Rescued and Rescuing

It captivates our hearts when we read tales or see movies of the good rescuing the good from the evil. The "damsel in distress" or the "princess locked in the tower" and so on.

My mind has been pondering on rescuing and being rescued. We all have times in our lives when we really need to be rescued--and to be rescued is to forever love the rescuer. Then there are those times when we need to rescue. President Thomas S. Monson's biggest mandate is to "Reach out and rescue." He says that with a pause. Reach out...and rescue.

Sometimes things happen. Oft times we come up against those that are hard to deal with. "People problems" I call them. I've never been good at these. Just let me hide in a corner and avoid confrontation or conflict or harsh words or feelings. But alas, we live in mortality still, and these things are impossible to avoid. I know that these things have been put in place to teach us, train us, tutor us, and test us.

I know if I could see the vision of things as they truly are that all mortalness would melt away and make it easier. But I guess that's like how Alma felt in the Book of Mormon (Alma 29:1) where he wished he could be an angel and sound his voice like a trump to all the ends of the earth that all people everywhere would repent...that he could take all sorrow off the face of the earth.  Then he says in verse 3: "But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me."  He goes on to explain that he should not wish for things that go against what God has ordained, which is our free agency, that every man and woman could come to earth and choose for themselves whether to do good or evil. 

Which brings us back to "people problems."  Not everyone understands good or chooses good.  I know I'm not perfect in doing good, even though my desires are to do good.  So, we come up against people whose wills go against our wills.  People who choose to do things different than we do.  And sometimes we judge.  We have to be so careful with judging.  While it's important to judge righteous judgments and make good choices for ourselves in the friends we make and the things we choose to do, it's also important not to shun people who may seem quite different from us.  And sometimes we're not patient with the weaknesses and errors of those around us.  And sometimes we judge ourselves harshly and critically.  I struggle with all these. 

I re-read President Monson's Relief Society General Conference Talk from Oct. 2010.  I wish I could always remember this story, it's so touching:

"A woman by the name of Mary Bartels had a home directly across the street from the entrance to a hospital clinic. Her family lived on the main floor and rented the upstairs rooms to outpatients at the clinic.
One evening a truly awful-looking old man came to the door asking if there was room for him to stay the night. He was stooped and shriveled, and his face was lopsided from swelling—red and raw. He said he’d been hunting for a room since noon but with no success. “I guess it’s my face,” he said. “I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says it could possibly improve after more treatments.” He indicated he’d be happy to sleep in the rocking chair on the porch. As she talked with him, Mary realized this little old man had an over-sized heart crowded into that tiny body. Although her rooms were filled, she told him to wait in the chair and she’d find him a place to sleep.
At bedtime Mary’s husband set up a camp cot for the man. When she checked in the morning, the bed linens were neatly folded and he was out on the porch. He refused breakfast, but just before he left for his bus, he asked if he could return the next time he had a treatment. “I won’t put you out a bit,” he promised. “I can sleep fine in a chair.” Mary assured him he was welcome to come again.
In the several years he went for treatments and stayed in Mary’s home, the old man, who was a fisherman by trade, always had gifts of seafood or vegetables from his garden. Other times he sent packages in the mail.
When Mary received these thoughtful gifts, she often thought of a comment her next-door neighbor made after the disfigured, stooped old man had left Mary’s home that first morning. “Did you keep that awful-looking man last night? I turned him away. You can lose customers by putting up such people.”
Mary knew that maybe they had lost customers once or twice, but she thought, “Oh, if only they could have known him, perhaps their illnesses would have been easier to bear.”
After the man passed away, Mary was visiting with a friend who had a greenhouse. As she looked at her friend’s flowers, she noticed a beautiful golden chrysanthemum but was puzzled that it was growing in a dented, old, rusty bucket. Her friend explained, “I ran short of pots, and knowing how beautiful this one would be, I thought it wouldn’t mind starting in this old pail. It’s just for a little while, until I can put it out in the garden.”
Mary smiled as she imagined just such a scene in heaven. “Here’s an especially beautiful one,” God might have said when He came to the soul of the little old man. “He won’t mind starting in this small, misshapen body.” But that was long ago, and in God’s garden how tall this lovely soul must stand! ³
Appearances can be so deceiving, such a poor measure of a person."

