And The Greatest of These is Love

"Love is the very essence of life. It is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Yet it is more than the end of the rainbow. Love is at the beginning also, and from it springs the beauty that arches across the sky on a stormy day. Love is the security for which children weep, the yearning of youth, the adhesive that binds marriage, and the lubricant that prevents devastating friction in the home, it is the peace of old age, the sunlight of hope shining through death. In our youth, we sometimes acquire faulty ideas of love, that it can be imposed or simply created for convenience. I noted the following in a newspaper column some years ago: 'One of the grand errors we tend to make when we are young is supposing that a person is a bundle of qualities, and we add up the individual's good and bad qualities, like a bookkeeper working on debits and credits. If the balance is favorable, we may decide to take the jump [into marriage]... The world is full of unhappy men and women who married because... it seemed to be a good investment. Love, however, is not an investment; it is an adventure. And when marriage turns out to be as dull and comfortable as a sound investment the disgruntled party soon turns elsewhere... Ignorant people are always saying, 'I wonder what he sees in her [or him],' not realizing that what he [or she] sees in her [or him] (and what no one else can see) is the secret essence of love.' Love is the only force that can erase the differences between people."

-President Gordon B. Hinckley

"If one really loves another, one would rather die for that person than to injure him."

-Elder Spencer W. Kimball

"There are lots of limitations in all of us that we hope our sweethearts will overlook. I suppose no one is as handsome or as beautiful as he or she wishes, or as brilliant in school or as witty in speech or as wealthy as we would like but in a world of varied talents and fortunes that we can't always command, I think that makes even more attractive the qualities we can command--such qualities as thoughtfulness, patience, a kind word, and true delight in the accomplishment of another. These cost us nothing, and they can mean everything to the one who receives them.

I like Mormon and Paul's language that says one who truly loves is not "puffed up" Puffed up! Isn't that a great image? Haven't you ever been with someone who was so conceited, so full of themselves that they seemed like the Pillsbury doughboy? Fred Allen said once that he saw such a fellow walking down Lovers' Lane holding his own hand. True love blooms when we care more about another person than we care about ourselves. That is Christ's great atoning example for us, and it ought to be more evident in the kindness we show, the respect we give, and the selflessness and courtesy we employ in our personal relationships.

Love is a fragile thing, and some elements in life can try to break it. Much damage can be done if we are not in tender hands, caring hands. To give ourselves totally to another person, as we do in marriage, is the most trusting step we take in any human relationship. This is a real act of faith--faith all of us must be willing to exercise. If we do it right, we end up sharing everything--all our hopes, all our fears, all our dreams, all our weaknesses, and all our joys--with another person. 

No serious courtship or engagement or marriage is worth the name if we do not fully invest all that we have in it and in so doing, trust ourselves totally to be the one we love. You cannot succeed in love if you keep one foot out on the bank for safety's sake. The very nature of the endeavor requires that you hold onto each other as tightly as you can and jump in the pool together. In that spirit, and in the spirit of Mormon's plan for pure love, I want to impress upon you the vulnerability and delicacy of your partner's future as it is placed in your hands for safekeeping--male and female, it works both ways."

-Elder Jeffery R. Holland

"The girl you marry will take a terrible chance on you. She will give her all to the young man she marries. He will largely determine the remainder of his [and her] life, she will even surrender her name to his name."

-President Gordon B. Hinckley

"Spiritual growth comes by solving problems together--not by running from them. Today's inordinate emphasis on individualism brings egotism and separation. Two individuals becoming 'one flesh' is still the Lord's standard."
-President Ezra Taft Benson

"Marriage can be more an exultant ecstasy than the human mind can conceive. This is within the reach of every couple, every person."

