I Come Quickly

In the book The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the fifth of C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, there is an interesting conversation between Lucy and Aslan. Lucy had just met Aslan in a magician’s house on an island, and she was overjoyed to able to speak for a few moments with him. But soon he told her and the magician that he must leave, and in parting he said to Lucy, “Do not look so sad. We shall meet again soon.” Lucy then asked, “Please Aslan, what do you call soon?” He responded, “I call all times soon.” Aslan, the figure for Christ, then disappeared. I reminded my son of this conversation from the book (I had just read it to him the night before) when we were on a mountain bike ride yesterday in the heat and he was desperate to know when the trail (which seemed to go on forever) was going to be over. When I told him that we would be done “soon,” he did not like that answer! The words of Aslan, though, remind me of what Alma said to his son Corianton, “All is as one day with God, and time only is measured unto men” (Alma 40:8). I don’t know exactly what that means, but clearly we as mortals are much more worried about time than God is. We know from Abraham that time where God lives is in some way different from time on earth: “One revolution was a day unto the Lord, after his manner of reckoning, it being one thousand years according to the time appointed unto that whereon thou standest” (Abraham 3:4). This suggests that somehow one day in heaven is like a thousand years on earth. Peter taught the same thing: “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8). These scriptures suggest that somehow time on earth is different than time for God. We know from modern revelation that Jesus is “the same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes” (Doctrine and Covenants 38:2). He said something similar to Moses: “There is no God beside me, and all things are present with me, for I know them all” (Moses 1:6). We live in a world where there are distinct past, present and future times; somehow for Him all times are present.

              This idea helps us perhaps put perspective on one of the most repeated phrases in the Doctrine and Covenants. The Savior declared, “For behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, that I come quickly” (Doctrine and Covenants 33:18). That was in October 1830—it seems that since we are nearly 200 years later “quickly” should have already happened! But perhaps the Savior might say, like Aslan, “I call all times quickly.” He repeated the statement the next month: “And verily, verily, I say unto you, I come quickly. I am your Lord and your Redeemer” (Doctrine and Covenants 34:12). The following month, December 1830, He said it again: “Fear not, little flock, the kingdom is yours until I come. Behold, I come quickly” (Doctrine and Covenants 35:27). Continuing the pattern, He said it again the next month: “And again, it shall come to pass that on as many as ye shall baptize with water, ye shall lay your hands, and they shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and shall be looking forth for the signs of my coming, and shall know me. Behold, I come quickly” (Doctrine and Covenants 39:23-24). This confirms that He is indeed talking about His Second Coming, and it is supposed to be here “quickly.” In February 1831, the following month, He said it again: “And I will be your ruler when I come; and behold, I come quickly, and ye shall see that my law is kept” (Doctrine and Covenants 41:4). That makes five revelations during five consecutive months that He repeated that He was coming quickly.

Perhaps all of these statements were in preparation for the incredible revelation, Doctrine and Covenants 45, that was to come in the next month—March 1831—in which the Savior testified that indeed He would come as He spoke at length about the last days and His appearing. He said, “And it shall come to pass that he that feareth me shall be looking forth for the great day of the Lord to come, even for the signs of the coming of the Son of Man” (v39). He affirmed, “Behold, I will come; and they shall see me in the clouds of heaven, clothed with power and great glory” (v44). He said again, “I shall come in my glory” (v56). What He considers to be “quickly” may not match our expectations, but we can be certain that the day of His coming will indeed come! And so, for now, we must work to “be prepared for the things to come” as we await that great day (v61).