2 Nephi 2:3...Otherwise Entitled: HOPE

*NOTE TO THE READER: This particular post is not a required one for my Book of Mormon class - I've decided that I kinda like blogging. So I said to myself: "Sam, you are your own man - it's your blog, you can write a post whenevs you want to." And so that's what I've decided to do. Be warned, though: Another blog will be coming later this week in conjunction with my religion class.
Don't say I didn't warn you.....

I am the kind of guy who enjoys to ramble (You'll hopefully notice that the word 'ramble' is cleverly hidden in the web address of this here blog). Get me started on a subject I love to talk about, and I'll ramble for hours. A prime example of that: The musical Les Miserables (I know, I know, I didn't put the little accent thingy in the name like I should, but that takes a lot of time and energy, and I'm lazy).
The lyrics, the power of the music itself, the actors (I'm a Team Colm Wilkinson/Phillip Quast man myself :), the whole thing is just amazing! If you've never listened to it, watched it, and/or absolutely fallen in love with it, you should probably pause in reading this here post and get yourself to YouTube and watch/listen to a few of the songs. They are so powerful!
In thinking about Les Mis I can't help but think of one of my all-time favorite moments of that great musical. In it, we see the two main characters - protagonist Jean Valjean and antagonist Javert - confronting each other. Valjean is an escaped convict who is living under a false name, trying to become a good man of good deeds. Javert is the hardened policeman who has hunted Valjean for many years, and who is intent on seeing him in prison again. These two sing an amazing duet that is full of turmoil, anger, power, emotion, and some pretty awesome lyrics - this number is known as 'The Confrontation'.
'The Confrontation' has always held a special place within my heart. Why? Because it was a song that me and my brother would often sing together, he in the role of Jean Valjean, me portraying Javert (For those who are unaware, my brother is the beloved family member I refer to in the first blogpost). With the passing of my brother, 'The Confrontation' has become even more dear to me - it is something that connects me to my brother.
Everywhere I go I look for those connections - something, anything, that reminds me of my brother. Sometimes it's the way the mountains look with the snow adorning their mighty heads; sometimes it's the song that comes on the radio; sometimes it's the movie I'm watching, or the book I'm reading, or the story I'm writing, or the words I'm hearing, or the faces I see, or the things I eat. Sometimes it's everything that reminds me of him.
My brother and I were the closest of friends. I loved him so much - I still do. He was my closest and dearest friend; my accomplice in the various pranks we pulled on our sisters; my best buddy and compatriot. We'd sing songs together, we'd not-pay-attention-in-church together, we'd play games together, we'd fight together, we'd laugh together, we'd ride bikes together - we were, and still are, brothers.
Throughout the weeks that have intervened since his passing, he has almost constantly been in my thoughts. There are so many times when I wish that he could come back; that the Savior I love and worship, who performed so many mighty miracles and who raised men from the grave, would give me my brother back.
And yet, I've come to realize something...something that I'd like to share with you. It is partially embodied in 2 Nephi 2:3, the scripture I've chosen for this blogpost:
"Wherefore, thy soul shall be blessed, and thou shalt dwell safely with thy brother, Nephi..." (emphasis added).
For those who are unfamiliar with the Book of Mormon: One of the principal characters of its first 100 or so pages is a man named Nephi. Stalwart, courageous, loyal, faithful, strong, loving, wise, and firm - all of those are adjectives for Nephi...and for my brother. When I came across this scripture, I replaced 'Nephi' with the name of my brother. This has now become a source of hope for me.
I will get to see my brother again. I will be with him someday, and we will do all the things we've done in the past, plus so much more. We will be brothers still, just as we are brothers now. He has surely influenced me since his passing; I can't help but wonder how many times he has had his hand on my shoulder during my private moments of grief and pain in the past few weeks.
Why is this a source of hope for me? Why do I now look forward to being with my brother more than almost any other thing?
"He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay" (Matthew 28:6, KJV).
And then there's this scripture that is companion to the previous:
"...Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope" (1 Timothy 1:1, KJV).
The Savior of the World came to earth, was raised in a humble home in a backwater village, traversed the length and breadth of the Holy Land preaching His Gospel, and then suffered Himself to be captured, mocked, and crucified by wicked men. But that is not the end of the story! Jesus Christ rose on the third day, and He Lives today! Because of this truth, all of our loved ones - yours and mine - will rise again, their spirits and bodies reunited, never to be sundered again. I shall have my brother again, and we shall clasp hands and hug and cry and laugh all at once. :)
Hope - that's the single word to describe everything I've said in this post. Hope - This world could use a lot more of it. There are so many dark, bad, and scary things out there; there is so much rampant evil on earth today. And yet...With as much evil as there is, there is even more good. Sometimes that good is hard to see, sometimes that good is hard to find, but it is there! And we can and must hope in it - or rather, we can and must hope in Jesus Christ, who atoned for our sins and who lives again.
Hope.
May God be with you till we meet again, my friends.

Sam