After hearing about the assassination of Charlie Kirk on Wednesday, I listened to the song “Sunday, Bloody Sunday” by U2. The opening lyrics of the song perfectly matched my feelings:
I can’t believe the news today
I can’t close my eyes and make it go away.
How long, how long must we sing this song?
How long?
When church members were violently driven from their homes in Missouri in 1833, the Savior gave them a description of what life will be like when He returns to the earth:
- “All flesh shall see me together” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:23; see also Isaiah 40:5).
- “All things shall become new” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:25).
- “The enmity of man, and the enmity of beasts, yea, the enmity of all flesh, shall cease from before my face” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:26).
- “Satan shall not have power to tempt any man” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:28).
- “There shall be no sorrow because there is no death” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:29).
- “The Lord … shall reveal all things” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:32-34).
That sounds pretty idyllic: no sorrow, no confusion about divine truths, and above all, no contention.
When the Savior appeared in the Western Hemisphere, one of His first messages was that he wanted His people to live in peace. “He that hath the spirit of contention is not of me,” He said, “but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another” (3 Nephi 11:29).
After His ministry, “there was no contention among all the people, in all the land” for many years (4 Nephi 1:13).
We can look forward with hope to that day of peace and unity, and we can prepare for it by living in harmony with one another. Elder D. Todd Christofferson taught that a prerequisite for the Savior’s return is “the presence on the earth of a people prepared to receive Him.” He explained:
In ancient times, God took the righteous city of Zion to Himself. By contrast, in the last days a new Zion will receive the Lord at His return. Zion is the pure in heart, a people of one heart and one mind, dwelling in righteousness with no poor among them.
“Preparing for the Lord’s Return,” General Conference, April 2019
Today, I will look forward to the peace and harmony which will accompany the Savior’s return. I will prepare for that day by reducing contention and building bridges of understanding.
Beautiful 💛
Living in Utah near the tragedy of September 10, the message of “unity” not Red v. Blue or Blue v. Red is a divine calling for all of us, in the United States at this time, to try to recognize.
God made a “bouquet” of beautiful people – different colors, different languages, different backgrounds and different ideas. He likes “diversity” otherwise He could have made us all alike!
He didn’t.
It is our divine challenge to be one, to be united, to recognize and respect our differences as we strive to be unified.
Christ and His teachings are the greatest and only sure “unifier” across all of our social and political differences.
Thank you for your messages each day🙏💛🙏
My sentiments exactly! Thank you for your comment, and for your kind words.