Leaning into the comforting arms of Jesus

I awoke as a ten-year-old with the image fresh on my mind and in my heart. In my dream, my graceful mother was being held in the arms of Jesus, similar to Michelangelo’s Pieta where Jesus’ mother Mary is holding the crucified Lord. She was rested and secure, and free of worries. I knew my mother loved Jesus. Every moment of her life pointed to that great love and devotion, but I didn’t realize how personal that love could be.

I knew as a child that my mother tried to follows Jesus’ teachings and example. I felt her love, and I witnessed the direction of her heart. My family didn’t talk about “kindness” but my mother emulated kindness so completely I thought it was like the air we breathe. A few years ago when she was desperately sick in the hospital, the nurse brought in a breakfast completely unsuited to my mother’s diabetic needs. I got after the nurse. After the nurse left, my mother in all of her weakness reprimanded me in her gentle voice, “Beth, Be kind.”

My mother thought in terms of whom she could serve. For several years when I came home as an adult to visit before we went to the grocery store together, my mom would call Mary Mitchell, her dear friend from her teaching years. “Mrs. Mitchell” was my high school English teacher who in her later years suffered from crippling arthritis. After picking up Mary’s and our groceries, we would stop by her house where my mom would put the groceries away and then do things Mary couldn’t do anymore, such as clip her fingernails and toenails. On Sundays, I would accompany my mom and dad as they took two plates of Sunday dinner to their friends of many years, the Lanes. Mrs. Lane’s MS had flared up, and she was laying on a bed in the living room. Her husband greeted us happily, handing my mom clean plates from the last Sunday and a ham to cook sometime. My mom sat down at the foot of Mrs. Lane’s bed and rubbed her dear friend’s feet for a while.

I knew my mother had devoted her life to following Jesus’ example and commandments. What I didn’t realize until that dream was how completely my mom relied on her Lord and Savior--how real his comfort was, how sweet that peace and rest, and how tender was his love for her.“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” Jesus encourages in Matthew 11:28 KJV.

“The Savior has suffered not just for our iniquities but also for the inequality, the unfairness, the pain, the anguish, and the emotional distress that so frequently beset us…. You and I in a moment of weakness may cry out, ‘No one understands. No one knows.’ No human being, perhaps, knows. But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He felt and bore our burdens before we ever did. And because He paid the ultimate price and bore that burden, He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy in so many phases of our life,” taught Elder David A Bednar, apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in “The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality,” Ensign, Apr. 2012, 47.

Jesus’ complete ability to sustain, love and provide solace to my mother is what I witnessed in my dream. My mother’s desire and willingness to rely on Jesus Christ in every way is what I would come to understand over the years.

Now I seek to find my own solace, peace, and love through Jesus Christ. His arms of mercy and love are always extended. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets…how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” laments Jesus in Matthew 23:37 KJV. Notice that nothing can stop Jesus from gathering us into his arms except our unwillingness.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock,” Jesus offers in Revelation 3:20 KJV. Jesus will love you and me. He will offer us peace, guidance, and solace but only if we seek him. How do we seek him? Through prayer, scripture, and following his teachings.

“The Lord is happy with any effort we make to draw closer to Him,” teaches Russell M. Nelson, prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in his Facebook post, Dec. 30, 2018.

There aren’t many things these days you can be sure of. But you can count on this: Jesus will respond to your efforts to draw closer to him, and His comfort and peace are real. What are you waiting for?

Beth Wright’s great love is her family. She is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.