Do you ever feel like the dented, rusty old bucket?  Sometimes I do.  But I also admit that I see rusty buckets in others, too.  Maybe what we see as faults in others is really a reflection of what we see in ourselves.  C.S. Lewis thinks so.   He said, "We find what we are looking for and it's so easy to find fault and criticize others.  But when we do we may be revealing more about ourselves than those we criticize.  In other words, sometimes our judgment of others stems from the worst that is in us rather than what we assume is the worst in them."

Joseph Smith said, "The devil flatters us that we are very righteous when we are feeding off the faults of others."  

I've been on both ends.  I'm not at peace when I feel critical of others and I'm totally devastated when others are critical of me and won't forgive me for my weakness and errors.  I was recently on the receiving end of some harsh remarks that left me humbly soul seeking--realizing that I needed to know how it felt to be on the receiving end. 

I understand how mercy begets mercy, and we need to be merciful so we can have claim upon the Savior's mercy.  "With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." (Matt 7:2)

President Monson quotes Mother Teresa who said, “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”  

The Lord is teaching me and I'm reaching for understanding.  I know I have a weakness for wishing for something better in those closest to me, and for being frustrated at a seemingly lack of progress.  I know that our efforts are largely unseen by us and by those around us, but God knows.  I just need to trust Him that He knows what is the ultimate best for all concerned in matters of the heart and matters of life and matters of spiritual growth. 

C.S. Lewis said, "It is what Christ asks of us in taking on our humanity, sanctifying our flesh, and asking us in turn to reveal God to one another....God knows what a wretched machine you are trying to drive [conditions of the fall] and asks only that you keep on doing the best you can...the great religious struggle is not fought on a spectacular battleground, but within the ordinary human heart...we must decide what kind of immortals we wish to be...how gloriously different ."

I have a vision that as I press forward along that path that leads us back Home that I do not want to be pressing forward on that path alone--that as I move I need to reach out my arms and embrace all I can and bring them with me.  I know that no matter what degree of glory we achieve from this life's test that it will be the ultimate best the Lord can give us.  I know He loves us all so much and He needs us to help each other.  We need to reach out and rescue just as our Savior reaches out and rescues us.  We can be Saviours in our own small way--if only we are willing.  If only we can see.

"Kindness and love can transform our hearts even as they work mighty miracles in the hearts of others."
(Let Him Ask of God, Lloyd D. Newell, pg.56)

President Monson said, "Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down. It is resisting the impulse to become offended easily. It is accepting weaknesses and shortcomings. It is accepting people as they truly are. It is looking beyond physical appearances to attributes that will not dim through time. It is resisting the impulse to categorize others.  ...the charity that impels us to be sympathetic, compassionate, and merciful, not only in times of sickness and affliction and distress but also in times of weakness or error on the part of others."

"In a hundred small ways, all of you wear the mantle of charity. Life is perfect for none of us. Rather than being judgmental and critical of each other, may we have the pure love of Christ for our fellow travelers in this journey through life. May we recognize that each one is doing her best to deal with the challenges which come her way, and may we strive to do our best to help out."


Is that not rescuing?

We may not be perfect in our efforts, but we can try, and keep trying, and never give up.

"No one escapes God's refining hand.  Our trials offer a training ground for Godhood.  Without some moments in darkness, would we ever cherish the light?  ...challenges come not from personal choice but from God's divine timetable....there [will] be days when the adversary seems to have an absolutely crushing upper hand.  [But] remember the Savior who tells us, "Be of good comfort, I have overcome the world."  He will not fail thee or forsake thee."  (A Quiet Heart, Patricia Holland, pg. 117)

If only we could realize that our battle is with Satan and not the people we struggle with, we would rush to rescue.  "The powers of evil mock wherever there is a desire for righteousness." (Newell, Let Him Ask of God)

When God knows we are trying and when we keep ourselves open to the Spirit to learn, He pours out tender mercies.  I received this one last week in a book by Elder Neal A. Maxwell (Meek & Lowly" pg. 5-6):
"...meek individuals are apt to have periodic public relations problems, being misrepresented and misunderstood.  They will have to 'take it' at times.  Even so, there appears to be no other way to achieve certain learning except through the relevant clinical experiences."

She who is in need of forgiveness loves much, "but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little." (Luke 7:37)

Weakness and error are to be found on the path to Queenliness.  The Atonement is set in place for all of us, if we will but put it to use.

The Savior's whole life's mission was a rescue effort.  And He can succor us in anything.  That speaks volumes of the power of His love.  Pure Christlike love rescues from the deepest abyss. 

Come, follow Him.  Reach out to love and rescue, and be rescued in the process.

That is Queenly.