The Glass
This morning we were reading scriptures at the breakfast table. I know that I have read the Book of Mormon several times, on my own and with my family. This morning we read Alma 62:41. I don't know why, but my understanding was open in this verse. The Nephites had just spent the past several years battling the Lamanites for their land, families, and possession. Moroni, Heleman, Teancum, Lehi, Pahoran, and many more had led the Nephites valiantly. Most of them, the Nephites, were righteous, God fearing people. They strived to keep the commandments of their Lord and Savior. Many of them stood with these previously mentioned brethren in steadfastness, rooted on a firm foundation.
As the book of Alma comes to an end, we also see that many of these men, women, and children lost their lives, suffered hardship, imprisonment, lack of food, and comforts of life. As the war ended, the Lamanites returned to their own lands, and the people of Nephi tried to return to normalcy in their lives, we see that they all handled these experiences differently.
Some became bitter. They resented the fact that they had lost and sacrificed so much with little to show for it. Others recognized the trials, but rejoiced in the fact that they were still alive, that they had homes to go back to and rebuild. They took hope in the fact that their loved ones had died for a righteous purpose. The rooted their faith in the knowledge and belief that someday they would be together with those loved ones in the eternities.
I was reminded again that 99.9% of what we get out of life is what we put into it. We can either see the glass half empty or full. Maybe we should just count our blessings that we have anything in our glass. We make the best of what we have. We keep pressing forward in faith. The Lord will take care of the rest.
I hope that we can all understand this lesson and apply it to our own lives, now matter what our circumstances, where we are in life, or how old we are. That reminds me. Last night we went out for Chinese. My grandmother, of 90 years, was with us. At the end of our meal we all opened and read our fortunes out loud. Her fortune read something like, The best of your life has not yet been lived. We all kind of laughed and giggled, but how true it is. I hope to have the same fortune when I am her age.
As the book of Alma comes to an end, we also see that many of these men, women, and children lost their lives, suffered hardship, imprisonment, lack of food, and comforts of life. As the war ended, the Lamanites returned to their own lands, and the people of Nephi tried to return to normalcy in their lives, we see that they all handled these experiences differently.
Some became bitter. They resented the fact that they had lost and sacrificed so much with little to show for it. Others recognized the trials, but rejoiced in the fact that they were still alive, that they had homes to go back to and rebuild. They took hope in the fact that their loved ones had died for a righteous purpose. The rooted their faith in the knowledge and belief that someday they would be together with those loved ones in the eternities.
I was reminded again that 99.9% of what we get out of life is what we put into it. We can either see the glass half empty or full. Maybe we should just count our blessings that we have anything in our glass. We make the best of what we have. We keep pressing forward in faith. The Lord will take care of the rest.
I hope that we can all understand this lesson and apply it to our own lives, now matter what our circumstances, where we are in life, or how old we are. That reminds me. Last night we went out for Chinese. My grandmother, of 90 years, was with us. At the end of our meal we all opened and read our fortunes out loud. Her fortune read something like, The best of your life has not yet been lived. We all kind of laughed and giggled, but how true it is. I hope to have the same fortune when I am her age.
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