Moments

There was a young man in our ward who committed suicide last week. It was shocking and bitterly sad. I wanted to write down two of the tender moments that touched me deeply regarding this whole situation.

The first was at the funeral. I didn't love the funeral, in fact I struggled with a lot of it, but the bishop spoke so well. One thing he said was that this family told him they were concerned that not many people would come to the funeral since the boy was a bit of a loner and the family not very social. He then said with tears in his eyes that the family should stand up and look back as the chapel was filled to capacity and beyond. I wanted to cheer but I was weeping. I'm so grateful for good people who came together to support this family. I think that really is the essence of our purpose in this life.

The other was at church the following Sunday. I wasn't in relief society but heard this through Gigi Dody. She said that in the high priests meeting they addressed the issue of suicide by talking about doctrine and quoting different prophets. In contrast, the women sang A Childs' Prayer for the mother of this boy and at the end only the piano was playing as no one could get through the song. I am grateful to be a woman for many reasons, and this is one of them.

One last thing that I'll try to tie in--in sacrament meeting at Christmas time Brother Williams spoke of the affect of the gospel. He quoted what we've all heard, that the gospel makes bad men good and good men better. And then he said that it goes beyond people and affects situations too, that it makes bad things good and good things better. I really like this idea. In the midst of something awful, there are moments of rare goodness and beauty that are in line with the gospel. And I am grateful to have witnessed a few of these moments.