Monday, November 24, 2008

Emerson

This Sunday, we had Ward Conference and it was amazing. Our stake president is an incredible man and I know that I was fed plenty of things to chew on for a while. Our theme for the year is Moroni 10:8-18 and we learned a lot about spiritual gifts. Then he taught us a bit from Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self-Reliance. I looked up the discourse and several things stood out to me. I've included a few comments below, but would suggest that everyone invest the time to read this piece in full (it is readily available on Google).


"There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion;"

President Wilkey tied this particular quote to a story about envy. Then we discussed envy in relation to spiritual gifts and how it usually leads to ingratitude for the gifts we've been given. My friend was teaching a lesson to her Young Women about individual worth and she wrote the ingredients needed to make a cake on individual ziploc baggies. Then she filled each baggie with 1/2 c. flour. She handed out the bags and instructed the girls to make a cake. Get the picture? :)



"Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events."

In a world where we all rely on what others think of us, we place too much emphasis on their opinion. I would put forth: Trust your instincts. We are all sons and daughters of Heavenly Father and we have notions and inspired greatness within us all--we just need to tap into our resources.


"Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world."

While we are warned not to rely solely upon our own knowledge, we are only instructed to rely on that of God and His anointed servants. We do not need to listen to the world--we can all become agents for good, once we've figured out what "good" is. Go forth in intelligence and might. Be a force for good in this world. We all have a responsibility and a calling to make the world a better place. Don't listen to anyone who says you can't...because God and I say you can.

1 comment:

Angel y Brandae Rossini said...

This is great Jess! Where can I find this discourse from Emerson?