February 8, 2007, Observation:
Our son John is currently in Afghanistan serving in the Air Force as an ER doctor. The Air Force paid for his education and now he is paying them back with the skills he has developed over the years. John and his friend Matt Mecuro, as 16-year-olds, were body surfing with me that fateful day when I had my accident and were able to get me onto the beach and basically saved my life. John was very involved in my care until he left on his mission and through it all gained a desire to study medicine. His home base is in Las Vegas at Nellis Air Force Base, but each year he is deployed somewhere in the world -- Afghanistan or Iraq we are thinking -- to practice ER medicine as needed. He is at a big army base outside of Kabul, Afghanistan where he and two other ER doctors manage the ER unit 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Part of their duty is to take turns going out in helicopters to pick up the wounded. John's first experience in a helicopter took place a few days ago. I thought you might enjoy hearing from John about what took place.
"Hey Dad and family,
"So things are going well here. I went on my first Helicopter mission a few days ago. It was pretty exciting. We had to go pick up an enemy combatant who was shot while trying to set up an IED (improvised explosive device). We flew about an hour to where the patient was being held. He was shot in the bottom while bent over setting up a bomb, but the bullet went into his stomach and hurt his intestines and nicked a big artery in his pelvis. By the time I saw him he had already gone through 11 units of blood, which was the entire supply of that base. Throughout the chopper ride back I had to monitor his vitals and had to keep giving him drugs to keep him sedated. He kept waking up and looking at me, so I kept giving him drugs to knock him out.
"We flew really close to the ground, about 200 feet. The surrounding area is really pretty and you would never know there was a war going on. There are a lot of rivers and farms, kids playing soccer, etc. In the helicopter was myself, 2 pilots and 2 guys looking out both sides of the helicopter keeping lookout for possible enemies on the ground. Behind us we had a big black hawk helicopter loaded with guns that was covering us in case we came under fire. I was a little nervous on the flight to the base, but on the way back I was so busy with the patient that I didn't have time to think about the dangers.
"Its pretty amazing the effort we make to take care of the enemy. I don't think they would do the same for us. I mean the guy got all the blood at that one base. If one of our soldiers had gotten hurt, there would not have been any blood for them. Also the risk involved in just going to pick the patient up. When the patient got here, we were also out of B- blood, and we actually had to get volunteers to give their blood to this guy who was essentially trying to kill us. I think it says something really special about this country that we would put so much effort into saving people like this."
I don't know about you, but reading John's e-mail made me feel proud to be an American. Imagine risking your life to save the life of an enemy who is seeking to take your life -- even giving him your own blood. We do value human life and freedom in this country!
I believe that many of the pundits in Washington, DC could benefit from reading John's simple little e-mail. I know many are opposed to what we are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan, and maybe President Bush got us into this war on terrorism in Iraq prematurely -- who really knows? But isn't it refreshing to know that we really are trying to do something very good in the world and that we place such a high value on human life, dignity, freedom and liberty.
There is a spirit of pessimism and negativism abroad in the land. 10 years ago President Gordon B. Hinckley described it as follows: "... there is a terrible ailment of pessimism in the land. It's almost endemic. We're constantly fed a steady and sour diet of character assassination, faultfinding, evil speaking of one another. Read the newspaper columnists. Listen to the radio and television commentators. The writers of our news columns are brilliant, the commentators on the electronic media are masters--but they seem unable to deal with balanced truth, notwithstanding their protests otherwise. The negative becomes the stuff of headlines and long broadsides that, in many cases, caricature the facts and distort the truth--at least the whole truth." [CES fireside, March 6, 1994]
President Hinckley, in that same CES fireside talk, also said while speaking of the United States of America: "I know that she has problems. We've heard so much of these for so long. But surely, my brothers and sisters, this is a good land, a choice land, a chosen land. To me it is a miracle, a creation of the Almighty. It was born of travail. The Constitution under which we live is the keystone of our nation. It was inspired of God. Of it the great Englishman Gladstone said, "As the British Constitution is the most subtle organism which has proceeded from . . . progressive history, so the American Constitution is . . . the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man" ("Kin Beyond Sea," North American Review 127 [September/October 1878], p. 185).
Since 9/11 we feel we have truly been put upon as a nation. Can you even imagine what it would have been like to have been living in England at the beginning of World War II when Nazi Germany had already overrun most of Europe and was threatening to invade England as well? Thankfully for Western civilization there was a Winston Churchill, who like President Hinckley, was the essence of optimism and courage. He rallied the people as no one else could in that dark and desperate time. In speaking at Harrow School which he had attended as a boy he significantly said: "Do not let us speak of darker days; let us speak rather of sterner days. These are not dark days: these are great days--the greatest days our country has ever lived; and we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race." [Address at Harrow School, 29 October 1941]
And then Churchill spoke the following stirring words to his countrymen after the disaster at Dunkirk when the prophets of doom were prophesying disaster and the imminent demise of the British Empire: "We shall not flag or fail. . . . We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender." [Speech on Dunkirk, House of Commons, 4 June 1940]
I believe we need the spirit of a Winston Churchill today in this country. Our way of life, the way of life that inspires us to give our blood to the enemy to save his life, must be preserved at any cost. Whatever your feelings about the war on terrorism or about President George W. Bush, don't you believe we have just begun a battle to the death with a very evil ideology that would rob us of everything we hold dear?
Thank you John, for reminding us that we do belong to a pretty special country!
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Monday, January 29, 2007
Encouragement
Monday, January 29, 2007, Observation:
A week or so ago I finished reading one of the most delightful books I have read in some time. The title is "The Greatest Game Ever Played" written by Mark Frost. Mark Frost produced a movie with the same title, based on his book, which many of you may have seen. The book however, is so much better than the movie, which is often the case with movies based on books. It is the true story of the 1913 US Open golf tournament. Francis Ouimet, a young 19-year-old amateur golfer from Brookline, Massachusetts where the tournament was held, competed against the best amateurs and professionals in the world. Harry Vardon from England, the Tiger Woods of his day, and another Englishman by the name of Ted Ray, were considered the two greatest golfers of the day and one of them was expected to win the tournament. I won't disclose more than that about the story so as not to ruin the experience for those of you who have not seen the movie or read the book. If you decide to buy the book and read it make sure you have plenty of free time on your hands, because once you start reading you will not be able to lay it down.
Francis' father was very opposed to him playing golf and did everything he could to discourage him from what he considered to be an aimless and unproductive use of his son's time. On the other hand, his mother encouraged him, often behind her husband's back, and because of her and the encouragement he received from other important adults in his life he became an accomplished golfer, and more importantly a great human being. Without that encouragement Francis would never have had the influential and wonderful quality of life that became his.
Several Saturdays ago I was reading on the Internet, the Deseret News sports page -- a daily ritual. One of my favorite writers is a fellow by the name of Dick Harmon. Interestingly enough, he said of Tiger Woods the following: January 20, 2007 [Dick Harmon] -- "This summer, Hall of Fame golfer Johnny Miller, speaking of the great Tiger Woods, pointed out there is magic in a parent building up self confidence in a child like Earl Woods did with Tiger. Earl Woods built up his son from the inside out, instilling in him a belief he could do anything and he could dominate the world.
"Giving a child affirmation for the good he does can bring about great results," Miller said. "By the same token, if a father keeps telling his kid he's no good, well ..." No pressure, all you moms and dads. But you guys can make a huge difference with the right kind of cheering for your kid... Corny? I know."
Like many of you, I have been blessed throughout my life with parents, brothers, church leaders, coaches, and teachers who have encouraged me, built up my self-confidence and self-esteem, and helped me to believe I could do anything. I will only mention one person however, who has been so important in my life in encouraging me to believe in myself and in what I could accomplish. That person is my wife, Jo Anne.
I was devastated by my accident, as you might imagine. I was at the top of my game on that fateful day in August of 1989. I was serving as a stake president, I was enjoying my career with CES, none of my children were in jail, and that year my first two grandsons were born. Then in an instant I became paralyzed from the neck down and living on life support. My heart was broken; I didn't know if I wanted to keep living in this condition, and I was extremely depressed. Thankfully I had the good fortune to be married to an incredibly strong woman blessed with "true grit". From the first day of my accident I never felt pity or a "poor Jack" attitude from Jo Anne. She was there constantly encouraging me and giving me frequent psychological kicks in an unmentionable part of my anatomy. There was no way she was going to ever let me languish in self pity. Within nine months after my accident I had been called to serve as a "paralyzed patriarch", which calling I could never have accepted without Jo Anne's encouragement and positive attitude that this was something I could surely do. I was called upon to give my first public talk at seminary graduation in May of 1990 and flatly refused knowing it was something I could not do. Richard Holzapfel, the Irvine stake seminary principal at the time, said that was fine, but that he was going to have my name printed on the program as the keynote speaker and whether I showed up or not was up to me. Jo Anne told me I could do this, and with her help, through two weeks of blood, sweat, and tears, I finally had a little talk prepared and went to the seminary graduation with fear and trembling to deliver it. I was astonished when the kids actually acted like they enjoyed it.
