Nearer My God to Thee

My Father

My father died in 1996. Hardly a day that goes by that I don’t think of him and the example he was to me. He was an example of diligence and dedication. Everything he did he did well. He was a perfectionist.

He wasn’t familiar with being idle. He worked hard. He learned the value of hard work from growing up in poverty. He had to work just to survive. Out of these experiences he developed a deep conviction that it was his responsibility, not someone else’s, to provide for himself and his family. He was always working on a to-do list he kept on a 3 x 5 index card in his pocket. If he wasn’t building something he was working in the garden, serving in the Church, or heading to the mountains. 

He was a man of uncompromising integrity. He always told the truth. I remember an experience from when we lived California. Our family went to a store to purchase something. The clerk at the store gave back a few cents too much change and without pause my father returned the excess change. From that moment on, my father never needed to tell me another word about honesty or integrity.

He was at home in the mountains of Utah. He loved to fish. He gave me a Utah fishing license when I was born and taught me to fish. Through the years we had many great and memorable fishing adventures.           

Professionally he was a recognized manufacturing engineer and was very passionate about his field. He was also exceptionally inventive and could figure out almost anything. I was the eldest son and so naturally he wanted me to follow in his footsteps and become an engineer. The problem was I had no interest or ability in engineering. When I was in college this caused some contention between us. One night while praying about what to do about this, these words came into my mind, “Just love him.” And so I did.

My father loved his family. He gave of himself unselfishly. He would do anything for us even if it caused him great discomfort or difficulty. He was always there for us.

Dad had faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Atonement. He wasn’t flashy about his faith but I knew what he believed. His mother first planted the seeds of faith and then his faith grew from a life time of study, years of service, much adversity, and constant devotion. He knew that God lived, that Jesus is the Christ, and that the Church is true. I don’t believe he ever doubted it. He knew that through the Atonement of Christ we can have the hope of Eternal Life. 

He was a disciple of Christ. I hope I can live my life as he did.

Scripture for the Day

“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved….” (John 10:9; emphasis added)

"Truth Reflects upon Our Senses"

Truth reflects upon our senses;
Gospel light reveals to some.
If there still should be offenses,
Woe to them by whom they come!
Judge not, that ye be not judged,
Was the counsel Jesus gave;
Measure given, large or grudged,
Just the same you must receive.

Jesus said, “Be meek and lowly,”
For ’tis high to be a judge;
If I would be pure and holy,
I must love without a grudge.
It requires a constant labor
All his precepts to obey.
If I truly love my neighbor,
I am in the narrow way.

Once I said unto another,
“In thine eye there is a mote;
If thou art a friend, a brother,
Hold, and let me pull it out.”
But I could not see it fairly,
For my sight was very dim.
When I came to search more clearly,
In mine eye there was a beam.

If I love my brother dearer,
And his mote I would erase,
Then the light should shine the clearer,
For the eye’s a tender place.
Others I have oft reproved
For an object like a mote;
Now I wish this beam removed;
Oh, that tears would wash it out!

Charity and love are healing;
These will give the clearest sight;
When I saw my brother’s failing,
I was not exactly right.
Now I’ll take no further trouble;
Jesus’ love is all my theme;
Little motes are but a bubble
When I think upon the beam.

( Eliza R. Snow, “Truth Reflects upon Our Senses”, Hymns, 273)

Love One Another

Kindness

“Kindness is the essence of greatness. … [It] is a passport that opens doors and fashions friends. It softens hearts and molds relationships that can last lifetimes.” (Joseph B. Wirthlin, “The Virtue of Kindness,” Ensign, May 2005, 26)

Paul's Counsel

I love the words of Paul, the Apostle, found in the twelfth chapter of Romans. Here is an excerpt from this chapter:

“…I say…to every man…not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think….

 “Let love be… [sincere]. 

“Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

“Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love…fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer…given to hospitality.

 “Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

 “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

 “Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but … [conforming willingly with the humble]. Be not wise in your own conceits.

 “Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.

 “…Live peaceably with all men.

 “…Avenge not yourselves….If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink….

“Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Paul sets a high standard for the disciple of Christ to strive to live by.

Scripture for the Day

“Jesus saith unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die….” (John 11:25-26; emphasis added)

"He is building a palace."

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself." C.S. Lewis