An Easter Talk

 I gave this talk in church on Easter Sunday. Getting ready for that talk was just what I needed right now. It is a bit long. I shaved the talk down a bit for time, but left all my original content here. Hopefully it will bless someone else as well. Love, Janelle

Good afternoon brothers and sisters. Happy Easter! For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Janelle Gratteau, and I hide out in nursery with your beautiful children. I’m married to Steve and we have four children: Byron, Taryn, Josie and little Manning.  I’ve been asked to speak today on the Life of Jesus Christ. I must admit that for some reason this talk has been a difficult one for me to pull together. In part I think because of the vast amount of information it could contain. Just out of curiousity I did a search on lds.org with that title and I got over 17,000 possibilites. Also though, as many talks do for those who prepare them, this subject has become very personal to me over the past three weeks. As I studied the life of Christ and read about the last week of his life and the many teaching he shared in the New Testament, and as I prayed and pondered I kept coming back to this: what does the Life of Christ mean to me, right now?

It is believed that Jesus Christ was crucified when he was 33 years old. Coincidentally I am 33 years old. Because Jesus is the Son of God He has a feeling of omniscience to me, which doesn’t lend itself to an age. He is wisdom and light beyond the mortal mind and time frame of man, so it has been interesting to think about Christ doing all that he did in his life, in only 33 years. This, of course got me thinking about the 33 years of life I have spent on this earth, and pondering my life with Christ’s life suddenly made everything so personal. I cannot imagine my life without the influence of my Savior.

The amazing thing about Jesus Christ and his life; including his actions and the messages he taught-- is that it is the ultimate TRUTH. As I have thought about Christ and his life I truly wonder how anyone doubts that he is the Son of God. He is the Living Water and the Bread of Life, and such water and bread will feed anyone and EVERYONE. Just as all the truth and teaching of the scriptures apply to each of us, so does the Life of Christ. Preparing for this talk I have realized that not only is his life personal to each individual, it has been personal to me in every stage of my life as well. I have always known that I had a relationship with my Savior, but somehow as I prepared for this talk and thought back through my own 33 years: the heavens seem to open my “mind’s eye” and I saw  the different faces he has had with me through time: my Big Brother, my Savior, my Friend, my Mentor, my Chastener, my Confidante, my Healer, my Sustainer, and even a shoulder to cry on.

Just a few weeks after the October session of conference in 2008 I was expecting our third child. Late one Friday night I started spotting. My heart sank, I had two miscarriages between Byron and Taryn, and I did not want to walk that road again. I called my midwife and she told me to stay in bed until I could come to her office on Monday. Lying in bed that long, long weekend I pulled up the conference talks and read and listened to them. President Uchtdorf gave a talk titled, The Infinite Power of Hope. And I quote:

“Hope is one leg of a three-legged stool, together with faith and charity. These three stabilize our lives regardless of the rough or uneven surfaces we might encounter at the time. The scriptures are clear and certain about the importance of hope. The Apostle Paul taught that the scriptures were written to the end that we “might have hope.” Close quote.

As I read those words my eyes filled with tears. It was almost as if in that moment I could hear the Savior’s knock at my door. I knew He heard my pleas and cries to keep my child safe, and he wanted to answer them. I knew that my hope and faith were not sufficient. In my head I knew that all things are possible in Christ, but it seemed as though my heart were replaying the tape of my previous loss and despair. I closed my eyes and could see an infant on top of a very crooked stool, she was sliding off. I prayed and asked that Christ might lend me the hope and faith I needed until I could maintain them on my own. Those legs grew and the picture in mind changed. The stool was balanced and on top I could now see the words PEACE and TRUST. I knew that ultimately I could handle whatever happened. Everything was normal at my appointment on Monday. My midwife even did an ultrasound. I was tried and tested again the following weekend with more spotting, and I got many more opportunities during the following weeks to close my eyes and check on my stool. I relied greatly on my Savior those weeks to make up the difference for me. He did, all the problems were discovered and resolved, and the following May our little Josie was born.
This experience strengthened my relationship with my Savior and taught me a great lesson. I have used the visualization of the stool to help in many other instances in my life. All kinds of wonderful things can reside on that stool when we pray for them. Patience, Kindness, Courage, Strength. Christ is always ready to assist us and make up the difference when we ask.