Shortly after that my bishop called me to be the Gospel Doctrine teacher in our ward which I promptly refused to do. There was just no way that I could prepare a weekly lesson and ever teach again in that way. Jo Anne told the bishop I was out of my mind, I didn't know what I was talking about, and she accepted the assignment for me. I have been the Gospel Doctrine teacher in our ward now for the past 16 years. She then told me I should be speaking on the "Know Your Religion" program. I told her that was absolutely absurd but she wouldn't drop it and I finally submitted a proposal to CES which was miraculously accepted. For several years I spoke on the "Know Your Religion" program in a number of the stakes in Southern California. I was amazed that so many people seemed to enjoy these presentations.
Not content, Jo Anne told me I should be speaking at Education Week. I laughed at her and was incredulous that she would ever mention such a thing. Finally, under her persuasive encouragement, I submitted a proposal to CES and was astonishingly invited to speak at Education Week, delivering two lectures that first year. Jo Anne was not satisfied with this and felt that I could give four lectures the next year. I told her that I thought now she was out of her mind, but with her encouragement I submitted four proposals that were accepted. No one will know how hard I worked to prepare those four lectures on different subjects, but I did so and felt pretty good about it. Driving home from Provo that year Jo Anne announced to me that she thought I could do eight different lectures the next year. I asked her to dump me off at the Zzzzyx offramp near Baker which was preferable to the price I would have to pay to prepare those lectures. She sailed past the Zzzzyx offramp however, the lectures were prepared, and the rest is history as they say.
Not once in 17 1/2 years has Jo Anne ever treated me with pity, or made me feel that I was handicapped in any way. Her encouragement has resulted in achievement, joy, fulfillment, and a continued zest and love for life.
President Hinckley, the essence of optimism and encouragement said on one occasion: "It is a responsibility divinely laid upon each of us to bear one another's burdens, to strengthen one another, to encourage one another, to lift one another, to look for the good in one another, and to emphasize that good. There is not a man or woman... who cannot be depressed on the one hand, or lifted on the other, by the remarks of his or her associates." [Gordon B. Hinckley, CES fireside, March 6, 1994]
Based on my personal experience his words surely are true!
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
A week or so ago I finished reading one of the most delightful books I have read in some time. The title is "The Greatest Game Ever Played" written by Mark Frost. Mark Frost produced a movie with the same title, based on his book, which many of you may have seen. The book however, is so much better than the movie, which is often the case with movies based on books. It is the true story of the 1913 US Open golf tournament. Francis Ouimet, a young 19-year-old amateur golfer from Brookline, Massachusetts where the tournament was held, competed against the best amateurs and professionals in the world. Harry Vardon from England, the Tiger Woods of his day, and another Englishman by the name of Ted Ray, were considered the two greatest golfers of the day and one of them was expected to win the tournament. I won't disclose more than that about the story so as not to ruin the experience for those of you who have not seen the movie or read the book. If you decide to buy the book and read it make sure you have plenty of free time on your hands, because once you start reading you will not be able to lay it down.
Francis' father was very opposed to him playing golf and did everything he could to discourage him from what he considered to be an aimless and unproductive use of his son's time. On the other hand, his mother encouraged him, often behind her husband's back, and because of her and the encouragement he received from other important adults in his life he became an accomplished golfer, and more importantly a great human being. Without that encouragement Francis would never have had the influential and wonderful quality of life that became his.
Several Saturdays ago I was reading on the Internet, the Deseret News sports page -- a daily ritual. One of my favorite writers is a fellow by the name of Dick Harmon. Interestingly enough, he said of Tiger Woods the following: January 20, 2007 [Dick Harmon] -- "This summer, Hall of Fame golfer Johnny Miller, speaking of the great Tiger Woods, pointed out there is magic in a parent building up self confidence in a child like Earl Woods did with Tiger. Earl Woods built up his son from the inside out, instilling in him a belief he could do anything and he could dominate the world.
"Giving a child affirmation for the good he does can bring about great results," Miller said. "By the same token, if a father keeps telling his kid he's no good, well ..." No pressure, all you moms and dads. But you guys can make a huge difference with the right kind of cheering for your kid... Corny? I know."
Like many of you, I have been blessed throughout my life with parents, brothers, church leaders, coaches, and teachers who have encouraged me, built up my self-confidence and self-esteem, and helped me to believe I could do anything. I will only mention one person however, who has been so important in my life in encouraging me to believe in myself and in what I could accomplish. That person is my wife, Jo Anne.
I was devastated by my accident, as you might imagine. I was at the top of my game on that fateful day in August of 1989. I was serving as a stake president, I was enjoying my career with CES, none of my children were in jail, and that year my first two grandsons were born. Then in an instant I became paralyzed from the neck down and living on life support. My heart was broken; I didn't know if I wanted to keep living in this condition, and I was extremely depressed. Thankfully I had the good fortune to be married to an incredibly strong woman blessed with "true grit". From the first day of my accident I never felt pity or a "poor Jack" attitude from Jo Anne. She was there constantly encouraging me and giving me frequent psychological kicks in an unmentionable part of my anatomy. There was no way she was going to ever let me languish in self pity. Within nine months after my accident I had been called to serve as a "paralyzed patriarch", which calling I could never have accepted without Jo Anne's encouragement and positive attitude that this was something I could surely do. I was called upon to give my first public talk at seminary graduation in May of 1990 and flatly refused knowing it was something I could not do. Richard Holzapfel, the Irvine stake seminary principal at the time, said that was fine, but that he was going to have my name printed on the program as the keynote speaker and whether I showed up or not was up to me. Jo Anne told me I could do this, and with her help, through two weeks of blood, sweat, and tears, I finally had a little talk prepared and went to the seminary graduation with fear and trembling to deliver it. I was astonished when the kids actually acted like they enjoyed it.
Shortly after that my bishop called me to be the Gospel Doctrine teacher in our ward which I promptly refused to do. There was just no way that I could prepare a weekly lesson and ever teach again in that way. Jo Anne told the bishop I was out of my mind, I didn't know what I was talking about, and she accepted the assignment for me. I have been the Gospel Doctrine teacher in our ward now for the past 16 years. She then told me I should be speaking on the "Know Your Religion" program. I told her that was absolutely absurd but she wouldn't drop it and I finally submitted a proposal to CES which was miraculously accepted. For several years I spoke on the "Know Your Religion" program in a number of the stakes in Southern California. I was amazed that so many people seemed to enjoy these presentations.
Not content, Jo Anne told me I should be speaking at Education Week. I laughed at her and was incredulous that she would ever mention such a thing. Finally, under her persuasive encouragement, I submitted a proposal to CES and was astonishingly invited to speak at Education Week, delivering two lectures that first year. Jo Anne was not satisfied with this and felt that I could give four lectures the next year. I told her that I thought now she was out of her mind, but with her encouragement I submitted four proposals that were accepted. No one will know how hard I worked to prepare those four lectures on different subjects, but I did so and felt pretty good about it. Driving home from Provo that year Jo Anne announced to me that she thought I could do eight different lectures the next year. I asked her to dump me off at the Zzzzyx offramp near Baker which was preferable to the price I would have to pay to prepare those lectures. She sailed past the Zzzzyx offramp however, the lectures were prepared, and the rest is history as they say.
Not once in 17 1/2 years has Jo Anne ever treated me with pity, or made me feel that I was handicapped in any way. Her encouragement has resulted in achievement, joy, fulfillment, and a continued zest and love for life.
President Hinckley, the essence of optimism and encouragement said on one occasion: "It is a responsibility divinely laid upon each of us to bear one another's burdens, to strengthen one another, to encourage one another, to lift one another, to look for the good in one another, and to emphasize that good. There is not a man or woman... who cannot be depressed on the one hand, or lifted on the other, by the remarks of his or her associates." [Gordon B. Hinckley, CES fireside, March 6, 1994]
Based on my personal experience his words surely are true!
