A Perfect Brightness of Hope
the best of the gospel, and zest for life.
In this church we celebrate “a perfect brightness of hope.” (2 Ne. 31:20.)
What a light, ebullient phrase that is.
I’ve stood on a mountaintop at sunrise and thought of that phrase.
Hope—what it does to my soul when I feel it!
Hope—what it does for the world when we act on it!
Our joy and our hope begins and ends in our Savior.
A sister expressed to me:
“Not long ago I was feeling sorry for myself.
I’ve been struggling to pay bills.
Upon retiring to bed one night feeling the worse for the daily battle,
I lay in my bed moaning to myself.
It was then that I looked up to the picture I have of the Savior on my wall.
His eyes seemed to look into my very soul,
and at the same time these words came to my mind:
‘I am here. I’ve always been by your side,
taking the pain you feel as well.
I drank the bitter cup for you and I gladly did so.
I love you.
I always will and I’ll always be here
with you every step of the way.’
I felt like the Savior’s arms had circled my body and were hugging me.
I felt so secure, so loved and wanted—
a feeling I can still feel as I write this on paper.
The feeling of loneliness left me immediately.”
“As tears streamed down my face,
As I read this letter, I thought,
“How blessed she is to have a
personal testimony of the Savior.”
What is more joyous?
Don’t defer hope. Don’t put it off, postpone it, or delay it.
Proverbs 13:12 states,
“Hope deferred maketh the heart sick.” [Prov. 13:12]
How true.
Physically, emotionally, and spiritually, hope deferred
sickens our hearts.
To prevent illness, grab onto and hold onto your hope.
My friend who found herself so unhappily
married told me that it was the smallest
things that kept her going during those
first weeks when all her world looked black.
A bunch of crocuses burst through the snow,
then announced their victory with purple blooms.
The robins whistled from their nest
in her front yard tree.
The sun broke over the horizon every morning.
People in her office lived their quiet routines.
A person spoke kindly to her at the grocery store.
Her little niece hugged her around the legs.
Each small, loving, daily detail confirmed her hope.
Little details and small events showed
that life still was good.
She didn’t feel it, but she did
not defer her hope.
She focused instead on every
confirmation that God lives.
And if God lives, life could still be sweet,
and she could feel hope again
Let us hope for a better world.
To hope for a better world means
that we invest in it now.
Our investment is measured
in the sum of small things.
My neighbor Amy planted a spring
garden every year of her adult life.
Her own failing health did not dampen
her need to plant the flowers
she knew she might not live to see.......
I think of hope as a basketful of glorious spring
flowers, each blossom representing one part of
what my family, friends, and I hope for.
Together these hopes are a radiant, abundant,
fragrant bouquet.
Whatever our metaphor for it, hope remains an
effervescent, expectant, happy part of life.
Remember—hope matters.
May we “press forward with a steadfastness
in Christ,
having a perfect
brightness
of hope.”
(2 Ne. 31:20.)
