The things that really matter

I taught Lesson 41 from the Gospel Doctrine manual today.  Actually, what I had to say was only very loosely related, if at all, to the outline given in the lesson manual.  But it was inspired by the topic of that lesson, which is “Every Member a Missionary.”

So that topic is on my mind.  Which will explain a bit of what follows:

I ran across a Facebook item from Sister Annie LeFevre, who is serving (I believe), as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Richmond, Virginia, area.  I think that she won’t be a bit upset — probably quite the opposite — if I share a substantial part of what she wrote here:

She then shares the verse that she has chosen:

Alma 26:12
Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

Then she invites a number of her friends to do, themselves, what she’s just done.

I like this challenge, so I’m going to take her up on it . . .

***

Mosiah 2:41

Consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.

I would be hard pressed, actually, to choose a favorite passage from the Book of Mormon.  There are simply too many passages that I love, and my choices would fluctuate from one day to the next.

But the passage above has been on my mind for some time.  When it all comes down to basics, while we can debate about Church policy on this or that, or express dislike for certain Mormon hymns or the way Mormons sing, or complain about leaders of whom we disapprove, or lament some characteristic of Church architecture, or wax indignant about something Brigham Young once said, not much of that or anything else really matters very deeply.  But the verse above captures something that does matter.  Very deeply.

As the years have gone by, I’ve lost more and more people for whom I’ve cared.  My parents and my brother (my only sibling) are gone.  My first grandchild is gone.  Save one, my aunts and uncles are all gone.  My mother-in-law is gone.  Many close friends are gone.  Valued teachers and mentors and heroes are gone.

What really matters?

There’s this view of the world, from Shakespeare’s Macbeth:

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

And then there’s the view expressed at Mosiah 2:41, above.

It’s not difficult for me to figure out which one I prefer, which one I hope to be true.  Fortunately, I have grounds for believing it to be true.

***

I invite you, too, to take Sister LeFevre up on her challenge.

Today.