Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Latter-day Saint
At the Same Time

At the Same Time

Last updated on: September 1, 2021 at 3:18 pm by Hilary Weeks

At the Same Time 2021-09-01T15:18:20-04:00 Hilary Weeks

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Listen to “At the Same Time,” a song by Hilary Weeks, and read about Hilary’s connection with Christ.

The Bitter

I’ve never seen a funeral quite like it.

People filled the chapel, the choir seats, the cultural hall, the Primary and Relief Society rooms—even the hallways were used as “overflow.” I could hardly believe how many people were there. I secretly wondered if that many people would attend my funeral . . . or if I even knew that many people.

Kevin was a beloved man we were temporarily saying goodbye to. He was generous, fun-loving, and devoted to his family, and he lived His life with Christ at the center. He loved his family, his neighbors, his co-workers—and everyone loved him back.

Oh, and he loved Disneyland. More than that, he loved to travel! Photos lined the hallways of the church where the funeral was held. They showed the travels and adventures this man and his family had taken over the years. He truly lived life to the fullest and embraced the things that are most important.

I sang at Kevin’s funeral—we knew each other because his and my daughters were roommates at BYU. As his children spoke at his funeral, I witnessed something incredibly beautiful. Pain and peace. Tears and laughter. Heartache and hope. Tragedy and triumph.

Opposing emotions were in the ring together, so to speak—but instead of battling it out, they were holding hands.

All at the same time.

Kevin’s children celebrated his remarkable life while tears rolled down their cheeks. We laughed as funny memories and stories were shared, even though our hearts were also breaking.

The Sweet

At the same time, I felt peace. I was experiencing the peace of God that Paul talked about in Philippians, which he described as something that “passeth all understanding” but that keeps our “hearts and minds through Jesus Christ” (Philippians 4:7).

I found it hard to describe what I was feeling. It was hard to understand how one heart could feel two ways.

Paul knew.

He knew we would experience unexplainable peace in the middle of our darkest moments. He knew we would feel faith rise above fear. And he knew the source – the Savior. The Savior is the reason we can move forward, keep going, believe and trust when it would otherwise feel impossible.

Opposites are part of God’s plan.

2 Nephi 2:11 says, “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.”

The Divine

I came home from the funeral and wrote the song “At the Same Time.” It usually takes me a while to write a song, but not this one. The lyrics and melody came quickly. I felt that heaven was involved as I wrote.

I love writing music and lyrics based on powerful experiences surrounded by truth. I love sharing my faith through music.

My favorite line in this song is “There is something so divine, when pain and grace collide.”

It must be divine. How else could we explain surviving the collision of contrasting emotions? It is divine because Jesus Christ is there in the middle. His grace carries us through. He makes sense of the moments when we taste the bitter and the sweet, the moments when we walk where the valley and the mountain meet.

Our connection with the Lord is a lifeline of hope.

He is how we feel the peace of God.

Previous Post

August 25, 2021

Christ's Crucifixion in the Temple Sealing

Next Post

September 8, 2021 A Friend at Midnight

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Comfort and Healing Death and Resurrection Family gratitude Service Spiritual Growth Strength and Courage Uncategorized

Select a Month April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz