The raising of Lazarus from the dead illuminates the core truths about the Atonement, said Eric B. Shumway in the Devotional on Tuesday, March 26.

Shumway, President of Brigham Young University-Hawaii, used real life experiences to show how one can emerge out of human predicament.

"We are like Lazarus, beloved of the Lord, but wrapped about in the grave clothes of this world," he said.

He added that if students wish to unbind their sorrows, fears, and sins they must follow the commandment given in the story: "Loose him, and let him go."

Through this simple message, Christ is inviting His children to free themselves of their worldly bindings and come unto Him, Shumway said.

One illustration of the power of the atonement and unbinding of grave clothes was shown through the conversion story of a professor at BYU Hawaii, Kats Kajiyama.

The story began in Hiroshima, Japan, where Kajiyama witnessed the destruction and devastation of the atomic bomb in 1945.

Kajiyama lost both his mother and brother in the horrible tragedy, leaving him alone, poverty stricken, and terrified.

"Kats was tormented by the images of pain...it seemed that he would never find peace in this cruel and harsh existence," Shumway said.

But peace finally did arrive one day for Kajiyama, dressed in a three-piece suit, proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Kajiyama listened to the prompting of the spirit to "come forth" and was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"The grave clothes of his tortured past were finally unwrapped," Shumway said. "The cynicism, hatred, and bitterness were gone."

Shumway reminded students that it is their duty to help others remove the grave clothes they are wearing.

The act of unbinding human predicament is "the essence of a Latter-day Saint's errand from the Lord," he said.

This poses a question all church members should think about.

"Do I help loose or remove the 'grave clothes' of others, or do I wrap their grave clothes more tightly around them?" he said.

Shumway invited students to join the "vast army of unbinders," led by Church bishops, Relief Society visiting teachers, missionaries, and many more righteous individuals.

At the close of this talk, Shumway encouraged students to remain courageous, unbinding those in need.

Copyright Brigham Young University 26 Mar 2002