I
Will Sail My Vessel
Proverbs- 3:5-6
5 Trust in the Lord with all thine
heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him,
and he shall direct thy paths.
Our lives are
like unto a ship, in which we chart our own course.
We must take the helm of our own lives; we
cannot let anyone else take the helm. We make our decisions, and we face the
consequences. We steer our own ship. We keep it on course, or steer it towards
the rocks. We are ultimately responsible for our own decisions.
Our Heavenly father loves us, and has set up
plenty of guidance in our lives to make the proper decisions. And because of
this love we have been provided plenty of resources to chart our course and
avoid the proverbial troubled waters. These resources include: prayer, loving parents, scriptures, the
ensign, the Holy Ghost, living prophets, home teachers, visiting teachers,
relief society presidents, primary teachers, Sunday school teachers, youth
leaders, ward clerks, local church leaders and many more.
We are
not left rudderless in life. Every person who enters life is blessed with the
light of Christ, a guide and gift for all of Heavenly Father’s children.
Christ will not take the helm, but he stands
behind us being our navigator and pilot. We always have the ultimate choice,
because agency is and always will be an eternal principle. We can choose to
follow Christ, it doesn’t matter our circumstances.
The Poem Winds of Fate, by Ella
Wheeler Wilcox illustrates this point.
One ship drives east and another
drives west
With the selfsame winds that blow.
‘Tis the set of the sails
And not the gales
Which tell us the way to go.
Like the winds of the sea are the
ways of fate,
As we voyage along through life:
‘Tis the set of the soul
That decides the goal
And not the calm and the strife.
As I said, we make our decisions. A boat can go
any direction, even with a variety of winds. We have agency to overcome our
circumstances. Especially, with the Lords help.
We read in Job-23:
9 On the left hand, where
he doth work, but I cannot behold him:
he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:
We cannot always see our heavenly father’s
influence in our life, but the influence and guidance is always there. If we
use the tools provided by our heavenly father, we can be successful in this
life and ultimately return home to live in his presence.
We must learn to take our own helm, and teach our
kids, and our church family to take their own helm as well.
Even though I am no Mariner, other than as a
Baseball fan, and don’t know how fast a knot is. Nor am I very good at tying
knots. Let’s continue with this cheesy sailing metaphor.
Whenever you embark on a voyage; you must have
provisions.
Without provisions you will end up very hungry,
sad and smelly. In short, you won’t have good time.
In our own journey in life, we also must prepare
ourselves, our family and friends with the needed spiritual provisions. So we
don’t end up spiritually hungry, sad and smelly.
Every person will encounter the storms of life.
We will face temptations. We will have struggles and trials all of which will
promote growth, but we must remember Pain
and Suffering is required; misery is optional. Spiritual provisions will
help us find joy in the journey, and have the perspective needed to smile even
through trials.
Let me suggest important areas we can focus on
to have the spiritual provisions needed.
1. Our Self:
Our first priority has to be to prepare
ourselves with adequate spiritual provisions.
Life is a very long journey, and there is no way to stockpile enough in
one grueling effort.
We need to develop daily habits, which we would
all classify as “primary” answers. Such as scripture study, prayer, and going
to church meetings. “As we all know it is much easier to believe in eternal
progression than to practice daily improvement.”
I would suggest that these habits are more than
just doing them, but learning how to get more out of the effort, than just
going through the actions.
We cannot be complacent; we must all stand a
little taller. Try to be a little better each day. “The soul is like a violin
string: it makes music only when it is stretched.” (Eric Hoffer)
We need to use our time wisely. As Elder Oaks
once said, “Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better,
and your better is best”.
There are many great activities, and things to
do in life. There are so many things to learn. But remember, “Even learning
useful things has often diverted mankind from learning crucial things.” Our
most important provision on our journey is our testimony. Learn, study, and
pray to know the gospel is true, and that this is the restored church of God.
That knowledge is crucial as we embark and take our own he
2. Our Family:
This is an area I focus hard on, and is very
near and dear to my heart. I like Nephi was born to goodly parents who loved
the Lord. I know I was extremely blessed to have had great parents. I know many
of us come from very different situations. We all have different challenges,
based on our current family arrangement. We have single members, single
parents, empty nesters, partial member families, partially active families, big
families, small families, families with dogs, homes with both parents active,
combined families from different marriages, young families, old families,
families with no kids, families with kids, recently divorced, newlyweds, and
many more unique situations.