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
Monday, January 15, 2007
Desire
January 15, 2007, Observation:
Well, the college football season is finally over. I must say that I enjoyed it immensely which I always do when BYU defeats the University of Utah. This year it was interesting to me that a mediocre University of Utah team came within several seconds of almost defeating a great BYU team in Salt Lake City. More startling than that however, was that sad day in the Rose Bowl when UCLA -- having a bad year -- rose up and struck down mighty USC, thus denying them the opportunity of playing for the national championship against Ohio State in the Tostitos Bowl. And then wouldn't you know that USC, contrary to the expectation of most experts, just romped over the University of Michigan in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. To make everything even more topsy-turvy, unappreciated and largely unknown Boise State defeated one of the great football programs in the United States, Oklahoma. Defying all odds, the University of Florida just destroyed previously undefeated Ohio State in the Tostitos Bowl championship game.
This, of course, is not the only year that underdogs have defeated highly ranked and touted opponents; it really happens frequently. In thinking about this phenomenon I think I have at least a partial answer that makes some sense to me. I believe it boils down to "desire". Desire gives birth to action, and if desire is strong enough, one's actions can become incredibly potent and focused. The dictionary lists "desire" and some of its synonyms as follows: "Desire, wish, want, crave, and covet -- all mean to have a longing for. Desire stresses ... strength of feeling and often implies strong intention or aim. Wish sometimes implies a general or transient longing especially for the unattainable. Want specifically suggests a felt need or lack. Crave stresses the force of physical appetite or emotional need. Covet implies strong envious desire." [Merriam-Webster dictionary]
Of the five words, all meaning to have a longing for, only "desire" stresses strength of feeling and implies strong intention or aim. The other words are more passive. To me, "desire" is a power word that is at the heart of every great endeavor, surpassing wishing, wanting, craving, and, coveting in describing to have a longing for something.
I have read books about the building of the Transcontinental Railroad, the Panama Canal, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Wright Brothers desire to fly and achieving what then was considered by most to be an impossible task. I have read of Magellan circumnavigating the earth and of the Lewis and Clark expedition to the Pacific Ocean. I have read of Thomas Edison's invention of the incandescent light bulb. I could go on and on with example after example, but it seems to me that all of these great endeavors and countless others have been achieved by men and women who had burning in their hearts, "desire".
Where does desire come from? By observing society it is apparent that one can have positive, righteous, desires, but on the other hand one's desires can also be negative, unrighteous, and downright evil. Why is there an Osama bin Laden whose "desire" is to destroy Western civilization as we know it through horrific terrorist tactics? Why was there, on the other hand, a Mother Teresa who desired to do everything in her power to save life and bless the suffering and poor of India?
I don't know that I have the complete answer to my question. I know that we come into this world "innocent" because of the atonement of Christ, and have within us the power to ultimately become very good or very evil or somewhere in between. Parents have a great responsibility, I believe, to attempt to cultivate within the hearts of their children, before they become very old, a "desire" for that which is hopefully "lovely, virtuous, and of good report".
At the end of the day all of us are known by our works and actions which are born of desire. In commissioning the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon to assist in selecting the original Quorum of the 12 Apostles in this dispensation the Lord told them: "And by their desires and their works you shall know them." [Doctrine & Covenants 18:38] The Lord further emphasized this eternal principle when he said: "For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts." [Doctrine & Covenants 137:9]
The Lord makes great promises to those who love him because their desires are righteous. "Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." [Psalms 37:4] "... the desire of the righteous shall be granted." [Proverbs 10: 24]
Alma profoundly understood how potent a part our desires play in our eventual destiny when he recorded, "... for I know that he granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills, whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction." [Alma 29:4]
Desire may be called by some, "motivation", but I believe that desire goes beyond motivation. Desire is at the core of our being and is the vital driving force in our lives. It is inextricably a part of all our actions. We may try to "instill" certain desires in the hearts of others, but true desire is born from within. Alma taught a profound truth regarding desire to the Zoramites when he told them, "... if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words." [Alma 32:24]
Much as he would have liked to, Alma couldn't inject a desire to believe and to have faith into the hearts of the Zoramites. They had to muster up the "desire to believe" and then let that desire work in them before they could begin to believe and have faith in the words of Alma. Based on my own experience I believe the desire to serve the Lord and to accomplish significant and positive things can be cultivated through intense prayer, fasting, Scripture searching, and service to others.
At one time in my life I felt I had lost everything and because of it I lost the desire to even live. The desire to live, to be productive, and to accomplish positive things, only came after the passage of time and much pondering and soul-searching, accompanied by prayer, fasting, and Scripture searching.
As important as "desire" is in achieving significant things like defeating the University of Utah in football, it can become the driving force that will ultimately result in our receiving from the Lord his greatest gift -- even the gift of eternal life.
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
Well, the college football season is finally over. I must say that I enjoyed it immensely which I always do when BYU defeats the University of Utah. This year it was interesting to me that a mediocre University of Utah team came within several seconds of almost defeating a great BYU team in Salt Lake City. More startling than that however, was that sad day in the Rose Bowl when UCLA -- having a bad year -- rose up and struck down mighty USC, thus denying them the opportunity of playing for the national championship against Ohio State in the Tostitos Bowl. And then wouldn't you know that USC, contrary to the expectation of most experts, just romped over the University of Michigan in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. To make everything even more topsy-turvy, unappreciated and largely unknown Boise State defeated one of the great football programs in the United States, Oklahoma. Defying all odds, the University of Florida just destroyed previously undefeated Ohio State in the Tostitos Bowl championship game.
This, of course, is not the only year that underdogs have defeated highly ranked and touted opponents; it really happens frequently. In thinking about this phenomenon I think I have at least a partial answer that makes some sense to me. I believe it boils down to "desire". Desire gives birth to action, and if desire is strong enough, one's actions can become incredibly potent and focused. The dictionary lists "desire" and some of its synonyms as follows: "Desire, wish, want, crave, and covet -- all mean to have a longing for. Desire stresses ... strength of feeling and often implies strong intention or aim. Wish sometimes implies a general or transient longing especially for the unattainable. Want specifically suggests a felt need or lack. Crave stresses the force of physical appetite or emotional need. Covet implies strong envious desire." [Merriam-Webster dictionary]
Of the five words, all meaning to have a longing for, only "desire" stresses strength of feeling and implies strong intention or aim. The other words are more passive. To me, "desire" is a power word that is at the heart of every great endeavor, surpassing wishing, wanting, craving, and, coveting in describing to have a longing for something.
I have read books about the building of the Transcontinental Railroad, the Panama Canal, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Wright Brothers desire to fly and achieving what then was considered by most to be an impossible task. I have read of Magellan circumnavigating the earth and of the Lewis and Clark expedition to the Pacific Ocean. I have read of Thomas Edison's invention of the incandescent light bulb. I could go on and on with example after example, but it seems to me that all of these great endeavors and countless others have been achieved by men and women who had burning in their hearts, "desire".
Where does desire come from? By observing society it is apparent that one can have positive, righteous, desires, but on the other hand one's desires can also be negative, unrighteous, and downright evil. Why is there an Osama bin Laden whose "desire" is to destroy Western civilization as we know it through horrific terrorist tactics? Why was there, on the other hand, a Mother Teresa who desired to do everything in her power to save life and bless the suffering and poor of India?
I don't know that I have the complete answer to my question. I know that we come into this world "innocent" because of the atonement of Christ, and have within us the power to ultimately become very good or very evil or somewhere in between. Parents have a great responsibility, I believe, to attempt to cultivate within the hearts of their children, before they become very old, a "desire" for that which is hopefully "lovely, virtuous, and of good report".
At the end of the day all of us are known by our works and actions which are born of desire. In commissioning the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon to assist in selecting the original Quorum of the 12 Apostles in this dispensation the Lord told them: "And by their desires and their works you shall know them." [Doctrine & Covenants 18:38] The Lord further emphasized this eternal principle when he said: "For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts." [Doctrine & Covenants 137:9]
The Lord makes great promises to those who love him because their desires are righteous. "Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." [Psalms 37:4] "... the desire of the righteous shall be granted." [Proverbs 10: 24]
Alma profoundly understood how potent a part our desires play in our eventual destiny when he recorded, "... for I know that he granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills, whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction." [Alma 29:4]
Desire may be called by some, "motivation", but I believe that desire goes beyond motivation. Desire is at the core of our being and is the vital driving force in our lives. It is inextricably a part of all our actions. We may try to "instill" certain desires in the hearts of others, but true desire is born from within. Alma taught a profound truth regarding desire to the Zoramites when he told them, "... if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words." [Alma 32:24]
Much as he would have liked to, Alma couldn't inject a desire to believe and to have faith into the hearts of the Zoramites. They had to muster up the "desire to believe" and then let that desire work in them before they could begin to believe and have faith in the words of Alma. Based on my own experience I believe the desire to serve the Lord and to accomplish significant and positive things can be cultivated through intense prayer, fasting, Scripture searching, and service to others.
