It’s such a privilege to gather with fellow saints. Any time really. But especially on Sundays. At church. To partake of the sacrament together. To fellowship in friendship and genuine love and concern. To speak to one another concerning the welfare of our spiritual and temporal conditions. To uplift, encourage, inquire, embrace. For “a defense and a refuge from the storm(s)” of life. (Doctrine and Covenants 115:6) To be one so we can be His. (Doctrine and Covenants 38:27) To be in the company of Jesus Himself: “Where two or three are gathered together in my name…behold, there will I be in the midst of them…” (Doctrine and Covenants 6:32)
I love it.
I’m so grateful it’s a commandment.
And a sweet and enduring privilege, one that continually uplifts and strengthens me.
One sister bore a lovely testimony today, and in it she spoke of a sentence from her then bishop she had recorded in her journal, because she never wanted to forget it. It was this: “If the Saints don’t gather, they will scatter.”
I instantly loved that and felt the veracity of it.
I thought of those I know who have stepped off the covenant path, and it’s been true of their leaving: they stopped gathering and now they find themselves scattered among varying groups in Babylon, away from the safety of the saint fold.
Father Lehi’s vision is a vivid reminder of this gathering vs scattering. Those who chose not to gather at the tree were scattered into the great and spacious building, drowned in the water, confused and lost in the darkness, away from the rod.
When the gathering point is dismissed or missed, there is inevitable scattering.
Unto all the world: Come gather so you don’t scatter.