Hi everybody,

I have had a "Sabbath Thought" on my mind all weekend that I want to share, even though for you in England it is now well past 10.00 pm on this lovely Sabbath day (sunny and bright again here in Utah):

It is this:

We shall not fully understand the Atonement until and unless we are taught it through the contradictions inherent in life's daily experiences. We shall correctly assess these experiences and trials as "unfair" and "not right" and undeserved" in our own lives or the life experiences of others. Are you still with me so far?!

It is worth recalling at this point that the greatest contradictions of all, the most unfair and unjust afflictions, occurred to a totally innocent Man in a garden when He sweat great drops of blood to suffer for the guilty. That was unfair and undeserved, and the supreme contradiction of all contradictions (see Hebrews 12:3).

So it is only in life's lessons---the afflictions and suffering we meet---that we will really learn of God's great nature and of His plan for us, and of the Atonement that makes it all work. But if we do not already know of it all---the theory, if you will---from our deep involvement in the scriptures, then we will tend to resist such lessons, and resent them and reject them. . . . Like so many men in brown leather jackets. And it is worth noting the Joseph Smith Translation of Hebrews 11:40 that reads in the King James Version: "God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect", which Joseph rendered in this compelling way: "God having provided some better things for them through their sufferings, for without sufferings they could not be made perfect."

As always, your feedback and comments are invited and welcome.

Steve