At one time in my life I felt I had lost everything and because of it I lost the desire to even live. The desire to live, to be productive, and to accomplish positive things, only came after the passage of time and much pondering and soul-searching, accompanied by prayer, fasting, and Scripture searching.
As important as "desire" is in achieving significant things like defeating the University of Utah in football, it can become the driving force that will ultimately result in our receiving from the Lord his greatest gift -- even the gift of eternal life.
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
Friday, January 5, 2007
Lorenzo Snow
Friday, January 5, 2007
The Billowing Surge
Hanging on the wall in my office is a portrait of Lorenzo Snow done in chalk by a very talented sister that used to live in the Irvine, California Stake. She brought me the painting while I was just beginning my rehabilitation of six months at Rancho Los Amigos hospital in September of 1989. It has been my privilege to look at this painting almost every day since then and contemplate the great faith of this prophet of God. When she gave me the painting at the hospital she said she didn't know why she had painted Lorenzo Snow but had felt impressed that she should do so. I told her I knew exactly why she had felt that prompting. For years he had been an inspiration to me because of his faith which his patriarchal blessing said would be like unto that of the Brother of Jared. Now I realized I would need his kind of faith to deal with what had happened to me. Almost daily as I study the face of Lorenzo Snow I am strengthened and reminded of the power of faith in our lives and what it can accomplish. His great example has always motivated me to never give up and to rely on the "tender mercies" of the Lord in the face of an extreme challenge.
Since my body surfing accident at Laguna Beach I can truly identify with an experience that Lorenzo Snow had in the surf off the island of Maui, Hawaii near the mouth of the harbor of Lahaina. It was on the morning of March 31, 1864 that this event occurred and was recorded by one of Lorenzo Snow's companions, Elder W. W. Cluff.
"Apostles Ezra T. Benson, Lorenzo Snow, Brother Alma L. Smith, and myself, got into the small boat to go on shore. Brother Joseph F. Smith, as he afterwards stated, had some misgivings about going in that boat, but the manifestation was not sufficiently strong to indicate any general accident. He preferred to remain on board the vessel until the boat returned...The entrance to the harbor is a very narrow passage between coral reefs, and when the sea is rough, it is very dangerous, on account of the breakers. Where the vessel lay, the sea was not rough, but only presented the appearance of heavy swells rolling to the shore."
"As we approached the reef it was evident to me that the surf was running higher than we anticipated... We went but little farther, when a heavy swell struck the boat and carried us before it about fifty yards. When the swell passed it left us in a trough between two huge waves. It was too late to retrieve our error, and we must run our chances. When the second swell struck the boat, it raised the stern so high that the steersman's oar was out of the water, and he lost control of the boat. It rode on the swell a short distance and swung around just as the wave began to break up. We were almost instantly capsized into the dashing, foaming sea...The last I remember of Brother Snow, as the boat was going over, I saw him seize the upper edge of it with both hands..."
"Nothing yet had been seen of Brother Snow, although the natives had been swimming and diving in every direction in search of him. We were only about one-fourth of a mile from shore... Brother Snow had not yet been discovered, and the anxiety was intense. The natives were, evidently, doing all in their power. Finally, one of them, in edging himself around the capsized boat, must have felt Brother Snow with his feet and pulled him, at least, partly from under it, as the first I saw of Brother Snow was his hair floating upon the water around one end of the capsized boat. As soon as we got him into our boat, we told the boatmen to pull for the shore with all possible speed. His body was stiff, and life apparently extinct."
"On reaching the shore, we carried him a little way to some large empty barrels that were lying on the sandy beach. We laid him face downwards on one of them, and rolled him back and forth until we succeeded in getting the water he had swallowed out of him. After working over him for some time, without any indications of returning life, the by-standers said that nothing more could be done for him. But we did not feel like giving him up, and still prayed and worked over him, with an assurance that the Lord would hear and answer our prayers. Finally we were impressed to place our mouth over his and make an effort to inflate his lungs, alternately blowing in and drawing out the air, imitating, as far as possible, the natural process of breathing. This we persevered in until we succeeded in inflating his lungs. After a little, we perceived very faint indications of returning life. A slight wink of the eye, which, until then, had been open and death-like, and a very faint rattle in the throat, were the first symptoms of returning vitality. These grew more and more distinct, until consciousness was fully restored." [Eliza R. Snow, Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow, 276-279.]
This may be one of the first recorded instances of the saving of a human life through mouth-to-mouth resuscitation -- CPR. Of course these brethren were inspired to do what they did to save the life of a future Prophet of God. Though not in the same league with Lorenzo Snow, six lifeguards at Laguna Beach did CPR on me for a lengthy period of time until the paramedics were able to arrive on the scene with all of their lifesaving equipment. Without those six young men and their absolute determination to keep me alive I wouldn't be writing this observation today. Lorenzo Snow was kept alive -- and thankfully in better shape than me -- to fulfill an important foreordained mission. I have a little bit of a feeling for the gratitude he must have felt when he regained consciousness on the beach that day. He knew his life had been preserved by his Heavenly Father for an important reason. I am sure it gave added direction to his life from that moment on. When I awoke from my unconscious state, lying on a gurney in the intensive care unit of Laguna Hospital, looking up into the faces of concerned doctors, nurses, family, and friends, there washed over me a feeling of gratitude and the realization that although I was badly injured I was still alive.
I have a firm testimony that God is involved in all aspects of our lives. Of course, with his power, he could prevent any accident or injury from befalling us, but then that would be counterproductive to his plan of happiness for each one of his children. On occasion, through his infinite foreknowledge, he does preserve life to further his own purposes, as in the case of Lorenzo Snow, or to give us additional time and experience to become what he would have us become.
The older I get the more I feel I understand and identify with the Lord's counsel to Joseph Smith as he languished in Liberty Jail. After recounting all of the horrible things Joseph had experienced and would yet experience he included the following statement: "... [and] if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee...know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good." [Doctrine & Covenants 122:7]
I do not presume to speak for Lorenzo Snow, but as for me, being cast into the deep and having the billowing surge conspire against me, unbelievable as it may seem, has given me experience and has been for my good.
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
The Billowing Surge
Hanging on the wall in my office is a portrait of Lorenzo Snow done in chalk by a very talented sister that used to live in the Irvine, California Stake. She brought me the painting while I was just beginning my rehabilitation of six months at Rancho Los Amigos hospital in September of 1989. It has been my privilege to look at this painting almost every day since then and contemplate the great faith of this prophet of God. When she gave me the painting at the hospital she said she didn't know why she had painted Lorenzo Snow but had felt impressed that she should do so. I told her I knew exactly why she had felt that prompting. For years he had been an inspiration to me because of his faith which his patriarchal blessing said would be like unto that of the Brother of Jared. Now I realized I would need his kind of faith to deal with what had happened to me. Almost daily as I study the face of Lorenzo Snow I am strengthened and reminded of the power of faith in our lives and what it can accomplish. His great example has always motivated me to never give up and to rely on the "tender mercies" of the Lord in the face of an extreme challenge.
Since my body surfing accident at Laguna Beach I can truly identify with an experience that Lorenzo Snow had in the surf off the island of Maui, Hawaii near the mouth of the harbor of Lahaina. It was on the morning of March 31, 1864 that this event occurred and was recorded by one of Lorenzo Snow's companions, Elder W. W. Cluff.
"Apostles Ezra T. Benson, Lorenzo Snow, Brother Alma L. Smith, and myself, got into the small boat to go on shore. Brother Joseph F. Smith, as he afterwards stated, had some misgivings about going in that boat, but the manifestation was not sufficiently strong to indicate any general accident. He preferred to remain on board the vessel until the boat returned...The entrance to the harbor is a very narrow passage between coral reefs, and when the sea is rough, it is very dangerous, on account of the breakers. Where the vessel lay, the sea was not rough, but only presented the appearance of heavy swells rolling to the shore."
"As we approached the reef it was evident to me that the surf was running higher than we anticipated... We went but little farther, when a heavy swell struck the boat and carried us before it about fifty yards. When the swell passed it left us in a trough between two huge waves. It was too late to retrieve our error, and we must run our chances. When the second swell struck the boat, it raised the stern so high that the steersman's oar was out of the water, and he lost control of the boat. It rode on the swell a short distance and swung around just as the wave began to break up. We were almost instantly capsized into the dashing, foaming sea...The last I remember of Brother Snow, as the boat was going over, I saw him seize the upper edge of it with both hands..."
