They were not back alone

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Afternoon Session of the October 2009 Conference.

Good talks in this session, including Elder Oaks' "Love and Law" treating a theme he's returned to over and over again in this past decade and a half—the balance of justice and mercy, the first commandment and the second commandment, love of God and love of others. He never says (because he can't) exactly how to achieve this difficult balance. But he seems to want to teach us again and again that we must grapple with the "how" ourselves, continually seeking the Spirit's guidance to help us figure it out.

As I am struggling with this very question right now in my own life, it's sobering to feel the weight of that responsibility, especially when Elder Oaks says things like this: 

…when family members are not united in striving to keep the commandments of God, there will be divisions. We do all that we can to avoid impairing loving relationships, but sometimes it happens after all we can do.

In the midst of such stress, we must endure the reality that the straying of our loved ones will detract from our happiness, but it should not detract from our love for one another or our patient efforts to be united in understanding God’s love and God’s laws.

However, in another talk, Elder Andersen's, I found this story:

Once I was asked to meet an older couple returning to the Church. They had been taught the gospel by their parents. After their marriage, they left the Church. Now, 50 years later, they were returning. I remember the husband coming into the office pulling an oxygen tank. They expressed regret at not having remained faithful. I told them of our happiness because of their return, assuring them of the Lord’s welcoming arms to those who repent. The elderly man responded, “We know this, Brother Andersen. But our sadness is that our children and grandchildren do not have the blessings of the gospel. We are back, but we are back alone.

There are plenty of conference talks warning of this very situation—reminding us how one person's gospel carelessness can have such lasting consequences for their children and grandchildren, and about the sadness of descendants having to wander again in search of covenant blessings their ancestors had already found. But I loved this story because of what Elder Andersen (surprisingly!) said next:

They were not back alone. Repentance not only changes us, but it also blesses our families and those we love. With our righteous repentance, in the timetable of the Lord, the lengthened-out arms of the Savior will not only encircle us but will also extend into the lives of our children and posterity. Repentance always means that there is greater happiness ahead.

Even though this couple had strayed from what they knew to be right for all that time, and I'm sure their coming back seemed "too late" in so many ways, it was not too late for God to turn it for their good. It was not too late for Him to do His miracles. And it's true as we seek to balance love and law for our families and our children as well. Even if we do it imperfectly, even if our families do feel the pain of those "divisions" Elder Oaks speaks of for a time, that state of division and unhappiness is not the end. Our own efforts to press forward, repent, and keep walking toward God will be enough with God's help. The Savior's loving arms "will also extend into the lives of our children and posterity," and His perfect love and His perfect law will work in perfect balance to bring all of us the greatest happiness possible.

Other posts in this series:

God's love and laws—by Rozy