Easter Thoughts

I am breaking from my list format for a day just to write some thoughts I have had about Easter.

The LDS people hold the atonement in the Garden of Gethsemane to be the single most important act performed in the history of the universe. Somehow, in some way we cannot fully comprehend, Christ paid the horrible price for all our sins. He descended into the pits of hell in order to buy us and to allow us to be able to repent of our mistakes. For three or four hours, He suffered agonies so great that He bled great drops of blood from every pore. When it was over, He then was arrested and eventually crucified. As He hung on the cross, near the end of his torment, his Father, who had been with Him all the time, left Him completely alone, withdrawing His spirit so that Jesus could complete the atonement.

During the atonement process in the Garden, Christ descended below all of us in pain and anguish -- physical, mental and emotional. When the Father withdrew His spirit while Christ hung on the cross, Christ descended below all of us in a spiritual agony so great he cried, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

I can't understand it. I can't comprehend what it took for Christ to do what He did for me and everyone else in the world. Because of Him, I can be resurrected -- everyone in the world will live again with a perfect body, never to die again. Because of Him, I can repent and have those sins and mistakes wiped away. Because of Him, I have a chance of eternal life. Nothing I could ever do on my own would merit me an eternity with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I can not be good enough or work hard enough, though I have to try every day to be obedient to His commandments. It is only through the grace of Jesus Christ, who paid that awful price for me, that I have a chance.

I love Him. I am so grateful to Him. Easter is a day to be especially grateful, but that feeling is something I try to keep in my heart every day of the year.