This Easter Season, Celebrate the Most Selfless Act Known to Humankind: Christ's Atonement

It was known by prophets that in the latter days man would seek the self in the extreme above all else, for it is spoken:

3:2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3:3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 3:4 Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. (2 Timothy: King James)

If we look around, read the papers, watch the news, listen to our neighbors and watch the stranger in the street this level of selfishness is evident. However, there is one act performed by the only man to walk on this earth who did not sin that stands amongst the rest as a testament to time and eternity that we have the potential to work toward perfection in our hearts, for he instructed "Be perfect, even as your father in heaven is perfect (Mathew 5:48).

Not that anyone will ever be perfect in this lifetime, but with the bar set high so are our sights. And there have been a great many who have reached toward this aspiration: Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and others. These people were truly some of the most selfless known to mankind outside the Savior.

They worked hard at watching every thought, word, action, deed that runs counter to the commandments or to the desires of God, for each time there is a crack in the door it allows the power of Satan to take hold in small increments. If the door is left open too often, then bit by bit by bit by bit the soul cankers and rots going to the evil one. Sloth, anger, revenge, pride, spite, fear, envy, lust for flesh, power, fame and fortune are allowed to fester in the human soul to blacken and then take its possessor down. They knew that one would fall to the natural man--the flesh--that it would take constant, daily, hourly, by the minute vigilance over one's thoughts. Extensive work, improper thought, action, repentance, remission, growth. On and on the work goes throughout life. His disciples work constantly, continuously to overcome the fallen man. But the Savior . . .

Ah, yes, the Savior. The Savior's act of selflessness was in the extreme. Unlike any other human who has lived or will live, every single act or thought he possessed was to do the Father's will to bring to pass immortality and the eternal life of man. For this is why the Savior died to overcome death so that we could live forever.  The Savior's death was an extreme sacrifice. Having the ability to take up his life and to put it down, he through his agency put down his life so that he could overcome sin and so that all of humankind would not have to suffer for their sins if they repented.

Yet in order for this act to be complete, he who descended below all things, had to be left unto himself, for he states "My God, my god, why has thou forsaken me?" (Mathew 27:46). It was at this moment that God, our Father in Heaven, receded and left His Only Begotten alone so that he may feel what it was like for humankind to suffer as they would if they were to die in their sins, alone, to be taken by the evil one if the Savior did not redeem us.

In his suffering, the Savior sought not his will but completely and fully the will of the Father, as he had always done: "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42). The Savior knew the difficulties that were to come; he knew the great trial and suffering that was to come; but he knew that not his will "but thine, be done."

Upon the cross, the Savior was left alone, without the Father, so that he could suffer, and suffer indeed, in taking on the sins of the world, in taking on all our sins so that we would not have to suffer them only if we would repent.

He suffered, died, and was buried, and on the third day he rose.

What glory!

What wonder!

What honor!

And what relief to his disciples. As always, the women were close to him, his great kindness more heartfelt to those who mother this world, for it is in the womb that the commandment to replenish the earth is satisfied. The mother knowing innately the beauty and purpose of bringing down spirits to obtain flesh and body to bring into the key unit of existence: the family.

The announcement of Christ's resurrection was first made to women. The honor, joy, and relief first given to those closest to birth and birthing. In the Gospels, women play a central role in eyewitnesses to Jesus' death, entombment, and discovery of an empty tomb.

Jesus has come forth, overcome death, and lives again so that all mankind may live again, live eternally at the side of their Savior. The Atonement has been made real. Paul gave a simple explanation for the need of the Atonement: "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Cor 15:22). With his divine act, through his sinless life, the shedding of his blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, his excruciating death on the cross and subsequent bodily Resurrection from the grave, He became the author of our salvation and made a perfect Atonement for all humankind.

No mortal may ever know the suffering he suffered for all humankind, but we can do our best to praise him through selfless acts. To cite:

During WWII, a mother who had lost her husband to the war had to leave her home, her hometown, even her country to seek safety, for if she stayed, surely she and her four children would die. She had no choice but to travel the 1,0000 mile journey to safety.

The temperatures were often sub-freezing at night, at times below zero. The snows blew and at times this little band did not find shelter and had to sleep in the woods under what cover they could find. In tow were four children ranging from a newborn to the oldest, a seven year old daughter. This oldest daughter pulled what little possessions they had in a small wagon.

One night, as they huddled together for warmth, the mother woke with a start. She felt her seven-year-old at her side, but knew something was wrong. The little girl was not breathing. She had passed away in the night. The mother, taking a small teaspoon, dug for hours in the frozen earth to place her dead daughter down.

Later, there would be other graves to dig. Again and again, she used the teaspoon to bury her children. Finally, the little babe died in her arms, but without the teaspoon, she dug with her own bare hands to bury her youngest.

This woman, alone, without her children, husbandless, without hope began to think of how she may end her life. But then she began to think of her Savior, her Father in Heaven and the glory and greatness of eternal life, that she was a child of God and that through the Savior's resurrection she would be reunited with her family that this was but a short test and trial to see if she would do all that was asked of her and to remain faithful.

Amazingly, she passed this test and testified to those who lived in the safe heaven that she sought, testifying of her love and faith, her love for the Savior and her Heavenly Father. That she knew that He lived and that through His suffering, through His Atonement she was saved, that she would see her family again and live with them and her Savior in glory and eternal joy.

This is the message this Easter season: the saving grace, the purpose, need and eternal nature of the Atonement, the Resurrection and the giving of His life for all of mankind to pull strength, purpose, and eternal hope and joy beyond human capacity, for it is He who aides us in those times in which all will fail, all mortals will find inadequate in coping.

In celebration this Easter, may we overcome our differences and the foolishness of getting caught up in the evil one's desire to separate and turn one against the other for the trivial. May all those of differing religions, sects, colors, races, creeds come together, proving ourselves in overcoming difference to pull together as the human race and put the insignificant aside looking to the act not the pedigree in seeing and touching our fellow brothers and sisters in need, all those of imperfect flesh and blood. May we focus our efforts, minds, and deeds on helping each other not in the finding of fault, difference, or inadequacies. For these we will find in abundance, a finding or looking that will take precious time from doing the Savior's will: Love one another.

May the Easter season bring you joy, hope, and happiness, happiness that lasts longer than that which the world can give, happiness that only the Lord can give. To this may our focus be.