I would consider myself a pragmatist, or a realist, when it comes to the sad realities of the world. You will never hear me say how grateful I am for my pains, failures, and troubles. I find it ironic when someone praises the heavens for their sufferings. I get that growth comes from trials, but so does deterioration. Furthermore, there are many times in my life that I have succeeded after many failures. These struggles we go through do not mean we can’t be grateful; on the contrary, it means we can be very grateful in a different way.
While the Israelites were in their exodus and learning the Law of Moses, they were taught how to deal with leprosy. God did not give the directions to heal leprosy, but how to contain it, “all the days wherein the plague shall be in him . . . he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be” (Leviticus 13:46). The leper was put in exile as long as that person had the disease. So, surviving as a leper would be very difficult, since everything that the leper touched was considered unclean (or contaminated). In essence, the leper became feared and ostracized. Let’s look at this a different way, during the COVID-19 pandemic, what did we do to people who became infected? They were quarantined, everyone wore masks, there was fear of catching the virus and there was fear knowing that you or someone around you could be infected. How many people were grateful who caught the virus or had to be in isolation because of being immunocompromised? I think very few, and I can imagine that was the case with the lepers during the biblical times.
During Jesus’ ministry He healed many sick and afflicted people. When He came upon the ten lepers in Luke 17, they called to Him and He healed them. Only one leper returned and knelt and praised God and thanked Jesus. I think this is a very important example of how we can be when we are dealing with trying circumstances. We can be like the nine lepers and walk away, or we can be like the one leper who praised Heavenly Father because he was able to be healed and cleansed. During COVID-19 many of us, and I was included, were annoyed that we had to wear masks and have to isolate. I am still getting my bearings because of the lengthy isolation period that Heidi and I had to do, to make sure we could be there for Archer, and make sure he was able to be born. Even though we can be annoyed with the COVID precautions and restrictions, we can be grateful that a vaccine was created to help us overcome the debilitating effects of the virus. We can be grateful for the instructions of wearing masks to minimize the rate of exposure. For those who contracted the virus, they can be grateful for being able to overcome it—for those who had family members that succumbed to the illness, there are other things to be grateful for, as I will suggest below. These are many more things that we can thank Heavenly Father for during the pandemic.
Having gratitude in the times of trials strengthens us to continue to endure the trying times. I had to remember what I am grateful for this week, because I was getting angry and frustrated with how things were turning out. I was mad with something stupid I did. After listing what I was grateful for, I quickly realized that even though I made a stupid mistake, I am able to overcome that mistake. There will be other opportunities that will come with my learning. I think that this is the most important thing to know, the trying circumstance will eventually come to an end. What I had done, was create hope for the future and was able to endure.
When Archer passed away, I knew that I could be grateful for one thing, and that is the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. This event allows me to be with my son again. I was also grateful for all the support that Heidi and I had received during this trying time. I don’t have to be happy or show gratitude that Archer passed away and the events didn’t turn out the way that I wanted them to; but, I can be grateful and hopeful for the future for when I can be with my whole family once more—at that point I may reflect and have that perfect gratitude, as the council was given to Joseph Smith “all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good,” until then I will still have to work on my imperfect gratitude (D&C 122:7). Even during hard times, we can be grateful for the support of our family, friends, coworkers, other church members, (in our case the hospital staff), in some cases an unknown stranger who comes along and helps, the list can continue. Most importantly, we can turn to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ who understand all things and they can help us with our trials and can help us be healed and cleansed. There are many things we can be grateful for, even when we are experiencing trials.
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