In his talk “I Know That My Redeemer Lives!” President Thomas S Monson speaks about the pain of losing loved ones. He speaks about how death affects us all. There will come a point when each of us will die. People often wonder if there is life after death.
President Monson tells the story of Robert Blatchford who had written a book discounting Christianity and life after death. After his wife died, he looked at her body and realized that something had changed. He determined that it was her soul. Blatchford realized that there is life after death and came back to Christianity.
President Monson points out that those looking for proof can find it by reading the scriptures that testify that Christ had risen again. One account is when Stephen looked into heaven when he was dying and saw Christ. Joseph Smith and Sidney Ridgon also bore testimony that Christ had risen and that there is life after death.
President Monson shares the story of a family whose four children all had muscular dystrophy. The little girl, Shanna, sang him a song one day about being free from her illness. Years passed, and her oldest brother passed away from the disease, then Shanna passed away. President Monson went to speak at the funeral. He said,
“When it was my time to speak, I recounted that visit the family made to my office nearly nine years earlier and spoke of the lovely song Shanna sang on that occasion. I concluded with the thought: ‘Because our Savior died at Calvary, death has no hold upon any one of us. Shanna lives, whole and well, and for her that beautiful day she sang about on a special Christmas Eve in 1997, the day she dreamed about, is here and now.’
“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.”
President Monson recounts the story of the Crucifixion and Resurrection. President Monson then states that it is through the Atonement and Resurrection that we too can live again. That we will have the opportunity to be with loved ones again.
This is a beautiful message about death and life after death. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have that we will live again. That we can see our family and our loved ones again, because of the sacrifice that the Savior made for each of us. It brings comfort into my life, especially when I think of those who have gone on ahead.
Related Articles:
General Conference: “The Plan of Salvation”