-President Spencer W. Kimball

"The wisdom of God ofttimes appears as foolishness to men, but the greatest single lesson we can learn in mortality is that when God speaks and a man obeys, that man will always be right."
-President Thomas S. Monson

"The Lord expects something better of us. He expects something better than is to be found in the world... When we look for the worst in anyone, we will find it. But if we concentrate on the best, that element will grow until it sparkles."
-President Gordon B. Hinckley

"If you want something to last forever, you treat it differently. You shield it and protect it. You never abuse it. You don't expose it to the elements. You don't make it common or ordinary. If it ever becomes tarnished, you lovingly polish it until it gleams like new. It becomes special because you have made it so, and it grows more beautiful and precious as time goes by."
-Elder F. Burton Howard

"Don't waste your time searching and wishing. Grow and be ready... and you'll see God will give you a love story far better than you could ever dreamed of."
-President Gordon B. Hinckley

"The is nothing in this world as personal, as nurturing, or as life changing as the influence of a righteous woman."

-Elder M. Russell Ballard

"We cannot gauge the worth of another soul anymore than we can measure the span of the universe. Every person we meet is a VIP to our Heavenly Father. Once we understand that, we can begin to understand how we should treat our fellowmen. 

True love requires action. We can speak of love all day long-- we can write notes or poems that proclaim it, sing songs that praise it, and preach sermons that encourage it--but until we manifest that love in action, our words are nothing but 'sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal'.

Love is what inspired our Heavenly Father to create our spirits; it is what led our Savior to the Garden of Gethsemane to make Himself a ransom for our sins. Love is the grand motive of the Plan of Salvation. It is the source of happiness, the ever-renewing spring of healing, the precious fountain of hope."

-President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"Your Father in Heaven and His Beloved son love you perfectly. They would not require you to experience a moment more of difficulty than is absolutely needed for your personal benefit or for that of those you love."

-Elder Richard G. Scott

"To trust means to obey willingly without knowing the end from the beginning."

-Elder Richard G. Scott

"The love of two righteous people moving toward the Savior can cast out the fears of all the world's unknowns."

"You can do something for another person that no one else ever born can do."
-President James Faust

"Fear not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith."
-President Thomas S. Monson

"Every noble impulse, every unselfish expression of love, every brave suffering for the right; every surrender of self to something higher than self; every loyalty to an ideal; every unselfish devotion to principle, every helpfulness to humanity; every act of self control, every fine courage of the soul, undefeated by pretense or policy, but by doing, and living of good for the very good's sake--that is spirituality."
-President David O. McKay

"The heaven we seek is little more than the projection of our homes into eternity."

-President Stephen L. Richards

"Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles, and less than perfect conditions. So what? Get started now, with each step you take, you grow stronger and stronger.

It is inconceivable that God would desire to punish or to see his children in suffering or pain or distress. He is a God of peace and tranquility. He offers joy and growth and happiness and peace."

-President Spencer W. Kimball

"Love is cleanliness and progress and sacrifice and selflessness. This kind of love never tires nor wanes, but lives through sickness and sorrow, poverty and privation, accomplishment and disappointment, time and eternity."

-President Spencer W. Kimball

"Love cannot be forced... it comes out of heaven unasked and unsought."

-President Gordon B. Hinckley

"I submit that... as a true guide. In the presence of the girl you truly love you do not feel to grovel, in her presence do not attempt to take advantage of her, in her presence feel that you would like to be everything that a master man should become, for she will inspire you to that ideal. And I ask you young women to cherish that same guide. My mother once said that if you meet a girl in whose presence you feel a desire to achieve, who inspires you to do your best, and to make the most of yourself, such a young woman is worthy of your love and is awakening love in your heart."
-President David O. McKay

"Choose your love, love your choice."
-President Thomas S. Monson

"When true love prevails between husband and wife, they want to give themselves to and for each other, as Christ gave of Himself. We give for each other on a daily basis. When we endeavor always to make each other happy. Then we give up thinking selfishly of ourselves and our personal needs. Then we really think not only of the here and now but of the hereafter."
-Elder Albert Choules Jr

"True charity is love in action. The need for charity is everywhere. Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down. It is resisting the impulse to become offended easily. It is accepting weaknesses and shortcomings. It is accepting people as they truly are. It is looking beyond physical appearances to attributes that will not dim through times. It is resisting the impulse to categorize others."

-President Thomas S. Monson

Eternal love is the purpose of us being here. To find our eternal companion who will be with us forever. Love is the best thing ever. This is why Satan tries to fill our heads with doubts. Love is in us, born within our hearts, and he wants to destroy it and replace it with misery and hate because he can't have love.

