Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Pres. Hinckley's Devotional
One cool thing about working at BYU is that interesting people come to speak. For example, both John Roberts and Harry Reid are giving colloquia this semester.
But more interesting to me, was Pres. Hinckley giving a devotional yesterday. I hadn't listened to him first hand probably since I was a student here. I took some notes, so here's some of what he said: (not by any means complete, and no guarantee on the quotes being entirely accurate; for two other, perhaps more accurate treatments, see http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/65345 and http://www.harktheherald.com/content/view/237839/)
___begin Pres. Hinckley___
It is a grinding experience to earn a degree here, but the result is something of which you should be proud. [Colton: I quoted this to my students, and told them that I would feel disappointed if my class was not part of the grinding experience. :-) ]
Article of Faith #13: "We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."
We believe in being honest... there is nothing more honest than good hard work.
[quoting someone, missed the reference] "...talent has little or nothing to do with greatness. No one is great without hard work."
We believe in being true... [quoted the entire hymn, "True to the Faith"]
We believe in being chaste... the Key Bank building in downtown Salt Lake City was brought down via implosion in 3 or 4 seconds, even though the construction likely took a year or two. That is the story of many lives.
...but in its place will be constructed a new and beautiful building. Similarly, those who have transgressed can repent.
You *are* being "chased"--Satan is chasing after you and you'd better run as fast as you can!
We believe in being benevelent--literally means, "doing good". On an individual level, we can be pleased that Utah is at or near the top in charitable giving. On a church level, we manage humanitarian efforts across the world--helping people most of which are not members of our church. And on a level close to home, your own education here at BYU is heavily subsidized by members of the church.
We believe in being virtous; this doesn't mean sexual morality, since that was covered under "chaste". Rather, it means having the strength to do whatever needs doing. "The strength of a man is measured no by his spiritual exertions, but by his habitual acts", Blaise Pascal. These habitual acts should include paying tithing, keep the Word of Wisdom, etc.
We believe in doing good to all men. This requires mercy, self discipline, determination, and the ability to extend forgiveness to those who despitefully use us. Joseph Smith was an example of this in his dealings with Anthony, a former slave. Anthony had violated the law [by selling liquoud on Sunday], and Joseph as mayor was called upon to render a judgement. Anthony explained that he had only been doing it because he needed money to buy the freedom of his son, who was still a slave in a southern state. Joseph said, "I am sorry, Anthony, but the law must be observed, and we will have to impose a fine." The next day, however, Joseph personally gave Anthony a horse to purchase his son's freedom.
As another great example of this, we have the life of Norman Borlaug [see this wikipedia article for more info]. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, and more recently the Congressional Gold Medal at the age of 93. I have never met him, and probably never will, but what I know of his life is inspiring. The Wall Street Journal [incidentally, Pres. Hinckley quoted the Wall Street Journal several times during his talk. I was surprised] said, "He has arguably saved more lives than anyone in history... perhaps as many as one billion."
Borlaug was an agricultural scientist who first developed disease-resistant wheat to help Mexico's food supply. Then he turned his research to rice to aid Pakistan, India, China, etc.
The whole world is in his debt.
Now I am in my 98th year... I know that the 13th Article of Faith provides important guideposts for our lives.
___end Pres. Hinckley___
But more interesting to me, was Pres. Hinckley giving a devotional yesterday. I hadn't listened to him first hand probably since I was a student here. I took some notes, so here's some of what he said: (not by any means complete, and no guarantee on the quotes being entirely accurate; for two other, perhaps more accurate treatments, see http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/65345 and http://www.harktheherald.com/content/view/237839/)
___begin Pres. Hinckley___
It is a grinding experience to earn a degree here, but the result is something of which you should be proud. [Colton: I quoted this to my students, and told them that I would feel disappointed if my class was not part of the grinding experience. :-) ]
Article of Faith #13: "We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."
We believe in being honest... there is nothing more honest than good hard work.
[quoting someone, missed the reference] "...talent has little or nothing to do with greatness. No one is great without hard work."
We believe in being true... [quoted the entire hymn, "True to the Faith"]
We believe in being chaste... the Key Bank building in downtown Salt Lake City was brought down via implosion in 3 or 4 seconds, even though the construction likely took a year or two. That is the story of many lives.
...but in its place will be constructed a new and beautiful building. Similarly, those who have transgressed can repent.
You *are* being "chased"--Satan is chasing after you and you'd better run as fast as you can!
We believe in being benevelent--literally means, "doing good". On an individual level, we can be pleased that Utah is at or near the top in charitable giving. On a church level, we manage humanitarian efforts across the world--helping people most of which are not members of our church. And on a level close to home, your own education here at BYU is heavily subsidized by members of the church.
We believe in being virtous; this doesn't mean sexual morality, since that was covered under "chaste". Rather, it means having the strength to do whatever needs doing. "The strength of a man is measured no by his spiritual exertions, but by his habitual acts", Blaise Pascal. These habitual acts should include paying tithing, keep the Word of Wisdom, etc.
We believe in doing good to all men. This requires mercy, self discipline, determination, and the ability to extend forgiveness to those who despitefully use us. Joseph Smith was an example of this in his dealings with Anthony, a former slave. Anthony had violated the law [by selling liquoud on Sunday], and Joseph as mayor was called upon to render a judgement. Anthony explained that he had only been doing it because he needed money to buy the freedom of his son, who was still a slave in a southern state. Joseph said, "I am sorry, Anthony, but the law must be observed, and we will have to impose a fine." The next day, however, Joseph personally gave Anthony a horse to purchase his son's freedom.
As another great example of this, we have the life of Norman Borlaug [see this wikipedia article for more info]. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, and more recently the Congressional Gold Medal at the age of 93. I have never met him, and probably never will, but what I know of his life is inspiring. The Wall Street Journal [incidentally, Pres. Hinckley quoted the Wall Street Journal several times during his talk. I was surprised] said, "He has arguably saved more lives than anyone in history... perhaps as many as one billion."
Borlaug was an agricultural scientist who first developed disease-resistant wheat to help Mexico's food supply. Then he turned his research to rice to aid Pakistan, India, China, etc.
The whole world is in his debt.
Now I am in my 98th year... I know that the 13th Article of Faith provides important guideposts for our lives.
___end Pres. Hinckley___
# posted by John Colton @ 8:37 PM 
