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The author of this blog is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As such the views expressed in this blog are influenced by the teachings of this faith and the author tries to keep as close to these teachings as he can with his limited knowledge. However, they are the views of the author whose understanding is not complete and may not reflect the official position of this church. For the official position of the LDS church, or for more information, please visit the links provided in this website under the title "LDS Church Websites".

Sunday, May 5, 2013

A Poem about Christ

     As I was determining what to write about in this week's blog entry, I came across this poem about the miracle of the Savior's Atonement and what it does for us.  It's a poem written by President Packer of The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I really liked the poem and wanted to share it.  So here it is below.

"Washed Clean"
In ancient times the cry “Unclean!”
Would warn of lepers near.
“Unclean! Unclean!” the words rang out;
Then all drew back in fear,
Lest by the touch of lepers’ hands
They, too, would lepers be.
There was no cure in ancient times,
Just hopeless agony.
No soap, no balm, no medicine
Could stay disease or pain.
There was no salve, no cleansing bath,
To make them well again.
But there was One, the record shows,
Whose touch could make them pure;
Could ease their awful suffering,
Their rotting flesh restore.
His coming long had been foretold.
Signs would precede His birth.
A Son of God to woman born,
With power to cleanse the earth.
The day He made ten lepers whole,
The day He made them clean,
Well symbolized His ministry
And what His life would mean.
However great that miracle,
This was not why He came.
He came to rescue every soul
From death, from sin, from shame.
For greater miracles, He said,
His servants yet would do,
To rescue every living soul,
Not just heal up the few.
Though we’re redeemed from mortal death,
We still can’t enter in
Unless we’re clean, cleansed every whit,
From every mortal sin.
What must be done to make us clean
We cannot do alone.
The law, to be a law, requires
A pure one must atone.
He taught that justice will be stayed
Till mercy’s claim be heard
If we repent and are baptized
And live by every word. …
If we could only understand
All we have heard and seen,
We’d know there is no greater gift
Than those two words—“Washed clean!”
From an April 1997 general conference address.

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