This is why so many marriages fail because from the moment you find your sweetheart and fall in love until crossing over safely to our Heavenly Father, Satan will do absolutely everything to destroy and break the covenants and eternal bond we have with our Savior and the one we love. He will always be there with doubts, fear, temptation, contention, conflict, anger, and sadness. He will always try to stir up trouble and exaggerate our trials until we feel like giving up, breaking down, deciding it's not worth it. But it is. Love is worth everything.

Marriage will be the best yet hardest thing in life. However, as Heavenly Father has shown us, nothing worthwhile is ever easy, but always always always worth it. You must work every moment of everyday to get to happily ever after. You have to be strong which is why you find the one for you who you are meant to be with to become one in every way. You are two imperfect people striving together to attain perfection and make your family yours forever. If you pray always together, are selfless, choose the right, and have faith, the Savior's love will overcome the adversary without fail. Heavenly Father is always there for us. In love, you must sacrifice everything, but the reward is a million times better than we are even capable of imaging. <3 Charley Brooke

Death [isn't the end] Quotes (an Eternal Perspective) that will inspire.

"Death is not what some people imagine, it is only like going into another room. In that other room we shall find. . . the dear women and men and the sweet children we have loved and lost."

-President Thomas S. Monson

"Look at everything as though you were seeing it for the first or last time."

"Things turn out the best for the people who make the best out of the way things turn out."

-Art Linkletter

"Forgetting is essential for survival. Nature has marvelous ways of protecting you, and forgetting is one. This survival mechanism allows you to partially--but not entirely--forget pain. You will forget unpleasant experiences and remember present ones to survive."

-My intro to radiographic science textbook

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning (Psalm 30:5). Mortality is so fragile. Only one heartbeat, the drawing of a single breath, separate this world from the next. Death is a curtain through which each must pass. None of us knows when that passage will occur. This life is not so much a time for getting and accumulating as it is a time for giving and becoming. The Savior grants us life and his descent below all things make possible our rising above all things."

-Lance B. Wickman

"That's death and life, you see. We all shine on. You just have to release your hearts, alert your senses, and pay attention. A leaf, a star, a song, a laugh. Notice the little things, because somebody is reach out to you. Qualcuno ti ama."

-Charlie St. Cloud

"For those whose understanding is limited to the confines of mortality, death can sometimes appear to be terribly cruel and capricious. Indeed, life itself is filled with harsh realities that tug at the heart and tear away at the soul. Child abuse. AIDS. Natural disasters, from hurricanes to earthquakes. Famine. Prejudice and intolerance. Humanity's on going inhumanity toward one another.

   One cannot look at human suffering, regardless of its causes or origins, and not feel pain and compassion. It is easy to understand why one who lacks an eternal perspective might look at horrifying news footage of starving children in Africa or the devastation of a hurricane and shake a fist at the heavens.

   'If there is a God,' the empathetic observer might wonder, 'how could He allow such things to happen?'

   The answer isn't easy, but it isn't that complicated, either. God has put His plan into motion. It proceeds through natural laws--which are, in fact, God's laws. And because they are His, He is bound by them, as are we. In this imperfect world, bad things sometimes happen. The earth's rocky underpinnings occasionally slip and slide, and earthquakes result. Certain weather patterns turn into hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and drought. That is the nature of our existence on this planet. Dealing with adversity is one of the chief ways in which we are tested and tutored.

   Sometimes, however, adversity is man-made. That is where the principle of agency comes into play. Keep in mind that we were so excited about the plan Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ presented that we literally 'shouted for joy' (Job 38:7). We loved the concept of mortality and the exciting notion of moral agency. But because we'd never been mortal before, I'm not sure we could fully comprehend the impact of agency on our lives.

   We tend to think of agency in a personal way. Ask someone to define 'moral agency' and they'll probably come up with something like this: 'Moral agency means I'm free to make choices for myself.' But we forget that agency also offers that same privilege to others, which means that sometimes we are going to be adversely affected by the way other people choose to exercise their agency.

