i've been reading five classics by truman madsen. it's definately a good read. of the five books in the collection, i have enjoyed his four essays on love the most. they are some interesting views on the different kinds of love we have and the love that god has for us.
i just finished his chapter on forgiveness and love the paragraph near it's end...
"i once thought the atonement was over. of course, in one important sense it is. it happened, it is locked in the new testament era. jesus did say on the cross “it is finished.” but as i read the scriptures we cannot say that at that moment jesus’ suffering ceased forever. in one way his suffering has increased since the garden of gethsemane. that one way is obvious to any of us. after having paid that terrible price in an agony that is beyond our power to comprehend, he now must face the sorrow of god’s children being heartless, cold, calculating, and indifferent. he sees us with his own compassion and knows how desperately we need mercy; yet he has to bear the burden of knowing that the reason mercy is not operative in our lives is that we ourselves lock it out. “all eternity is pained” (d&c 38:12). all eternity is embodied in jesus christ, and even now he suffers. but i know of no place in scripture where he announces that because of that he is giving up, or that because our sins have become so extreme he will refuse forgiveness to the penitent. he promises that forgiveness is always there, and this is a joyous thought. but along with the joys both here and hereafter there will always be a measure of sorrow."
i've still got about fifty pages left which i'm going to try to get finished before i go to bed so that i can start on a new book tomorrow. i'm thinking either evolution and mormonism or faster than the speed of light...or maybe i'll pick something else out of my collection of unread books. i used to read at least a book every week or two, but with school and stufs, it takes almost a month for me to get through a book. the problem is that i still buy books at my old rate, so they are starting to build up. this is all amazon's fault. i need to prioritize my time better and plan some peaceful solitude to attack these books. bytheway,if you want to help out my library, you can buy me a book from my wish-list. that would sure be a noble thing for you to do
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