Life can be circular at times. Sometimes we are up. Other times we are down. And sometimes it feels like we are just merely going in circles.
I believe this—not only from personal experience, but also from my religion. Joseph Smith, the founding prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (known as the Mormons) said that our lives are indeed like a wheel.
Oliver B. Huntington remembered Joseph Smith’s statement this way:
“‘Every man will fail sometime. Be charitable and liberal with your substance, for it is only a secondary consideration. You may do good to some one who is down today and who will rise and be on top of the wheel when you are down, for every man will fail some time.’”
“He [Joseph Smith] said that he would compare our existence to a wheel that was forever revolving—we are on the outside of the wheel, and some times we are on the top and some times on the downside.” (They Knew The Prophet, 69-70)
This has become very apparent to me in recent weeks. This Easter Sunday my grandfather passed away. It was no surprise, since he was in his 90s, but actually hearing the news stirred up emotions. Ralph Waldo Hunter was preceded in death by my grandmother Mavis Claire Poulton, and by two of my uncles, Dale and Samuel. So he is not alone. But I still grieve.
Of course, this means that I am on the bottom of life’s wheel.
So how do I reach to the upside of the wheel? And where do I draw my faith? Simple: Jesus Christ. He is the great Atoner,“the resurrection, and the life” (John 11:25).
Thomas S. Monson, the current president of the Church, reaffirmed Christ’s atonement with these words:
My brothers and sisters, we laugh, we cry, we work, we play, we love, we live. And then we die. Death is our universal heritage. All must pass its portals. Death claims the aged, the weary and worn. It visits the youth in the bloom of hope and the glory of expectation. Nor are little children kept beyond its grasp. In the words of the Apostle Paul, “It is appointed unto men once to die.”
And dead we would remain but for one Man and His mission, even Jesus of Nazareth. Born in a stable, cradled in a manger, His birth fulfilled the inspired pronouncements of many prophets. He was taught from on high. He provided the life, the light, and the way. Multitudes followed Him. Children adored Him. The haughty rejected Him. He spoke in parables. He taught by example. He lived a perfect life.
Though the King of kings and Lord of lords had come, He was accorded by some the greeting given to an enemy, a traitor. There followed a mockery which some called a trial. Cries of “crucify him, crucify him” filled the air. Then commenced the climb to Calvary’s hill.
He was ridiculed, reviled, mocked, jeered, and nailed to a cross amidst shouts of “Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” “He saved others; himself he cannot save.” His response: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” “Into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.” His body was placed by loving hands in a sepulchre hewn of stone.
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, along with others, came to the sepulchre. To their astonishment, the body of their Lord was gone. Luke records that two men in shining garments stood by them and said: “Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen.” …
With all my heart and the fervency of my soul, I lift up my voice in testimony as a special witness and declare that God does live. Jesus is His Son, the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh. He is our Redeemer; He is our Mediator with the Father. He it was who died on the cross to atone for our sins. He became the firstfruits of the Resurrection. Because He died, all shall live again. “Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives: ‘I know that my Redeemer lives!’ ” May the whole world know it and live by that knowledge, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior, amen.
(Thomas S. Monson, “I Know That My Redeemer Lives!,” Ensign, May 2007, 22–25.)
There are also other things I turn to for strength. One is the temple. Although my grandparents eloped, they were later married in the Salt Lake Temple.
When Latter-day Saints marry, it is not “till death do you part” or “for long as your love shall last,” but “for time and all eternity.” After all, our baptism is something eternal—it being the gateway to heaven. Likewise, our marriages and families must also be eternal.
I also rely on the members of my Church. Of course, living in Utah that is about 75% of everyone here. Yet I can honestly say that everyone has been supportive of me. From kind words to adjusting work schedules so that I could make the pilgrimage to Oakley, Idaho for the funeral, they all have been kind. I am truly grateful.
However, there is one tragicomic sidenote. Joseph Smith spoke of the wheel of life as being antipodal: one person is up while the other is down. But this may not always true, in an over-precise view of things.
For example, this past Sunday I visited a member of my ward (or congregation) as part of a home teaching assignment. Earlier last week he had caught the flu, became dehydrated, and then passed out and slipped while in the shower. He was taken to the ER, and then later had surgery where they placed pins in his ankle. As we visited him, his left leg was bundled in beige wrappings, and kept cool by an ice pack. And all this while being newly married and enrolled in school.
So what do we do when both spokes are on the downside? I had a death in the family and he had this stunning reaffirmation of Murphy’s Law. Where do we get the power to help each other out?
I believe that it is in these types of situations that Christ’s Atonement shines. Christ is able to make up the difference, lifting us both up. The scriptures record that “He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth” (D&C 88:6). Christ rode the wagon-wheel of life all the way around, and in a bigger orbit than we do. Thus the experience of atoning has, in the words of a Latter-day apostle Neal A. Maxwell, made “Jesus … a fully atoning [and] also a fully comprehending Savior” (Men and Women of Christ, 72-73).
In this meeting with my friend we discussed Jesus Christ. I read the words of Boyd K. Packer, the president of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles of the Church, about the overpowering reach of the Atonement:
How the Atonement was wrought we do not know. No mortal watched as evil turned away and hid in shame before the Light of that pure being. All wickedness could not quench that Light. When what was done was done, the ransom had been paid. Both death and hell forsook their claim on all who would repent. Men at last were free. Then every soul who ever lived could choose to touch that Light and be redeemed.
By this infinite sacrifice, “through [this] Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel” (Articles of Faith 1:3). (Who is Jesus Christ?)
I know that Jesus is the Christ and the Resurrection and the Life. That faith of mine has been the one thing I have relied on in the past few days. And I know I can rely upon it always.
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