only worship on Sundays or once a year, but teaches us that faith is an every day issue. One thing latter day saints are encouraged to do during the week, for example, is to have family home evening. This is held for most members on Monday night. The whole idea is to have one night a week where each family member has no other plans than those of being together as a family. We believe that family unity is a core essential for happiness, not only within the walls of all our homes, but also within all the borders of society. So to have this opportunity, in a world that is so stressed it never lets us have time for each other, is a wonderful, not to say inspired idea.

This week we had a special guest for family home evening. It was Lena Bomgren, our Ward’s Primary president (the leader of the children’s program in our congregation). We usually see her every week at Church, but meeting her on Sunday, she said that she felt like she wanted to do something more for our family. She and the other’s in our Ward had done so much good for us already, we thought, but we graciously accepted her offer. We sensed her good will and desire to spread love to our children, and perhaps help Johannes to have some fun, thus taking his mind off the pain in his leg - if only for a while.

She knew our kids loved to paint and do crafts (in Swedish: pyssla), so she brought several bags of Easter-fun. After starting our home evening with song and prayer, and a spiritual thought from the father (which my children reminded me had to be very short this time… ha, ha), then we moved on to the activity, as seen below.

Lena is wearing the red sweater. (How about that suspicious look from Clara?)

Our Easter chickens are done. I can’t help but laugh at Isak’s work of art. He made two of these chickens, one of which is “dad”. Guess who? Yep, the tall one. Every time he depicts me somewhere I am always twice as big as the rest. Funny, cause I’m not that big… although I am involuntarily working on it!

Before Lena left we had mom’s delicious brownies with ice cream. Our children spoke casually with Lena, and my wife and I rejoiced that Johannes, especially, had had a few moments to forgot about his medical condition, and just have a good time instead. That meant a lot to us. Sure, for Lena this might not have been the greatest sacrifice (cause I know she also enjoyed it), but for us it was the greatest blessing of this week. And we know that she did it to make us and our children happy, without any conditions, nor payment from Church funds. Just love - shown in pure service.

So we name her “Angel of the week”, our Easter Angel.

A Prayer for the Heart (5)

How about those contrasts in life? Yesterday I wrote life is like a tango with steps both forward and backward. Today life is… well… I don’t have the words… but it feels like a SAMBA! Because we’re so happy!!!

The catheterisation of Johannes’ heart went great. The bad signs that were discovered yesterday through the ultra sound was something of a false alarm. We couldn’t be more relieved. And Johannes is another person today. When he woke up from his sedation after today’s small surgery, the first thing he asked in a whisper was, “Do I need another open-heart surgery?” My wife answered, “No, honey, everything looked fine!” He was still to weak to fully open his eyes, but in a daze he said: “Yeah!” spoken in English.

Earlier, when we received the news from the surgeon, we got so excited that we jumped up and down, screaming, laughing… crying. I don’t know how many hallelujah’s and praise-the-Lord’s I uttered, but whatever the number, I am sure it couldn’t have been enough. We were so grateful, beyond words. But still we tried, in our frailty, to say thanks unto God for answering the many prayers offered in behalf of Johannes.

A big thanks also to my brother Richard and his daughter, Mirelle, who took a three hour train ride early this morning, just to come to us in Göteborg and take care of Isak and Clara, so my wife and I could be with Johannes today. The other day it was our good friend Malena who also came and assisted. We are so grateful for all your help.

I’ve got to run! Clara is restless in her bed.

More later….

Louis

For the Endowments of Life

Last week I attended a CES Conference. At one point a friend and colleague gave all the participants a few minutes to write a personal psalm. I’m not a poet, I know, but I was still glad to have a few solitary moments to clear the world from my mind and write these words of gratitude. For the wonders of the earth, I adore Thee For the light in heaven, I see Thee For the glories of thy creations, I admire Thee For the blessing of family, I honor Thee For the companionship of friends, I thank Thee For the power of Thy Word, I worship Thee For the gift of Thy Son, I praise Thee For the Spirit that enlightens me, I follow Thee For all the endowments of life - I love Thee If I were to add (my own) images to my thoughts it could look something like this. For the wonders of the earth, I adore Thee For the light in heaven, I see Thee For the glories of thy creations, I admire Thee For the blessing of family, I honor Thee For the companionship of friends, I thank Thee For the power of Thy Word, I worship Thee For the gift of Thy Son, I praise Thee For the Spirit that enlightens me, I follow Thee For all the endowments of life - I love Thee Comments to some pictures: Nr 4 shows my family; nr 5 shows some colleagues and friends; nr 6 shows a recent baptism in Lodz, Poland, in a ‘home-made’ baptismal font; nr 7 shows one of my Polish Institute students with a painting of Christ in the background.

The Journey is the Reward

Why do we rush through our lives, as if we were in a hurry to get somewhere? Take me anywhere, just not to here! Why so? Sure, I am the first to admit that goals are important in life, but if we don’t take time to look around and enjoy the journey our goals will loose their effect; they are to make us happy now. Today. That is why I like this simple Chinese proverb:

“The Journey is the Reward”

If we enjoy our journey our lives gain meaning. It’s as simple as that. Let’s not think that the only important thing is that celestial glory which awaits us some time faaaaar in the future. Seeing how wonderful this life is, here and now, lets us experience the sparking of that celestial flame in a hearts already today.

A lone driver in an old American car on an old Sweden road, driving slowly. I bet he’s enjoying it!

Enjoy your day!

Louis

Christ Heals Family

One of my duties as a CES Coordinator is to visit teachers and students in their various classes, assisting with administrative matters. Last night, as I met with a class in central Sweden, I spoke at length with the teacher about her recent family tragedy. Her twenty-one year old son had passed away a month ago in a motor accident.

She explained that even though there had been many tears and a feeling of void in their lives, there had still been light - even peace. I asked her how it was possible? She spoke calmly but resolute: “It’s because of Christ.” I thought for a second about others who have expressed similar words, and although I for the most part have little reason to doubt their sincerity, there was something different about this woman. She really meant what she said. I could see it in her countenance; still the same person, yes, but different still.

“How do you mean?” I asked. She explained that she had always believed in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, at least in theory. “But now”, she said, “I know it really works!” Excitement gathered in her eyes as she continued, speaking also for her family: “Even though we have known that Christ has taken all our burdens upon himself, we have never felt it the way we do now. There are no why’s or if’s! Just a peaceful assurance that God is with us, lifting us when our own strength fails us.”

Many times have I felt the power of Jesus’ atonement. His healing power is real, no doubt. But I was still awestruck by the words I heard (and there were many more) last night. In a moment when most people would resort to despair and perhaps fear, this family had opened its heart to God - and was healed.

When we parted she thanked me sincerely for coming. “No problem,” I said, a little ashamed, “but… I should be the one thanking you!” I had come there hoping to give something to this teacher and her family, but I knew it was I who was at the receiving end.

Thank you.