No Coincidences

Tag: resurrection

  • Jesus Christ

    Jesus Christ

    At church last week, we had an uplifting meeting focused on music. Ivy and Sage even participated, singing my new favorite song:

    That evening, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hosted an interfaith concert. Beth and I took Ivy as a special treat for being such a big kid lately. It was a sufficiently uplifting Sunday.

    This is Holy Week.

    Latter-day Saint traditions haven’t normally had a big focus on Holy Week (not sure if that’s supposed to be capitalized…).. I don’t even really know what it means. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has asked its members to have a little more focus on Easter this and recent years.

    I had a blog post already prepared for this week. I rarely stray from my plans. But during church on Sunday, a thought came to me:

    When was the last time I wrote a post completely focused on Jesus Christ?

    I hope my blog is Christ-centered. I think pretty much every post should have something to do with Him. But I realized I hadn’t given my simple testimony of Him in some time.

    I don’t have anything extraordinary to say since this wasn’t planned. Except that everything about Jesus Christ is extraordinary.

    This is my humble testimony and my small reminder to the world.

    Jesus Christ, under the direction of God the Father, created this Earth that we now reside on. He was our Brother. We were part of the council that decided to come to Earth.

    Jesus Christ was born to a virgin in Bethlehem. He was the Creator of this Earth. He could have been born anywhere. Instead of being born in a royal palace, He was born in a manger, amidst farm animals, in the humblest of circumstances.

    I marvel that He would descend from His throne divine
    To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine,
    That He should extend His great love unto such as I,
    Sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify.

    Jesus Christ lived and grew, just like us. He walked this Earth that He had created. Then He began to preach.

    Jesus Christ quickly amassed followers and a reputation for His powerful words, teachings, and miracles.

    Jesus Christ went to a garden called Gethsemane. There He began the process we now call the Atonement. 

    Atonement: Reparation for a wrong or injury.
    Atonement: the reconciliation of God and humankind through Jesus Christ.

    He paid for every sin. He paid for every wrongdoing. He felt every suffering, injustice, pain, sickness, heartache, loneliness, fear, hurt, and tear. He experienced it like it was His own. The sheer weight of this task made Him bleed from every pore in His body. A mortal body with an immortal soul. Our Brother.

    I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,
    Confused at the grace that so fully He proffers me.
    I tremble to know that for me He was crucified,
    That for me, a sinner, He suffered, He bled and died.

    As if this weren’t enough, He allowed Himself to be arrested, spit upon, and beaten. He carried the cross that would be used to kill Him.

    He allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross. Nails through His feet. Nails through His hands. Nails through His wrists. 

    I think of His hands pierced and bleeding to pay the debt!
    Such mercy, such love and devotion can I forget?
    No, no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat,
    Until at the glorified throne I kneel at His feet.

    He suffered and died so we could be reconciled to God. He suffered and died so we could one day go home with Him.

    Then the glorious, most fantastic, most amazing news the Earth had ever heard. Death isn’t the end.

    Three days after His death Jesus Christ raised up the body He allowed to die. 

    He keeps the nail marks in a resurrected and perfected body. Why? I ask my daughters this often. Why does Jesus Christ keep the marks of the nails in His perfect body? “To remind us that He always remembers us.”

    Oh, it is wonderful that He should care for me
    Enough to die for me!
    Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

    He lives.

    Our Savior. Our King.

  • San Junipero

    San Junipero

    I really enjoy the show Black Mirror on Netflix.

    For those who don’t know the show, each season includes independent episodes that usually (but not always) have a futuristic, technological theme.

    One of my favorite episodes is called San Junipero.

    I don’t love this episode for its ending. I love it for how it makes me think. Funny enough, I watched the episode a second time, 7 years after the first viewing. Usually when something really makes me think, I pull out my phone and start writing down my thoughts.

    In 2025 when I rewatched San Junipero, I pulled out my phone to take notes. I found notes I took 7 years prior. I didn’t remember taking those notes. But they fit exactly what I thought 7 years later watching the episode a second time. Good to see I’m consistent. Typing those thoughts out led to this blog post.

