Ministering Spirits

My aunt Lavina passed away on Sunday. She has been on hospice for several weeks now, and we knew this day was coming, but I still miss her. Her passing has caused me to reflect on our relationship with the people we love who are no longer here.

The 104th psalm declares that God “maketh his angels spirits, his ministers a flaming fire” (Psalm 104:4). The apostle Paul quotes this passage to contrast the ministering role of angels with the governing role of the Savior:

And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.

But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever

Hebrews 1:7-8

But a little later, Paul reiterates the significant role of angels: “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14).

The term “ministering spirits” appears once in the Book of Mormon. In the final chapter, Moroni includes the following in his list of spiritual gifts: “the beholding of angels and ministering spirits” (Moroni 10:14). Earlier, he quotes a sermon in which his father affirms that angels continue “to minister unto the children of men” and that they will continue to do so as “long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man upon the face thereof to be saved” (Moroni 7:29-32, 36-37).

A week ago Saturday, my wife and I listened to the funeral services for Sister Kathleen Eyring. I was impressed by the following quotation from Joseph F. Smith, which was shared by President Dallin H. Oaks:

I believe we move and have our being in the presence of heavenly messengers and of heavenly beings. We are not separate from them. … We are closely related to our kindred, to our ancestors … who have preceded us into the spirit world. We can not forget them; we do not cease to love them; we always hold them in our hearts, in memory, and thus we are associated and united to them by ties that we can not break. … We live in their presence, they see us, they are solicitous for our welfare, they love us now more than ever. … Their love for us and their desire for our well being must be greater than that which we feel for ourselves.

Joseph F. Smith, “Opening Address,” Conference Report, Apr. 1916, 2–3

Today, I will be grateful for the knowledge that our relationships continue beyond the grave. I will remember Paul’s affirmation that angels are ministering spirits and Mormon’s declaration that they continue to minister to us today.