Several years ago I was traveling by myself, returning home from a humanitarian service trip in a developing country. When my second connecting flight to leave that country was overbooked, I was actually thrilled, excited to have an extra day to explore markets and enjoy the food and culture I so much relished.
Yet the next night, I and others in our group realized that the airline workers were deliberately delaying our departure. We learned that because all of the flights leaving that airport had been overbooked (I later learned by seven full days), the workers would delay incoming passengers from reaching their connecting flight so that the passengers delayed the day before would be able to board.
After a full 24 sleepless hours, some of the ragged workers told me they were going to ship me to JFK airport, and that there, they would be able to find a way for me to get home. A giant pit of darkness opened in my stomach, and I knew without question that I could NOT take that flight.
So what to do? In a most assertive and confident manner that astonished us all, I told that man I would not accept his plan. I had no phone, and told him I wanted to call my mother. They led me to a phone booth and paid for the call. Mom had called and had been talking with American Airline workers, and after a crackly connection of me explaining the whole "overbooked and intentional delays" (I saw the workers shifting guiltily when they heard me), Mom told me they had found a flight. The connection failed, and the workers took me back to their desk, repeatedly denying that it was possible that my mom had found a flight.
To their astonishment, and my joy, my mom and the American Airline worker had found a flight. I boarded, left that chaos, and after not uneventful layovers in London and Chicago, a full 77 hours after the initial departure, collapsed into my mom's arms.
Though that experience nearly left me on a gurney, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I learned so much about myself and others. Not the least important of the lessons I learned is the essentiality of a mediator.
Similar to this experience, I have another Mediator who has provided me a way to return to my Heavenly Home. As an imperfect mortal, I am subject to both physical death and spiritual death: the physical separation from my Heavenly Father that comes from my subjection to sin. I am powerless to overcome those two deaths. To resolve those differences, God the Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to provide a way for me to come Home through His Atonement.
Through His resurrection, Christ "broke the bands of death" so that mankind may also live again. Jesus Christ suffered and paid for my sins, so that through repentance, I can become clean and worthy of returning to my Father. As Mediator, he gives me these choices and conditions:
"Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are fee to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.
And now, my sons [and daughters], I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit..."
-2 Nephi 2: 27-28
I testify that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Perfect Mediator. He knows and loves us. Through the power of his Atonement, He has provided a just and merciful path for each of us to return Home. It is our choice whether or not to do so. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Yet the next night, I and others in our group realized that the airline workers were deliberately delaying our departure. We learned that because all of the flights leaving that airport had been overbooked (I later learned by seven full days), the workers would delay incoming passengers from reaching their connecting flight so that the passengers delayed the day before would be able to board.
A fairly accurate photo... from MailOnline
After a full 24 sleepless hours, some of the ragged workers told me they were going to ship me to JFK airport, and that there, they would be able to find a way for me to get home. A giant pit of darkness opened in my stomach, and I knew without question that I could NOT take that flight.
So what to do? In a most assertive and confident manner that astonished us all, I told that man I would not accept his plan. I had no phone, and told him I wanted to call my mother. They led me to a phone booth and paid for the call. Mom had called and had been talking with American Airline workers, and after a crackly connection of me explaining the whole "overbooked and intentional delays" (I saw the workers shifting guiltily when they heard me), Mom told me they had found a flight. The connection failed, and the workers took me back to their desk, repeatedly denying that it was possible that my mom had found a flight.
To their astonishment, and my joy, my mom and the American Airline worker had found a flight. I boarded, left that chaos, and after not uneventful layovers in London and Chicago, a full 77 hours after the initial departure, collapsed into my mom's arms.
image found on ArtFire by LivingWoodStudio
Though that experience nearly left me on a gurney, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I learned so much about myself and others. Not the least important of the lessons I learned is the essentiality of a mediator.
A mediator is someone who resolves the differences between conflicted individuals or parties. In that airport, I was powerless. The only connection I had to the outside real-world who I knew could make the right connections was someone I loved and trusted: my mom. She and the American Airline worker acted as my mediators, preparing a way for me to safely return home while satisfying the needs of the workers in the over-loaded airport.
Who is a mediator you are grateful for? How has he/she blessed your life?
Similar to this experience, I have another Mediator who has provided me a way to return to my Heavenly Home. As an imperfect mortal, I am subject to both physical death and spiritual death: the physical separation from my Heavenly Father that comes from my subjection to sin. I am powerless to overcome those two deaths. To resolve those differences, God the Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to provide a way for me to come Home through His Atonement.
"In His Glory" by Del Parson
Through His resurrection, Christ "broke the bands of death" so that mankind may also live again. Jesus Christ suffered and paid for my sins, so that through repentance, I can become clean and worthy of returning to my Father. As Mediator, he gives me these choices and conditions:
"Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are fee to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.
And now, my sons [and daughters], I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit..."
-2 Nephi 2: 27-28
I testify that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Perfect Mediator. He knows and loves us. Through the power of his Atonement, He has provided a just and merciful path for each of us to return Home. It is our choice whether or not to do so. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
"Lifting Burdens: The Atonement of Jesus Christ" from Mormon Messages
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