Over the weekend, family and friends had gathered to mourn and celebrate the life of a wonderful woman. A wife, mother, sister, and faithful daughter of our Heavenly Father, Brenda May Hass passed away after a two-year battle with cancer. Yet, people recounted her legacy of faithful living. This legacy, based upon her devotion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and her faith as a Latter-day Saint Christian, is an inspiration in examining how we are living out our faith and showing forth a Christ-like similitude toward our fellow family, friends, neighbors and even strangers.
In the Book of Mormon, King Benjamin addresses the people he rules over by sharing with them how he had served them. He states a most profound statement:
And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God (Mosiah 2:17)
When we serve others, it takes compassion, humility, and sincerity. We put off worrying about our own lives, our own needs, and see what we can do to help others. People recounted this legacy about how my aunt served others. She truly was a faithful servant to our Heavenly Father, a faithful Latter-day Saint, and a wonderful wife who spent most of her life as a homemaker, raising her children in the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Listening to these stories caused a personal examination as to how one is or is not living the Gospel of Christ. Such questions as how am I showing compassion and concern for others? How am I grumbling about those things that are bothering my own life when others are suffering far greater than I could? What and how can I be of better service to my fellow friends, family, and neighbor?
These questions opened the heart for the Spirit to work and move. Jesus Christ himself, instructing the Apostles, stated that one should never place themselves above one another. This, he taught as he knelt and washed the feet of the twelve men he had called to serve him (John13:5). Christ even related the parable of the Good Samaritan where he answered the question of who our neighbor is (See Luke 10:25-37) as a charge to serve one another with love and compassion.
Along these lines, M. Russell Ballard relates the following in The Prophets and Apostles Speak today:
“It is only when we love God and Christ with all of our hearts, souls, and minds that we are able to share this love with our neighbors,” says Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. And we demonstrate that love “through acts of kindness and service—the way that the Savior would love and serve all of us if He were among us today.”
Our faith should be one that we put off our concerns for our own welfare, reach out to those who are suffering, and to share with them those things they stand in need of.
Another Book of Mormon Prophet, by the name of Alma preached on the nature of baptism and the desire of each one of us:
9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life— (Mosiah 18:8-9)
Furthermore, reflecting upon this, America also held a Ten-year memorial of the most tragic event in our times – that event of 9/11. We all stood in times of mourning, comforting one another, and there seemed to be a great increase of faith in our Heavenly Father.
Latter-day Saint Prophet, Thomas S. Monson provided this recent comment on the Washington Post’s faith blog. He writes:
There was, as many have noted, a remarkable surge of faith following the tragedy. People across the United States rediscovered the need for God and turned to Him for solace and understanding. Comfortable times were shattered. We felt the great unsteadiness of life and reached for the great steadiness of our Father in Heaven. And, as ever, we found it. Americans of all faiths came together in a remarkable way.
He further writes:
Sadly, it seems that much of that renewal of faith has waned in the years that have followed. Healing has come with time, but so has indifference. We forget how vulnerable and sorrowful we felt. Our sorrow moved us to remember the deep purposes of our lives. The darkness of our despair brought us a moment of enlightenment. But we are forgetful. When the depth of grief has passed, its lessons often pass from our minds and hearts as well.
How true is this that as we reflect upon the loss of life on 9/11, a family reflects on the loss of a beloved wife, mother, sister, and friend, the question we ought to ask ourselves is this – What am I doing today that is focused on the needs of others rather than on my own? A very pervasive question requires self-inventory. Have we become accustomed to demand of others what they can do for us when we ourselves are unwilling to reach out and help those who also stand in need? Are we complaining about the sufferings we are enduring because of our own personal choices, and yet, others are suffering greatly yet constantly giving of their own times, and talents to others.
What then shall we take away from all this? What legacy are we going to leave for others as they reflect upon our lives when we have passed from mortality into immortality? What are others going to take from our lives and share with others? Questions that haunt our thoughts deserve honest, sincere, and humble answers. Most of all, we must answer the biggest question – how are we living our life today in order to leave a legacy of faith for others to reflect upon and follow after?
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