The importance of the Family Proclamation in detailing the belief of Latter Day Saints is vital, not only to those investigating the church but also to members that aren't sure of the LDS belief on certain topics. The stance is very clear on marriage, abortion, chastity, the sanctity of vows, even the eternal nature of marriage and family bonds.
Each paragraph of the proclamation is important and easily annotated with scriptural reference. To choose one portion of the document as a basis for discussion is therefore quite difficult. So what I have chosen is one sentence that ties everything together and exemplifies the point...
THE FAMILY:
A PROCLAMATION TO THE WORLD
(From paragraph 3)
The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave.
If the purpose of life is to find happiness, no matter what our circumstance, and it is a "divine plan," what better way to embrace that purpose then through family. Family means something different to everyone, based on life experience; but, no matter the situation, divorce, step parents, foster parents, etc., etc., there is something to be said for a familial connection that bonds you to another being - someone who has lived with you, that knows you, good and bad, that loves you despite getting extremely angry with you - that is family!
My brothers and sisters have helped me become who I am. I have personal stories and experiences with each. The same can be said for my parents, grandparents, wife, and children. There are also friends, cousins, aunts, uncles, neices and nephews, that have had such an influence on my life that I can call them no less than brothers and sisters as well. This is a divine plan and, though each of these individuals has found ways to irritate and disgruntled me, I wouldn't trade those experiences for the world. I am who I am because they are who they are and have touched me, molded me, taken part in my divine plan of happiness - each belong to my family! I am indeed blessed and count myself lucky to have so many sources of happiness in my life and truly believe that my relationships, with each member of my family, will, "...perpetuate beyond the grave."
I want to end with a quote from Elder Boyd K. Packer (The Proclamation on the Family, Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting: Building Up a Righteous Posterity February 9, 2008)
I know that God lives, that He is our Father, that He is our Father! I don’t quite know how to say that word. It’s a word we say almost glibly. But He’s our Father; He loves us. And in that same pattern, we who lead the Church have that same feeling to all who are members of the Church and all who might be. So I invoke the blessings of the Lord upon all of you and the blessings of the Father upon all you as members of the Church as we face the responsibility of raising up a righteous posterity, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Amen indeed!
~Kipling
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