Sometimes Seeing Is Believing

Today at church the topic in sacrament was about the resurrection.  In our religion, we believe at death the body and spirit separate.  We also believe through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, all people will be resurrected.  Resurrection is the reuniting of the spirit with the body in a perfect, immortal state, no longer subject to disease or death. Alma 11: 43-44:  "The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt.  Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not be so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame."
  I always viewed the resurrection as a great hope for my insecurities in the lack of perfection in my own self image, or for the aspect of not having to count carbs every time I eat due to diabetes and in trying to manage weight.  And maybe that's part of it, but I was off the mark in getting the big picture.  Our speaker today spoke truth and pure doctrine.  I find it interesting I use those terms because I don't remember a thing she said.  Once she said the word 'resurrection' it was her physical presence and example as well as others' around me that conveyed the message.At the front of the chapel speaking in a microphone was a blind woman who spoke of hope in the resurrection in her talk and testimony as her fingers flowed across a page written in braille.   In front of me was a man in a wheelchair who has lost his legs due to health issues and suffers a broken heart from the recent death of his wife.  To my right was a low functioning autistic child.  Behind me, a woman sat who is slowly losing her husband to Alzheimer's. In the same room, a woman listened intently who suffers from depression.  And snuggled close beside me was my daughter who suffers effects from blindness.   Normally, I believe it's important to have faith and believe before seeing, but today my eyes taught me what I believe.  This belief and hope in the resurrection is what gives individuals such as these the strength to endure yet another day. This I know because my daughter tells me so.  It's the hope of falling in love that put people back in the dating field after being hurt time and again.  It's the hope in a day of perfected sight that gives my daughter the courage to go another day and face things that are difficult for her to do.  
Before today, I only internally viewed how the resurrection would affect me personally.  From now on, I see the pettiness of my knowledge and rejoice in what the resurrection means to those whom I see regularly and in whom I love.  As I imagined these individuals in a perfected state I felt an overwhelming feeling of joy in my heart for what they will experience one day.  I know the resurrection carries a deeper meaning to them in which I cannot begin to comprehend.  
Today, I'm reminded we all have our weaknesses and trials we face here on earth.  What we each individually deal with is very real and challenging for each of us.  Today, I realize in comparison to what others deal with, I'm more than happy to stick with the lot I was dealt.  Today, I'm grateful I learned valuable truths in a way which was unexpected.  Today, I'm humbled that a blind woman taught me to see.  Irony can be a beautiful thing.