The talks that were giving were so incredible. I was so impressed. I am glad that I can include them in this blog to keep in our and our extended family history. I hope that whoever reads/looks at this blog will not skip over the talks. They are very wise and should not be missed. They mean a lot to me.
NUMBER 1 TALK: by Zack Abbot
I am grateful for the opportunity that Steve and Janna have given me to speak today. Across all cultures, regardless of one’s religion, nationality or ethnicity, and throughout all history, two recurring events consistently tug on the heartstrings of all humanity—when a baby enters this world; and when someone we love departs from it. The first event is almost universally accompanied by joy and celebration, yet the latter, often by sadness and mourning.
In
the New Testament, in the 16th chapter of John, Jesus Christ forewarned His
twelve Apostles of His impending death.
He said: “A little while, and ye
shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go
to the Father. …verily, verily, I say unto you… ye shall be sorrowful, but your
sorrow shall be turned into joy. And ye
now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall
rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.” (John 16:16-23). For those men who loved Him so dearly, the
very thought of losing their beloved Master must have been devastating. Nevertheless, the Savior of the world
promised them that their profound sorrow over his death would be turned into
joy. During that Last Supper, they
struggled to comprehend how this could be.
We too might understandably wonder how it is that joy can be found
amidst life’s sorrowful events, such as death.
From
the Scriptures we learn that our Heavenly Father knew each of us before the
world was created. We are all His spirit
sons and daughters and lived in His presence long ago. But something important was lacking. Despite our divine potential as His children,
we were not yet perfected as He is. In
order for each of us to progress to become more like Him, a plan was
devised. This plan stipulates that we
all be born into mortality and experience the particular trials of life that
each of us needs to refine our divine attributes. This Plan also involves us ultimately passing
on, with the goal of returning to our Heavenly Father’s presence, having
honorably fulfilled our individual Earthly missions. During our pre-mortal life, each of us
understood and accepted this plan. We
all knew of the infinite love our Heavenly Father has for each of us and
recognized that the many challenges each of us would face would be necessary
for our eternal growth and development.
The book of Job tells us that we were all so enthusiastic about this
Plan that when God “laid the foundations of the Earth… all the sons of God
shouted for joy.” (Job 38:7).
Gordon
B. Hinckley highlighted the ultimate source of this joy in a poem
entitled: “What Is This Thing That Men
Call Death?”
What
is this thing that men call death? …This
quiet passing in the night?
“Tis
not the end but genesis …Of better
worlds and greater light
O
God, touch Thou my aching heart …And
calm my troubled, haunting fears
Let
hope and faith, transcendent, pure …Give
strength and peace beyond my tears
There
is no death but only change …With
recompense for vict’ry won
The
gift of Him who loved all men …The Son
of God, the Holy One.
But
there is a potential barrier to us attaining this joy and returning to live
with our Heavenly Father. As an integral
part of His plan, we are given agency, or the freedom to make our own choices
and direct our own lives. Given that
none of us is perfect, we at times misuse this agency to make wrong
choices. This is sin, and it estranges
us from our perfect Father in Heaven, for as the Scriptures state, “no unclean
thing can enter the presence of God”.
But our loving Heavenly Father yearns for all of us to return to His
presence. He tells us in the Book of
Moses: “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the
immortality and eternal life of man.” So
He prepared a way to bridge the divide between our sinful natures and His
perfection. That bridge is our Savior
Jesus Christ.
Before
the world was formed, our Heavenly Father chose Jesus Christ to be our Savior
and Redeemer. He came to Earth,
experiencing similar mortal challenges to what we face; yet He lived a perfect
life, untainted by sin. By virtue of His
perfection, He is able to act as an intermediary between us and our Heavenly
Father, taking upon himself all of our sins so that they might be washed
away. Through His resurrection, by which
He overcame physical death, and His atonement, which allows us to repent and
surmount our sins, we can return again to the presence of our Heavenly Father
after our mortal lives end. Were it not
for Jesus Christ, life (and death) might be hopelessly sorrowful. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the
Corinthians: “And if Christ be not
raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins… If in this life only we have hope in Christ,
we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead,
and…even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
(1 Cor 15:17-22)
And
“all” really means “all.” Our Heavenly
Father’s plan is for all mankind, not just those who walk, talk and think like
you or I. The Scriptures tell us that ultimately
we can all “dwell in the presence of God… through the merits, and mercy, and
grace of the Holy Messiah” (2 Nephi 2:8).
Most of us can discern right from wrong and are accountable spiritually
for our decisions. When we misuse our
agency and estrange ourselves from God, the Lord’s mercy allows us to be
cleansed via the process of repentance and divine forgiveness. However, some individuals are separated from
God not because of misuse of agency, but solely as a result of our unavoidably fallen
and imperfect state in mortality. Infants,
little children, and those with mental impairments limiting their decision-making
capacity and making them unaccountable, are innocent, free of sin, and have no
need for repentance. Their ability to
return to the presence of God is not conditional upon repentance and the Lord’s
merciful forgiveness, but rather it is gained by grace through the infinite
Atonement of our loving Savior Jesus Christ.
