Monday, November 02, 2009

Remember


We are counseled in scripture to remember our fathers. Nephi invites us to have "a love of God and of all men" (2 Nep 31:20). Further, the great work of the latter-days is the turning of hearts, even that "the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers" (D&C 2:2).  Yes, we are all in this together.

As an example, a young Gordon B. Hinckley said the following upon his call to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:

"…I have been thinking about the road that led here. I know that I have not come that road alone, and I feel very grateful for the many men and women—the great and good men who are here today, and the small and obscure, but, wonderful people, many of whose names I do not remember—who have helped me. It is the same with each of us in the Church. No man proceeds alone. We grow according to the help given us by those who teach us and lead us.”
 I would like to make the point that all of us, in our various situations, are the result, largely, of the lives that touch ours….It was Emerson, I think, who was asked what book had had the greatest influence upon his life, and he said he could no more remember the books he had read than he could remember the meals he had eaten, but they had made him. Likewise, all of us are largely the products of the lives which touch upon our lives…
 Indeed, there is great value in looking back through the corridors of our lives and seeing those who have been an influence. Who has made you? There will be many. We may not remember names and we may not remember faces. We may only remember a person's presence, a kind word, or an unspoken example. All in all, we are nothing without each other.  In turn, as we remember our forbears let us also carry a pioneering spirit that will make the way clear for our children that we may turn our hearts to them.






3 comments:

cskelton said...

The older one becomes the more he looks back, TO remember. Well put Travis.

Tami said...

I appreciate those before me more and more as I get older.

tori said...

Travis, I really like your blog. And I really like this post. Thanks.