"Nothing yet had been seen of Brother Snow, although the natives had been swimming and diving in every direction in search of him. We were only about one-fourth of a mile from shore... Brother Snow had not yet been discovered, and the anxiety was intense. The natives were, evidently, doing all in their power. Finally, one of them, in edging himself around the capsized boat, must have felt Brother Snow with his feet and pulled him, at least, partly from under it, as the first I saw of Brother Snow was his hair floating upon the water around one end of the capsized boat. As soon as we got him into our boat, we told the boatmen to pull for the shore with all possible speed. His body was stiff, and life apparently extinct."
"On reaching the shore, we carried him a little way to some large empty barrels that were lying on the sandy beach. We laid him face downwards on one of them, and rolled him back and forth until we succeeded in getting the water he had swallowed out of him. After working over him for some time, without any indications of returning life, the by-standers said that nothing more could be done for him. But we did not feel like giving him up, and still prayed and worked over him, with an assurance that the Lord would hear and answer our prayers. Finally we were impressed to place our mouth over his and make an effort to inflate his lungs, alternately blowing in and drawing out the air, imitating, as far as possible, the natural process of breathing. This we persevered in until we succeeded in inflating his lungs. After a little, we perceived very faint indications of returning life. A slight wink of the eye, which, until then, had been open and death-like, and a very faint rattle in the throat, were the first symptoms of returning vitality. These grew more and more distinct, until consciousness was fully restored." [Eliza R. Snow, Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow, 276-279.]
This may be one of the first recorded instances of the saving of a human life through mouth-to-mouth resuscitation -- CPR. Of course these brethren were inspired to do what they did to save the life of a future Prophet of God. Though not in the same league with Lorenzo Snow, six lifeguards at Laguna Beach did CPR on me for a lengthy period of time until the paramedics were able to arrive on the scene with all of their lifesaving equipment. Without those six young men and their absolute determination to keep me alive I wouldn't be writing this observation today. Lorenzo Snow was kept alive -- and thankfully in better shape than me -- to fulfill an important foreordained mission. I have a little bit of a feeling for the gratitude he must have felt when he regained consciousness on the beach that day. He knew his life had been preserved by his Heavenly Father for an important reason. I am sure it gave added direction to his life from that moment on. When I awoke from my unconscious state, lying on a gurney in the intensive care unit of Laguna Hospital, looking up into the faces of concerned doctors, nurses, family, and friends, there washed over me a feeling of gratitude and the realization that although I was badly injured I was still alive.
I have a firm testimony that God is involved in all aspects of our lives. Of course, with his power, he could prevent any accident or injury from befalling us, but then that would be counterproductive to his plan of happiness for each one of his children. On occasion, through his infinite foreknowledge, he does preserve life to further his own purposes, as in the case of Lorenzo Snow, or to give us additional time and experience to become what he would have us become.
The older I get the more I feel I understand and identify with the Lord's counsel to Joseph Smith as he languished in Liberty Jail. After recounting all of the horrible things Joseph had experienced and would yet experience he included the following statement: "... [and] if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee...know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good." [Doctrine & Covenants 122:7]
I do not presume to speak for Lorenzo Snow, but as for me, being cast into the deep and having the billowing surge conspire against me, unbelievable as it may seem, has given me experience and has been for my good.
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
Sunday, December 24, 2006
I bring you good tidings of great joy
Sunday, December 24, 2006 Observation:
This Christmas Eve is the 68th Christmas Eve it has been my privilege to experience. I hope to be able to experience a few more but one never has any guarantee. Christmas Eve for me has always been a wonderful day -- the best day of the year in many ways. Of course, I can't remember in detail all of those past Christmas Eves, but I do remember the special feeling they have always brought to me.
Never to be forgotten however, is the Christmas Eve of 1959. I was serving as the branch president of a small struggling branch of 46 members in the town of Ahuachapan, El Salvador -- today in that same town there is the El Salvador, Ahuachapan Stake. Christmas Eve was a great family tradition and celebration in our little town of Ahuachapan. Because of that no branch activity was planned for that special evening.
Several days before Christmas Eve my companion and I heard a knock on the door and one of the faithful and humble brothers in our little Branch entered our small apartment room and invited us to eat Christmas Eve dinner at his home with him and his family. We readily accepted, realizing what an honor it was to be invited into his home on this very special evening. Wouldn't you know it, just a few minutes later another equally faithful and humble member of the Branch knocked on the door and invited us to his home for dinner on Christmas Eve. We just felt we couldn't disappoint either family (neither family knew the other one had invited us), and thankfully the dinners were several hours apart which would make it possible to honor both invitations the same evening.
When we entered the first humble two room home on Christmas Eve, we were astonished to see the great feast this family had prepared for the Elders. They spent money they didn't have to make this dinner as special as possible, and we embarrassingly realized we were eating most of the food, and that they just wouldn't stand for any refusal of the food they were offering us as servants of the Lord. In their minds nothing was too good for us -- the Elders of Israel!
You would have been proud of the amount of food we ate at that first dinner and then we began to jog through the streets to our next appointment trying to burn up some of the calories we had consumed. The scene was repeated at the next home, but again, my companion and I were equal to the task and this family never suspected that we had just recently consumed an enormous banquet.
We stumbled out of their home and staggered down the street to our apartment which was adjacent to the Catholic cathedral. We fell onto our beds in a stupor, with visions of tortillas, frijoles, and tamales dancing in our heads. All of a sudden we were almost blasted out of our beds by a tremendous roar. We thought a terrorist had blown up the Catholic cathedral. We rushed to the window, threw open the sash, and beheld the sky ablaze with exploding rockets and fireworks of all kinds, all emanating from the courtyard of the Catholic cathedral. The streets were full of beautiful, humble, Latin American people with joyous smiles on their faces, rejoicing and celebrating in their own unique way, the birth of the Savior of us all.
Here in the United States we celebrate Christmas Eve a little differently than in Latin America. Each year at Christmastime, Jo Anne decorates our home as you do yours. The tree, the lights, and all of the other beautiful decorations make of Christmas a festive and wonderful time of year. Over the years my favorite decoration has been a small three letter word made out of red and green felt that usually hangs somewhere in the house during the Christmas season. That word is "JOY"! It is my favorite decoration because I think that one word "JOY" captures the essence of the spirit of Christmas and the ultimate purpose of Christ's birth and mission better than any other word.
The prophet Lehi, as he instructed his son Jacob, taught the eternal truth that "Adam fell that men might be and men are that they might have joy." The kind of joy Lehi spoke of can only come through Christ.
The joy the Savior brings to the world results not just from his birth but from the power of His atoning sacrifice for each one of us. The prophet Isaiah, 2500 years ago, wrote: "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows...he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." [Isaiah 53:4-5].
A significant portion of His earthly ministry was spent in healing the bodies and spirits of those among whom he walked -- bringing them joy and pre-figuring His ultimate act of healing -- His resurrection and ultimately ours. "As Jesus healed, the scriptures say, "All the people were amazed" (Matthew 12:23). They brought their sick, their "blind, and dumb" (Matthew 12:22), those that were "possessed with a devil" (Matthew 12:22; also Mark 1:32), and their dead. They sought Him every day and into the evening. So great was His reputation and His healing power that they sought to "only touch the hem of his garment; and as many as touched were made perfectly whole" (Matthew 14:36). "And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching . . . and preaching the gospel . . . , and healing every sickness and every disease among the people" (Matthew 9:35)." [Dr. Elaine S. Marshall] Christ was and is the Master healer of mankind.
As sons and daughters of God, living in this mortal world, we are subject to a variety of experiences. We have our seasons of peace when everything is going well and we also have our seasons of sorrow. Through Christ's birth, life, and atoning sacrifice however, whatever our lot in life at any given moment, we can still experience the joy that Christ desires to give to all who are willing to exercise faith in him and come unto Him with full purpose of heart.
Seventeen years ago at Christmastime I was lying in a hospital bed in a rehabilitation center. Although my family and friends did all they could do to bring the Christmas spirit to me in that setting, I will always remember what a bleak Christmas it was for me. My accident and subsequent injury was absolutely devastating. All was not well with my soul that Christmas and for some time after I felt depressed and empty inside. The help I needed could not come from mortal man but only from Christ.
As time went by however, a great miracle took place in my life. The Savior healed my soul. I was filled with joy, peace, and a sense of well being that I never thought I would ever experience again. The joy that came into my life and has continued with me through the subsequent years has come from the Savior and from no other source.
Because of my own experience I have come to understand more fully the words of the Savior to Joseph Smith when he said to him and all of us: "Wherefore, fear not even unto death; for in this world your joy is not full, but in me your joy is full. Therefore care not for the body neither the life of the body; but care for the soul and for the life of the soul." [D&C 101:36-37.]
Our challenge in life and especially at this time of the year is to not be so concerned about the physical and material but to care more for the things of the spirit that bring the joy of Christ into our lives and into the lives of others.
