Without a city wall,
Where the dear Lord was crucified,
Who died to save us all.
We may not know, we cannot tell
What pains He had to bear;
But we believe it was for us
He hung and suffered there.
There was no other good enough,
To pay the price of sin;
He only could unlock the gate
Of Heav'n and let us in.
Oh, dearly, dearly has He loved,
And we must love Him too;
And trust in His redeeming blood,
And try His works to do.
Like many of you, I can't stop thinking about the shooting that happened on Friday and how much grief has come because of it. So many hearts and homes broken. So many tears shed and lives lost.
The idea that someone could take away something so much potential and so much life is unbelievable. I feel my very soul is crying out in despair and grief when I think about the little hands that will never be held again by their parents. Or the little back packs hung at the back of the classroom, never again to be filled with sandwiches or spelling tests.
In the midst of this massacre there is nothing more comforting than knowing that when they got to heaven those children were greeted by someone who loves them more than life itself. Their Savior died for them so that they could live again one day. He died for all of us. He died for me, he died for you.
He also died for Adam Lanza. Yes. The ill minded young man who destroyed so many lives. The man that so many of us have sent to rot in hell so many times. Heavenly Father loves that young man just as much as he loves the six and seven year olds of Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Heavenly Father greeted Adam Lanza with the same understanding and forgiveness that he will give to you and me. I imagine his eyes overflowing with tears as he embraced one of his precious children who had so cruelly abused the free agency he was given.
I know it's hard to think that such a man could even be worthy of the understanding and forgiveness of our Heavenly Father. But that is why the gospel is so beautiful. Because we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father. And we all have an older brother who "died to save us all."
It doesn't matter what you've done or where you've been in your life. It doesn't matter how tortured your soul or how tired your heart. Jesus Christ has and always will love you.
Heavenly Father has a plan for every one of his sons and daughters. They will live again one day and so will we through the power of the Atonement and the sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ. I hope we can all "try His works to do" and find room in our hearts to be forgiving of those who have done wrong in our world.
xoxo,
ella
