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Essay / Discourse on Eternal Perspective - 2147
Elder Renlund cites part of Robert Robinson's famous hymn "Come, Source of Every Blessing" as an example of remembering the goodness of God. The part of the song he uses is: “Here I will lift up my Ebenezer, hither by thy help have I come; And I hope, by your good pleasure, to arrive home safe and sound. And for those of you like me who don't know what an Ebenezer is, it is a helping stone, the outward symbol of God's goodness that helped Israel remember the greatness of God. Even though we do not inherently have an Ebenezer to raise, we can “raise our Ebenezer” by having an eternal perspective. We can have this eternal perspective by using the world around us to bear witness to God's goodness, because God is in everything around us. Just as it says in Alma 30:44 “everything indicates that God exists.” However, due to life's many circumstances, we are sometimes prone to wander. Brother Renlund says, “Whether we are served with cold oatmeal or abundant riches, we are all “prone to wander,…prone to leave the God we love.” The remedy for straying from God is also suggested in the hymn: “Let your goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to you. » By remembering and keeping in mind the great things God has done for us, including the gift of His Son, we can “arrive home safely.” » (p. 4) We will arrive home safely if we walk through life with eyes to see God's goodness all around us, no matter the circumstances. Something my father and I share in common is a love for sunrises and sunsets and there have been many times because of a beautiful sunrise or sunset that my father and I have discussed the goodness of God. And because of that, when life has been hard, a simple sunrise or sunset reminds me that God is good and that I can then move on with eternal life..