By Union of Feeling We Obtain Power with God

I was not surprised when this topic was talked during the October 2020 General Conference. This world seems to be increasingly filled with hatred, division, and isolation. This is especially happened in many parts of the world including United States and Malaysia.

Sister Eubank gave three areas of focus on: How can we understand people around us better? How can we create that “union of feeling” when all are so different? What power from God might we access if we are just a little bit more unified with others?

Have Mercy: Sister Eubank encourages us to be free with our mercy.

“We often think of substance in terms of food or money, but perhaps what we all need more of in our ministering is mercy.”

Make Your Boat Swing:

“Differences can be turned to advantage instead of disadvantage. Only then will it feel as if the boat is moving on its own. Only then does pain entirely give way to exultation. Good “swing” feels like poetry.⁴”

We can be united in our hearts and our purpose that we each adjust our efforts to each other and work together in perfect harmony. It may seem like a hard thing to do, but I know from experience that with God all things are possible.

Clear Away the Bad as Fast as the Good Can Grow: We can just clear away the ground to the dirt, weeds are going to spring up. The quote Sister Eubank uses refers to growing olive trees, but the idea is the same.

“Unity doesn’t magically happen; it takes work. It’s messy, sometimes uncomfortable, and happens gradually when we clear away the bad as fast as the good can grow.”

There are few more quotes that I love in Sister Sharon Eubank talk:

“Each of us is going to have deeply wounding experiences, things that should never happen. Each of us will also, at various times, allow pride and loftiness to corrupt the fruit we bear. But Jesus Christ is our Savior in all things. His power reaches to the very bottom and is reliably there for us when we call on Him.”

“But if we are one—if we can spare a piece of our pie or fit our individual talents so the boat can swing in perfect unison—then we are His. And He will help clear away the bad as fast as the good does grow.”

“We may not yet be where we want to be, and we are not now where we will be. I believe the change we seek in ourselves and in the groups we belong to will come less by activism and more by actively trying every day to understand one another.”

“As covenant women, we have broad influence. That influence is applied in everyday moments when we are studying with a friend, putting children to bed, talking to a seatmate on the bus, preparing a presentation with a colleague. We have power to remove prejudice and build unity.”

Sister Eubank offer this following invitations to the sisters of the Church, to be part of a collective force that changes the world for good:

• Our covenantal assignment is to minister
• to lift up the hands that hang down
• to put struggling people on our backs or in our arms and carry them.

“The women of this Church have unlimited potential to change society. I have full spiritual confidence that, as we seek union of feeling, we will call down the power of God to make our efforts whole.”

I personally like her quote this the most, or it is the most appropriate that describe me the most at this time:

“It isn’t complicated to know what to do, but it often goes against our selfish interests, and we have to try.”

So, let’s remind myself try and try each time!