President Uchtdorf goes on to say:
“The scriptures say that there must be “an opposition in all things.” So it is with faith, hope, and charity. Doubt, despair, and failure to care for our fellow men lead us into temptation, which can cause us to forfeit choice and precious blessings.
The adversary uses despair to bind hearts and minds in suffocating darkness. Despair drains from us all that is vibrant and joyful and leaves behind the empty remnants of what life was meant to be. Despair kills ambition, advances sickness, pollutes the soul, and deadens the heart. Despair can seem like a staircase that leads only and forever downward.
Hope, on the other hand, is like the beam of sunlight rising up and above the horizon of our present circumstances. It pierces the darkness with a brilliant dawn. It encourages and inspires us to place our trust in the loving care of an eternal Heavenly Father, who has prepared a way for those who seek for eternal truth in a world of relativism, confusion, and of fear.” (close quote)

There is indeed opposition in all things. Being opposites they are either a positive or a negative. When we put them right next to each other it is obvious to see which belong to which master:
Faith vs. doubt or fear
Hope vs. despair
Charity vs. hatred and anger
Virtue vs. vice
Light vs. dark
Truth vs. lies and deceit
As we study Christ and his life we know which of these he emulates. On a recent morning when I was preparing to attend an endowment session at the temple I was really struggling. I’m sure the adversary was working on me, as he often does when we are preparing to enter the Lord’s house. That morning I felt inadequate and overwhelmed as I went about caring for my children and my home. One thing led to another another and I raised my voice at my children, the anger led to me being very judgemental... of myself. Despair and disappointment set in. The good news is I made it to the temple that day! While I was there I felt such relief that Satan was no longer bothering me, because he can’t exist within those walls; yet, I still could feel, to a lesser extent, that an inner struggle was still going on. My expectations of myself didn’t get left at the temple gates with Satan, so my disappointment and frustration had followed me inside.  As I sat in the chapel waiting for the session to begin I had an AHA moment. Satan had been with me before I went to the temple because I invited him. What? Why would I? I didn’t, I don’t invite him.... I felt myself want to argue with the Spirit, but I realized it was true. I had invited Satan into my heart when I chose to feel depressed, overwhelmed and judgemental. This is true when I feel any negative emotion whether it is directed at myself, or someone else. Never once in Christ’s life did he ever show us a path to walk in which those emotions were allowed.

I would like to share three quotes:
1. President Kimball once shared this quote:
"The greatest battle of life is fought out within the silent chambers of the soul. A victory on the inside of a man's heart is worth a hundred conquests on the battlefields of life. To be the master of yourself is the best guarantee that you will be master of the situation. Know thyself. The crown of character is self-control."
~Author Unknown
2. “Previous generations have had geographical frontiers to conquer. We don't. Without a frontier we cannot become what the Founders, the explorers and the pioneers became in their extremities.
Our challenges define us, our reactions to them mold and shape us. As Thucydides said over three thousand years ago: "There is no need to suppose that human beings differ very much one from another: but it is true that the ones who come out on top are the ones who have been trained in the hardest school."
Human beings need a frontier in order to progress.
Fortunately, we do have one frontier left--and it is in fact the hardest one. It is the frontier within. In all of history, this frontier has not been fully conquered. The most challenging struggles of life are internal...”
~Oliver DeMille
3. “The battle today, between Babylon and Zion, is being waged between the synapses of our brains.” ~Tina Peterson

I realized that I keep casting Satan out of myself and my home and life, only to fall back into emotional patterns of self-judgement, despair and fear (or any other negative feeling); thereby inviting him right back in. I realized that morning that a battle was being fought within the silent chambers of my heart, and until I walked through the doors of the temple the Right had not been winning.
What is the example Christ lived in his life that shows me the better path? He ALWAYS chose the correct emotion. Even when appropriate judgement, disappointment or anger was necessary; Christ showed and felt even those emotions with a perfect love and word to teach the message and shine light on what needed changing. He still made sure that those who followed him felt His love for them. Now I know that I am not perfect and that the wrong emotions will appear throughout my life. But if my spirit will really be the master, then I must choose in any moment to change to the opposite emotion: the one that Christ would choose.
This brings me to the most profound lesson that Christ taught while living his life, and that he taught me this past three weeks. The one that will most bless me if I can emulate it. It is CHARITY. Charity, the true love of the Lord will allow us to see the TRUTH in others and ourselves.
I loved the card that hung on my bedroom wall as a youth: it was a memento from girl’s camp with a picture of Christ and a young woman. The caption below read: “The greatest gift I could give to you is for you to see yourself the way I do.” In His life Christ always saw the truth in each individual. He saw the Child of God, he saw their true potential, who they really were. He always saw the person before the sin. He still sees us this way today and always loves us, no matter what.
Sitting in the temple that day I chose to change my emotions to hope, faith and understanding. Instead of feeling angry and frustrated with myself, I would feel patient and encouraging. I saw myself as Christ would and realized that what I really needed was an ‘atta girl and help seeing the other side, not a verbal beating from the voice inside my head. When I walked back through the doors of my home and my children were fighting I struggled to hold onto the emotions of Christ, but I prayed and again received his help in maintaining the good I desired. This will be a lifelong battle of course, because we are human and this world is telestial. I know that we are strengthened each time we call on and rely on the Lord.

This world is ever full of increasingly difficult challenges. If they were just external challenges and struggles I could walk around them and look at them from every angle. Wouldn’t it be so much easier to see the answer? I could FIGURE out the answer with my intellect. But the truth is that every external challenge affects us internally, and the challenge with our narrow view is that we often don’t know the answer. We have to listen with our minds, hearts, emotion, intuition and Spirit. I propose that good practice for this would be to ask ourselves not only, “what would Jesus DO?” but also, “what would Jesus FEEL? What would Jesus Think? What would Jesus BE?”

