Sister Patricia T Holland, wife of Elder Jeffrey R Holland of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles, died on July 20, 2023. At her funeral the living Prophet, President Russell M Nelson, spoke about death. I like this quote enough to want to share it with you. From an article in the Deseret News:
"President Nelson detailed three steps necessary to qualify for eternal life:
“At our birth, our spirits were clothed with a mortal body,” he said. “That miraculous gift is the first step toward our gaining an immortal body and qualifying for eternal life.”
The second step “is receiving sacred ordinances that allow us to make covenants with God, and keeping those covenants.
The third step, he continued, is death.
“Death is a gateway along the path of eternal progress,” President Nelson explained. “Though hard for those of us left behind, we know that Sister Holland’s resurrection is certain and eternal life lies ahead. Death is both a necessity and a blessing. God’s great plan of happiness requires that each of us pass through that gateway. Sister Holland’s righteous spirit is now born again into the paradise of God. She continues on her path to eternal life.”" – Deseret News, July 28, 2023
I think most people think of the path to eternal life as coming to earth to gain a physical body and being tested, i.e. making and keeping covenants and keeping God's commandments. But President Nelson reminds us that death is also a necessary step in the path to eternal life.
Most people in the world think of death as a bad thing. And, I suppose for some, it may be if they are not prepared to meet God. Also, death is hard for the loved ones left behind. But as President Nelson said, death is a necessity and a blessing.
I, for one, am looking forward to the day when I get to graduate from mortality and be born again into the paradise of God. I'm looking forward to being reunited with loved ones who will be there to greet me. Including my dogs.
Since I spent so much of my life in school, I like to use school as an analogy for life. I look at death as completing my final exam. I have completed many final exams in my educational experience. It is always such a relief to walk to the front of the room with my completed final exam and turn it into the professor. Walking out of the room having just turned in my final exam, having done my best on it, was always a huge relief and sense of accomplishment.
I look at death the same way. Having tried my best to keep my covenants and keep the commandments of God, hopefully I will feel a sense of relief and accomplishment upon completing my mortal journey here on earth.
That's my two cents.
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