It is my prayer that this Christmas we may more fully understand the message of the Angel to the humble shepherds that night of nights when he announced to them, "... I bring you good tidings of great joy ...." [Luke 2:9-10.] So it was then, and so it is now, and so will it ever be!
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
This Christmas Eve is the 68th Christmas Eve it has been my privilege to experience. I hope to be able to experience a few more but one never has any guarantee. Christmas Eve for me has always been a wonderful day -- the best day of the year in many ways. Of course, I can't remember in detail all of those past Christmas Eves, but I do remember the special feeling they have always brought to me.
Never to be forgotten however, is the Christmas Eve of 1959. I was serving as the branch president of a small struggling branch of 46 members in the town of Ahuachapan, El Salvador -- today in that same town there is the El Salvador, Ahuachapan Stake. Christmas Eve was a great family tradition and celebration in our little town of Ahuachapan. Because of that no branch activity was planned for that special evening.
Several days before Christmas Eve my companion and I heard a knock on the door and one of the faithful and humble brothers in our little Branch entered our small apartment room and invited us to eat Christmas Eve dinner at his home with him and his family. We readily accepted, realizing what an honor it was to be invited into his home on this very special evening. Wouldn't you know it, just a few minutes later another equally faithful and humble member of the Branch knocked on the door and invited us to his home for dinner on Christmas Eve. We just felt we couldn't disappoint either family (neither family knew the other one had invited us), and thankfully the dinners were several hours apart which would make it possible to honor both invitations the same evening.
When we entered the first humble two room home on Christmas Eve, we were astonished to see the great feast this family had prepared for the Elders. They spent money they didn't have to make this dinner as special as possible, and we embarrassingly realized we were eating most of the food, and that they just wouldn't stand for any refusal of the food they were offering us as servants of the Lord. In their minds nothing was too good for us -- the Elders of Israel!
You would have been proud of the amount of food we ate at that first dinner and then we began to jog through the streets to our next appointment trying to burn up some of the calories we had consumed. The scene was repeated at the next home, but again, my companion and I were equal to the task and this family never suspected that we had just recently consumed an enormous banquet.
We stumbled out of their home and staggered down the street to our apartment which was adjacent to the Catholic cathedral. We fell onto our beds in a stupor, with visions of tortillas, frijoles, and tamales dancing in our heads. All of a sudden we were almost blasted out of our beds by a tremendous roar. We thought a terrorist had blown up the Catholic cathedral. We rushed to the window, threw open the sash, and beheld the sky ablaze with exploding rockets and fireworks of all kinds, all emanating from the courtyard of the Catholic cathedral. The streets were full of beautiful, humble, Latin American people with joyous smiles on their faces, rejoicing and celebrating in their own unique way, the birth of the Savior of us all.
Here in the United States we celebrate Christmas Eve a little differently than in Latin America. Each year at Christmastime, Jo Anne decorates our home as you do yours. The tree, the lights, and all of the other beautiful decorations make of Christmas a festive and wonderful time of year. Over the years my favorite decoration has been a small three letter word made out of red and green felt that usually hangs somewhere in the house during the Christmas season. That word is "JOY"! It is my favorite decoration because I think that one word "JOY" captures the essence of the spirit of Christmas and the ultimate purpose of Christ's birth and mission better than any other word.
The prophet Lehi, as he instructed his son Jacob, taught the eternal truth that "Adam fell that men might be and men are that they might have joy." The kind of joy Lehi spoke of can only come through Christ.
The joy the Savior brings to the world results not just from his birth but from the power of His atoning sacrifice for each one of us. The prophet Isaiah, 2500 years ago, wrote: "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows...he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." [Isaiah 53:4-5].
A significant portion of His earthly ministry was spent in healing the bodies and spirits of those among whom he walked -- bringing them joy and pre-figuring His ultimate act of healing -- His resurrection and ultimately ours. "As Jesus healed, the scriptures say, "All the people were amazed" (Matthew 12:23). They brought their sick, their "blind, and dumb" (Matthew 12:22), those that were "possessed with a devil" (Matthew 12:22; also Mark 1:32), and their dead. They sought Him every day and into the evening. So great was His reputation and His healing power that they sought to "only touch the hem of his garment; and as many as touched were made perfectly whole" (Matthew 14:36). "And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching . . . and preaching the gospel . . . , and healing every sickness and every disease among the people" (Matthew 9:35)." [Dr. Elaine S. Marshall] Christ was and is the Master healer of mankind.
As sons and daughters of God, living in this mortal world, we are subject to a variety of experiences. We have our seasons of peace when everything is going well and we also have our seasons of sorrow. Through Christ's birth, life, and atoning sacrifice however, whatever our lot in life at any given moment, we can still experience the joy that Christ desires to give to all who are willing to exercise faith in him and come unto Him with full purpose of heart.
Seventeen years ago at Christmastime I was lying in a hospital bed in a rehabilitation center. Although my family and friends did all they could do to bring the Christmas spirit to me in that setting, I will always remember what a bleak Christmas it was for me. My accident and subsequent injury was absolutely devastating. All was not well with my soul that Christmas and for some time after I felt depressed and empty inside. The help I needed could not come from mortal man but only from Christ.
As time went by however, a great miracle took place in my life. The Savior healed my soul. I was filled with joy, peace, and a sense of well being that I never thought I would ever experience again. The joy that came into my life and has continued with me through the subsequent years has come from the Savior and from no other source.
Because of my own experience I have come to understand more fully the words of the Savior to Joseph Smith when he said to him and all of us: "Wherefore, fear not even unto death; for in this world your joy is not full, but in me your joy is full. Therefore care not for the body neither the life of the body; but care for the soul and for the life of the soul." [D&C 101:36-37.]
Our challenge in life and especially at this time of the year is to not be so concerned about the physical and material but to care more for the things of the spirit that bring the joy of Christ into our lives and into the lives of others.
It is my prayer that this Christmas we may more fully understand the message of the Angel to the humble shepherds that night of nights when he announced to them, "... I bring you good tidings of great joy ...." [Luke 2:9-10.] So it was then, and so it is now, and so will it ever be!
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Be Still...
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Many years ago while serving as a young bishop, a family in the ward had a difficult struggle. I counseled with them, prayed with them, and prayed for them, but the problems persisted. I was agonizing over the eternal consequences of their behavior and didn't quite know what to do to help them. One evening just as I was going to bed and was pondering on how to best help this family the following words came powerfully into my mind: "Be still, and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10; Doctrine & Covenants 101:16) My interpretation of these words at that time was that nothing I was going to say or do was going to resolve the complex problems experienced by this family, but that in due time God would provide the solution and necessary healing. I still prayed for the family, and kept in contact with them, but no longer tried to influence them with my "wise counsel". I also quit worrying about the ultimate outcome and felt great peace regarding this situation. It took several years but the problems were eventually resolved and the family came back into full activity with all the promises of someday being an eternal family. As a bishop, I had learned a valuable lesson regarding trusting in the power and goodness of a loving and kind Heavenly Father while at the same time recognizing my own limitations as a human being.
A number of years later I was badly injured while body surfing at Laguna Beach, California. The accident happened in the afternoon. As soon as I was stabilized somewhat, I was transported to the ER room of the nearest trauma center, which was in Mission Viejo. I was surrounded by loving family and friends, who were a comfort to me; however, I was still in a dazed and shocked condition regarding what had happened.
At about 12 midnight the neurosurgeons sent everyone home so they could perform an MRI on me to fully diagnose the seriousness of my spinal cord injury. When all my loved ones left and the doctors began the MRI with me still in my swimming suit, strapped to a board, and unable to move or talk, I have never felt so alone. My mind was just churning with questions like: "Will I ever be able to move my body again?" "Will I ever be able to breathe on my own again?" "Will I ever be able to talk again?" "If I am seriously injured how will I ever financially be able to take care of my family?" "How will I ever be able to be a husband and father if I can't move my body?" "Will I ever be able to teach again or serve in the Church?" And the questions just kept coming and coming and there was no peace, but only a troubled heart and fear.
Then a wonderful thing happened as I began to silently pray. I heard no voice and really no words came to me, but there came the impression into my heart and mind that somehow, ultimately everything would be okay. I had no feeling that I would be healed in the sense that I would be able to walk, breathe, and lead a "normal" life. However, a great feeling of peace came into my heart and I knew that somehow my family and I would be able to get through this. Although the words didn't come as they did when I was serving as a bishop, the message nonetheless was the same, "Be still and know that I am God!"
