Strong Brotherly Arms

To my son,

                Eight years ago on Easter Sunday Elder Holland told this dramatic story: “Without safety ropes, harnesses, or climbing gear of any kind, two brothers—Jimmy, age 14, and John, age 19 (though those aren’t their real names)—attempted to scale a sheer canyon wall in Snow Canyon State Park in my native southern Utah. Near the top of their laborious climb, they discovered that a protruding ledge denied them their final few feet of ascent. They could not get over it, but neither could they now retreat from it. They were stranded. After careful maneuvering, John found enough footing to boost his younger brother to safety on top of the ledge. But there was no way to lift himself. The more he strained to find finger or foot leverage, the more his muscles began to cramp. Panic started to sweep over him, and he began to fear for his life. Unable to hold on much longer, John decided his only option was to try to jump vertically in an effort to grab the top of the overhanging ledge. If successful, he might, by his considerable arm strength, pull himself to safety.”

John told what happened next in these words, “Prior to my jump I told Jimmy to go search for a tree branch strong enough to extend down to me, although I knew there was nothing of the kind on this rocky summit. It was only a desperate ruse. If my jump failed, the least I could do was make certain my little brother did not see me falling to my death. Giving him enough time to be out of sight, I said my last prayer—that I wanted my family to know I loved them and that Jimmy could make it home safely on his own—then I leapt. There was enough adrenaline in my spring that the jump extended my arms above the ledge almost to my elbows. But as I slapped my hands down on the surface, I felt nothing but loose sand on flat stone. I can still remember the gritty sensation of hanging there with nothing to hold on to—no lip, no ridge, nothing to grab or grasp. I felt my fingers begin to recede slowly over the sandy surface. I knew my life was over. But then suddenly, like a lightning strike in a summer storm, two hands shot out from somewhere above the edge of the cliff, grabbing my wrists with a strength and determination that belied their size. My faithful little brother had not gone looking for any fictitious tree branch. Guessing exactly what I was planning to do, he had never moved an inch. He had simply waited—silently, almost breathlessly—knowing full well I would be foolish enough to try to make that jump. When I did, he grabbed me, held me, and refused to let me fall. Those strong brotherly arms saved my life that day as I dangled helplessly above what would surely have been certain death.”

                Elder Holland commented on the story in these words: “My beloved brothers and sisters, today is Easter Sunday. Although we should always remember (we promise in our weekly sacramental prayers that we will), nevertheless this is the most sacred day of the year for special remembrance of brotherly hands and determined arms that reached into the abyss of death to save us from our fallings and our failings, from our sorrows and our sins. Against the background of this story reported by John and Jimmy’s family, I express my gratitude for the Atonement and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and acknowledge events in the divine plan of God that led up to and give meaning to ‘the love Jesus offers [us].’” In this story Jimmy is a symbol of the Savior, and we are all like John hanging precariously without means to save ourselves. None of us can overcome by ourselves the obstacles that stand in our way of returning to our Father in Heaven. Without the atonement of Christ to purify us from our sins and the resurrection to save us from physical death, we would be lost forever. Jacob taught that without the Savior’s saving power “the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more…. For behold, if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more” (2 Nephi 9:7-8). Without the redeeming power of Jesus Christ, we would be subject to the evil one, never to rise again from the grave after our physical death or to overcome spiritual death that separates us from the Father.

                I hope that this Easter you will remember this story and know that you have an Elder Brother, even Jesus Christ, whose arm is always outstretched to save you. Though I don’t understand all the reasons why it had to be this way, I know that through His suffering, death, and resurrection, He has overcome sin and death for each of us. Because of Him we will all live again and our family can be united forever. Because of Him, you and I can overcome our weaknesses and mistakes and imperfections and be perfected in Him. In one of my favorite hymns, we sing these words:

 

I believe in Christ; he stands supreme!

From him I’ll gain my fondest dream;

And while I strive through grief and pain,

His voice is heard: “Ye shall obtain.”

 

From Him we can indeed obtain all that is important and good in this life despite the pain and grief of mortality. I want you to know that I do believe in Christ and hope that this Easter you will come to know Him better.

 

Love,

Dad