How does one get from point A to point B in life? Whatever the correct answer is, righteous determination must be part of it. How might we define righteous determination? To me, the concept consists of planning, pondering, persistence, perseverance, and prayer.
With days just to live, Elder Bruce R. McConkie was laying in his bed dying of cancer, when he received a visit from his elderly but healthy mother. The visit was described by Elder McConkie’s son, Joseph:
Joseph Fielding McConkie: Bruce R. McConkie Story: Reflections of a Son, Chapter: “His Final Testimony,” Deseret Book, 2003.
The next few days family members and close friends came to bid Dad farewell. Each experience contained its own tenderness. The tone of the visit with his mother, Vivian Redd McConkie, was somewhat different, however. She visited Dad to give him instruction. “When you see Daddy,” she said, referring to his father and her companion, from whom she had now been separated for twenty years, “you tell him my suitcase is packed and I am waiting at the curb.” Grandmother, who had hardly been sick a day in her life, was now in her ninety- fifth year—no great thing, particularly, considering that her mother, Lucinda Pace Redd, had lived to be 104. Yet Grandmother McConkie was ready to meet Granddaddy and fully expected Dad to see that the matter was attended to. Three weeks and one day after Dad’s death, she herself died.
One could safely say that Vivian McConkie was righteously determined. Now at age 95, Sister Vivian had the right to make such a request. The rest of us do not, but the basic principle is the same. We must have a dog-gone strong determination if we are to get from point A to point B.
Elder James E. Faust described determination and perseverance this way:
James E. Faust, “Perseverance,” Ensign, May 2005, 51
A young man recently shared with me how much he had learned from his perseverance as a missionary. I draw from his experience some of the things you can learn that would bring opportunities and blessings to you:
1. How to organize and use time wiselyWhen I went to Granite High School in Salt Lake City in the 1930s, I had some friends who excelled in athletics, drama, music, and speech. Some of them went on to achieve success in life, but too many of those gifted and able young people did not persevere and failed to achieve their potential. In contrast, several less visible young men and women at the same school worked diligently, persevered, and continued with their education and became outstanding doctors, engineers, educators, lawyers, scientists, businessmen, artisans, electricians, plumbers, and entrepreneurs.
2. The importance of hard work—that you reap what you sow
3. Leadership skills
4. People skills
5. The value of gospel study
6. Respect for authority
7. The importance of prayer
8. Humility and dependence on the Lord.
Success is usually earned by persevering and not becoming discouraged when we encounter challenges.
President Benson put the same message in terms of scriptures and the sacrament:
Ezra Taft Benson, “Do Not Despair,” Ensign, Oct 1986, 2
Every accountable child of God needs to set goals, short- and long-range goals. A man who is pressing forward to accomplish worthy goals can soon put despondency under his feet, and once a goal is accomplished, others can be set up. Some will be continuing goals. Each week when we partake of the sacrament we commit ourselves to the goals of taking upon ourselves the name of Christ, of always remembering him and keeping his commandments. Of Jesus’ preparations for his mission, the scripture states that he “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.” (Luke 2:52.) This encompasses four main areas for goals: spiritual, mental, physical, and social. “Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be?” asked the Master, and he answered, “Verily I say unto you, even as I am.” (3 Ne. 27:27.) Now, there is a lifetime goal—to walk in his steps, to perfect ourselves in every virtue as he has done, to seek his face, and to work to make our calling and election sure.
Generally, the Lord does not do for us what we can do for ourselves. Graduation from High School is not accomplished by skipping school and praying not to get caught. Therefore, in most things we must be proactive and make things happen, rather than waiting for things to happen on their own.
A famous standard for decision-making came early in Mormon history. In 1829 Joseph Smith had to teach Oliver Cowdery, "you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask [God] if it be right" (D&C 9:8). Study and prayer is a combination that is hard to beat.
Goals serve a good purpose when they set up a target to which we can aim. This purpose is lost when goals are used as the criteria for success. A few years ago I was a little disturbed by a comment made in a letter from my missionary son. His letter said, “mission goals become commandments.” This concept is extreme and should be dismissed. Mission goals give a nice target, but I refuse to believe that missing those goals after giving an honest effort is the equivalent of failing God.
God gives us commandments that will improve our lives. He also knows that we will fall short. Hence, we need an atonement to allow repentance, redeem sins, and lift burdens. In my opinion, we should NOT mistake man-made goals for God-given covenants. Elder Bruce R. McConkie had this to say:
Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah, Vol.2, p.140
Under the Mosaic law the taking of oaths was so common and covered such a variety of circumstances that, in practice, little verity attended statements that were not made with an oath. "If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth." (Num. 30:2.) And so Jesus, rejecting the old and proclaiming the new, said: "And again it is written, thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths; But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be Yea, yea; Nay, nay; for whatsoever cometh of more than these is evil." [See Matthew 5: 33-37].
The problem with man-made goals is that God is perfectly willing to let us fall on our faces, especially if the goals are unrealistic and out of proportion to our abilities. A possible complication arises if we think God has failed us, when in fact we have failed by ourselves, with the full responsibility being our own.
We cannot run before we walk, but too many times we try. Our goals need to be realistic!!!! One of my favorite scriptures with this theme is:
Mosiah 4:27
27 And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.
The topic of setting goals too high reminds me of the phrase found in Jacob 4:14, “Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall.”
It is perfectly fine to make goals challenging, as long as they are achievable. As a young man I had the goal of earning a PhD. This was a proper goal for me. By contrast, it would have been improper for me to dream of being a billionaire like Howard Hughes (the Bill Gates of my generation). Not everyone, especially me, should shape his or her lives around money.
Living a life centered on the commandments as taught by our modern Church is a worthy goal. For example, LDS couples married outside of the temple should make it a righteous goal to be sealed in the temple. Such a goal is both spiritually important and quite achievable.
It is possible to create unrighteous goals that pervert righteous principles. For example, as a missionary is easy to baptize people by dunking them; by contrast, it is hard to make sure people are truly converted before being properly baptized. It is easy to do Home Teaching every month; by contrast, it is hard to be spiritually in tune to serve the needs of those families being visited.
Our job as Latter-day Saints is to SEE CLEARLY. In that sense, we all should be seers.
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2 comments:
I heard the story of Elder McConkie's mother's request of him several years ago, and it showed me something I had not thought of before: There is a bureaucracy in Heaven, which has to approve things like that. This also was the case in early February 2001, when my father died at age 90, leaving his older brother at 95, and having Alzheimer's, in need of going home. This request took until the end of the month, about 3 weeks, to get fulfilled!
Yes, Dan, I am sure we can assume that bureaucracy is an eternal principle. And, I suppose the customer lines are about as long as Disneyland's, that is, about 3 weeks. ;)
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