Faith and Healing

In the two most recent LDS General Conferences, Elder Holland of the LDS church gave two addresses that, I feel, go hand in hand :

Like a Broken Vessel addressing the challenges of depression and mental illness

and Lord, I Believe in which he shares so many beautiful thoughts about faith. 

I just listened to them back to back this morning and was touched by the need for faith when faced with situations like the one in the first talk, where the man had a son that was diseased, or the one in the second talk, where we have family members that suffer from different mental illnesses.  His words on "faith" were inspiring:

I would say to all who wish for more faith, remember this man (the father of the son stricken with illness)! In moments of fear or doubt or troubling times, hold the ground you have already won, even if that ground is limited. In the growth we all have to experience in mortality, the spiritual equivalent of this boy’s affliction or this parent’s desperation is going to come to all of us. When those moments come and issues surface, the resolution of which is not immediately forthcoming, hold fast to what you already know and stand strong until additional knowledge comes... The size of your faith or the degree of your knowledge is not the issue—it is the integrity you demonstrate toward the faith you do have and the truth you already know...

When problems come and questions arise, do not start your quest for faith by saying how much you do not have, leading as it were with your “unbelief.” That is like trying to stuff a turkey through the beak! Let me be clear on this point: I am not asking you to pretend to faith you do not have. I am asking you to be true to the faith you do have. Sometimes we act as if an honest declaration of doubt is a higher manifestation of moral courage than is an honest declaration of faith. It is not!...

Hope on. Journey on. Honestly acknowledge your questions and your concerns, but first and forever fan the flame of your faith, because all things are possible to them that believe.

His "follow-up" thought in the second conference really struck me in light of the previous quotes:

Believe in miracles. I have seen so many of them come when every other indication would say that hope was lost. Hope is never lost. If those miracles do not come soon or fully or seemingly at all, remember the Savior’s own anguished example: if the bitter cup does not pass, drink it and be strong, trusting in happier days ahead.⁵

 As I reflected on my own seemingly minor issues with loved ones, both in my home and outside of it, I thought about how all of us grieve with unresolved situations and all of us could do with a little more faith...at least I could :).  I loved the message of hope: do what you can with what you have, and then be still.  "Hope on.  Journey on." Right?