I have received a number of requests to post the talks given at Ricky's funeral to the blog. The first post is the talk given by Greg. We certainly appreciate all the support that we have been given during this time. We are doing well as a family, and know that it is through your faith and prayers that we are able to move forward.
JOY TO THE WORLD
“Joy to the World, the Lord is come;Let earth receive her King!Let ev’ry heart prepare him roomAnd Saints and angels sing.”
This rapturous hymn by Isaac Watts expresses the heartfelt conviction of all devoted Christians in the divine nature of Jesus Christ. The song was a favorite of Ricky’s. I believe that it best expresses his testimony of implicit hope and faith in the Savior Of The World and of his enthusiasm for our Heavenly Father’s great plan of happiness. With this hymn, like Ricky’s ever-present smile and characteristic thumbs-up, there is so much more there, there. Ricky loved to have Joy to the World sung on many occasions including at his baptism. I rejoice in the opportunity to stand and sing it with you at the close of this great celebration of Ricky’s life today.
Upon first hearing the good news of the possibility of an earth life and a Heavenly King willing lead us to toward godliness, my brother and I “shouted for joy” as “the morning stars sang together” (see Job 38:7). We stood with all of the throng of the family of God in a council where the plan for mankind’s progression toward unbounded happiness was presented (Abraham 3:22-28). We were spirits, perfect in form, having all our faculties and mental powers unimpaired. (See, Answers to Gospel Questions, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith, Jr., 5 vols., Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1979, 3:19.) We knew that the progression we craved required us to be subjected to the cruel and indiscriminate circumstances upon the promised earth that would render some lame, some blind, some deaf, and others subjected to all manner of infirmities. Perhaps we knew at that time the limitations of body and mind that would be ours in mortality, but we certainly knew that whatever our earthly afflictions, they would be limited to our temporal/earth life experience and would, therefore, be temporary. (See e.g., Doctrines of Salvation: Sermons and Writings of Joseph Fielding Smith , comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols., Salt Lake City: Bookcraft Inc., 1955, 2:292-294). We knew that the pain, suffering, grief and misery of all mankind would be borne by Jesus Christ and that those who reached with faith toward his healing grace would find peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come (See e.g., 2 Nephi 9:21-22; D&C 18:11-13; D&C 59:23). Joy to the World!
Following the eternal pattern we were entered into earth life through families. It was the intention of our Father in Heaven that we receive in our families his reflected love, care and compassion. That in our families we would learn to respond with dignity to the impulses of the light of Christ or conscience with which all mankind is endowed from birth. (See e.g., The Family; A Proclamation to the World, The First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, (This proclamation was read by President Gordon B. Hinckley as part of his message at the General Relief Society Meeting held September 23, 1995, in Salt Lake City, Utah)) . When there are those that belong to our family, or that are otherwise close to us, that suffer from some impairment, we are rightfully saddened and we spend endless hours pleading with the Lord for miraculous healing. However, Apostle Boyd K. Packer reminds us, “The very purpose for which the world was created, and man introduced to live upon it, requires that the laws of nature operate in cold disregard for human feelings. We must work out our salvation without expecting the laws of nature to be exempted from us. Natural law is, on rare occasions, suspended in a miracle, but mostly the [disabled], like the lame man at the pool of Bethesda, wait endlessly for the moving of the water.” (Boyd K. Packer, The Moving of the Water, Ensign, May 1991, pg. 8).
And though we wait and watch with our loved ones as they endure the cruelty of their physical condition we must remember that disease, deformity and age render our bodies no less sacred. They were created in the image of God and are the crowning creation of Deity. The function and capacity of the individual parts and organs, from the fingers to the heart, to the brain and so on are miraculous and represent the divine, omnipotent genius of God, who is our Eternal Father (for more on the miracle of the human body see, Russell M. Nelson, The Magnificence of Man, New Era, Oct. 1987, pg. 44).
The question is often asked how a loving God could allow some to suffer so much in life. There are even those that frame their contention against the existence of God around such questions. To do so, however, places the myopic reasoning and logic of man above the expansive love and plan of God. The Lord has said:
Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation. For after much tribulation come the blessings, wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet but is nigh at hand. . . .
After that cometh the day of my power, then shall the poor, the lame, and the blind and the deaf, come in unto the marriage of the Lamb and partake of the supper of the Lord, prepared for the great day to come. Behold I, the Lord, have spoken it. (D&C 58 3-4; 11-12)
Apostle Neal A. Maxwell, a man familiar with suffering related to disease, once stated:
So much of life’s curriculum . . . consists of efforts by the Lord to get and keep our attention. Ironically, the stimuli He uses are often that which is seen by us as something to endure. Sometimes what we are actually being asked to endure is His “help”: help to draw us away from the cares of the world; help to draw us away from self-centeredness; attention-getting help when we have ignored the still, small voice; help in shaping our souls; and help to keep the promises made so long ago. . . .
