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| "Living Water" by Simon Dewey |
Every year at Christmas, my family reads about the Miracleof the Wooden Shoes. The story takes place many years ago in Germany, where a
boy named Walter grappled with the responsibilities of manhood after his father
fell ill. He knew from his mother’s whispered conversations with the doctor
that his father was dying and Walter wanted to help his family however he
could. He began hoarding candle stubs that were discarded at school, digging
for forgotten carrots and turnips in the frozen ground of the garden until his
fingers were bloody, and searching for hours for a few dry sticks to heat his
home. It was not enough; the house was still cold and their stomachs were empty.
With so little, Walter was grown up enough to know that there would be no
Christmas.
When December 5th rolled around, Walter’s mother reminded him to set out his shoes for St. Nicholas Day. In Germany, St. Nicholas traditionally comes on December 6th and fills the children’s shoes with candy. Walter didn’t want to upset his mother, so he made some noise to hide his rebellion and went to bed.
Early the next morning, Walter’s mother called him from the
kitchen. “Schnell!” She called. “Quick! Come and see your wooden shoes.” He
found them on the doorstep full of enough candles to help his mother finish her
sewing at night. There were enough candles for a proper Advent wreath. With the
candles was a scroll, tied with a festive red ribbon, which quoted John 8:12,
“I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness,
but shall have the light of life.”
Walter and his mother were astonished. Neither of them knew
who had filled the shoes. It was a miracle.
The next morning, Walter woke first. He put on his coat and
reached for his shoes so he could go find a few sticks for the stove, but his
shoes were gone. He could not find them anywhere. Cautiously, he opened the
front door and found them again on the doorstep, this time overflowing with
sticks. More wood was stacked nearby. In one of his shoes was a scroll, tied
with a festive red ribbon, which quoted Jeremiah 20:9, “His word was in mine
heart as a burning fire.”
For the second time, Walter and his mother were surprised
and grateful for the miracle they had received. Walter was able to build a fire
hot enough to heat the whole house, even his father’s bed in the back room.
Walter’s shoes were on the front step the next morning, too.
This time they were filled with bread, rolls, and lebkuchen. A pail of milk and
a basket of fruits and vegetables stood behind the shoes. This time, the scroll
quoted John 6:35, “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that
cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never
thirst.”
As Walter went to bed on the third day he set out his shoes
and hoped for another miracle, but when he awoke the shoes were empty. Walter’s
father was getting worse, even with the warmth and the food in the house. They
had enough to last a little while, but then what would they do?
That same day there was a knock on the door. On the porch
were two missionaries. Walter had seen them in town. When they looked longingly
at the warm fire, Walter knew he should let them in. One of the missionaries
reached into his satchel and pulled out a small scroll tied with a festive red
ribbon. Walter and his mother looked at each other in surprise as the
missionary began to read a verse from John 11: “I am the resurrection and the
life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And
whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.”
Walter jumped to his feet and pointed at the scroll. “It was
you!” he exclaimed. “You are the one who filled my shoes. You gave us the three
scrolls.” The missionary shook his head in confusion. “I don’t know what you
mean,” he replied. “I found this scroll in my shoes this morning with a note to
visit your family today. I don’t know where it came from.”
Walter and his mother decided to listen to the missionaries
as they taught them about a prophet named Joseph Smith who had restored
Christ’s true church to the earth, including the keys of the priesthood. They gave
Walter’s father a priesthood blessing and returned many more times to teach
Walter and his family.
Walter’s father soon recovered and the family embraced the
gospel message. One more scroll appeared on Christmas morning. Walter’s shoes
were filled with chocolates and candy. The scroll read, “Wherefore, if ye shall
press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold,
thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life” (2 Nephi 31:20).
Like Walter and his family, we all have five basic needs to
sustain our lives: light, water, air, shelter, and food. Without one or more of
these, we will not survive; and even when we have them today, we have no
guarantees that we will have what we need to thrive tomorrow. Any of us could
be affected by an illness, a turn in the economy, a wildfire, flood or drought,
or some other change to our circumstances.
In a world of scarcity, where everything we need is
consumable and fleeting, the Savior promises us eternal abundance and invites
us to share that abundance with others.
Abinadi taught that “[Jesus Christ] is the light and life of
the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and
also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death” (Mosiah 16:9). Joseph
Smith wrote that Christ is, “the light and Redeemer of the world; the spirit of
truth, … and in him was the life of men and the light of men” (D&C 93:9). “Therefore,”
the Savior invites us to, “hold up your light that it may shine unto the world.
Behold, I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do” (3
Nephi 18:24).
At Jacob’s Well, the Savior taught that “Whosoever drinketh
of this [well] shall thirst again, But whosoever drinketh of the water that I
shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be
in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:9-15). He
explained that “unto him that keepeth my commandments will I give the mysteries
[or covenants] of my kingdom, and the same shall be in him a well of living
water, springing up unto everlasting life” (D&C 63:23).
