~by Michelle

Yesterday for our family scripture study, we read parts of John 12 in commemoration of Palm Sunday. I was delighted when my daughter’s memory was spurred by the verse where the people cry “Hosanna!”

Last year, when preparing for a temple dedication, we did a family scripture study on that word, “Hosanna!” The patterns of when this word has been uttered and is uttered were moving to ponder.

This was, of course, the word that the Jews cried out during Jesus’ triumphal entry.

It was the word that the Nephites declared as they fell at the Savior’s feet when He appeared to them after His resurrection, as recorded in the Book of Mormon.

“Hosanna” is something members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cry together during a temple dedication while waving white handkerchiefs.

I got a little choked up when I reminded my children about the simple meaning of the word.

“Please save us!”

I am so grateful to know I don’t have to walk the path of mortality alone, to know that Heavenly Father sent His Son to save us, and that through the Holy Spirit we can access the power of Jesus’ sacrifice for us today, now, in whatever trials we may face. Because not did Christ make resurrection from death possible, saving us from physical death, He saves us also from the weight of sin. Moreover, He offers His peace to help save us from the difficulties of mortality — not by taking them all away, for we are here to struggle and seek His help. But His peace is real. His tender mercies are real.

Last year, I wrote about one of those tender mercies in my life when I was reminded of a talk about “Hosanna Moments” by Richard Cracroft.

[Hosanna Moments are] those transcendent moments in our lives when, without warning, we are overwhelmed by a close encounter with eternity, a surprise of the spirit—those moments when, while engaged in the temporal rhythms of our daily and earth-encrusted lives, comfortably duped by familiar routines, we are suddenly brought face-to-face with the holy, swept by the Spirit of God into a transcendent reality, overwhelmed by undeniable evidence of a literal Father in Heaven who knows you and knows me and is somehow interested and involved in our lives.

What Hosanna Moments have you had lately? (Some of them may, of course, be too personal for you to want to share publicly, but we invite you to ponder them and record them in your own personal journal.)