Sunday Will Come

About a year ago, I was in the Holy Land. I went to the Garden Tomb with my brother and spent a few quiet moments looking at a place like where Christ's body was laid after his crucifixion. That morning, I had read in the New Testament about Mary Madgalene coming to His tomb, weeping and distraught. That's what I felt there. I felt a bit of her despair. The one being who fully loved, understood, and believed in her, this person who had saved and forgiven her, who she had then dedicated her life to, who had given hope and meaning and joy to her life... Now he was gone. She came to take care of his body, the one piece of Him she had left. And found it gone. Weeping, distraught, she just wanted to get his body back. Oh, how that hurt.

As I pondered and felt that despair, I asked God to help me feel what came next - the joy of the resurrection. I knew that bitter moment was not the end of the story. But God simply reminded me that Christ's death and burial were not a happy time. It was a time of mourning and sorrow for all who loved him on this earth. The joy I wanted didn't come in that moment. But though I could not feel it, I knew it existed. I knew and trusted in the story of the resurrection. So I had peace in those feelings of sadness. My life also has moments of sorrow and rejoicing, and that's OK.

This morning, we prepared to take the sacrament by singing "He Died! The Great Redeemer Died." The start of the song reminded me of those feelings at the Garden Tomb:

          He died! The great Redeemer died,

          And Israel's daughters wept around.

          A solemn darkness veiled the sky;

          A sudden trembling shook the ground.

 

But half-way through the third verse, the tone changes:

 

          Here's love and grief beyond degree;

          The Lord of glory died for men.

          But lo! what sudden joys were heard!

          The Lord, though dead, revived again.

 

          The rising Lord forsook the tomb.

          In vain the tomb forbade him rise.

          Cherubic legions guard him home

          And shout him welcome to the skies.

 

And today I felt the story finish. I felt the joy. It always comes. Maybe not in every day and every moment of life, but it always comes. I know that even in the times when I don't feel it. As Elder Wirthlin would say, "Sunday will come."