"The Second Yes"

I am just now getting around to reading a beautiful book that an experienced sister-in-law recommended years ago, called, Making Sense of Suffering.  But, maybe it's well that I waited as the timing is right in my life. This afternoon I was struck by the power of the message in chapter 17 and, in light of a heartstrings conversation I had with a dear friend this morning, I couldn't keep it to myself. The following entry is quoted, in it's entirety, from that source. Powerful!

The Second Yes

( by Wayne E. Brickey)

"If affliction calls into question our friendship with God, then affliction is an opportunity to answer that question with faith. It is easy to say “yes” to discipleship in well-lit chapels and in good health. But, as in getting married, the first yes launches a long relationship filled with opportunities to say yes again. We repeatedly confirm our loyalty until there can be no question.

"The second yes, confirming the first, is not usually spoken in words. But however spoken, the demanding language of loyalty makes clear what and whom we love.

"Nephi spoke his famous words, “I will go and do,” in the light of his father’s tent. But these words led him to a darkened Jerusalem street, where a second yes required that he use Laban’s sword.

"On the road to Damascus, Paul asked, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” Paul’s rather uncomplicated yes to the Lord’s answer was only the beginning. Each challenging cycle that followed called for a second yes by which Paul could verify his loyalty.

"When a pioneer woman diligently pulled her cart up yet another hill, she was saying yes again, verifying former decisions. Her second yes was all the more convincing and audible to the hosts of heaven.

"This eloquent language applies mostly to mortals. Premortals and post-mortals can speak priorities, but from the dark, sheer canyons of the second estate we state our devotion with extra clarity. The suffering mortal soul, unheard by other mortals, cries out a testament of allegiance. Immortals stop to listen in reverence. The second yes echoes through eternity. It breathes sense into our suffering.

"We will fully understand the language of loyalty only after our mortal schooling. We will remember its difficult phrases and courageous messages. We will forever honor those who spoke it well. But our gift to speak the quiet grammar of faith, the rich dialect of cheer, and the sweet poetry of patience will be lost when we leave this mortal scene. If we do not make statement clearly in that language while it is our turn to do so, we will forever wish we had. This is our last chance.

"God accepts the early yes, the one that gets things started. But the latter yes, uttered in discomfort, is the convincing one. Our second yes and the ones that follow will stand forever as monuments to our lives. Perhaps they are the only things we came here to say."