This is finals week at BYU. No, I am not graduating yet. I would like to simply mention how amazing it is that as people we can start somewhere, and through a constant effort can get somewhere else. We can graduate.
The Savior graduated. He was a mortal man, but through his breathtaking death and incomprehensible resurrection, he became immortal. He expects us all to do the same: to die, and rise again, alive in physical and spiritual bodies forever in God's presence.
But just to bring it closer to home, let me say many fear their failures and fear that they'll have to pay for them for eternity... but every bit of knowledge that we master is a graduation, every sin we overcome is a graduation, and every soul that we help is a graduation. Level by level we go and grow, until we make it to the final graduation. That's how the righteous see the final judgment at God's feet. For the righteous it's a bestowal of amazing gifts, a fabulous and eternal reunion of body and spirit, of family and friends. There is no fear in that last moment in time for the righteous, it's only rejoicing.
You might think that in this life it's not necessary to work hard at being good, but just look once again at the examples we have: Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., and yes, Joseph Smith, Jr., and knowing the true history of their lives, you can see that they deserve a fabulous destination. The truth is that once we start on the path to correct living by ourselves, God always stretches out a helping hand.