    In the show, San Junipero is a virtual reality where people can upload their consciousness to live and experience life much like in the real world. In San Junipero, people can eat, drink, laugh, dance, and do seemingly all of the things that you can do in real life.  

    The main character is named Yorki. Yorki meets a character named Kelly (I hope it goes without saying that there are about to be spoilers for the episode).

    Yorki and Kelly start a romance in San Junipero. In San Junipero, everyone is young and vibrant. We learn that in the real world Yorki is an old woman who was paralyzed at the age of 20 and has spent her entire life in a coma-like state. Kelly is an old woman who was given 3 months to live 6 months ago.

    We learn that Kelly was married for many years to a man named Richard. Kelly and Richard… well, I’ll let Kelly tell the story.

    The episode comes to a climax when Yorki is trying to convince Kelly to stay with her in San Junipero.

    This leads to one of the most powerful monologues I’ve ever seen on television. In exasperation and frustration at Yorki’s request, Kelly exploded (you can watch the exact clip on YouTube HERE):

    “49 years. I was with him for 49 years. You can’t begin to imagine. You can’t know. The bond, the commitment, the boredom, the yearning, the laughter, the love of it. The *expletive love. You just cannot know. Everything we sacrificed. The years I gave him. The years he gave me. Did you think to ask? Did it occur to you to ask?

    “We had a daughter, Allison. Always difficult, always beautiful. Died at 39 years old, bless her heart. And Richard and I, we felt that heartbreak as one.

    “You know when he was dying, Rich said to me, when they offered him this, to pass over, pass through, spend eternity in this *expletive graveyard you’re so in love with, he said, ‘How can I? When she missed out, how can I?’ And so he went. And I wish I could believe he’s with her now, that they’re together, but I don’t. I believe they’re nowhere. Just like you said. Gone…

    “And now you give me some sales pitch about how *expletive peachy forever could be. You want to spend forever somewhere nothing matters? End up like Wes. All those lost *expletives at the Quagmire trying anything to feel something, go ahead. But I’m out. I’m gone.”

    The episode goes on. You see a coffin being lowered into a grave next to Richard’s tombstone. You think that’s the end.

    Black Mirror is known for its twists. I love it for its twists. I hated this twist.

    Kelly is back in San Junipero with Yorki. She decided not to “pass on.” She stayed in San Junipero. The show plays background music of Belinda Carlisle’s Heaven is a Place on Earth.

    While this may seem like a happy ending, the broader implications broke my heart.

    Obviously, I’m going to take this from a perspective of faith.

    There’s a lot to unpack here and a lot to consider. It’s why, despite my dislike for the ending, it’ s still one of my favorite episodes.

    Kelly could have “moved on” and spent an eternity with her husband and daughter. Instead she decided to stay in an artificial world.

    What is the lesson here?

    Her husband Rich had a particle of faith. Just a mustard seed of faith, you might say. Kelly couldn’t exhibit even that. She said herself, “I wish I could believe he’s with her now.” Wish. She Wishes. She hopes, probably. But she couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t even give real honest effort. She could only wish and hope but she couldn’t believe. According to Kelly Richard didn’t believe, but clearly he tried to. From a faithful perspective, what did Richard get? An eternity with his beloved daughter. What did Kelly get? An eternity in a fake and counterfeit world.

    Kelly took the guarantee in front of her. She took what she knew. She chose earth. She chose an existence of “trying to feel alive” over eternal life.

    Kelly’s monologue makes mention of a place called the Quagmire. The definition of quagmire is: “a soft boggy area of land that gives way underfoot.” A land that gives way underfoot = unsteady, uncertain, unsure. A sandy foundation.

    The Quagmire was a disgusting, sad, pathetic place where people in San Junipero went to party. It was all grotesque acts, cage fighting, drugs – all the worst of the world. Why did so many people in San Junipero go to the Quagmire? A hell-hole of debauchery? Kelly in her monologue pointed out the reason the living souls of the dead in San Junipero went there. Why would they go to somewhere so horrible? Just to try to feel alive.

    This is another eternal point to consider. The Quagmire clearly represented hell. Hell is a lack of progression. Hell is a lack of purpose.

    What is life without purpose? What is your purpose?

    Kelly chose a fake world. Will her life there be happy? Maybe. It might even be amazing, from an earthly perspective.

