The Ultimate Bridge of Charity

Good morning, brothers and sisters. It is a privilege to be with you today.

Today is Father’s Day. It is a day when we naturally look back with gratitude on the men who have shaped our lives, both in our families and in the family of the Church.

For some, Father’s Day is joyful. For some, it is tender or complicated. But in the gospel of Jesus Christ, Father’s Day can still point every one of us toward something holy: a steady love that keeps reaching.

When I was asked to speak today on charity, I found myself thinking about what true charity looks like over a lifetime. In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Mormon gives this beautiful definition: “charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever.”¹

Sometimes the world defines charity as a single act of giving. Those can be good things. But the gospel teaches us that charity is more than an action. It is a change in our hearts. Elder Marvin J. Ashton taught:

“Real charity is not something you give away; it is something that you acquire and make a part of yourself.” He also taught that charity includes “accepting someone’s differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings.”²

Charity is the love that helps us see another person as God sees them. It moves us to keep loving even when love requires patience, forgiveness, and sacrifice.

In that sense, charity is at the heart of righteous fatherhood. A father, or any person who fills a fatherly role, is often asked to love in ways that are quiet and costly. It may mean building something for someone else that he himself may never use.

The Bridge Builder

There is a beautiful poem by Will Allen Dromgoole called “The Bridge Builder.”

An old man, going a lone highway, Came, at the evening, cold and gray, To a chasm, vast, and deep, and wide, Through which was flowing a sullen tide. The old man crossed in the twilight dim; The sullen stream had no fears for him; But he turned, when safe on the other side, And built a bridge to span the tide.

“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near, “You are wasting strength with building here; Your journey will end with the ending day; You never again will pass this way; You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide; Why build you this bridge at evening tide?”

The builder lifted his old gray head: “Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said, “There followeth after me today A youth, whose feet must pass this way. This chasm, that has been naught to me, To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be. He, too, must cross in the twilight dim; Good friend, I am building this bridge for him.”³

This poem tells of an old traveler who comes, at evening, to a deep and dangerous chasm. He crosses safely to the other side. But instead of simply continuing on his way, he turns back and begins to build a bridge.

To me, that is one of the most tender pictures of charity. It is love that thinks beyond itself. It is love that says, “I may never benefit from this, but someone else will.”

That kind of bridge-building is one of the quiet miracles of family life. It happens whenever someone makes the path of faith a little safer for the person who follows.

I have felt that as I have looked back at my own family. When I think about my great-grandparents, my grandparents, and my parents, I can see that each generation tried to improve things for the next. They worked, sacrificed, prayed, and built in ways that I did not always see and may never fully understand. But I am blessed by it every day.

In a very real way, I stand on the shoulders of giants. I am where I am because others built bridges before me. Their charity gave me firmer ground to stand on and a safer path to walk.

Many of you have done the same for others through daily duty, unseen prayers, and testimonies quietly lived. You may not know all the people who crossed safely because of your faithfulness. But God knows. And I believe He remembers every bridge built in love.

The Love of Our Heavenly Father

As powerful as earthly examples are, Father’s Day ultimately invites us to look upward to our Heavenly Father.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland once shared what he called the bedrock truth of the universe. He said:

“The first great truth of all eternity is that God loves us with all of His heart, might, mind, and strength. That love is the foundation stone of eternity, and it should be the foundation stone of our daily life.”⁴

Because our Heavenly Father loves us with that kind of love, He did not leave us alone in mortality. He knew there would be chasms we could not cross by our own strength.

There are moments when the burdens of mortality feel heavier than we can carry alone. At those moments, human strength is not enough.

That is why the Father sent His Son. When we speak of charity, we are not only speaking about our efforts to be kind. We are speaking first about divine love: the love that reached for us before we knew how to reach back. The apostle John wrote that, “We love him because he first loved us.”⁵

Jesus Christ is the perfect expression of that love. He did not love us from a distance. He came into mortality, took our burdens upon Himself, and gave His life so that we could return home. In John 15:13, He taught:

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”⁶

The Savior’s Bridge

Jesus Christ saw our need with perfect love. Out of pure, infinite charity, He descended below all things. In Gethsemane and on the cross, He bore the full weight of our mortal experience. He gave His life and rose again so that the way home would be open to every one of us.

Because of Him, the grave is not the end. Because of Him, repentance is real. Because of Him, our deepest regrets can be met with mercy. Because of Him, every lonely room can still be visited by heaven.

That is especially sacred to remember in sacrament meeting. Each week, as we take the bread and water, we remember that He did not merely speak of charity. He became the perfect expression of it. His Atonement is infinite enough to redeem the whole human family and personal enough to reach one wounded heart.

The scriptures anchor us with three simple words: “Charity never faileth.”⁷ Earthly things change. But the love of Jesus Christ does not change. It does not depend on how much we can do or whether we feel useful in the way we once did. He loves us because we are His. His love is truly unconditional.

That is a promise worth remembering at every stage of life. Our ability to serve may change, but our worth to God does not. Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught:

“God does not look on the outward appearance… Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly.”⁸

An Offer of Love

The Savior’s bridge is already built. We do not have to earn His love by proving our worth. We receive His love by turning our hearts toward Him.

As we celebrate Father’s Day, my invitation is simple: remember the bridges that have been built for you, and trust the Savior, who built the ultimate bridge back to our heavenly home.

And if you are still building bridges, even in small ways, please do not underestimate them. One quiet act of Christlike love can become a crossing place for someone else.

In the final words of Mormon’s discourse on charity, he pleads: “Pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love.”⁹

I testify that Heavenly Father knows you, remembers you, and loves you. I testify that Jesus Christ is the Savior of our souls. His charity will never fail us.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

References

Footnotes

1. Moroni 7:47, The Book of Mormon. ↩

2. Marvin J. Ashton, “The Tongue Can Be a Sharp Sword”, April 1992 general conference. ↩

3. Will Allen Dromgoole, “The Bridge Builder”, Poetry Foundation. ↩

4. Jeffrey R. Holland, “Tomorrow the Lord Will Do Wonders among You”, April 2016 general conference. ↩

5. 1 John 4:19, New Testament. ↩

6. John 15:13, New Testament. ↩

7. Moroni 7:46, The Book of Mormon. ↩

8. Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “The Love of God”, October 2009 general conference. ↩

9. Moroni 7:48, The Book of Mormon. ↩