Jubilee

A few weeks ago I was sitting in an armchair at the Cancer Center, receiving my weekly treatment and talking to the man sitting next to me, who was doing the same thing. We briefly compared treatment stories, and talked about side effects. And then he said something very simple, very obvious, really; but it struck me as one of the wisest and profound thoughts I've ever heard.

"It's a small price to pay."

It is a small price to pay – a weekly needle, some minor nausea and discomfort, and for that I get what? A longer, healthier life. The gift of time with my family and friends. The chance to watch my children grow into teenagers, and to help them develop their talents and become remarkable people. A few more years to work on my own problems and become closer to what I know I should be. A small price to pay for all that.


I love a bargain. A sign that says "Clearance: 90% off" gets my heart pumping every time. I like getting more than my money's worth; knowing that I have received more than I paid for. Sometimes I leave the price tags on my really great finds to remind myself what a great deal I got – "This is worth $27.99, and I bought it for a dollar and a half!"

Since my conversation with my chemo pal Jack, I've been thinking about life's bargains – the many remarkable things in the world that we do little or nothing to deserve: sunshine to warm us and feed us, water from the sky to sustain us. Lovely flowers in the spring, colorful leaves in the fall, the first toothless grin or giggle of a young baby.

We are drinking from wells we did not dig.

Above all this, there is the greatest bargain of all: The Plan of Salvation. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, willingly (though not easily) took upon himself our sins, our weaknesses, our childish follies and our mortal pains. He paid the high price for happiness, purity and eternal life, and does not expect us to pay Him back. Indeed, He knows we cannot reimburse Him. He has done what he did out of His great love for us, and what does He ask in return?

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:4 - 6)

For behold, are we not all beggars?  Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind? (Book of Mormon | Mosiah 4:19)

I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another —

I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.
And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.  (Book of Mormon | Mosiah 2:20 - 22)

I love the song In the Bleak Mid-Winter, based on a poem by Christina Rossetti:

 In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago. 

Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain;
heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ. 

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But his mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshiped the beloved with a kiss. 

What can I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give him: give my heart.

Indeed, this is what I can give Him: this and little else. Give my heart. Really give it to God, freely, gladly, and reverently.

The Christmas carol Angels We Have Heard on High presents this question: "Shepherds, why this jubilee?" In other words, why all the singing and rejoicing? Why is this such a big deal?


This is why:

And this is why;

And this;

And this;

And this is why:

Because He lives. Because He knows and loves each of us. Because He has the power to comfort us, to make us whole, to bring us home.

That is cause for Jubilee, today and every day of the year.

You can't put a price on that.

Merry Christmas.