Several days later the head neurosurgeon leaned over my bed and said "Jack, you will never move again. You will never breathe on your own again. You will never be able to eat solid food again. You will never be able to speak again. And you will never be able to live outside of some kind of care facility". I just knew that he was wrong and his words did not disturb me. I had it from a higher source that somehow a loving, kind and all powerful Heavenly Father would strengthen me to get through this. I didn't know how at the time except that I was to be "still" and know that "He was God!"
On the last night of his mortal experience the Savior counseled his beloved apostles by saying: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." [John 14:27] Elder Jeffrey R. Holland once said that the Savior's command to "not let our hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid" is probably the most frequently broken commandment the Lord has given to us. To be troubled and afraid of the present or the future is to not believe in the ultimate goodness and power of Heavenly Father. We are so prone to counsel the Lord as we question at times what life has brought to us. Jacob said it this way: "Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works." [Jacob 4:10]
I am still trying to learn this profound lesson about life. There simply is no other way to not be "troubled" or "afraid" than to absolutely trust in the ultimate goodness and power of God and to be "still" and not to "counsel" Him. We don't know why certain things happen to us or to our loved ones, and the worst question we could ever ask is "why"? A severely handicapped man with aching heart was pleading out loud, "Why me Lord?" And he then heard the words very loudly in his mind and heart, "Why not you?" We have to learn to be "still" and trust in God and in his great power and love for each one of us.
The essence of what I am trying to say, and what I have learned through personal experience, is to truly believe in the Lord's counsel to Joseph Smith and to all of us: "Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good..." [Doctrine & Covenants 90:25]
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
Many years ago while serving as a young bishop, a family in the ward had a difficult struggle. I counseled with them, prayed with them, and prayed for them, but the problems persisted. I was agonizing over the eternal consequences of their behavior and didn't quite know what to do to help them. One evening just as I was going to bed and was pondering on how to best help this family the following words came powerfully into my mind: "Be still, and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10; Doctrine & Covenants 101:16) My interpretation of these words at that time was that nothing I was going to say or do was going to resolve the complex problems experienced by this family, but that in due time God would provide the solution and necessary healing. I still prayed for the family, and kept in contact with them, but no longer tried to influence them with my "wise counsel". I also quit worrying about the ultimate outcome and felt great peace regarding this situation. It took several years but the problems were eventually resolved and the family came back into full activity with all the promises of someday being an eternal family. As a bishop, I had learned a valuable lesson regarding trusting in the power and goodness of a loving and kind Heavenly Father while at the same time recognizing my own limitations as a human being.
A number of years later I was badly injured while body surfing at Laguna Beach, California. The accident happened in the afternoon. As soon as I was stabilized somewhat, I was transported to the ER room of the nearest trauma center, which was in Mission Viejo. I was surrounded by loving family and friends, who were a comfort to me; however, I was still in a dazed and shocked condition regarding what had happened.
At about 12 midnight the neurosurgeons sent everyone home so they could perform an MRI on me to fully diagnose the seriousness of my spinal cord injury. When all my loved ones left and the doctors began the MRI with me still in my swimming suit, strapped to a board, and unable to move or talk, I have never felt so alone. My mind was just churning with questions like: "Will I ever be able to move my body again?" "Will I ever be able to breathe on my own again?" "Will I ever be able to talk again?" "If I am seriously injured how will I ever financially be able to take care of my family?" "How will I ever be able to be a husband and father if I can't move my body?" "Will I ever be able to teach again or serve in the Church?" And the questions just kept coming and coming and there was no peace, but only a troubled heart and fear.
Then a wonderful thing happened as I began to silently pray. I heard no voice and really no words came to me, but there came the impression into my heart and mind that somehow, ultimately everything would be okay. I had no feeling that I would be healed in the sense that I would be able to walk, breathe, and lead a "normal" life. However, a great feeling of peace came into my heart and I knew that somehow my family and I would be able to get through this. Although the words didn't come as they did when I was serving as a bishop, the message nonetheless was the same, "Be still and know that I am God!"
Several days later the head neurosurgeon leaned over my bed and said "Jack, you will never move again. You will never breathe on your own again. You will never be able to eat solid food again. You will never be able to speak again. And you will never be able to live outside of some kind of care facility". I just knew that he was wrong and his words did not disturb me. I had it from a higher source that somehow a loving, kind and all powerful Heavenly Father would strengthen me to get through this. I didn't know how at the time except that I was to be "still" and know that "He was God!"
On the last night of his mortal experience the Savior counseled his beloved apostles by saying: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." [John 14:27] Elder Jeffrey R. Holland once said that the Savior's command to "not let our hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid" is probably the most frequently broken commandment the Lord has given to us. To be troubled and afraid of the present or the future is to not believe in the ultimate goodness and power of Heavenly Father. We are so prone to counsel the Lord as we question at times what life has brought to us. Jacob said it this way: "Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works." [Jacob 4:10]
I am still trying to learn this profound lesson about life. There simply is no other way to not be "troubled" or "afraid" than to absolutely trust in the ultimate goodness and power of God and to be "still" and not to "counsel" Him. We don't know why certain things happen to us or to our loved ones, and the worst question we could ever ask is "why"? A severely handicapped man with aching heart was pleading out loud, "Why me Lord?" And he then heard the words very loudly in his mind and heart, "Why not you?" We have to learn to be "still" and trust in God and in his great power and love for each one of us.
The essence of what I am trying to say, and what I have learned through personal experience, is to truly believe in the Lord's counsel to Joseph Smith and to all of us: "Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good..." [Doctrine & Covenants 90:25]
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
Monday, December 4, 2006
The best is none too good for us.
Monday, December 4, 2006 Observation:
As a 17-year-old boy I left my home in Ruth, Nevada and with my good friend, Mel Walker, drove to Provo, Utah to begin my freshman year at BYU. We moved into a room in Allen Hall, BYU student housing, near the pizza parlor now known as the Brick Oven. My dad always wanted to know where in the "hall" I lived and what in the "hall" I was doing. Well, I was living on the top floor and was associating with young men that in retrospect impacted my life for good in an eternal sense. Living on the ground floor were three Callister brothers from Glendale, California. Their grandfather was Elder LeGrand Richards who during the two years we lived in Allen Hall would come and speak to us occasionally on a Sunday evening as a favor to his grandsons. These were good boys who loved the Lord and whose example was worthy of emulation. The youngest brother was named Doug and was my same age. Doug is now Elder Douglas L. Callister of the first quorum of the 70. After he visited and spoke in our stake a few years ago I approached him and, I'm sure it was because of the wheelchair and his having heard of my accident, recognized me and we shared a few memories of our days living together in Allen Hall.
Because of that little relationship with Elder Callister, I eagerly listened to the talk he delivered at the BYU student devotional on September 19, 2006. The talk is entitled "Your Refined Celestial Home". I am probably somewhat prejudiced, but I think this talk should be required listening or reading for every family in the church -- especially those with children still living at home. You can find it by clicking on BYUbroadcasting.org and then clicking on "find a talk" and typing in the name, "Douglas L. Callister".
It is not my purpose to give a review of Elder Callister's talk, but I think I can share the essence of what he had to say through an experience Joseph Fielding Smith had with his father Joseph F. Smith many years ago. Having recently returned from a mission to Great Britain, young Joseph Fielding Smith was looking for some kind of employment to sustain himself and his young family. One of the positions he was offered was a "... permanent government position as an inspector of pool halls, bawdy houses and other places that sold beer and liquor, and to collect excise taxes, his territory to include Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. The job paid quite a handsome salary and was respectable enough in nature even though it would bring him into contact with some unsavory characters... The good salary would certainly help Joseph to get a house built. Joseph mulled the offer in his mind a few days... he conferred with his father about it before making a firm decision. His father advised him to decline the offer. "Remember this, son," he said, "the best company is none too good for you." So Joseph declined the job, and a few days later he received an offer he liked much better: Anthon H. Lund offered him a staff position in the Church Historian's Office." ( Joseph Fielding Smith, John J. Stewart, Life of Joseph Fielding Smith, 125-126.)
I am going to take some license with Joseph F. Smith's counsel to his son. I think Joseph was not just referring to the "company" of other people, but also to the full spectrum of the human experience. As sons and daughters of God "the best" in friends, education, vocation, music, the written word, the media we permit to come into our homes and minds, and a host of other things that could be mentioned are "none too good for us!" Choosing "the best" will bless our lives in mortality and prepare us one day for our eternal destiny to become as our Heavenly Father and to feel comfortable in and enjoy our "Refined Celestial Home."