There is clearly no immunity from such stimuli or other afflictions, whether of the self-induced variety or the divine-tutorial type. Either way, however, the Lord can help us so that our afflictions can be “swallowed up in the joy of Christ” (Alma 31:38). The sour notes are lost amid a symphony o f salvational sounds.
(Neal A. Maxwell, Thy Will Be Done, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft Inc., 1988, ppg. 118-119). Joy to the World! Certainly my brother responded well to his often received “stimuli”. He was rarely consumed by the cares of the world, self-centered, or insensitive to the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
Many of the infirm, though they move through life seeking the enlargement of mind and spirit, await the day of blessed release (note that Joseph Smith once stated, that “all the minds and spirits of God ever sent into the world are susceptible of enlargement.” Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 354). They recognize that once they have finished their sojourn upon the earth, that they will, as the prophet Alma tells us “be restored to their proper and perfect form” (Alma 40:23). Modern day revelation states “Their sleeping dust [will] be resurrected to its perfect frame, bone to bone, and the sinews and the flesh upon them, the spirit and the body to be united never again to be divided, that they may receive a fullness of joy.” (D& C 138:17)
Likely due to its universal application, the gift of resurrection is often given secondary significance with the grandeur of the atonement of Jesus Christ. Without it, however, the atonement would have no meaning. Perhaps the disabled and infirm understand and appreciate the interdependent miracles of atonement and resurrection better than the rest of us. They know that through the resurrection they will be restored and made whole, never to suffer disease or affliction for all eternity. They understand that through the atonement they are provided with the day to day healing power of Jesus Christ and the ability to live forever in the comforting presence of our Heavenly Father. In and through Christ are these miracles available. “Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: . . . [He] was stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. . . . He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. . . . He poured out his soul unto death and he was he was numbered with transgressors;” (Isaiah 53: 4-5, 12) “and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5).
He is the Great Healer, the Deliverer, the First Fruits of them that Slept, the Second Comforter, the Balm of Gilead, the Joy of the World! Of him I sing praise, in his holy name, Jesus Christ, Amen.
This rapturous hymn by Isaac Watts expresses the heartfelt conviction of all devoted Christians in the divine nature of Jesus Christ. The song was a favorite of Ricky’s. I believe that it best expresses his testimony of implicit hope and faith in the Savior Of The World and of his enthusiasm for our Heavenly Father’s great plan of happiness. With this hymn, like Ricky’s ever-present smile and characteristic thumbs-up, there is so much more there, there. Ricky loved to have Joy to the World sung on many occasions including at his baptism. I rejoice in the opportunity to stand and sing it with you at the close of this great celebration of Ricky’s life today.
Upon first hearing the good news of the possibility of an earth life and a Heavenly King willing lead us to toward godliness, my brother and I “shouted for joy” as “the morning stars sang together” (see Job 38:7). We stood with all of the throng of the family of God in a council where the plan for mankind’s progression toward unbounded happiness was presented (Abraham 3:22-28). We were spirits, perfect in form, having all our faculties and mental powers unimpaired. (See, Answers to Gospel Questions, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith, Jr., 5 vols., Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1979, 3:19.) We knew that the progression we craved required us to be subjected to the cruel and indiscriminate circumstances upon the promised earth that would render some lame, some blind, some deaf, and others subjected to all manner of infirmities. Perhaps we knew at that time the limitations of body and mind that would be ours in mortality, but we certainly knew that whatever our earthly afflictions, they would be limited to our temporal/earth life experience and would, therefore, be temporary. (See e.g., Doctrines of Salvation: Sermons and Writings of Joseph Fielding Smith , comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols., Salt Lake City: Bookcraft Inc., 1955, 2:292-294). We knew that the pain, suffering, grief and misery of all mankind would be borne by Jesus Christ and that those who reached with faith toward his healing grace would find peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come (See e.g., 2 Nephi 9:21-22; D&C 18:11-13; D&C 59:23). Joy to the World!
Following the eternal pattern we were entered into earth life through families. It was the intention of our Father in Heaven that we receive in our families his reflected love, care and compassion. That in our families we would learn to respond with dignity to the impulses of the light of Christ or conscience with which all mankind is endowed from birth. (See e.g., The Family; A Proclamation to the World, The First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, (This proclamation was read by President Gordon B. Hinckley as part of his message at the General Relief Society Meeting held September 23, 1995, in Salt Lake City, Utah)) . When there are those that belong to our family, or that are otherwise close to us, that suffer from some impairment, we are rightfully saddened and we spend endless hours pleading with the Lord for miraculous healing. However, Apostle Boyd K. Packer reminds us, “The very purpose for which the world was created, and man introduced to live upon it, requires that the laws of nature operate in cold disregard for human feelings. We must work out our salvation without expecting the laws of nature to be exempted from us. Natural law is, on rare occasions, suspended in a miracle, but mostly the [disabled], like the lame man at the pool of Bethesda, wait endlessly for the moving of the water.” (Boyd K. Packer, The Moving of the Water, Ensign, May 1991, pg. 8).
