2 Nephi 9:41 O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.

The straight and narrow path is miraculously the same path, while being made up of millions of individual straight and narrow paths all woven together, heading towards the tree of life. There are not two paths that are the same, everyone’s path is full of hills, straightaways, pot holes, rocks, boulders, and even sink holes. As you are walking beside someone, they may suddenly seem to be having doubts or troubles that you aren’t having. You may wonder “where did this come from?” It’s simply because even though you may be walking beside some else, their path is still different than your own! I recognized this as I have battled the boulder of becoming one with my husband with our different denominations. It’s so hard to work together when our hearts are split in two different directions! It dawned on me that we could, indeed, help each other grow in our faiths if we could just keep our paths super close–then we could be there for each other, and even hold hands on the journey! Then comes the question, “who is on the straight and narrow?” I’m doing my best to follow God, and Mark is doing his best to follow God. If we are both on the straight and narrow, then we are becoming one because we are both headed to the same tree of life, together. We all have our own paths that are made one through Christ! That’s how we are able to succor one another, through Christ’s Atonement that illuminates the path! 

“You cannot speak of the light in the world without speaking of the Light of the World, Jesus Christ. A manifestation of a loving Heavenly Father is that everyone who comes to this life is blessed with the Light of Christ to help them return home. President Boyd K. Packer taught: “The Spirit of Christ is always there. … The Light of Christ is as universal as sunlight itself. Wherever there is human life, there is the Spirit of Christ.” The Light of Christ “inviteth and enticeth to do good continually” and prepares all who seek goodness and truth to receive the Holy Ghost.

The Savior teaches that He is the light that “enlighteneth your eyes,” “quickeneth your understandings,” and “giveth life to all things.” The Light of Christ will help us see others through the Savior’s eyes. We will be more loving and understanding of the struggles of others. It will help us be more patient with those who may not worship as we do or serve as we might. It will help us understand the great plan of happiness more fully and see how we all fit into that great loving plan. It gives life, meaning, and purpose to all that we do. Now, with all the happiness that will come to us as we more fully understand the Light of Christ, it will not match the joy that we feel when we see the Light of Christ working in others: family, friends, and even complete strangers.” -Mark A. Braggsh

A really good friend of mine who had been a Catholic for decades, and then converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, told me that the most important thing we can do is to help everyone we come in contact with move closer to Christ, even if it’s one baby step at a time. I love this, because he is absolutely correct! As we love and live the gospel, others will recognize the joy and light that it brings, and that alone is a movement towards Christ. Everyone’s walk will be a little different, even those people who appear to have similarities will have different trials, different strengths and different weaknesses. None of us here on earth are given the ability to see all that other’s lives entail, which is why we can’t be the judge, because it would be unfair. This simplifies the responsibility that that Lord has asked of his followers, he simply asks us to be a light. He asks us to remember him always, to take his name upon us, and to live an honest, true, and kind life at all times, and in all places. He will take care of the details, if we will just turn on the light for others. 

“You have learned, however, that by turning on an electric light or by lighting a candle, there was no more darkness, no more fear. You learned a simple law of nature, which is also a spiritual law: Light and darkness cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Satan and his disciples cannot tolerate the spiritual light of the gospel; they must immediately depart.” -Robert D. Hales

While mountain biking with my husband and one of my boys, I realized a really important concept. It was a new trail that none of us had biked before. The terrain was rocky, and at times slick. I was a cautious rider, while the boys were more adventurous. They took off at high speeds, leaving me in the dust. I was thoroughly enjoying myself, taking in the scenery around me, while they were having the time of their lives, cutting the corners short, skidding through the mud, and crossing narrow bridges. Every once in awhile they would holler back at me to make sure I was okay, and sometimes they would even come back to check on me. Other times I would shout up to them to make sure we were still on the same trail. They encouraged me to speed up, and I tried to talk them into slowing down. All of us kept moving along the trail, and eventually we finished at the same spot, just at different times. Our experiences were a bit different, yet we all made it, and we all enjoyed ourselves. 

“Patient endurance permits us to cling to our faith in the Lord and our faith in His timing when we are being tossed about by the surf of circumstance. Even when a seeming undertow grasps us, somehow, in the tumbling, we are being carried forward, though battered and bruised.” -Neal A. Maxwell

Isn’t this life, we are all trying to make it back to our Heavenly Father, we are all on the same path, headed in the same direction. (For those who aren’t, we are sharing our joy, and shining our light, so they can see the path and join us.) As hard as it is to understand that maybe the walk of others, though at a different pace, and a different overall experience, may still be just as enjoyable. For us that day on our mountain bike experience, we didn’t have any collisions or wrecks. However, the path of life is full of slips, bruises, brokenness, and mistakes. That’s the best part of the path, not only is our Savior there to rescue us if we just allow him to, but we have each other. The path doesn’t have to be lonely, it can be filled with the compassion and empathy of others. We can check on one another from all different locations to make sure we are all doing okay, to make sure that everyone is still headed in the same direction. We can also, help our Savior, by recognizing injury, and coming to the loving aid. Together we can walk on our individual path, while becoming one with each other.

“Let us each be mindful of the straight and narrow way and do all we can to stay within the straight lines in the midst of the storms and temptations of life. Let us study the scriptures, hold to the rod of the word of God, be prayerful in all we do, and perform Christlike acts of service. May we be filled with charity, the pure love of Christ, and may that love be reflected in our actions. We then will observe the “weightier matters” of God’s law while not leaving the rest undone. (Matt. 23:23.)” – Jospeh B. Wirthlin

-Sherri Jorgensen