I bring this up, because the gospel is for every
one of these situations. The gospel can bless our lives if we chose to live the
teachings in our homes. It is not the winds, but the sails that chart the
course.
There is no better place to stock up on
spiritual provisions than our own home. Every situation is unique, and we need
to find away to incorporate family scripture study, and prayer. We also need to
find a way to have family home evenings. If we do these things our homes will
be a place of spiritual growth.
Joseph F. Smith said, “There can be no genuine
happiness separate and apart from the home, and every effort made to sanctify
and preserve its influence is uplifting to those who toil and sacrifice for its
establishment.
My family life is always happier, when we make
the effort to have the gospel in our home.
3. Branch Family
David O McKay said, “True Christianity is love
in action”.
When we love someone, we serve them. We have so
many opportunities in our branch to receive and give spiritual provisions. I have been asked many times by people not of
our faith; why does someone need to worship in a congregation? Why can’t I just
do my own thing?
Brothers and Sisters having relied on so many of
you for my spiritual growth the answer seems clear. I want to share with you a
quote from President Eyring. I have edited it slightly. I just want to say to
that individual who doesn’t understand how important a congregation is for
spiritual growth.. Quote “"Well, come with me to 7th
Branch." And I may not be able to show it to you, and I may not be able to
prove it to you, but you'll feel it. There will be a spirit here, I so testify,
because of the love of God for all of His faithful children. And those
blessings will be poured out here in rich abundance.”
Brothers and Sisters I have seen with my own
eyes the blessing that our branch is in so many lives. I realize many are hear
just a short time, but our job is make every person here a little stronger in the
gospel. I look at the 7th branch as a missionary training center. We
ask a lot of many who have never been asked so much. But by being faithful we have all grown, and
increased our spiritual provisions.
Our 4. Community:
Elder Holland recently said in a conference
talk, “You may not be your brother’s keeper, but you are your brother’s brother”.
We have a duty and responsibility to help others
not of our faith to increase their spiritual provisions. Not all missionary
efforts leads to baptism. Actually, most missionary effort doesn’t lead to
baptism. We preach the gospel because we
love our fellowman, and understand we are all children of God. We also
understand the gospel blesses lives, and will benefit all who receive it.
Many people will not want the gospel in there in
lives. They will shut us an out. One of my favorite poems says:
“He
drew a circle that shut me out-
Heretic,
rebel, a thing to flout
But
Love and I had the wit to win:
We
drew a circle that took him in.”
Our job is to include people who do not want to
hear. If we show love and understanding, we can make inroads. We can be the
difference. We should always be inviting others to come to church or
activities. All people have a need to be needed. We should not look upon others
self righteously, but instead with love and compassion. Our heavenly father
doesn’t need self serving nobles, but instead selfless noble servants.
Joseph Smith said, “A man filled with the Love
of God is not content with blessing his family alone but ranges through the
whole world anxious to bless the whole human race”.
Brothers and Sisters, we must find that love.
I also believe missionary efforts bless our own
lives. When you help someone up a hill, you are a little nearer the top
yourself. Your spiritual provisions will grow as you try share the gospel.
One of my favorite foods is pie. Specifically,
Pumpkin pie. The Gospel is like pie, because it is delicious and will make you
happy. The difference is when you share pie you have less, but when you share
the gospel your joy and happiness grows. The gospel is pie that gets bigger the
more you share it. That is my kind of dessert.
Conclusion:
To conclude I want to share a thought from a
book entitled, “All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience”, by Neal A.
Maxwell.
Elder Maxwell wrote:
“Eventually, the veil that now encloses us will
be no more. Neither will be time. Time is clearly not our natural dimension.
Thus it is that we are never really at home in time. Alternately, we find
ourselves wishing to hasten the passage of time or to hold back the dawn. We
can do neither, of course, but whereas the fish is at home in water, we are
clearly not home in time, because we belong to eternity. Time, as much as any
one thing, whispers to us that we are strangers here.”
I share this thought, because as you know my
family’s time is short here in the 7th branch. Our days are
numbered, and I want to enjoy every last minute of our time in the branch. I
have learned to love every one of you, and some of you have learned to love me.
I hope each of you make the most of your time in the branch. It is a place
where people love one another, and look out for each other. Be the Lord’s
servant. Love his children no matter what their situation is spiritually,
socially or economically. I testify if you make the most of your time on earth,
in the branch, and embark in the service of the lord, you will be happy. We
will share in an eternal inheritance. We will return with our heavenly parents,
our earthly family and friends. The plan of salvation is real.
Testimony….
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