A lovely brass sign embossed with these words, hangs above my desk, given me by a third cousin who is also a writer. To me, it means that I must turn myself wholly over to the Lord, consecrating each day to his service. I must trust that he knows my role in the divine novel, and that if I follow him, he will lead me to the ending that we both desire: “For behold, this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” (Moses 1:39) None of us need be in any doubt about how the Lord wants the novel of our lives to proceed. We are only in the middle chapters, remember, where the plot is thickening and all the complications are besetting us.
When I get overwhelmed by my part in these middle chapters, I must retreat to my own “holy of holies,” the Celestial Room in the temple, and get a glimpse of the later chapters. (As a child, when a book got too scary, I used to skip to the end to be reassured that everything was going to turn out all right). I am comforted by contemplating my goal as depicted in the seventy-six section of the Doctrine and Covenants: “Wherefore, let no man glory in man, but rather let him glory in God, who shall subdue all enemies under his feet.” [Keep your eye on the Savior, not the wicked and perverse things of the world.]
“These shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever.” [The perfect, most triumphant of beginning to the next part of our novel]
“These are they whom he shall bring with him, when he shall come in the clouds of heaven to reign on the earth over his people. These are they who shall have part in the first resurrection. These are they who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just. There are they who are come unto Mount Zion , and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly place, the holiest of all.” [Imagine all of our adversaries being swept away and our living in the presence of Christ, everything wicked, sick, and profane gone!]
“These are thy who have come to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of Enoch , and of the Firstborn. There are they whose names are written in heaven, where God and Christ are the judge of all.”[God and Christ are recording our acts and reactions during these middle chapters to determine whether we belong in this exalted company of angels, the City of Enoch , the Church of Jesus Christ]
“These are they who are just men made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood.” [Sometime in these middle chapters, we must come to understand the atonement and repent of our sins and mistakes, and partake of His grace.]
“These are they whose bodies are celestial, whose glory is that of the sun, even the glory of God, the highest of all, whose glory the sun of the firmament is written of as being typical.” [Our trials in these middle chapters will be overcome forever, the dross will be burned away, and if we have allowed God to write our chapters, we will bask in His light forever and ever.] (Doctrine and Covenants 76:61-70)
Sometimes our novels seem so discouraging. That is the time when we must find our heroes. Captain Moroni is a hero. Alma is a hero. Joseph Smith is a great and marvelous hero. President Hinckley is a hero.
And then there are the heroes closer to home—my friend Zina Whetten who spends every day of her life lifting the burdens of others—counseling grieving children, serving with Hospice, being a temple ordinance worker, lifting the hearts of the suffering people she knows. She was the catalyst that finally got me to the doctor who healed me.
Much of my life was spent in a life-threatening depression. I was deep in a crevice where no one could reach or help me. However, through the grace of God, my life was spared until the time when I finally understood the enabling power of the atonement, was able to grasp onto it, and make the changes I needed to make—forgiveness, learning to trust, and finally placing all my fears and all my future on the altar. Zina found me. I was rescued unexpectedly. I really thought that the dreariness of this part of my novel would drag on until the end of my life. Through the atonement, I was prepared to hang on. But then, a twist! (As a writer I love twists, and I’m convinced Heavenly Father is the master of twists.) I was unexpectedly healed!
Never underestimate the power of the twist, for good or for evil. For awhile the evil shall be allowed to prosper, while Satan’s chains bind them and finally drag them down to hell. For awhile, the good are allowed to suffer, until their hearts are fully turned toward the Lord and the meek literally inherit the earth.
As a writer, I often don’t know what comes next in my books. My characters tell me. Though God always knows what comes next in our novels, we don’t. However, our own characters determine how we act and react to the events of our lives.
If we let God write our novel, we are assured of a new beginning which is completely unimaginable to us at present. However, the more time we spend in the temple and with our scriptures and the discourses of the brethren, we will get peeks into the future, and we will recognize that we are only in the middle of the story.
