Eric D. Huntsman, a BYU professor of Ancient Near Eastern Studies, gave a devotional in August 2018 entitled “Hard Sayings and Safe Spaces: Making Room for Struggle as Well as Faith.” This address noted the importance of being respectful and loving towards all of God’s children—no matter their circumstances.
We live in a time where challenges are inevitable. Professor Huntsman explained that Christ had many disciples who exclaimed: “This is an hard saying,” and because they believed those things Christ taught were too difficult to understand, there were many who “walked no more with him” (John 6:60, 66). These “hard sayings” can include anything from church policies on gender disparities and race to purely spiritual disconnects—the pain of losing a loved one or enduring poor physical, mental, and emotional health.
“These are challenges that do not go away easily. Rather, often they are struggles that we must deal with throughout our lives. While ideally we would all, with Peter, simply respond with seemingly immediate faith, the reality is as Moroni taught: ‘[We] receive no witness until after the trial of [our] faith’ (Ether 12:6). Just as Jacob wrestled with an angel till dawn (see Genesis 32:24–29) and Enos wrestled all night before the Lord (see Enos 1:2–6), for many of us the trial of our faith often includes long—sometimes lifelong—struggles. I submit that these struggles are necessary to our progression, but they are not struggles that we should ever face alone.”
Professor Huntsman emphasized our need to act and allow Christ to work through us to comfort others. We are the Lord’s hands. Here are just a few short points from Professor Huntsman’s address that were emphasized:
Ministering to the One
Christ’s reactions were perfectly tailored to the needs of each individual he interacted with. After the death of Lazarus, Christ responded to Martha’s emotion with His sincere testimony of His power over death. Conversely, He responded to Mary’s grief by mourning with her and shedding heartfelt tears.
“Significantly, in Mark’s version of the story of the rich young man (see Mark 10:17–22), Jesus showed that His love was not curtailed when one was unwilling or felt unable to follow Him. After the young man had expressed his prior obedience to the commandments, the Marcan narrator simply noted, “Then Jesus beholding him loved him” (Mark 10:21). While we have no idea what the young man’s later choices—in this life or in the spirit world—might have been, we can be certain that Jesus continued to love him.”
Creating Safe Spaces for Struggle
Professor Huntsman emphasized the need for us to create environments where we can not only nurture our testimonies, but also where our brothers and sisters can “safely question, seek understanding, and share their pain.” We must learn to listen and be supportive of those who are struggling.
“President M. Russell Ballard has taught: ‘We need to embrace God’s children compassionately and eliminate any prejudice, including racism, sexism, and nationalism. Let it be said that we truly believe the blessings of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ are for every child of God.'”
Spaces for Love
In this section, Professor Huntsman shares the story of Tom Christofferson as an example of creating space for love. Brother Christofferson has written a memoir That We May Be One: A Gay Mormon’s Perspective on Faith and Family that recounts his experience with homosexuality and the gospel. Despite his separation from the Church for a time, his family continued to love him unconditionally. Tom’s mother explained to his siblings and their families:
“The only thing we can really be perfect at is loving each other … The most important lesson your children will learn from how our family treats their Uncle Tom is that nothing they can ever do will take them outside the circle of our family’s love.”
Spaces for Testimony
After reading a passage in 1 Timothy, Professor Huntsman’s young daughter once posed the difficult question, “Daddy, why doesn’t Heavenly Father like girls as much as boys?” Instead of giving an in-depth answer to her question at that time, he simply and “tearfully” testified of God’s love for her.
“In the years since, I have striven to give my daughter and my students—male and female—models of powerful women of faith and testimony: Old Testament prophetesses such as Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, and Huldah; New Testament disciples such as Mary, the mother of our Lord, the other Marys, and Martha; and latter-day women of Christ such as Emma Smith, Eliza R. Snow, and my own mother … I am still learning that in addition to my own testimony, I must find and share faithful witnesses of all sexes, tongues, peoples, and life experiences.”
Spaces for Mourning and Understanding
In this last year, Professor Huntsman had an experience where a student attempted to express her feelings in class but was unable to clearly do so. Later that day, he received an email from that student explaining her struggle with a mental illness which opened his eyes to the need to pay attention to the struggles of those around us.
“When we are called upon to mourn with those who mourn—even when they may not be struggling with an obvious hard saying such as race, mental illness, gender, or sexuality—sometimes we simply need to sit with them to listen and to love.”
Spaces for Agency
Oftentimes, we assume that when people leave the Church, they are doing so because of laziness or sin. But Professor Hunstman explains that it is not that simple. Although allowing people their agency might be difficult for us, we must “honor their right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience, just as we claim that privilege for ourselves” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Come, Join with Us,” General Conference October 2013).
“We have been commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves, and when it comes to neighbors, there are no outsiders. Perhaps even more important, even when our fellow Saints find themselves outside of formal church fellowship or membership, they should never find themselves outside of the fellowship of our friendship and the circle of our love.”
Spaces for Joy
In this section, Professor Huntsman shares the story of the diagnosis of his son Samuel with autism at the age of four. In spite of the original heartache they endured as they saw their son’s learning and ability to interact start to regress, they eventually experienced great joy as Samuel eventually improved with the help of trained specialists and no small amount of prayer.
“The Psalmist proclaimed, ‘Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning’ (Psalm 30:5). Each of us has nights—and days—of weeping in this life. We all experience loss and pain in its various forms. Almost all of us have lost a loved one; many of us have lost dreams and hopes. All of us are at risk of losing health or ability. Yet even in our loss we can experience peace and joy. We are promised ‘peace in this world’ as well as ‘eternal life in the world to come’ (D&C 59:23). Christ came that we may ‘have life’—and ‘have it more abundantly’ (John 10:10).”
To read Professor Huntsman’s full devotional address, go to BYU Speeches.
