‘He does not ask us to deny another’s pain but to know it’—awakening charity by facing history’s injustices

Editor’s note: The following is adapted from the Brigham Young University Devotional “Healing Racism through Jesus Christ,” given in April 2021. The adaptation has been approved by the author.

In the spring of 2018, I was fortunate enough, along with a group of faculty and administrative colleagues at BYU, to travel with a group of students to the southern United States to visit a number of famous civil rights sites. One of these sites was the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The 16th Street Baptist Church was a hub of civil rights activity in the 1950s and 1960s.

Outside of the church rests a small plaque that memorializes the deaths of four young girls: Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Carol Denise McNair. On September 15, 1963, in an attempt to harm and intimidate the local Black community, four White supremacists planted approximately fifteen sticks of dynamite attached to a timing device under the stairs of this holy house. The bomb exploded, killing these four blessed girls. As I stood outside the red brick church, tears welled up in my eyes. I mourned the loss of those four young girls.

Latter-day Saints too have suffered from violent mobs. For instance, on October 30, 1838, a collection of Latter-day Saint families was attacked at Hawn’s Mill in Missouri by an unauthorized militia. In this massacre, many of the Latter-day Saint men headed to the blacksmith shop to mount a defense. However, the militia members could easily fire into the building because there were large gaps in the walls. Eventually, the militia members entered the structure. They found three innocent young boys—Sardius Smith, Alma Smith, and Charles Merrick—whom they shot. Two were killed.

Many of us are aware of the tragedy of Hawn’s Mill that was caused by religious prejudice. We may have little to no knowledge, however, of events like the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church that were motivated by racial prejudice. Expanding our understanding of the suffering of others can awaken charity within us. Our hearts can connect in solidarity over our shared experience of striving for life and to “have it more abundantly.” ¹

In my research, I mainly focus on how acts of racial injustice have affected the African American community. By contemplating challenging historical moments (including slavery, lynching, and convict leasing) through the lens of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I have come to increasingly appreciate the beautiful healing power of the Prince of Peace. I have also uncovered clues from the life and principles taught by our Savior on how to faithfully fulfill the charge that President Russell M. Nelson has given us “to lead out in abandoning attitudes and actions of prejudice.”²

It is exceedingly painful to imagine the unjust and cruel treatment that many of our sisters and brothers have experienced. We can find peace, however, in the fact that our Savior knows and has wholly felt the exact pain of each African slave, of the Black children who died in brutal work conditions, of those who were murdered through lynching, and of little Sardius, Alma, and Charles at Hawn’s Mill. He suffered their experiences so that they might come under His tender care.

Knowledge that Christ suffers with us can provide solace to our hearts and minds while reflecting on the injustices done to our brothers and sisters.

To counter racism, the King of Kings invites all of us to share in His abundant gifts of love and redemption, in which racial and economic status are inconsequential, in which each of us can partake of His nourishing word, and in which we are inherently equal. Jesus Christ taught us that we too should be loving and generous. When Jesus was asked,

Which is the greatest commandment in the law?

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

This is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.³

These powerful statements by our Savior clearly identify who we should love—God and each other—and how much—with all we have.

Yet the adversary attempts to distort the great commandment through pernicious forms of racism. He attempts to convince us that if we want a world in which race is no longer a contributing factor to how various groups are treated, then we need to stop focusing on race. This perspective might work if we lived in an ideal society without a history of slavery, convict leasing, and lynching. Nevertheless, we live in a fallen world, a world that has historical sins that reverberate into today. To pretend that race is not important does not show compassion for the experiences of others who, by virtue of their experiences with racism, know that it is.

Christ Himself asks us to remember and know His suffering—to touch the scars on His hands and feet.⁴ He does not ask us to deny another’s pain but to know it and touch it. To deny the genuine pain of another is to deny the very suffering Christ felt for them privately in the Garden of Gethsemane and publicly upon the cross at Calvary.

How are we to move toward a Zion community in which the love of God dwells within our hearts? We can focus on the great commandment. One way to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind is to express gratitude for the abundance of gifts He has provided for us. The expression of our gratitude, which is a form of love, can be more than mere mental thought; it can be a profound soul-enriching experience. Feeling expansive gratitude for the gifts that we receive from God can provide us a humble understanding that we are totally reliant upon Him for all that we have, both temporal and spiritual, and that no one is greater than another.

For instance, we can be full of gratitude toward God for the astounding diversity of people, their distinctive talents and gifts, and their unique cultural histories; each of them contributes to the mosaic that is the human family.

With the second component of the great commandment, we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. If we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, we are to recognize their needs, their pains, and their hopes and dreams. We are helped by knowing their cultural heritage, but if we have not had the privilege of learning their cultural history, we can rest assured that their people have experienced wonderful triumphs and encountered profound suffering. This way of viewing others leads us to see them as being as full, dynamic, and real as we are. We can support this perspective through a holy testimony, borne through study and prayer, that our spirits consist of the same divine material, coming from the same heavenly parents.

We can also look to Christ as the paragon for how to love our neighbors. Through the Atonement, He selflessly took upon Himself the sins, transgressions, pains, and sorrows of His sisters and brothers. We can work to follow His sublime example to help heal racism within our communities and to build belonging.

As representatives of Christ, we can work hard to heal the painful legacies of racism that we have inherited. Taking this action will help us alleviate the suffering of others. This is what the Savior did for each and every one of us. He took upon Himself sin for which He was not responsible. He did so because He loves us; we can do so because we love Him.

Jesus Christ’s death and triumphant Resurrection not only provide us the ability to reconcile our relationship with Heavenly Father but to reconcile our relationships with each other. We can apologize when we have hurt someone, ask for forgiveness from God, and endeavor every day to love more fully and completely by improving our capacity to personify the great commandment. Through applying the Atonement personally with the intention to live the great commandment, we are collectively contributing to the creation of Zion—a community of “the pure in heart.”⁵

Notes
1. John 10:10.
2. Russell M. Nelson, “Let God Prevail,” Ensign, November 2020.
3. Matthew 22:36–40.
4. See 3 Nephi 11:14.
5. Doctrine and Covenants 97:21.