With new eyes — See loved ones differently
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One of the words unique to scriptural language is the word behold. Found more than 3,500 times in the standard works, the word invites or commands us to pay attention, to look or to see. This meaning is suggested in the call of the angel of the Lord heralding the glorious event of the Savior's birth, "For, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people."
The original Saxon form for the word behold also suggested "to hold," "to reach," and "to guard with the eye." Thus, a more complete interpretation of scriptural meanings includes "to hold with attention," "to reach and fix the eyes upon," and "to observe with care."
The call to behold suggests the need for new eyes, a new view with greater attention and care. The promise that accompanies it suggests that when we behold with new eyes, we will see differently; we will see what we may not have seen before. President Henry B. Eyring's recent invitation to see the hand of God reaching out to touch us, our children, and our family each day includes that promise. He suggests that such beholding cannot take place "with our physical eyes or with reason alone," but with aid of new vision through the Holy Ghost. (October 2007 general conference, Ensign, November 2007, p. 66.) With these new eyes we will find blessings to behold that we may not have recognized.
A dear friend found that promise fulfilled when she was expecting her eighth child. Several months into the pregnancy she read 3 Nephi 17:21, in which the Savior invites the multitude to "Behold your little ones." She was overcome with an intense desire, even a compelling urgency, to see what He saw in those little ones and to understand what He wanted the multitude to see. With so much to do to care for the many needs of her family she wondered why she felt such an urgency to understand these verses.
When little Steven was born six weeks later with Down syndrome, she immediately recognized the Lord's tender mercy in directing her to those verses. He had wanted to prepare her heart to see this little one, to attend to this little one, to observe this little one as He did. Blessings that might have been obscured from her view were now opened to her as she more clearly beheld him as the Lord did.
Because of the sanctity of these little ones, there are also blessings to behold in the sacred roles of those who nurture them. In speaking of motherhood, President Spencer W. Kimball said, "Mothers have a sacred role. They are partners with God, as well as with their own husbands, first in giving birth to the Lord's spirit children, and then in rearing those children so they will serve the Lord and keep His commandments." (Ensign, November 1978, p. 101.)
The sacred partnership of mothers with God is evident in the shared Hebrew root for the title of the Savior, Ha-Rachamim "the Compassionate One" and the word rechem which means "womb." (David Patterson, The Heritage Foundation lecture, Oct. 19, 1995, pp. 1-11.) Fatherhood also includes the blessing of partnership with God as fathers lead their families in love and righteousness, which is their "most important and sacred responsibility ... in time and eternity." (President Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, November 1987, pp. 48-51.)
The sacredness of these roles invites us further to find the blessings to behold in the context in which these sacred roles are fulfilled — the home. When we behold the home with new eyes, we find blessings and meanings in the ordinary and mundane that might have previously been obscured from view. We find in family work, for example, that its repetitiveness presents endless opportunities to recognize and fill one another's needs. Ordinary chores can become daily rituals of family love and belonging. (Kathleen Slaugh Bahr and Cheri A. Loveless, Brigham Young Magazine, Spring, 2000, pp. 25-34.)
We find the blessing in its mindlessness, which frees us to focus on one another, to listen and share, while working together. Similarly, we find the blessing in ordinary family meals which present daily opportunities to create and sustain a sense of closeness, cohesion, and family identity that protect and strengthen children in ways far beyond physical sustenance. We also find blessings in the seemingly insignificant interactions presented in daily family living that provide opportunities to teach and witness faith in the Lord and His ways. But these blessings to behold can be obscured from view unless we learn to see with new eyes — and to hold, to reach, and guard them.
When we seek to see these seemingly ordinary roles, events and relationships as the Lord sees them we will find blessings to behold that deepen our love and gratitude for Him and for those dear to us. We will begin to see more clearly as President Ezra Taft Benson suggested, that "God loves us ... (and) has not left one thing undone for the eternal welfare of each of us." (Brigham Young University Speeches, Dec. 10, 1974.) We will be more able to behold and trust that even the challenges and problems we confront are gifts from the Lord designed to bring us to Him for solutions and answers and peace. We will be able to behold the touch of God's hand in our lives as evidence of the abundant blessings "the Father hath in His own hands and prepared for (us). (Doctrine and Covenants 78:17)."
And in beholding these blessings we will have come to see things as they really are.
— Jenet I. Jacob is an assistant professor in the BYU School of Family Life.
