Musings on the Interesting Nature of Blessings

This wonderful photograph was NOT taken by me, since

we have not been near enough to the Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial

during winter months (yet). Thinking about the life of Joseph Smith

has returned my musings to the interesting nature of blessings,

a favorite topic in quiet times of reflection.

I share some of those musings here with this post.

We were there in Sharon, Vermont (now called South Royalton)

a week ago with the incoming "batch" of newly arriving young elders

and sisters, where the Mission President, Companion,

Assistants to the Pres., and Sister Training Leader Trainers (sisters)

teach and share with the new missionaries and their trainers.

It is a wonderfully inspiring place, and the weather was beautiful.

This special visitor center has been until now part of the NH Manchester 

Mission, but is being separated as its own operation.

President and Sister Ferguson are "hosts" to visitors, along

with a couple of hosting senior couples, and a crew of site

caretakers who do landscaping, and help with the December

lighting drive-through event that draws visitors from many states.

Sister Ferguson was careful to show us the exact spot where

the shiny granite stone of the monument reflects the sunlight.

 The following small portrait is of Dr. Nathan Smith,

a physician who was a professor of medicine

at Dartmouth College in "nearby" Hanover, NH

not far from Lebanon where the Smith family had moved.

When typhus fever rampaged through the village,

and several members of the Smith household suffered

from the disease, Joseph was one who caught it.

It settled in his shoulder, then in his left leg and ankle.

Drs. Smith, Jones and Perkins traveled to Lebanon

to perform what at the time was experimental surgery,

being the only team in the nation who at the time 

could offer this relief.

Also while at the Sharon memorial site, we learn about

the rather miraculous episodes that brought the huge monolith

 monument to the site for the centenary of the Prophet Joseph's

birth. Church leaders felt inspired to commemorate

the life that began in Sharon. They made plans, appropriated

"sacred funds", etc. It was a huge undertaking.

The obelisk was quarried a distance away, then brought

by large horse team and wagon. At least one bfridge had to be

reinforced to handle the weight being carried.

Near the end, the muddy roadway of late autumn proved to be

an insurmountable obstacle. But the prayer by a faithful member

in charge to some degree of the transport resulted 

in a deep freeze overnight which hardened the boggy road,

 allowing the transport to cross to its destination. 

Now to my point:

I often get to this conflict in my head about blessings.

I believe Heaven answers prayers and provides blessings --

blessings in differing forms and degrees. I sometimes ponder

about the faith it might take to bring about the BIG blessing,

whether it was prayed for specifically or hoped for more generally.

For instance, Joseph Smith's young life needed to be spared so that

he could fulfill his prophetic calling. So the BIG blessing would

have kept him from catching typhus fever altogether. INSTEAD,

the necessary family move (prompted by a weather pattern change

resulting from a volcanic eruption on the other side of the globe)

brought him into proximity to a surgeon who could save his

life and also his leg - for times when he needed to escape mobs.

Next for my examples here, the ground could have been made

firm through a freeze long before the horse hooves and wagons

were getting stuck. Or even the availability of a different route. 

Instead, someone needed to express faith

in a way and with timing that demonstrated God's power and will.

We have our own interesting "Mission" blessings that we can

cite, too. As we prepared to make ourselves available, and

then get ready to be trained and then to travel to serve,

I personally faced a major challenge regarding dental situations that

would have impacted my ability to talk and chew and perform duties.

We were praying and hoping for a "decent" outcome.

The BIG blessing would have been that these dental developments

did not even surface. Or that they had been evident on

a timeline that presented more options. Instead, as I agonized about

possibilities, we decided to ask our MTC District Leader to assist

Vince with a Priesthood blessing that things would be OK, and that

inspiration would come to the dental specialists involved

during exploratory appointments that week.

Within a 24 hour cycle, my symptoms had subsided to the point

that discussions became only a "preparatory plan" that was placed,

instead of the extraction of multiple teeth and temporary bridge.

Another Mission blessing involves the health of son Cory,
who has suffered for several years with knee pain in both legs
that resulted from skateboarding stress and a motorcycle accident.
He has consulted with a handful of physicians who time and again
offered "stopgap" solutions, indicating that surgery was NOT needed.
Within the first few weeks of our Mission start, Cory tried once again
to consult with a physician -- his knees as they were could not support
his furniture making profession, nor probably his role as property manager
for us as we served far away in New Hampshire.
The BIG blessing would have been that the need for surgery went away
on its own, or was not necessary in the beginning, or that
it was diagnosed at a time when we were there to help care for him.
Instead, the "blessing" has been that he finally found a surgeon
who correctly diagnosed the damage, and suggested
cartilage repair for BOTH knees. Both surgeries have been
completed, three weeks apart. (And the blessings for us and him
have been that many people around him there in Lehi have reached
out and connected with him to help him cope and survive.)

One more example of the exchange of BIG possible blessings

was "formalized" this past week. It involves the blending

of two families who have each lost a parent.

These wonderful people in the photo are: Caroline, Paul

and Eric (my brother), Rebekah (new sister-in law)

and her daughter Mary. We are all now connected

through marriage as family because of a HUGE blessing.

But it is still a difficult mental balance to think that,

IF Heaven can dispense blessings (and I know God can),

why can't we just get the BIG blessing, in this case

that the beloved spouses, (mother of Caroline and Paul;

father of Mary) could have been spared their life-taking illnesses

to complete a standard-length lifetime.

God teaches us a million things about Him,

faith, life, humility, hope, reliance, accepting help,

waiting on the Lord, etc., etc. While I mostly wish

things were easier in this life as part of mortality's passport,

I also get those spiritual nudges that help me know

that "God is in His Heaven", and that the Plan will play out.

This week my lamp has been filled by all of these people,

(and by a thoughtful sister Elana who helped me participate

in the activities long distance via FaceTime, videos and photos).

Burning strong here!