And though we wait and watch with our loved ones as they endure the cruelty of their physical condition we must remember that disease, deformity and age render our bodies no less sacred. They were created in the image of God and are the crowning creation of Deity. The function and capacity of the individual parts and organs, from the fingers to the heart, to the brain and so on are miraculous and represent the divine, omnipotent genius of God, who is our Eternal Father (for more on the miracle of the human body see, Russell M. Nelson, The Magnificence of Man, New Era, Oct. 1987, pg. 44).
The question is often asked how a loving God could allow some to suffer so much in life. There are even those that frame their contention against the existence of God around such questions. To do so, however, places the myopic reasoning and logic of man above the expansive love and plan of God. The Lord has said:
Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation. For after much tribulation come the blessings, wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet but is nigh at hand. . . .
After that cometh the day of my power, then shall the poor, the lame, and the blind and the deaf, come in unto the marriage of the Lamb and partake of the supper of the Lord, prepared for the great day to come. Behold I, the Lord, have spoken it. (D&C 58 3-4; 11-12)
Apostle Neal A. Maxwell, a man familiar with suffering related to disease, once stated:
So much of life’s curriculum . . . consists of efforts by the Lord to get and keep our attention. Ironically, the stimuli He uses are often that which is seen by us as something to endure. Sometimes what we are actually being asked to endure is His “help”: help to draw us away from the cares of the world; help to draw us away from self-centeredness; attention-getting help when we have ignored the still, small voice; help in shaping our souls; and help to keep the promises made so long ago. . . .
There is clearly no immunity from such stimuli or other afflictions, whether of the self-induced variety or the divine-tutorial type. Either way, however, the Lord can help us so that our afflictions can be “swallowed up in the joy of Christ” (Alma 31:38). The sour notes are lost amid a symphony o f salvational sounds.
(Neal A. Maxwell, Thy Will Be Done, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft Inc., 1988, ppg. 118-119). Joy to the World! Certainly my brother responded well to his often received “stimuli”. He was rarely consumed by the cares of the world, self-centered, or insensitive to the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
Many of the infirm, though they move through life seeking the enlargement of mind and spirit, await the day of blessed release (note that Joseph Smith once stated, that “all the minds and spirits of God ever sent into the world are susceptible of enlargement.” Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 354). They recognize that once they have finished their sojourn upon the earth, that they will, as the prophet Alma tells us “be restored to their proper and perfect form” (Alma 40:23). Modern day revelation states “Their sleeping dust [will] be resurrected to its perfect frame, bone to bone, and the sinews and the flesh upon them, the spirit and the body to be united never again to be divided, that they may receive a fullness of joy.” (D& C 138:17)
Likely due to its universal application, the gift of resurrection is often given secondary significance with the grandeur of the atonement of Jesus Christ. Without it, however, the atonement would have no meaning. Perhaps the disabled and infirm understand and appreciate the interdependent miracles of atonement and resurrection better than the rest of us. They know that through the resurrection they will be restored and made whole, never to suffer disease or affliction for all eternity. They understand that through the atonement they are provided with the day to day healing power of Jesus Christ and the ability to live forever in the comforting presence of our Heavenly Father. In and through Christ are these miracles available. “Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: . . . [He] was stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. . . . He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. . . . He poured out his soul unto death and he was he was numbered with transgressors;” (Isaiah 53: 4-5, 12) “and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5).
He is the Great Healer, the Deliverer, the First Fruits of them that Slept, the Second Comforter, the Balm of Gilead, the Joy of the World! Of him I sing praise, in his holy name, Jesus Christ, Amen.
2 comments:
I felt privileged to be able to witness the unity and bravery of your family as evidenced at your son'e memorial service.....a beautiful tribute to you and your wife's stewardship. We are so blessed to have one of those children as part of our extended family. My deepest sympathy goes out to you on your recent terrible losses....Cort's grandmother -- Barbara
Everson
What a wonderful tribute to your brother Ricky.
We all loved him and realized the testimony he had his time on earth.
What a great example all of you have had and shared with us even though we weren't close by.
Thank you so very much.
Our family would love to have a copy of his funeral and Sharon's also if possible.
Peters 428 East Majestic Drive Ivins, UT 84738-5061
Thanks so much
Pearl
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