Nov 28, 2022

“What doth the Lord require of thee,” asks the prophet Micah, “but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”¹ Just as the Lord grants us unconditional love and mercy, so should we in our fallen mortal state strive to extend that same love and mercy to those around us, especially to those who have wronged us. 

In 1889, Catholic priest A. d'Hommée wrote to Wilford Woodruff about the Saints’ exodus to the West in pursuit of religious liberty, saying, “I am sure that you [the Saints] will vindicate yourselves calmly, yet firmly: charitably, yet proudly conscious of the integrity of your motives & the impregnability of your position.”²

In that same letter, A. d’Hommée wrote, “I know little, and still I know enough of the Mormon Faith and of the past struggles of your divine Church, to have confidence in her future.” He could see that the pioneers honestly sang, “We doubt not the Lord nor his goodness. We’ve proved him in days that are past. . . . We’ll sing of his goodness and mercy. We’ll praise him by day and by night, rejoice in his glorious gospel, and bask in its life-giving light.”³ Although many Saints may have had lingering bitter feelings towards the United States, they chose to let Jesus Christ’s Atonement transform them into new creatures in Christ. This Thanksgiving, let us choose to show gratitude to God for the grace and mercy He has shown us by sharing that same grace and mercy with those around us.

— Julia Collings, Editorial Assistant