Sold a Slave (Come, Follow Me)

When I ponder the amazing story of Joseph who was sold a slave into Egypt and think about the terrible injustices that many suffer in life, I look to Joseph's example for purpose in suffering, the grace of forgiveness, and an eternal perspective that shows the good we can do in any circumstances.

"I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.  And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.  So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God."
Genesis 45:4,7-8

Forgive All (Come, Follow Me)

I love this message from our Come, Follow Me reading....

The world needs more forgiveness.  As we forgive others, including our enemies and those who may have wronged us, healing and love can fill our hearts.  This is Jesus Christ.

Wherefore, I say unto you, 

that ye ought to forgive one another; 

for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses 

standeth condemned before the Lord; 

for there remaineth in him the greater sin.

I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, 

but of you it is required to forgive all men.

Doctrine and Covenants 64:9-10

Forgiveness (Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month)

This is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and as I think about my many friends whose ancestors called Asian and Pacific nations home, I'm reminded of my love for them.  This month also reminds me how grateful I am to live in a country whose people forgive and help even those who sought to oppress and destroy us.  

In WWII when the Japanese Empire attacked the United States and many of its Asian neighbors and imprisoned, mistreated, enslaved, tortured, and killed millions, the U.S. and its allies sent many from the Greatest Generation to defeat Japan and restore freedom to Japan's Asian neighbors and even to the Japanese people themselves.  Hundreds of thousands of America's youth never got to live the lives they had imagined but gave them up for their brothers and sisters around Asia and the Pacific.

After victory, the U.S. helped to rebuild Japan and its economy, gave the Japanese their freedom, and even defended Japan from other military aggressors.  A few generations later, Americans look at Japan with a kinship and fondness that could only come from forgiveness.

That's what Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month reminds me of.

Forgive your worst enemy

"Forgive your worst enemy.  It will heal your soul and it will set you free."
 - Eva Mozes Kor, an Auschwitz survivor, who forgave Josef Mengele, the "Angel of Death" who conducted medical experiments on her and her twin sister

This is an amazing story of forgiveness of one's former oppressor and the surprise felt at the freedom and peace that resulted:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk87MXtt5qg (if you want to pass some of the description of what she endured, you can start at 6:15)