We are invited to follow the iron rod of His Word to “the
fountain of living waters” (1 Nephi 11:25), where we may covenant to keep his
commandments in the waters of baptism. He promises that “if [we] will come, [we]
may, and partake of the waters of life freely” (D&C 10:66). As we do so, he
also requires us to, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).
The Lord testified that He, “formed man from the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a
living soul” (Moses 3:7). Jesus Christ is our Creator and “in him [is] life”
(John 1:4). He preserves and sustains all living things by lending them breath
from day to day and moment to moment (Genesis 7:22, Mosiah 2:21, Acts 17:25).
Yet, His work and His glory is the immortality and eternal
life of each of us (Moses 1:39). He invites us to have unshaken faith in
Him and “do the things which… your Lord and your Redeemer should do… For the
gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then
cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost. And then are ye
in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life…” (2 Nephi
31:17-18). When we are converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ and steadfastly walking
the covenant path, “having a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God and
of all men” (1 Nephi 31:20), the Lord admonishes us to “strengthen [our]
brethren” (Luke 22:32).
Our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, is “a sure
foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall” (Helaman 5:12).
He testified, “I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward” (Genesis 15:1).
He is the founder of the house of Israel, and of Zion, and he will gather us,
“as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return
unto me will full purpose of heart” (3 Nephi 10:6).
In the shelter of His holy temples, we can rest from the
cares of the world and enjoy peace, like a river, unto our souls (Isaiah 48:18,
D&C 121:7). We can extend that peace to our families and others we have
never met through vicarious ordinances. He promises that “in my Father’s house
are many mansions” (John 14:2) and that one day, if we are faithful, we will be
“received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest,
a state of peace, where [we] shall rest from all [our] troubles and from all
care and sorrow” (Alma 40:12) and return to a kingdom of eternal glory (D&C
76, Revelation 7:14-17).
Finally, the Lord testified that He is the bread of life (John
6:35). “Yea, he saith: Come unto me and ye shall partake of the fruit of the
tree of life; yea, ye shall eat and drink of the bread and the waters of life
freely; Yea, come unto me and bring forth works of righteousness” (Alma
5:34-35).
He invites us to feast of his abundance: to “feast upon the
words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what
ye should do” (2 Nephi 32:3); to “lift up your heads and receive the pleasing
word of God, and feast upon his love” (Jacob 3:2); and to “feast upon that
which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in
fatness” (2 Nephi 9:51).
When we have tasted of the bread of life, like manna from
heaven, that fills our soul with “exceedingly great joy” (1 Nephi 8:11-12), we
are also invited to bring forth works of righteousness in service to Him. “For
the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye make
walk guiltless before God,” King Benjamin advised, “I would that ye should impart
of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such
as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering
to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants”
(Mosiah 4:26). For “inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my
brethren,” the Savior taught, “ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40).
To His servant, Simon Peter, Christ taught that if we love
him, we will feed his lambs and feed his sheep (John 21:15-17). To us, Peter
echoed that we should, “feed the flock of God which is among you,” not by
constraint, but by persuasion and by our own examples (1 Peter 5:2-3).
Without our Savior, Jesus Christ, we are like Walter and his
family. We can figuratively dig in the frozen ground for forgotten carrots and
search the forest for a few sticks, but the relative scarcity of even our best
and most successful efforts cannot save us and our families from physical death
nor the separation from God imposed by our own sinful behavior.
We need the abundance our Savior offers us through His servants.
We need the light of his example, the unwilted strength of his covenants, the
life his breath sustains, the shelter of His gospel, and the nutrition of his
word. He offers everything we need to live, temporally and
spiritually—everything we need to overcome sin and death—in such abundance
that, if we are faithful, “there shall not be room enough to receive it”
(Malachi 3:10).
Jesus Christ is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), but is he the way we have chosen, the truth we believe, and the center of the life we live? Do we recognize the miracles in our lives? When he stands knocking at the figurative door of our lives (Revelation 3:20), do we let him in and allow him to teach us how to change? Do we study and live His gospel with scarcity, maybe on Sundays or certain holidays, or do we strive to consecrate all that we have throughout the year and during each day to taste of His fruit, hold up His light, and feed His lambs?
Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life, the light of the world, the living water, the breath of life, a sure foundation and shelter from the storm, and the bread of life. Because He lives, there is healing for our sicknesses and heartaches. Because He lives, we can be forgiven for our sins and strengthened in our shortcomings. Because He lives, His church is restored with covenants and ordinances to unite our families with His love. Because He lives, we can live eternally in the presence and glory of God. Because of a sacred, silent night in Bethlehem, there will be a Christmas this year and we can live each day in the abundance provided by our Savior, Jesus Christ.