   Heavenly Father feels so strongly about protecting our moral agency that He will allow all of His children to exercise it--for good and for evil. Of course, He has an eternal perspective that helps Him to understand that whatever pain and suffering we endure in this life, regardless of its origins and causes, it is only a moment compared with our entire eternal existence.

   By way of illustration, lets say you had a rope that extended both directions off into the cosmos--forever. And lets say you took a single strand of thread and wrapped it around the rope once at its midpoint. The rope to the left of the thread could represent our life before birth. The rope to the right of the thread could represent our life after death. And that single stand of thread would represent the span of our mortal lives here on earth in comparison to eternity.

   Sort of puts it in perspective, doesn't it?

   Of course, we mortals can rarely view life from that perspective. Instead, we feel pain and anguish in the face of adversity--for ourselves and for others. But faith in our Heavenly Father and His plan can be a source of inner strength through which we can find peace, comfort, and the courage to cope. As we put our faith and trust to work, hope is born. Hope grows out of faith and gives meaning and purpose to all that we do. It can give us comfort in the face of adversity, strength in times of trial, and peace when there is every reason for doubt and anguish."

 -Our Search for Happiness by M. Russell Ballard

Our birth is but asleep and a forgetting;

The soul that rises with us, our life's star,

Hath had elsewhere its setting

And cometh from afar;

Not in entire forgetfulness,

And not in utter nakedness,

But trailing clouds of glory do we come

From God, who is our home.

-"Ode on Intimations of Immortality" by William Wordsworth

"This life is but a chapter in the eternal plan of our Father. It is full of conflict and seeming incongruities. Some die young. Some live to old age. We cannot explain it. But we accept it with the certain knowledge that through the atoning sacrifice of our Lord we shall all go on living, and this with the comforting assurance of His immeasurable love."

-Gordon B. Hinckley

"Nobody knows what life may bring. It might make you happy. It might make you sad. Sometimes yes, but I know that there's a reason for everything. That's why I keep believing that whatever is meant to be is going to be."

"Every life has a meaning, whether it lasts one hundred years or one hundred seconds. Every life . . . and every death . . . changes the world in its own way. Don't postpone what you want. Don't leave anything misunderstood. Make sure the people you care about know. Make sure that they know how you really feel. Because life is fragile and death inevitable we must make the most of each day."

"We spend a lot of time focused on the future, planning it, working toward it. But at some point you start to realize your life is happening now. Right now. This is it. It's here. Blink and you'll miss it. So say what you want and mean it. Live each moment to the fullest. Today! Because tomorrow is never guaranteed."

"If all the sick for whom we pray were healed, if all the righteous were protected and all the wicked destroyed, the whole program of the Father would be annulled. . . No man would have to live by faith. . . There would be little or no suffering, sorrow, disappointment, or even death, and if these were not, there would also be no joy, success, resurrection, nor eternal life."

-Spencer W. Kimball

"Jesus said: My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid."

-John 14:27

The next quotes are from an incredible book called Return from Tomorrow by George G. Ritchie about his near death experience. He was declared dead and then brought back to life. This is a touching part of his experience meeting his Maker. I highly recommend reading his book. It's incredibly insightful and touching.

   "Every details of twenty years of living was there to be looked at. The good, the bad, the high points, the run-of-the-mill. And with this all-inclusive view came a question. It was implicit in every scene and, like the scenes themselves, seemed to proceed from the living light beside me.

   'What did you do with your life?'

   It seemed to be question about values, not facts: What did you accomplish with the precious time you were allotted? It was obviously not a question in the sense that He was seeking information, for what I had done with my life in plain view. In any case this total recalling, detailed and perfect, came from Him, not me. I couldn't have remembered a tenth of what was there until He showed it to me.

   'What did you do with your life?'

   Hadn't I done anything lasting, anything important? Desperately I looked around me for something that would seem worthwhile in the light of the blazing reality.

   There were no horrendous depths, there were no heights either. Only an endless, short sighted, clamorous concern for myself. 

   Hadn't I ever gone beyond my own immediate interests, done anything other people would recognize as valuable? At last I located it, the proudest moment of my life.

   I became an Eagle Scout!

   Again, words seemed to emanate from the presence beside me.

   'That glorified you.'

