Forty-five Seconds like Christ

Sometimes life throws you a curve ball, to use a baseball term. The unexpected can feel like a crushing blow. My nephew, age 17, recently broke up with his first real girlfriend. It happened right before a planned High Adventure activity with the Boy Scouts to their Scout camp in Hawaii. He assumed he was too heartbroken to enjoy the trip, even though he’d never been to Hawaii before.

He arrived with a heavy heart and his mind was swimming with youthful emotions and feelings. He reluctantly joined in the hiking, snorkeling and other activities. He ate fresh fruit right off the tree and enjoyed the lush greenery, color and natural wildlife—so beautiful it might have been a picture from a magazine. He felt his heart wake up as he reveled in the amazing newness all around him.

Upon his return home, he admitted that he had not wanted to go, but he knew he had done the right thing by taking the next step forward and going on the trip rather than staying at home in his room, steeped in sadness.

Have you been heartbroken or betrayed? It happens to people more often than they care to admit. I sheepishly confess I have been both the breaker and the broken, and these experiences are painful for everyone.

Christ felt all these emotions and so many more as He bled from every pore in the Garden of Gethsemane. This is perhaps the most incomprehensible part of the Atonement. How can we relate to that level of pain and anguish? What kind of suffering could produce that physical agony? No other mortal has ever experienced it, myself included.

When it comes to bleeding from pores however, I guess I can say that I have experienced Jesus’ pain, at least for approximately 45 seconds. I did some high G training with the Air Force. I pulled 6 G’s for 30 seconds and 7 G’s for about 15 seconds: this means I stayed conscious while enduring the equivalence of 7 times the force of gravity working against my body. As a result, I contracted a case of the “G-measles,” as they are nicknamed, meaning I had multiple, micro red spots on my back and legs where the micro blood vessels ruptured, creating a little blood at each pore. I felt exhausted and was done for the day and most of the next, though the handful of tests lasted less than a minute all together. If 45 seconds felt like that, I cannot fathom what pain Christ endured for hours on end.

Christ made the ultimate sacrifice for us, to be able to become better versions of ourselves, whether we have been wronged or we have been doing wrong. In Matthew 18: 21-22 we read, “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” (KJV)

Sometimes, the heartache we feel can be overwhelming, weigh us down and zap away our enthusiasm for life’s endless march. But as hard as it can sometimes be to remember, Christ suffered all. If we find a glimmer of hope and light, the Lord will help us and lift us, by using living angels such as our friends and family.

I have been immensely blessed to experience this lift from others who have chosen to emulate Christ in their caring and giving actions and words; whether they specifically sought to follow Christ. I am grateful there are those around us who choose to be Christlike. I will continue to strive for the willingness to live a Christ-like life myself and empathize with those around me for longer than 45 seconds. My prayer is that each of us be mindful of this impact on those around us and choose to lift the burdens of others.

John Boston is a local physician, father, grandfather, husband and believer in Christ. He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.