How should we be living our lives? What can we do to make them more meaningful? How will I know if I am on the right path? These are all very important questions, the answers to which can be the pursuit of a lifetime. In a world of constant change and commotion, we may often feel overwhelmed. All around us we hear of distress, tragedy and hardship. We live in a time of uncertainty and unrest. Many around us live in fear of an unknown future. How should we act to those around us in need?
The Savior, Jesus Christ, offered this important counsel on how to judge our actions and move forward in life. He said there would be two categories and described them as those who would be outward reaching and care and welcome others, and those who would turn their backs and turn them away. “For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
We must pray that we have eyes to see, really see, others the way the Savior is asking us to. Even in Old Testament times, our Heavenly Father clearly told us, “But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
We can be a light in a darkening world. We can give hope, love and care to those around us. Elder Patrick Kearon, an apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has shared with us the following invitations: “Each one of us can increase our awareness of the world events that drive families from their homes. We must take a stand against intolerance and advocate respect and understanding across cultures and traditions. Meeting refugee families and hearing their stories with your own ears, and not from a screen or newspaper, will change you. Real friendships will develop and will foster compassion and successful integration.”
We can reach out here in our community and actively meet those from other lands, refugee or not, and learn more of their cultures and their stories. The world is an amazing place with good that happens all across the globe. We must be outward-facing and find ways to extend our love and care to those around us.
Elder Kearon continued, “Being a refugee may be a defining moment in the lives of those who are refugees, but being a refugee does not define them. Like countless thousands before them, this will be a period — we hope a short period — in their lives. Some of them will go on to be Nobel laureates, public servants, physicians, scientists, musicians, artists, religious leaders and contributors in other fields. Indeed, many of them were these things before they lost everything. This moment does not define them, but our response will help define us.”
Jesus repeatedly taught us to love one another, to love as He loves, to love our neighbor as ourselves. Truly “pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction” and to “look to the poor and the needy, and administer to their relief that they shall not suffer.”
I have always been proud to be a part of our amazing community. The love and compassion I see gives me light and hope. I know as each of us extend our circles of friendship to include and lift others, we will feel the love of the Savior shining through.
“Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
• Jacqueline F. Tupou is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Juneau. “Living and Growing” is a weekly column written by different authors and submitted by local clergy and spiritual leaders. It appears every Saturday on the Juneau Empire’s Faith page.
