HelpThou My Unbelief

I have a testimony that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the sole church currently established on the earth that contains all truths necessary for our salvation. Having urgently made that statement, I am frequently wont to mentally discuss gospel truths. One such is belief.

These thoughts were spurred by consideration of Mark 9, where a father had requested the apostles rebuke the 'dumb spirit' that possessed his son. They were unable to perform the requested rebuke, and the forlorn father turned and asked the Saviour,

...but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are to him possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

This suggests that both belief and unbelief can coexist within a person, even in one who desperately wants to believe. I like to think that belief is fundamentally different than faith, and centers more on acceptance than on hope. In the preceding example, I could see the bereft father losing his belief in the ability of the apostles to heal his son (after all- they couldn't). When he asks the Saviour to help his unbelief, he could possibly be asking that the Saviour enable or enlighten him enough to accept that his son could be healed.

In my recent life, thrust upon with unmeasured experiences creating skepticism, I'm refreshed to know that the Saviour can also help my own unbelief. I know the church is true, but at times have ceased to accept basic fundamentals, such as the intrinsic goodness of people or that Twinkies only have 5000 calories per bite :). It is faith in the Atonement that facilitates our belief in it's application.