   It was true. I could see myself standing in the center of the award circle, flushed with pride, the admiring eyes of my family and friends turned on me. Me, me, me--always in the center. Wasn't there any time in my life when I had let someone else stand there?

   I saw myself walking forward at a church service at age eleven, asking Jesus to be Lord of my life. But I saw how quickly that first excitement turned into a dull routine of church-on-Sunday. Worse, I saw the smugness and self-esteem that went with it. I was better than the kids who didn't come to church. I was even better than lots who did: there was my perfect attendance pin to prove it. I started to point out my pre-med courses, how I was going to be a doctor and help people. But visible alongside the classroom scenes was that Cadillac car and that private airplane--thoughts as observable as actions in that all-pervading light.

   And all at one rage at the question itself built up in me. It wasn't fair! Of course I hadn't done anything with my life! I hadn't had time. How could you judge a person who hadn't started?

   The answering thought, however, held no trace of judgement. Death, the word was infinitely loving, can come at any age.

   Well, sure. I know that babies and little kids died. Somehow I had just always assumed that a full life span was in some way owed me.

   'What have you done with your life to show Me?'

   Already I understand that in my first frantic efforts to come up with an impressive answer, I had missed the point altogether. He wasn't asking about my accomplishments and awards.

   The question, like everything else proceeding from Him, had to do with love. How much have you loved with your life? Have you loved others as I am loving you? Totally? Unconditionally?"

"Grief may be a thing we all have in common , but it looks different on everyone. It isn't just death we have to grieve. It's life. It's loss. It's change. And when we wonder why it has to suck  so much sometimes, has to hurt so bad. The thing we gotta try to remember is that it can turn on a dime. That's how you stay alive. When it hurts so much you can't breathe, that's how you survive. By remembering that one day, somehow, impossibly you won't feel this way. It won't hurt this much. Grief comes in its own time for everyone in its own way. So the best we can do, the best anyone can do, is try for honesty. The really crappy thing, the very worst part of grief is that you can't control it. The best we can do is try to let ourselves feel it when it comes. And let it go when we can. The very worst part is that the minute you think you're past it, it starts all over again. And always, every time, it takes your breath away. There are five stages of grief. They look difference on all of us, but there are always five. Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance."

-Grey's Anatomy

"Time passes. Even when it seems impossible. Even when each tick of the second hand aches like the pulse of blood behind a bruise. It passes unevenly in strange lurches and dragging lulls, but it does pass."

-Bella Swan, New Moon

"Sometimes when we are going through the most severe tests, we will be nearer to God than we have any idea."

-Harold B. Lee

"Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not."

-D&C 6:36

"I used to think that happiness comes after the hard part is over. But I have learned that we can be happy while enduring. I have never read of the people of God in any dispensation passing through life, as the sectarian world would say, on flowery beds of ease, without opposition of any kind. Come what may, and love it. Life has peaks and shadows and times when it seems that the birds don't sing and bells don't ring. Yet in spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser, and happier as a result. . . I believe that the way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life. If we approach adversities wisely, our hardest times can be times of greatest growth, which in tern can lead toward times of greatest happiness."

-Joseph B. Wirthlin

"There are better things ahead than any we leave behind."

-C.S. Lewis

"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience."

-Pierre Teilhard De Chardin

"There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning."

-Thorton Wilder

"You can cry, ain't no shame in it."

-Will Smith

"Hope is anything but wishful. It is expectation based on experience. Hope is serene. It's eyes have the deep, knowing look of someone well acquainted with sorrow, the luminosity of recently being wet with tears. Hope has the confidence of one who clearly sees a bright future even when the next hours seem fog shrouded."

-Larry Hiller

"I don't think of all the misery but the beauty that still remains."

-Anne Frank

I recommend watching this episode of the TV show The Twilight Zone. The episode is called A Nice Place to Visit. A man dies and thinks he's in heaven because he has everything he wants, but in the end he discovers it isn't what he wanted after all. It touched me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x0T-6Eutms&feature=related


LINK to Part 1 ^


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHCVptsMdE0&feature=related

LINK to Part 2 ^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yFziN4QqnA&feature=related

LINK to Part 3^