Photo by Flor Saurina on UnsplashBishop Serge St. Felix

This past week, I was reading in the Book of Mormon. In the Book of Jacob chapter 5:15. This is the story of the wild and tame olive tree. This chapter talks about the Lord and servant of the vineyard. They went back to the vineyard to check on the progress of the olive tree that began to decay. They made some changes by cutting off the decayed branches and grafting in wild branches from another tree into the tame olive tree.

It reads “And it came to pass that a long time passed away, and the Lord of the vineyard said unto his servant ‘Come, let us go down into the vineyard, that we made labor in the vineyard. ‘“

The key phrase in this verse is “long time passed away “. I am sure that when the servant and Lord of the vineyard cut and pruned the tree, there was an element of pain that the tree felt. During our journey along the covenant path we too may need some pruning which can hurt. We need time for our wounds to heal and sometimes that might take a long time. There are some who have been offended by the words and actions of others. Some are healing, some have completely healed, and some may choose not to allow the healing to take place, but rather, pick at the wounds which could result in infection and prolong healing the process, which could result in scars.

For those who are hoping that others will heal from the wounds you have inflicted, or need to be healed themselves, please be patient and follow the counsel in Jacob 5:18 and ‘take hold of the moisture of the root” which is the gospel of Jesus Christ so that one day, all wounds will be healed.

Bishop Serge St. Felix

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