This idea is not mine, but Him who sent me.
Love is supposed to be a complete union of two lives. It is supposed to be a complete union of desires, priorities, and actions. The act of love is supposed to be a symbol of this complete union between two people.
The relationship between us and other people is fascinating.
Today I use a talk from Kevin Worthen:
Now I am fully aware that there are times when we want to be by ourselves; when we have to get away from others; when our roommates, classmates, brothers and sisters, and others just drive us crazy. All of us can relate, at one time or another, to the character in Jean Paul Sartre's play No Exit when he observed that "hell is other people." But in the long run, the converse is also true—heaven is other people. Heaven will be heaven because of the other people who will be there. And experiencing heaven on earth will ultimately depend, to a large degree, on the quality of our relationships with others.
Very little that is positive is solitary. When was the last time you laughed uproariously? The last time you felt indescribable joy? The last time you sensed profound meaning and purpose? The last time you felt enormously proud of an accomplishment? Even without knowing the particulars of these high points of your life, I know their form: all of them took place around other people.
Think about it. Whenever we experience something truly good in our lives, that feeling is enhanced when we share it with others—either in the very moment or at some future time. That is a universal truth. When Lehi partook of the fruit of the tree of life and found that "it filled [his] soul with exceedingly great joy," his first desire was "that [his] family should partake of it also." Lehi understood implicitly that he could not experience a fulness of joy by himself. His happiness could not be complete unless he could somehow share it with those he loved.
Heaven will be heaven because of the people who are there. Thats what I learned this week. Take such good care of those around you. Thats how you will feel heaven here on earth.
Ive felt this slice of what it will be like.
I LOVE YOU ALL,
ELDER AMANN