    We know that people really will make this choice. When some die, they can’t enjoy an otherworldly experience because they are too attached to this world. It’s the reason Jesus said to leave all earthly things behind and seek after eternal things. There is so much in store for us if we can just seek it out. Some will choose this world and this life because they can’t garner the faith to hope for something so much more.

    For those that want a greater blessing, there will be an eternity of love and joy, and things we can’t even begin to wrap our minds around – amazing, spectacular, fantastic things. But if we get too stuck in this world, we’ll miss the opportunity for that so much more.

    The fictional Richard hoped for so much more. He wished for so much more. He believed it just enough that he received it. A blessed existence for eternity with his daughter.

    I so wished the show would have taken an “eternal perspective” for once. But alas, it is a show of the world.

  • Reach Out

    Reach Out

    In Mark Chapter 5, Jesus of Nazareth performed a miracle that would foreshadow his great mission. It is in this chapter that the account of Jesus raising Jairus’s daughter from the dead occurs. It’s what happens in between Jairus coming to the Savior and Jesus performing that miracle that caught my attention.

    On the way to raise a girl from the dead, Jesus was surrounded by people. A woman, who we’re told “had an issue of blood” (verse 25) reached out and touched Christ’s garment.

    Verse 30 reads:

    “And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?”

    The thought occurred to me, is it a coincidence that this healing happened in this way at this moment? Christ performed many miracles. Here is a miracle, seemingly performed by someone else through Him. In verse 28 the woman said, “If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.” Christ goes on to tell her that she is made whole by her faith.

    On the way to literally raising someone from the dead, why is this story even included? What is an issue of blood when compared to death?

    I wonder, and this is just me thinking, Christ was on His way to conquer death for that girl. At that moment, was there a power, a life giving force emanating from Christ’s very being that allowed this woman to be healed simply by reaching out to Him in faith?

    Now that Christ officially holds the power of the resurrection and has conquered death, is that life giving power emanating from Him constantly?

    Yes, it is.

    What do we learn from this account, then?

    All we need to do is reach out. Christ will heal us. 

  • A Kingdom Divided

    A Kingdom Divided

    The first step for Zion is to stop distinguishing ourselves from one another. We are first Children of God.

    President Russell M. Nelson has been clear about the three primary identities we should all focus on for ourselves. Those three identities are:

    First – children of God.

    The first identity is for every person on the face of the earth. Whether they realize it or not, every person is a child or God. The second and third identities are for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But this does not exclude anyone. The second and third identities are an invitation to the world.

    The second identity is child of the covenant.

    The third identity is disciple of Jesus Christ.

    President Nelson has stressed that anything we give precedence over these three identities distracts from our true potential. As children of God, children of the covenant, and disciples of Jesus Christ, we have a divine inheritance and royal home to return to. Any other worldly designation distracts from our ultimate goal of becoming everything we can be.

    Some of the other designations the world assigns include sexuality, status, race, and political affiliation. There are countless self-defined categories we assign ourselves. None of these things matter, they won’t matter at all when the veil is lifted, and we are reminded of what we always were.

    Zion are the pure in heart (D&C 97:21), Zion are one.

    All who believe in Christ are the children of Christ. But how is Zion established? How can there be unity in Christ given the divisive nature of the world and Christianity?

    A search for all the sects of Christianity brings up THOUSANDS of results. Thousands. How can one know the truth when there are so many claiming to be true? How can Christianity be united under Christ when there are thousands battling for attention, power, and patrons.

    How can God be a God of such confusion and disorder?

    In Luke 11:17 Jesus Christ says:

    Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth.

    How would Jesus Christ feel about the state of the religion that espouses His name?

    I’ve heard it said that Christianity is united, despite its differences, in its faith in Christ. I think this is an admirable way to look at it. In fact, it’s how I try to look at it. It’s my opinion and belief that our faith in Jesus Christ is important and unites us. That said, what really unites us? What enduring principle is it that unites all Christians?

    Is it our belief in what Christ taught? There are a million different interpretations of what Christ taught.  

    Is it our belief in who Christ was? That couldn’t be a more divisive topic. Was He who He claimed to be? Was He the Son of God or wasn’t he?

