When someone passes on, it makes ya think. It's bound to do so. It makes ya ponder life. And at a funeral a few years ago I had a thought... an unrealistic but nice thought...
What if we get some sort of extra points in heaven for the people on earth who loved us? Not the # of people, and certainly not the measurement of tears cried at our funeral, but for those certain people, maybe there were only a few, but inside of the hearts of those few individuals, can their love for us somehow help us out in the long run?
Here's what brought on this thought. There are wonderful people who pass on, and at their funerals they are said to have lived what seems like practically perfect lives. What about those people whose funerals you think no one will go to? Maybe those mass murderers, those abusers, those....well you know the kind. Maybe those folks didn't get a funeral...but do they get any extra points for maybe their moms, or even a friend they met in prison, just someone.
If we choose to live our lives so that we seem to be better at losing friends then making them, then what about the one friend we did have? right? Even if it took a lifetime --- 300 people met and only 1 ends up actually being a friend, do we get some sort of lift up because at least in one instance we were able to learn how to love?
I don't know, but I do know that every person, even the ones who have gone down in history as the most evil of beings known to mankind, they have been loved. If they made it to adulthood with a relatively solid head on their shoulders, then somebody took the time to get them there. Someone had to nurse them, and love them as a baby. Babies who are not loved do not survive. Someone had to get them through childhood, at least long enough to teach them to fend for themselves. Maybe there are some people who truly never gave love in any form- not even for a fraction of a second during the short time we are here on earth. But maybe if we, if only one person, could still choose to love them, maybe it could benefit them after this life.
Here's another thought, maybe that one tiny shred of love doesn't 'win us points' persay, but maybe it has some magical affect on the heart of another person----like it shoots out and sticks to the heart of another even if they didn't want it to, and then after this life, all those little stickers are brought to remembrance---maybe all the stickers are laid out on the table--- and then at that time maybe that person will choose a willingness to learn how to love. And again, maybe there are human beings who won't shoot out any love stickers because they just don't know how. But I guess I'm saying, even though we can't force anyone to do anything...isn't love the closest thing to having the power to make someone do something? Because I know there are countless stories of people being changed by love. Even the people who are looked upon by others as useless scum, there is a chance of them being changed by love.
I know that the Atonement is real---and it IS the power to change people. And it is completely--and utterly---and through and through---love at it's ultimate strength. I know that Christ never looked upon the wicked as useless scum, no, he just said Come Unto Me. No matter who you are, no matter what you've done. He just said "Come Unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest" (matt.11:28) if no one else will love you, or cry at your funeral, or shoot you any love stickers for your heart, "I will give you rest".
And I do know, that not only did Christ ask us to Come Unto Him, he asked us in John 21 to Feed His Sheep. "Feed My Sheep" If you love me. So what happens really, how does the whole pattern work?
Even if no one else loves us, Christ does. He gave enough "love stickers" for everyone. When I say everyone, I'm not talking small--I'm not talking enough for the community you live in. Not the country you love in. But enough for everyone in the whole world. So some of us are blessed to know that in this lifetime. We get the blessing of the knowledge of our Savior. Too many don't get that privilege in this life. But that's what's amazing about the changing that occurs because of the love the Savior has for us. If we know about this love, if we strive to understand it, feel it, and gain a testimony of it, then we feel a change. It is a powerful change. And hopefully, the next part of the pattern is that you want to feed his sheep, you desire it with your whole soul. Because a love so powerful cannot be selfishly kept inside of one person---if it is, then it is not understood. This love motivates you to help others change, and feel the love you felt when you learned of the Savior's love for you.
And maybe, when we ponder the lives of others, even if they have passed on, maybe we can shoot them a few love stickers. maybe those love stickers can shoot through time, through different lifetimes. And maybe they can still cause changes. So that even if someone didn't understand love on earth, they can start feeling it and understanding it in heaven. And maybe.......just maybe....they can shoot love stickers back to us.
Just a thought.
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