A Month of Love

With the focus on Valentines Day during the month of February, we are reminded of one of the greatest commandments, to love one another as the Savior loves us. How can we truly understand the love the Savior has for each of us? We must learn about the Savior in order to love Him.

“What does Jesus look like?” my children have often asked. Like most “LDS homes” we have various pictures of the Savior on our walls. Popular LDS artists depict him in a similar fashion—with those warm brown eyes, the sculpted, yet soft jaw-line, the kindness and understanding emulating from the picture . . .

We might have pictures of the Savior in our homes, as well as His words in scripture on our end tables, but do we truly see him, and have we found Him inside our hearts?

At the age of sixteen, my family moved from Orem, Utah, to Jerusalem, Israel. My father had been given an assignment to teach in the BYU Jerusalem Center. We lived in a three bedroom apartment near the Mount of Olives and each day my younger brother and sister and I took a city bus to school.

Over the course of a year, we got to know the bus driver. He spoke some English and would make the effort to chat with us, the American kids. It didn’t take him long to figure out that we were Mormons. The year was 1987 and the Jerusalem Center had undergone some controversy by the local Jewish community when it was being built—including staged protesting. Some of the leftover evidence came in the form of bumper stickers that we saw on cars that read: Mormons Go Home.

Despite the negative feelings of some Israeli citizens towards the Mormons, it seemed the bus driver was curious and open-minded. Some months into our stay in Israel, he started asking us about our Church. We, of course, could not proselyte, so our answers were very sterile. Then he asked about the Book of Mormon, and regrettably we could tell him nothing and we could not even give him one. Still, he was amiable and friendly, even waiting for us when we late and sprinting for the bus.

Now, many years later, I think of that bus driver who wanted to know more about the Savior, but there were obstacles preventing him from learning, and from me teaching. As Christmas approaches this year, I think of the obstacles that may prevent me from drawing closer to my Savior. Or even the obstacles that may prevent me from teaching those around me, specifically my children, more about the Savior.

One of my greatest challenges in life is managing my time. Like many of you, I am balancing many things, including writing, editing, family, church, and community responsibilities. Where can I fit in yet another relationship? One with Heavenly Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ? Yes, I have reminders on the walls of my home, and in the pages of the scriptures that I read on a regular basis. But am I really seeing Him?

Because of the opportunity to live in Israel, I have walked where the Savior walked. I have visited the Garden tomb, surrounded by milling tourists, and tried to imagine the place in Christ’s day. I have looked at the stone slab where his body was laid out and thought about the coldness of the cave and the hardness of the stone.

I have wandered among the olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane—those ancient trees that the Savior Himself had walked among, before falling to the ground and taking upon Him the sins of the world.

I have stood above the Central Bus Station on Golgotha—the site of the Crucifixion, surrounded by the modern sounds of living, and thought back to a time of quiet, a time when one innocent man gave up his life for the salvation of all men.

Yet, it does not matter whether I’ve visited the physical places where the Savior spent the moments leading up to the Atonement. Regardless of whether or not I am in my Utah home looking at a picture of the Savior or standing in front of the Garden Tomb, I must come to see who the Savior truly is.

With all the surrounding busyness of life, the Savior needs to become my anchor, but there is only one way to do that. Learn of Him. And this takes time and effort. As we are reminded to show our love for others this February, let us push aside the obstacles that prevent us from truly seeing our Savior. Let us pause and ponder. Look beyond the artist depiction of a man, but into the heart of the Savior, and the love He has for each of us.

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