Today’s Reading: 2 Nephi 26:17-33
33 … he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.
I came to sacrament meeting with an earnest anticipation this week. I arrived early to warm up with our choir in preparation for our performance that day. After a humbling week full of tragedy and reconciliation with my teenagers I felt empty and ready to be filled. While partaking of the sacrament I saw something new. The hymn played and I watched a whole and complete loaf of bread being “bruised, broken, [and] torn for us”[i]. As the tray passed from one person to the next, each individual in the room took their own broken piece. They took a piece “ripped” from the body of Christ and representing their portion of His suffering for them. Each piece filled our emptiness with His goodness. There was enough.
The sacrament tray came to me and I felt as if I were sitting there on a hill near Bethsaida. I came with 5,000 others to hear the words of Christ and I felt empty and hungry[ii]. Perceiving my need, He took five barley loaves and two fishes and blessed and brake them and passed the basket to me. We ate and our emptiness was filled because of His goodness. There was enough.
I vividly remember the year I turned 27. My husband and I had welcomed three children to our home either through adoption or childbirth. We now had five children under the age of six and only two laps for them to sit on. They had so many needs: for love, for food, for education, for refereeing, for fun. I could never give enough; I could never love enough; I could never be good enough. I felt so empty that I stopped trying to give or love or be anything. Until I learned this one lesson of becoming like Christ…”he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none…” The sacrament reminded me that my Savior was not only “bruised, broken [and] torn” for my sins, sorrows, frustrations, and mistakes, but also to fill my emptiness with His goodness and make me enough.
I was born and raised in Alberta, Canada and California and promised every childhood friend I would never raise my family in Utah…until I fell in love with the most amazing fourth generation Orem boy. Now we are raising our kids in the house he grew up in and we love it. I am an estate planning attorney and marriage educator but I really want to be better at those half-baked talents like speaking Spanish, playing the piano, and making dinner every night! Read more about me at mormon.org