    Is it our belief in the Atonement of Jesus Christ and what it accomplished? Again, there are different interpretations of Christ’s Atonement, why it was needed, and what it accomplished.

    Surely we can agree on Christ’s resurrection? Was Christ resurrected with His body or wasn’t He? Was there significance to Him eating fish with His disciples after His resurrection? Again, there is contention on this topic.

    What can Christianity be united on? It seems nothing.

    I believe the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides the only solution to this problem. What Christianity can be united on is a connection to Jesus Christ. A real connection. Not a belief in Him, what He taught, or who He was. The connection must be real and tangible. The connection must be a welding link. The connection must have veracity on earth and in heaven (Matthew 18:18). That connection must be through a covenant.

    A covenant is a two-way promise.

    A covenant binds us to Him.

    When we get baptized, we promise to take upon us the name of Christ, and He becomes our shepherd. From that point on we are inseparably linked with Him.

    Latter-day Saints are a covenant people. The saints of God have always been covenant keepers.

    In the podcast Church History Matters, the hosts were speaking about the early history of temples in the Church of Jesus Christ. Something they said stood out to me as I’ve been working on writing this post.

    “…through the ordinances given to both men and women, living and dead, the human family is being knit or woven or let’s just use the word sealed together into one eternal holy order which we can call the family of God, we can call it the Kingdom of God, we can call it the Church of the Firstborn, we can call it the Celestial Kingdom, or simply the priesthood.”

    In the most recent General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder McCune of the Seventy said:

    Joy and eternal perspective come through being bound to the Savior by making and keeping covenants through Christlike discipleship.

    Adam, Abraham, Moses, and Peter; they made covenants with the great Jehovah and became His, and received of His power. Over time, they became more like Him. Over time they became one with Him. Enoch created Zion and was so connected to the Lord that he and his city were taken up to Him. This connection is made through covenants.

    What can unite Christianity? It is a covenant with Jesus Christ.

    Christ’s Church has temples where these covenants can be made.

    We must strive to be one with our brothers and sisters. We can only truly be one as we are united under one banner. The disjointed nature of Christianity is unacceptable. Covenants are needed. It is the banner of covenants with Jesus Christ that will unite Christianity, and nothing else. He died for us. In return, He asked us to believe in Him, follow Him, repent, and be baptized. That was His request of us. There is only one baptism that is acceptable to God the Father and that is the baptism with His authority in the name of His Son. No other baptism is acceptable to Him because it is a baptism not by His authority.

    I wish the Christian world could see that it is covenants that unite us to God. It is covenants that can re-unite us.

    I know as the Millenium approaches that one day all knees will bow and every tongue confess. At some future date the children of God will know and understand the covenants needed to unite the heavenly and eternal family.

    It is here for us now. But the world does not listen. Jesus was sent to this world, but He was not of it. This world struggles with the eternal nature of what God has in store for us. One day the world will have to understand what was always offered to us. What is offered to us is unity under Christ. Eternal families, eternal potential, eternal happiness, eternal inheritance. That is what will come when the world covenants to join with Jesus Christ and be Zion.

  • The Prints

    The Prints

    There’s a subtlety throughout scripture I don’t think we discuss often enough.

    We know that when we are resurrected, we are resurrected to our perfect frame. Not a hair on our heads will be lost. We will be perfected (Alma 11:43-44).

    We also know that when Christ showed Himself after His resurrection, He retained the prints in his hands, wrists, and feet (3 Nephi 11, John 20).

    Why does Christ retain these markings? Why does He keep these reminders of the most pain and suffering any person has ever experienced? It’s because Christ doesn’t remember the suffering when he looks at those marks. He remembers us.

    He could choose to remove those physical “blemishes.” Instead, He keeps them as a reminder.

    He also probably keeps them for us. So that when we see Him, we can be reminded of what He did for us. So we can remember His suffering and in turn realize how deeply He loves us. In this sense, Christ may have Thomas the Doubter (unfair title) in mind (John 20:25).

    Everything in scripture can hold some deep significance.

    I think this often overlooked fact holds spectacular significance.

    He was pierced through, tortured, suffered for us. He will never forget us. We are etched in the palms of His hands.