Rising From the Ashes

Today the Notre Dame Cathedral burns.  Having been there not that long ago and seeing it with my own eyes, my heart aches for the loss of the history and art of that beautiful building.  I wonder if the feeling I feel is anything at all like the feeling the Savior must have felt on this same day of the final week of His life on Earth.  
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This calendar day was the same day of the temple cleansing during that final week of the Savior's life.  The moneychangers were more out of place and unwelcome in the temple than a fire in the Notre Dame, and the Savior wasted no time in casting them out. 

You can read about this in Matthew 21:12-16, but if you read a few more verses, you will also read about the Fig Tree.  I love the symbolism of the Fig Tree.  To understand it, you must know that fig trees bring forth their fruit before their leaves.  The many leaves on this tree were like an announcement that it was full of fruit, yet it had none.  The symbolism is awesome.  A tree professing fruits and having none standing in the shadow of the temple where a corrupt priesthood professed righteousness and devotion to the God of Israel, while they plotted the death of His Son.

Want to know how we can apply this all to our lives?  President Spencer W. Kimball said it perfectly, “In the account of the barren fig tree, the unproductive tree was cursed for its barrenness.  What a loss to the individual and to humanity if the vine does not grow, the tree does not bear fruit, the soul does not expand through service.  One must live, not merely exist; he must do, not merely be; he must grow, not just stagnate.  We must use our talents in behalf of our fellowmen, rather than burying them in the tomb of a self-centered life… Our success will be measured by what we can give of our lives and our contribution to others rather than what we can get and receive from others.”

…and if your heart aches at the disappointments and imperfectness of life, think of the fire that burned down the Provo Tabernacle.  From the ashes rose a beautiful temple.  Life isn’t perfect, we aren’t perfect, but at Easter we celebrate our Savior and His gift to us, and as we accept His gift and become “doers of the word” we too will rise from our imperfections to perfection.