The Power of our Scars

The opening of the Sacred Gifts exhibition is rapidly approaching. Knowing what my boss and the other curators are going through right now make it hard to limit my days there. Lately I've been listening to audio of different scholars on campus discussing some of the paintings in the show. The interview I listened to today spoke about the power of the cross and Christ's crucifixion, and why it shouldn't be ignored in LDS doctrine. She quoted this talk of Elder Holland's.

"... in a resurrected, otherwise perfected body, our Lord ...has chosen to retain for the benefit of his disciples the wounds in his hands and his feet and his side—signs, if you will, that painful things happen even to the pure and perfect. Signs, if you will, that pain in this world is not evidence that God doesn’t love you. It is the wounded Christ who is the captain of our soul—he who yet bears the scars of sacrifice, the lesions of love and humility and forgiveness."

After I heard this, I just sat in my chair at the MoA with heart bursting gratitude, for all of my scars. Emotional, physical, spiritual; how grateful I am for them.