We Are Here

I love the story of Paul in Silas in prison in Philippi. After they were beaten, “They cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.” Clearly the jailor was worried about doing his job properly, so he put these two notable prisoners in the deepest cell and bound their feet—there was going to be no way they escaped under his watch. But then at midnight, after Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God, “Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.” The jailor awoke to find that the prisoners were on the verge of escape, and his world crumbled before him. He likely assumed that he would have been executed for losing the prisoners, no matter what the reason, and so “he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.” Paul, instead of fleeing for his life at the first opportunity, cared more for the jailor than he did for himself in his suffering: “But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here” (Acts 16:23-28). What comfort those words must have been to the jailor: “we are here.” Not only did Paul save this man’s life when he was about to commit suicide, but he then preached the gospel to him and helped and ultimately brought him and his family to salvation through Jesus Christ. This is a powerful example of serving others even in one’s own suffering. We too should see to symbolically say to others in their moment of anguish, “we are here”—even when we too are suffering.  

                A few stories come to mind of people showing a similar focus on service and blessing others even while enduring one’s own suffering. Sister Parry was a sister in our ward when we were first married who became a great friend of ours, and even though we both moved away we kept in touch for many years and talked to her on the phone occasionally. She was nearly blind, a widow, and had many health challenges. At one point she lived alone and received Meals on Wheels to help her, and she told me how she would talk to these strangers who came in to help her in her home and she would give them copies of the Book of Mormon. At one point she called me in frustration because she was out of books because she had given so many away and was waiting to receive more to share. In her suffering she didn’t turn inward but rather sought to serve whoever she could. It was a powerful example to me that I’ll never forget. Another story that Paul’s experience with the jailor reminds me of is that of Joseph and Hyrum in Carthage Jail. Shortly before they would be brutally murdered, “Joseph bore powerful witness of its divine authenticity to the guards on duty. He testified that the gospel of Jesus Christ had been restored, that angels still ministered to humanity, and that the kingdom of God was once more on the earth.” Like Paul, Joseph sought to love those who held him captive in prison, turning outward even in his own time of distress. We don’t have any record of how his testimony affected the guards, but surely the Spirit was there to bear witness to them and bless their lives in that moment. The greatest example of serving even while in pain, of course, is that of the Savior on the cross. During His immense anguish, after having bled from every pore in Gethsemane, scourged, and now in terrible agony hanging on the cross, He still turned outwards to comfort others. He said to “one of the malefactors” who was hanging next to him and said, “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:39-43). He also thought of His mother who was suffering greatly at the sight of her Son about the be killed: “When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother!” (John 19:26-27) He put His mother in the care of John, giving her comfort even while He was on the verge of death. These examples, and countless others, invite us to likewise seek to help and bless and serve those around us even when we ourselves are in need.