In concluding his talk, Elder Callister related the following story to summarize his message to the BYU student body: "In a make believe kingdom a make believe King and his Queen, after many years, finally had a beautiful baby boy born into their family who would be the heir to the throne. Not wanting to spoil the boy, and hopefully to prepare him to be a good and just King, they secretly took him to the countryside for a peasant couple to raise. They were to tell him nothing of his birth and who he really was. When the boy was 18 years old the King and Queen went to the countryside to bring their boy home to become the next King inasmuch as his father was growing older and would soon pass on. To their dismay they discovered that their 18 year old son had become expert at plowing, planting, harvesting, and taking care of livestock, but he was ill-prepared and had no vision of who he really was, and what it would take to rule a kingdom, command armies, and meet the needs of his subjects. Their beloved son had been raised as a peasant and had become a peasant in spite of the royal blood that coursed through his veins."
We have temporarily been sent away by our Heavenly Father and King -- not to be raised as peasants -- but as princes and princesses, being refined in every way to one day inherit our own kingdoms. During this period of training and probation which we call mortality, truthfully, "The best... is none too good for us!" I am afraid that in many of our homes we are raising too many "peasants" with no vision of who they are and of their eternal potential. A "peasant" perspective regarding life seems to dominate our culture. You can observe it in our language, our dress, our music, the media, and what we choose for recreation. We have been plummeting downward from the "best" to the "mediocre" at lightning speed. Eric Anderson spoke a profound truth when he said: "The most insidious influence on the young is not violence, drugs, tobacco, drink or sexual perversion, but our pursuit of the trivial and our tolerance of the third rate."
Maybe it's because I am getting older and out of touch with reality, but I don't enjoy much of the music I hear that has recently been written and recorded. Does anybody like Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and Chopin anymore? Are our kids being raised on musical french fries and hamburgers having their musical pallets paralyzed, resulting in no taste for the gourmet music of the Masters? What I'm saying about music can be applied to the media, literature, art, architecture, and dress of our times. Listen to President Hinckley:
"Let there be music in the home. If you have teenagers who have their own recordings, you will be prone to describe the sound as something other than music. Let them occasionally hear something better. Expose them to it. It will speak for itself. More of appreciation will come than you may think. It may not be spoken, but it will be felt, and its influence will become increasingly manifest as the years pass." (Be Thou an Example [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1981], p. 56.) "Enjoy music. Not the kind that rocks and rolls, but the music of the masters, the music that has lived through the centuries, the music that has lifted people. If you do not have a taste for it, listen to it thoughtfully. If you do not like it the first time, listen to it again and keep listening. It will be something like going to the temple. The more often you go, the more beautiful will be the experience. (Ellen Pucell Unthank Monument Dedication, Cedar City, Utah, August 3, 1991.)
"I believe in the beauty of good music and art, of pleasing architecture, and of good literature untainted by profanity or verbal filth. ("This I Believe," BYU 1991-92 Devotional and Fireside Speeches, March 1, 1992, p. 78.)
I believe what President Hinckley believes and what Joseph F. Smith taught his son -- "The best... is none too good for you!"
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
As a 17-year-old boy I left my home in Ruth, Nevada and with my good friend, Mel Walker, drove to Provo, Utah to begin my freshman year at BYU. We moved into a room in Allen Hall, BYU student housing, near the pizza parlor now known as the Brick Oven. My dad always wanted to know where in the "hall" I lived and what in the "hall" I was doing. Well, I was living on the top floor and was associating with young men that in retrospect impacted my life for good in an eternal sense. Living on the ground floor were three Callister brothers from Glendale, California. Their grandfather was Elder LeGrand Richards who during the two years we lived in Allen Hall would come and speak to us occasionally on a Sunday evening as a favor to his grandsons. These were good boys who loved the Lord and whose example was worthy of emulation. The youngest brother was named Doug and was my same age. Doug is now Elder Douglas L. Callister of the first quorum of the 70. After he visited and spoke in our stake a few years ago I approached him and, I'm sure it was because of the wheelchair and his having heard of my accident, recognized me and we shared a few memories of our days living together in Allen Hall.
Because of that little relationship with Elder Callister, I eagerly listened to the talk he delivered at the BYU student devotional on September 19, 2006. The talk is entitled "Your Refined Celestial Home". I am probably somewhat prejudiced, but I think this talk should be required listening or reading for every family in the church -- especially those with children still living at home. You can find it by clicking on BYUbroadcasting.org and then clicking on "find a talk" and typing in the name, "Douglas L. Callister".
It is not my purpose to give a review of Elder Callister's talk, but I think I can share the essence of what he had to say through an experience Joseph Fielding Smith had with his father Joseph F. Smith many years ago. Having recently returned from a mission to Great Britain, young Joseph Fielding Smith was looking for some kind of employment to sustain himself and his young family. One of the positions he was offered was a "... permanent government position as an inspector of pool halls, bawdy houses and other places that sold beer and liquor, and to collect excise taxes, his territory to include Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. The job paid quite a handsome salary and was respectable enough in nature even though it would bring him into contact with some unsavory characters... The good salary would certainly help Joseph to get a house built. Joseph mulled the offer in his mind a few days... he conferred with his father about it before making a firm decision. His father advised him to decline the offer. "Remember this, son," he said, "the best company is none too good for you." So Joseph declined the job, and a few days later he received an offer he liked much better: Anthon H. Lund offered him a staff position in the Church Historian's Office." ( Joseph Fielding Smith, John J. Stewart, Life of Joseph Fielding Smith, 125-126.)
I am going to take some license with Joseph F. Smith's counsel to his son. I think Joseph was not just referring to the "company" of other people, but also to the full spectrum of the human experience. As sons and daughters of God "the best" in friends, education, vocation, music, the written word, the media we permit to come into our homes and minds, and a host of other things that could be mentioned are "none too good for us!" Choosing "the best" will bless our lives in mortality and prepare us one day for our eternal destiny to become as our Heavenly Father and to feel comfortable in and enjoy our "Refined Celestial Home."
In concluding his talk, Elder Callister related the following story to summarize his message to the BYU student body: "In a make believe kingdom a make believe King and his Queen, after many years, finally had a beautiful baby boy born into their family who would be the heir to the throne. Not wanting to spoil the boy, and hopefully to prepare him to be a good and just King, they secretly took him to the countryside for a peasant couple to raise. They were to tell him nothing of his birth and who he really was. When the boy was 18 years old the King and Queen went to the countryside to bring their boy home to become the next King inasmuch as his father was growing older and would soon pass on. To their dismay they discovered that their 18 year old son had become expert at plowing, planting, harvesting, and taking care of livestock, but he was ill-prepared and had no vision of who he really was, and what it would take to rule a kingdom, command armies, and meet the needs of his subjects. Their beloved son had been raised as a peasant and had become a peasant in spite of the royal blood that coursed through his veins."
We have temporarily been sent away by our Heavenly Father and King -- not to be raised as peasants -- but as princes and princesses, being refined in every way to one day inherit our own kingdoms. During this period of training and probation which we call mortality, truthfully, "The best... is none too good for us!" I am afraid that in many of our homes we are raising too many "peasants" with no vision of who they are and of their eternal potential. A "peasant" perspective regarding life seems to dominate our culture. You can observe it in our language, our dress, our music, the media, and what we choose for recreation. We have been plummeting downward from the "best" to the "mediocre" at lightning speed. Eric Anderson spoke a profound truth when he said: "The most insidious influence on the young is not violence, drugs, tobacco, drink or sexual perversion, but our pursuit of the trivial and our tolerance of the third rate."
Maybe it's because I am getting older and out of touch with reality, but I don't enjoy much of the music I hear that has recently been written and recorded. Does anybody like Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and Chopin anymore? Are our kids being raised on musical french fries and hamburgers having their musical pallets paralyzed, resulting in no taste for the gourmet music of the Masters? What I'm saying about music can be applied to the media, literature, art, architecture, and dress of our times. Listen to President Hinckley:
"Let there be music in the home. If you have teenagers who have their own recordings, you will be prone to describe the sound as something other than music. Let them occasionally hear something better. Expose them to it. It will speak for itself. More of appreciation will come than you may think. It may not be spoken, but it will be felt, and its influence will become increasingly manifest as the years pass." (Be Thou an Example [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1981], p. 56.) "Enjoy music. Not the kind that rocks and rolls, but the music of the masters, the music that has lived through the centuries, the music that has lifted people. If you do not have a taste for it, listen to it thoughtfully. If you do not like it the first time, listen to it again and keep listening. It will be something like going to the temple. The more often you go, the more beautiful will be the experience. (Ellen Pucell Unthank Monument Dedication, Cedar City, Utah, August 3, 1991.)
"I believe in the beauty of good music and art, of pleasing architecture, and of good literature untainted by profanity or verbal filth. ("This I Believe," BYU 1991-92 Devotional and Fireside Speeches, March 1, 1992, p. 78.)
I believe what President Hinckley believes and what Joseph F. Smith taught his son -- "The best... is none too good for you!"
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
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