It is by this grace that Austin is exalted. He came to earth to obtain a body, as we all
have, and had the full measure of mortal experience that God deemed necessary
for him. He has now moved beyond this
life to be crowned with the angels above and eagerly awaits the rest of us one
day joining him through the merits and mercy of Christ.
Herein
lies the beauty of the Plan of Salvation.
If we align our lives with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we have a promise
that we can return to our Savior’s glorious presence and can anticipate the
unimaginable rewards that await us as our Heavenly Father’s heirs. As the Apostle Paul declared: “Eye hath not
seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things
which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Cor 2:9) Furthermore, our understanding of this
allows us to share Paul’s sentiment of being “exceeding[ly] joyful in all our
tribulation” (2 Cor 7:4), for “Blessed is the man that endureth [challenges]:
for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath
promised to them that love him.” (James 1:12)
Earlier
this year I was watching a mild action/adventure movie with my 8 year old daughter. Every time the plot got suspenseful, or the
background music began to crescendo, she cowered behind the sofa and asked me
to skip to the next scene. We ultimately
skipped about half of the movie. When it
finally ended and the protagonist had prevailed, she surprised me by asking me
to start the whole movie over again in its entirety. I asked her why she now wanted to see the
whole thing, when only minutes earlier she had been afraid to watch half of it. She said, “Well now that I know that it turns
out good in the end, it’s not scary anymore.”
And so it is with Austin and with each of us: When we know how it will all turn out in the
end, that life’s spiritual hero’s and heroine’s will eventually be victorious,
(and we all can be through our Savior), this knowledge gives us the faith to
face the challenges of life, (and the inevitable challenge of death), with
hope, confidence and ultimately joy. In
the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
NUMBER 2 TALK: by Steve Jensen
I know that as we do this, we
will be a happy people. God bless you my
friends, my brothers, my sisters. May a
spirit of peace and love be with you wherever you go. May there be harmony in our lives as we
express our gratitude to God and to one another. I have resolved to kneel before the Almighty
with thanksgiving in my heart; and then stand upon my feet and serve. May we all do so in our own way, is my humble
prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
NUMBER 2 TALK: by Steve Jensen
Austin is a difficult person to describe and I’m not going to be able to
cover a hundredth part, but I thought I’d share a short poem I wrote about him
the day just before he passed. But
before I begin, it will help, if as I read it, you have in your mind the song
from the Sound of Music, the one about, “These are a few of my favorite
things.”
Puddles on sidewalks and broken rubber bands
Bright metal staples and random carpet strands
Whatever is stringy or tied up with strings
These are some of Austin’s delicious things
Orange colored ribbons and loose bolts and nuts
Bent nails and straight nails, all end up in his guts
Needles and pins and screws and little springs
These are some of Austin’s delicious things
Cheetos and Doritos, straws, beads, weeds, and grass
Jewelry and necklaces he finds in the trash
Raw noodles and yarn and bikinis with strings
These are some of Austin’s delicious things
When the light burns, when the noise hurts
When I’m feeling sad
I simply remember his favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad
As I attempt to describe Austin
I am reminded of the phrase that one of my favorite author’s, J.R.R. Tolkien,
used when discussing Gandalf the Wizard.
He said, “He was an ancient spirit in the body of an old man.” Of course Austin was an ancient spirit in the
body of a young man, and Austin’s body was different. Bodies are great things. I’ve always been a fan of bodies. In fact I think everybody should get one, and
enjoy it to the fullness that God intended.
But for whatever reason, Austin’s body was defective, or at least in the
mysterious economy of heaven, it didn’t work the way the rest of us experience
life. So for Austin, his body was in
many ways a prison, an obstacle that appeared to hold him back - though it
didn’t stop him from touching so many of our lives. Everyone has an Austin story; some painful,
some humorous, some just bizarre. For a
guy who never uttered a single word, he sure did get us all talking.
But to my point, Austin was
often frustrated by the limitations of his body. That is no longer the case. He is now free from the physical fetters that
have held him back, and he is gone. As
anyone who has been involved in the many searches for Austin can attest, Austin
has never been one to just hang around, and I believe that since bursting his
bands he has moved on. But just because
he is not here, does not mean he is nowhere.
Two decades ago this coming January I stood right over there, before a
congregation much like this and held an infant Austin in my arms and pronounced
a blessing. As a part of that prayer it
was declared that he would serve a mission.
As most people know, Mormons do that sort of thing. We send our children out into the world to
spread the word. Nineteen is the
traditional age for young men to serve missions, and Austin’s 20th
birthday is tomorrow.
In Mormon theology, all spirits
after they have left this mortal realm, go to one of two places to await the
final judgment; either to paradise on the one hand, or to Spirit Prison on the
other. In His infinite mercy Christ
bridged the gap between the two places.
And since then the righteous have been able to mingle and preach the
gospel. The point is that Austin is now
on his mission. Like other young men of
his age: Spencer Kohler who is in
Thailand and Tyler and Hunter Burbidge who are in the Philippines, Elder Austin
Jensen is the newest missionary in the Spirit Prison South Mission. And today this meeting isn’t so much a
funeral as it is Austin’s missionary farewell.
