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Layers (Las Capas)

Layers. That is what I have been thinking about this past week. Not the "multiple sweatshirts, socks and scarves" kind of cold-weather layers, because I don't think about that as much now that I have a toasty down coat. (Good Christmas present, Mom!) I mean layers of meaning, time, culture. Just the other day, I was driving back from Sandy with my aunt and Grandma from a fun Chinese luncheon, and the freeway took us right by the Lehi Roller Mills. As we zoomed past it on the freeway,  I laughed to myself and thought how ironic it looked: a white, faded flour mill with it's red, old-fashioned script all surrounded by Wendys, Taco Bell, and other fast food restaurants.

They serve the same people-feeding purpose, occupy the same basic space, but originate from totally different eras. It was like a sudden snapshot of "Lehi Now and Then", maybe even "Life Now and Then". What immense layers of life surround us all the time!! Though I am living, learning and loving the present, I'm also unconsciously building on so many secret memories of the past, as if the very air I breathe is dusted with human precedent and my life is actually an echo of things that happened before.

Buuuut does that really matter? No. Yes... No... Yes, of course it does! It means I'm never alone. Everywhere I go, someone has been before. Anything I feel, someone has probably felt before. Anything I am, it's probably because some ancestor of mine was quite the same way. I'm not arguing against individuality, because obviously the combination of all those things in me is unique, even more so when we consider the singular life experiences that each of us will live in our 80+ years. It just makes me feel so surrounded by human family, and I love that.

This past Sunday´s theme for Sacrament meeting was another reason I began thinking about layers. We heard 4 talks about the Atonement, and I was reminded yet again how VERY important that is for me. I know that it covers all of life's layers, and that it is a layered thing in itself. How sacred that is! Sometimes the Atonement is that story about the Savior paying for a bike we couldn't buy, other times it is the healing of a wound that wouldn't heal, and very often, it is the peace to my impatient, perfectionist soul. In addition, the Atonement takes effect in layers, in proportion with my heart and spirit's openness to let it in. I've seen it taught in the most lofty and high-minded manner by the religious intellectuals of the church, and I've heard the humble wonder at it with downcast eyes.

The Atonement is EVERYTHING.
It is in every layer of every time and place, for every single person that will ever live. How blessed I am to to feel it in my own life-
Erica Joy







Este semana, he estado pensando en las capas. No las capas de abrigos, gorros, y guantes que nosotros aquí en Utah tenemos que usar ahorita, sino las capas de significado, de tiempo, y de cultura, El otro día, estaba de vuelta a mi hogar con mi tía y abuela de un rico almuerzo Chino, y la carretera nos conducía a un lado de un molino famoso se llama ¨Lehi Roller Mills¨. Se veía antigua con su pintura desteñida, y me reía por la ironía de un molino antiguo rodeado por restaurantes de comida rápido como McDonalds.

El molino y las restaurantes sirven el mismo proposito, ocupan el mismo espacio, pero vienen de epocas completamente distintos. Fue como un vistazo en Lehi Pasado y Presente, aun La Vida Pasado y Presente. Que imensos son las capas de la vida que nos rodean constantemente! Aún si vivo y disfruto de la presente, también estoy inconscientemente agregando a lo que ya se hizo en el pasado. Aún el aire que respiramos está lleno de precedente humana y costumbre, y mi vida resuena como un eco de las cosas que venían antes.

Pero realmente nos importa todo eso? No. Si...No... Claro que si!!Eso quiere decir que nunca estoy sola. Cualquier lugar en donde estoy, alguien ya ha estado allí. Me siento de un cierto manera, alguien lo ha sentido antes. Cualquier cosa que soy, probablemente soy asi resulta a un antepasado que era exactamente igual. No quiero decir que no creo en la individualidad, porque obviamente la combinación de todo esto será unico en cada persona, más aún con las experiencias personales que vendrán a cada uno en nuestro tiempo. Pero igual, me hace sentir rodeada de una familia extensa, y eso me encanta.

El tema de la reunión sacremental de la semana pasada también contribuyó a mis pensamientos sobre ¨las capas.¨ Escuchamos 4 discursos en relación a la Expiación, y me acordé cuan importante me es. Sé que cuenta por todos las capas de la vida, y que tambien tiene capas entre si. Cuan sagrado es! A veces la Expiación es la historia de un Salvador que paga por la bicicleta de un niño sin los fondos suficientes, a veces es un corazón sanado, y a veces simplemente da páz a mi alma impaciente y imperfeccionista. También, toma su efecto en capas, relacionado con la humildad y disposición de mi corazón por dejarlo funcionar. He escuchado mientras los intelectuales de la iglesia enseña de la Expiación con palabras elevados y enrollados, y he escuchado cuando los humildes testifican de ella con la mirada baja.

La Expiación es TODO.
Siento la realidad de ella en cada capa de mi vida, en cada lugar, en cada tiempo. y puede ser asi por cada persona del mundo. Cuan agradecida estoy por sentirlo en mi vida-
Erica Joy

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