As a kid, I had kind of a love/hate relationship with the story of Abinadi. I loved the example he set of testifying of truth but, honestly, was a little terrified by how things ended for him. I was also fairly shy, and extremely conflict-averse, so the thought of standing up in front of a group of people and telling them a whole bunch of things that made them angry was nearly as terrifying as Abinadi’s untimely death.
And yet, I knew it was important to follow the example of people like Abinadi, to use my voice to “stand for truth and righteousness.”
At the Mormon Women for Ethical Government spring conference, Heather Sundahl spoke about writing op-eds — about using our voices to share messages that are important to us. She said, “You can be really bold. It is OK to be bold and strong.” I love this advice, and need it! I still hate the spotlight and am conflict-avoidant to a fault. (Just ask my dad how shocked he was to see a picture of me in the newspaper speaking into a bullhorn at an MWEG rally a few years ago!) When speaking out and being bold so often leads to conflict, it can be really hard to know when, where, and how to do so. We need to be thoughtful and prayerful in our approach.
Mosiah 18:21 says, “And he commanded them that there should be no contention one with another, but that they should look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another.”
I have often focused too much on the “no contention” part and not the rest of the verse. The rest of it is the formula for how we eradicate contention. When we are united in love, and united in our goal to follow the Savior, contention dissipates. As we’ve talked about here in MWEG before, it’s not just about keeping peace, but about making peace. And that takes work, and humility, and compassion. And even boldness.
Just a few verses before Alma speaks about contention and having our hearts knit together, he tells the people they needed to bear one another’s burdens, mourn with and comfort one another, and also to “stand as witnesses of God” (Mosiah 18:9). These concepts — of both loving one another, and standing as witnesses — are at the heart of our discipleship and covenants and are two of the main things the Savior spent his time doing during his mortal ministry.
A few months ago I wrote a poem about the concept of making peace and how it is tied with these ideas of loving others, of being bold, of standing as a witness.
Prayer of the Peacemaker
Lord, make me an instrument
of thy peace
Not as the harp,
gently strumming in angelic serenity,
But as the trump
blatting and blaring the clarion call
to stand up
to stand with
to stand for
Or as the cymbal —
a thunderous crashing
to rouse from the slumber of complacency
Make me a scalpel
carefully carving out the cancers
of prejudice and pride
of loneliness and lies
Make me a trowel
digging deep into hearts,
planting seeds
of hope and unity
of compassion and charity
Creating a place for healing and growth
Lord, make me an instrument
for I am not
The Trumpeter
The Healer
The Gardener
but a willing tool in thy hands
We are not called to preach repentance or prophesy destruction like Abinadi, but we can each ask God what truths we can share and witness and stand up for, what people and causes we can advocate for to help knit hearts together at a time when contention feels rampant. Because it is only through unity and love that we can truly build peace.