As Strangers and Pilgrims

Peter wrote these stirring words to the Saints of his day: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:9-12). He wanted them to understand that they were the people of God, and as such they were called to be different from the world around them: chosen, royal, holy, peculiar. He implored them to remember that they were strangers and pilgrims, meaning that this world with its vices and temptations and wickedness was not their true home. As those who covenant with the Lord and call ourselves His people, we must remember that our home is with God—we are in a foreign land here on earth. When Alma had a vision of the celestial world with God upon His throne, he recorded, “My soul did long to be there.” That is how we should feel about being in the presence of God---this mortal life is but a temporary pilgrimage to obtain knowledge, and our true identity is found in the presence of God. Paul used the same language when he spoke of the holy prophets who “died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13). They were strangers and pilgrims on the earth because the earth was not their home—they returned to their true home when they left mortality.

                I remember vaguely a description someone gave me of the work that foreign service officers do for the United States. These special United States citizens are called to travel to a foreign country and represent the interests of the USA there. Sometimes, as he explained it to me, they become so committed to the country they are serving in that when someone shows them a map and asks, “What country do you represent?” they point to their country of residence instead of the United States. I thought of that as I considered these words of Peter’s—we should remember what “country” we are really from as we sojourn in mortality. We come from the presence of God as His children with a mission to perform on earth but ultimately intending to return back to His presence. As William Wordsworth famously penned, 

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;

The Soul that rises with us, our life’s Star,

Hath had elsewhere its setting

And cometh from afar;

Not in entire forgetfulness,

And not in utter nakedness,

But trailing clouds of glory do we come

From God, who is our home: 

We must not forget where we are truly from and whom we represent—we came to earth trailing clouds of glory from the presence of Almighty God, and our time on earth is meant to prepare us to return back to Him. And so, we should not be ashamed as followers of Jesus Christ to be indeed a “peculiar people” and to feel as strangers amidst the worldliness around us. We must not confuse our true identity or forget that our heavenly home is what really defines us and not the “fleshy lusts” of the world around us. The words of the Savior to the apostles should ring always in our spirits as we navigate mortality: “Ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world” (John 15:19).