“Some Christians carry their religion on their backs. It is a packet of beliefs and practices which they must bear. At times it grows heavy and they would willingly lay it down, but that would mean a break with old traditions, so they shoulder it again. But real Christians do not carry their religion, their religion carries them. It is not weight; it is wings. It lifts them up, it sees them over hard places, it makes the universe seem friendly, life purposeful, hope real, sacrifice worthwhile. It sets them free from fear, futility, discouragement, and sin—the great enslavers of men’s souls. You can know a real Christian, when you see him, by his buoyancy”
-Harry Emerson Fosdick-
(Twelve Tests of Character [1923], 87–88).
I have felt this hope, purpose, and buoyancy in the gospel of Jesus Christ and being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have at times felt the weight of being a disciple of Christ but it is not something I can lay down and put to the side. I thought this was a beautiful description and reminder of the the freeing ability the gospel brings.