We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God's eternal plan.
THE FAMILY - A PROCLAMATION TO THE WORLD (paragraphs 4 & 5)
These are the paragraphs we are studying currently in my class. Part of our assignment was to read an amazing talk by Elder Jeffery R Holland - Of Souls, Symbols, and Sacraments. He gave it in 1988 at a BYU Devotional.
I have been blessed with four beautiful daughters, who Heavenly Father has allowed me and my husband to raise and teach here on earth. I worry daily about the world they are forced to live in and how to help them to understand the importance of chastity. Elder Holland's talk does this in his powerful way.
Quote: "Such an act of love between a man and a woman is–or certainly was ordained to be–a symbol of total union: union of their hearts, their hopes, their lives, their love, their family, their future, their everything. It is a symbol that we try to suggest in the temple with a word like seal. The Prophet Joseph Smith once said we perhaps could render such a sacred bond as welding–that those united in matrimony and eternal families are welded together, inseparable if you will, to withstand the temptations of the adversary and the afflictions of mortality. But such a total, virtually unbreakable union, such an unyielding commitment between a man and a woman, can come only with the proximity and permanence afforded in a marriage covenant, with the union of all that they
possess–their very hearts and minds, all their days and all their dreams. They work together, they cry together, they enjoy Brahms and Beethoven and breakfast together, they sacrifice and save and live together for all the abundance that such a totally intimate life provides such a couple. And the
external symbol of that union, the physical manifestation of what is a far deeper spiritual and metaphysical bonding, is the physical blending that is part of–indeed, a most beautiful and gratifying expression of–that larger, more complete union of eternal purpose and promise.
We are blessed with the ability to be a part of creating a human life. We need to recognize what a blessing our Father in Heaven has given us and not play with that gift in any way. We need to be able to share this completely with our spouse, and experience the commitment and union that the Lord has in mind for us.