And while it may not look like it, as his parents, Janna and I are proud
and delighted.
I know Austin will be a great
teacher. He taught me a lot. Of the many things that Austin taught me, one
of the most important was the divine nature that lives within us all. He also taught me that there is no such thing
as coincidence. Austin died on November
22, fifty years to the day since the death of another one of my favorite
authors, C.S. Lewis. Lewis understood
the ramifications of our being the children of a personal, intimate God. And I quote, “The weight of my neighbor’s
glory should be laid on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry
it, and the back of the proud be broken.
It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses,
to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to, may
one day be a creature you would be strongly tempted to worship. It is in the light of these overwhelming
possibilities that we should conduct our dealings with one another, all
friendships, all loves, all play. There
are no ordinary people. You have never
talked to a mere mortal. Your neighbor
is the holiest object presented to your senses.”
I recognize that what I have
just read is pretty deep stuff, and I personally recoil at the idea that I am
expected to live up to such a high standard – to not only love my fellow man, but
to treat them like a god-in-embryo, and to act like one myself. But I have an Austin story that will help
make it clear. You see, I remember when Austin had his tonsils taken out. I was the lucky one who got to be with him
when he regained consciousness in the recovery room. Of course he woke up confused and in pain; and
mine was the only familiar face he saw.
So he reached out and he took my hand and pulled it towards his
face. Then he opened his mouth and
continued to guide my fingers past his teeth.
The nurse was bewildered and I was afraid he might bite me. After I pulled my hand away, he persisted,
grabbing my hand and bringing it towards his mouth. Then it hit me. He wanted me to touch his throat. His reasoning was simple. I was the problem-solver, one of those he
knew could set things right. He knew
that if I would just touch it, the pain would go away. Of course I had to try to explain that it
doesn’t work that way.
But in the larger sense, Austin
was right, we do having healing in our hands.
Going back to Tolkien and his masterpiece Lord of the Rings, one
of the ways that the people knew that the true king had returned, was that he
had healing in his hands. King Aragorn had
the power to heal. But Austin taught me
that we all have the power to heal one another.
We all have hands and hands are wonderful things. With them we can shake hands, and embrace,
and love. We can assist those in need
and create things of beauty like music, and homes, and a perfect spiral
pass. We all have the power of the king
to comfort, bless, help, and heal.
Austin knew this.
While we are here to say
farewell to Austin, we are not here for Austin.
He has done his part and moved on.
But before he did, he left us a challenge. Again, not by coincidence, another famous
person died exactly fifty years ago to the day that Austin passed away: President Kennedy. Most people are unaware that the day before
Kennedy went to Dallas, he visited San Antonio and dedicated a new aerospace
medical center at Brooks AFB. At that
time he gave a speech that is considered to be his final official act as
president. Near the end of that speech
he related the story of the Irish writer Frank O’Connor. I will now quote JFK directly. “As a boy, he and his friends would make
their way across the countryside; and when they came to an orchard wall that
seemed too high to climb, too doubtful to try, too difficult to permit their
journey to continue, they took off their caps and tossed them over the wall –
and then they had no choice but to follow them.”
My friends, Austin has climbed the
wall, and it is time for us to commit to climb to a higher level, to toss our
caps over the wall. No matter our
personal and public challenges, we must commit ourselves to be better. For it is for us the living, to be dedicated
here to the unfinished work of living, and loving those we hold dear. And I for one do here highly resolve that
Austin shall not have lived in vain.
And that brings me to your homework assignment. After all, I am a teacher. It’s a writing assignment. I want your Austin stories, in writing. You can email me, slip me a note, throw it in
my box, or post it on Facebook. I don’t
care, but I need it in writing. And
before you ask, no, spelling doesn’t count.
But there is a deadline. Please
do it before Christmas, before the current of life carries you away. And no, you won’t get a letter grade or any
academic credit, but I promise that as you write it you will be healed. I promise that your burden will be lightened,
your mind made clearer, and your joy more full.
I believe the scripture that says that, “Man is that he might have
joy.” So let’s do this together and
enjoy it.
Now I have work to do too. My son has finished his mortal journey, but I
have many miles to go on my journey. And
so do all of us. Austin has finished the
race and we must be finishers too. We
must strive to live our lives worthy of his.
I believe in eternal love, eternal families, eternal happiness and
eternal life, and so I must act like it.
I challenge everyone to rise to the divinity within you. A wise man once said, “There is room for
improvement in every life. Regardless of
our occupations, regardless of our circumstances, we can improve ourselves and
while so doing have an effect on the lives of those about us. We can lower our voices a few decibels. We can return good for evil. We can smile when anger might be so much
easier. We can exercise self-control and
self-discipline and dismiss any affront levied against us.” I for one, now here resolve to be a better
person than I have been in the past. I
hope that I will be a little kinder to all I meet. I hope I will be a little more helpful to
those who are in need. I hope that I
will be a little more worthy of your confidence. I hope that I will be a better husband, a
better father. I hope that I will be a
better neighbor and friend. I hope to be
more patient and less grumpy. I hope to
smile more and hug more.
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