Spiritual Thought -- Family

It has been a while since I posted a spiritual thought on Sunday but I wanted to share my testimony of the promise of eternal families today. Many years ago, when Tom and I were newlyweds we were living in Arizona and I was working in a clothing store. One of the sales girls shared her belief about what families would be like in Heaven. She believed that in Heaven there would be no more families. All family relationships would be dissolved or we would not remember our families. She felt we would all be strangers who were just kind to each other. This idea floored me. I wish I had been able to articulate my beliefs in eternal families to her. I regret that at the moment I was so shocked any one could feel that this was the plan our Heavenly Father had for His Heaven, that I could not respond adequately that I had a testimony and that one of the great messages of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints was a promise that we could be eternal families. Today as the full-time LDS missionaries spoke to us in one of our church meetings about sharing our message with our friends and neighbors I remembered this encounter with this associate and realized that I must share my testimony about this one aspect of our beliefs. I often share my favorite recipes or favorite finds or talented people I know. How can I not share the beautiful promise to live forever with those we have loved the most. After this discussion with this lady years ago I went home and wrote this poem. I don't really think it is one of my best but it expresses my feelings clearly.


ETERNITY
He is me and I am he
and someday they will be us,
because we have shared
the test of life.

And yet some say,
there are no families in heaven.
All the trials struggled together
become mere nothings in eternity.
Brother, sister -- husband, wife
become detached remembrances,
they tell me.
What depressing plan is this?
Does God destroy his own masterpiece?

As for me,
my soul has been tied to souls
in the spires of eternity
And when heaven puts her arms around me
I will walk in the circle of my family.


One of the uniqe beliefs of the church is that we believe we can make sacred promises on earth in our temples that will bind us to our families even after death. If we live a good life we can be reunited with those members of our family in a heaven. I do know that there are some families that are not ideal. Some relationships must be ended on earth because they have become twisted and unhappy things. Yet, some of our sweetest most joyous moments have been or will be shared with siblings, grandparents, spouses, cousins, children. I know God wants us to be families in heaven, just as he wants us to have healthy families now. He will not steal our greatest potential of joy from us. It is his plan after all.

If you want to know more about the LDS beliefs on family visit http://www.mormon.org/mormonorg/eng/