I’ve learned that scientists have recently identified neurological cells in the heart. They function similarly to brain cells, except that brain cells communicate with thoughts and the “heart brain” cells communicate with emotion. The interesting thing was that as they studied the synaptic firing of all the neurological cells they discovered that the “heart brain” fired more often and sends information up to the brain which becomes thought. It is then all the more important that my spirit become master of my emotions. In the moment I feel powerless to replay the same emotional tape, it is just another perfect moment to drop to my knees and pray for the healing powers of the atonement to help me change my heart. It is in the internal battles where negative thoughts or emotions present the most difficult battle field of our lives. We must remember that with Jesus Christ we CAN do hard things! With Him we will win all our battles!

Christ, no matter where I find him in any moment of my day: in the scriptures, the temple, on my knees, or praying in my heart in front of my kitchen sink; He is always ready to help me. He will help us to remove our judgement goggles and replace them with His true sight. The times I have seen myself and my family through Christ’s eyes I have literally been awestruck. I believe that we are here on the Earth to rediscover the truth of who we are as children of God. Christ will help us to do this.  When we do make mistakes, in the moment that we realize it and want to make it right, we get back on the straight and narrow path. Christ’s example is so amazing because he loves us completely, even while we make mistakes. That is certainly something that sets him apart from us, as natural man. It is difficult for me to always lead discipline with love. With his help we can learn to do that for ourselves, our spouse, our children, our families, our friends and even our enemies. It will take a lot of practice and repetition and He will often need to lend us a little extra charity while ours grows stronger. This, of course, is why he is our Savior. To do for us that which we cannot do for ourselves. To offer us perfection through him!

He does this for us in big and small ways. In December 2009 I lost my brother-in-law Robert Ashworth to cancer. Since then I have called upon the Savior many times to heal the sorrow I feel in missing him, and the Lord eases my burden and lifts the pain of my sorrow.
They say time heals all wounds, but I know it is the Lord, time only helps a little. I believe that the synapses in my heart have now been set that allow for Christ to help me feel better when I am missing Robert. The pattern of asking for and receiving comfort has become a habit. Even now when I think of Robert and I feel loss, sorrow, and even still some frustration, anger, or hurt it has become almost automatic to ask Christ for help. He then turns those emotions to love, hope, and faith in His eternal plan and purpose. It happens a little more quickly and fully now because of the time I’ve had to practice. Because of the repetition.

Whether bringing life into the world or sending on those who go before us it seems easier to rely on the Lord when BIG things are happening in our lives. We must remember to call on the Lord and rely on him in ALL our little daily need to. The little moments really do make up the fabric of our lives, and Jesus Christ will help us to make the most of our individual pattern.

We must tap into Christ as the Source of our Salvation by opening the scriptures and reading of his life and teachings, so much so that the Spirit can call it to our remembrance. So the spirit can remind us of the parable of the widow’s mite when we need a spiritual reminder to give our all in our 10% of tithing and a generous fast offering. Or even that it may apply to me one day as I’m holding a sick baby watching my home be destroyed by the other two little ones and I realize that Christ wasn’t just talking about our money with that parable. When I ask in that moment, “what would Jesus feel/think/BE? I realize that giving my all is just sitting on the couch holding a sick baby, loving him with all the love I have to give. Or that give my “two mites” to raising my children. It is easy for the love to flow with a sick baby, but sometimes difficult with an obstinate child who is bent on pushing my buttons.
We must establish a relationship with our Savior through prayer, a frequent communication. We must remember that he is always standing outside our door knocking and pleading, “Come Follow Me.” Through prayer we open the door and invite him in. He will bring the extra charity we might need for the second child, and anything else we will stand in need of in any moment of any day. As we do these things we are constantly rebalancing our three-legged stool in life.
May we remember the words in 2nd Nephi 25:26 “And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”

My greatest desire is that I can live the life that I was sent to live by calling on Christ and intertwining His life with mine. That I will become the person I came here to be. That I will remember to ask for his help when I need it. Whether calling on my Savior for comfort or charity, the repetition of calling on Him in every situation will help me in conquering on my own internal battlefield.
As we ponder on our Savior this Easter I hope that we will all see the evidence of his hand in our lives and that we will remember that “...whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.” D&C 84:88

The life of Christ is magnificent. It holds the key to salvation for all of us. The thing that makes it so uniquely powerful is the act of the atonement and the resurrection. Jesus Christ lives. He lives. He is the literal Son of God. He is the living water and the bread of life; He is the Source of our Salvation. I testify of this truth, I know that my Redeemer lives. I am eternally grateful for his Grace and example in my life. I pray that we will all embrace Jesus Christ, his life and his teachings.

I’d like to leave you with the words of Christ from my favorite scripture: John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

*Picture credit - http://www.utilitarianism.com/jesus-christ.html