Free Agency and Gratitude
BYUH Devotional Thought
August 2, 2010
Like many of you, I went to Natasha Vimahi’s funeral Saturday. It was a beautiful service – lots of family, lots of friends and lots of pink ribbons and dresses. There is something unique and special about the funeral of a faithful Latter-day Saint who dies prematurely, who dies in the prime of life, like Tasha. For certain, there was a feeling of sadness and loss. The world is a little darker now without the wide, bright smile that Tasha cast daily into the lives of so many who loved her in Laie.
But that feeling of sadness and loss was so overwhelmingly overcome by a profound power of joy and certain sense of gratitude during Saturday’s services that the luncheon following Tasha’s funeral felt more like a family reunion than a wake. In between heaping plates of Polynesian potluck food, everyone present certainly celebrated the life more than they mourned the death of a lovely, young Polynesian woman.
One of the speakers at Tasha’s funeral Saturday quoted Thorton Wilder who said: “The greatest tribute to the dead is not grief but gratitude.” How true that statement is and what an apt description it is, not only of Tasha’s funeral service, but of her entire life. Tasha’s life, her very nature seemed to personify gratitude.
I’m sure there were some at the funeral who wondered why such a lovely, young, caring and contributing soul was so early taken away from those who loved her. Some may wonder, but I believe Tasha knew why. I think she learned why from her mother. Yesterday, in the Kahuku 1st Ward Fast and Testimony Meeting, Tasha’s mother bore her testimony. Tasha’s mother said she learned a lot from watching Tasha deal with cancer. She said she could only deal with the death of her daughter by focusing on the blessing of having been given Tasha as a precious gift. What a lesson in gratitude from a loving mother.
From what I could tell, Tasha had a very deep and profound understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and something tells me that her sweet mother had something significant to do with that. When things got hard, Tasha would tell her mother that she knew her Heavenly Father loved her. I believe Tasha knew her Father in Heaven. I believe she had this life pretty well figured out and I think she had a pretty strong inkling of what she would face in the life to come. I think Tasha was prepared for whatever events or circumstances she now faces. I just hope you and I will only be as prepared when our time on earth has ended.
Tasha understood why certain things happened to her in this mortal life. I believe she understood that some things happened as a consequence of the choices she made. I also believe she understood that some things happened because of the choices made by other people she encountered throughout her life. And I believe she understood that some things simply happened as the natural consequence of living in this earthly environment, not because of anything anyone else caused or crafted. She knew that some things such as cancer and disease occur and are simply a byproduct of being born and living in a modern, evolving, and imperfect world.
Tasha handled it all with grace and gratitude. From what I know about her, I think Tasha made some pretty good choices throughout her life. I know she believed that one of her first and wisest choices she made about life on earth she made even before she was born. With that decision, Tasha chose faith over fear. Leaving her premortal life, Tasha chose to follow our Father in Heaven’s plan, rejecting the plan of Satan.
Bruce R. McConkie taught that “the plan of salvation was ordained by the Father. It is not the plan of Christ or of Adam or any of the other of the Father's children. Rather, it was ordained by the Father so that Christ his Firstborn Spirit Son and all the rest of his spirit offspring could progress to exaltation. The Firstborn accepted and confirmed to the plan of the Father -- "Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever" (Moses 4:2) -- as did all the rest of his righteous spirit children; and all played their respective and assigned parts in carrying the great plan forward.” Mormon Doctrine, p.575 PLAN OF SALVATION
Fear and love were the two motivating forces behind the two plans proposed in the council in Heaven. Satan’s plan was based upon fear. The Lord’s plan was based upon love sustained by faith in him. As spirit children of our Father in Heaven, we were endowed with free agency. We were free to choose which plan we would follow. We were so grateful about our choice to follow the love of the Savior’s plan that the scripture tells us we all “shouted for joy.”
Tasha’s first choice regarding earth life was a good one. That decision led her here and to the opportunity of making more good choices. Tasha played her respective and assigned part and became an example of strength, perseverance, grace and kindness to just about everyone she met. Tasha followed the example of the Savior. As she was in the preexistence, she was on earth. Tasha showed her love for the Savior through her obedience in choosing to in following him.
Tasha understood the joy that comes from obedience to our Father in Heaven’s plan, despite all of the pain and suffering she experienced through her illness. Tasha suffered pain and loss in her life, but she was grateful for having had the opportunity. How many opportunities did she take to teach others what she had learned from her experience? How many people did she teach that God loved them, too? How many people watched her carry the burden of her illness as she transformed the pain into gratitude and joy? Saturday the chapel was full of them, all the way through the cultural hall and on to the stage and throughout the halls. Many wearing pink.
Gratitude is the highest, purest form of love. It is the type of love that blossoms even when it is not returned. It is the outward-bound, self-renewing form of love that has no dependence upon romantic attachment or family ties. People who are truly grateful feel the same about the object of their gratitude whether it is present or not. Gratitude asks for nothing, and gives everything. That sounds like Tasha.
I have come to believe that the prayer of gratitude to our Father in Heaven is the highest form of communion with God, and one that releases great power in our lives. Tasha knew that expressing gratitude to God for everything was not something she should do only when she felt good; rather it was an act of obedience she performed whether she felt good or not. Showing obedience to the will of the Father was the only way she could show her love for God – and the fruit of her obedience released the power of God in her life. And as she continued to express gratitude to God for all things his power grew into a stream that washed away the pain, the hurt and the suffering.
The Apostle Paul taught: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God. (Romans 8:28) I learned that lesson again Saturday at the funeral of Natasha Vimahi. Her life taught me that God is aware of every detail of our lives and he is working out everything that happens for good for those who love him.
Given by Tim Critchlow at BYU
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