Building Up Friends for Heaven

There is a quote by Lucy Mack Smith that has influenced me greatly, in my life and consequently in my art. It says, "We must cherish one another, watch over one another, comfort one another and gain instruction that we may all sit down in heaven together." When I think of this, it makes perfect sense. To be surrounded by the people you came to love in life.



One of the biggest things that has informed this body of work has been the seemingly bad things that have happened to me. The friends I have lost. The new situations I found myself in. Friends are important to me. When I let someone in to my life I let them into my heart and develop a relationship I can't imagine not having the rest of my life. Unfortunately, friendships end. People leave. Move on. Go in other directions. Betray you. Sometimes you can't help it. It hurts. The pain I have felt and the strength that comes from it is why I believe we will be friends in Heaven. Someone asked me why I would want to be friends with someone who had broken a friendship. The only answer I knew was because of forgiveness.

There is a scripture that goes along with this rather well. Doctrine and Covenants 130:2, "And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy."