The Race of Life
BY PRESIDENT THOMAS S. MONSON
*By a show of hands how
many of you in this room have ever run a race before? How long did you have to
train before hand? What motivated you to run this race? Were you running for a
cause? Were there times when you were running that you felt like you wanted to
give up? Were there times when you were running that it felt easy? Did you
finish first, last, or somewhere in the middle? When all was said and done, was
it worth it?
President Monson compares
this life to a race. For this race to have any meaning to us at all he says we
need to take the time to answer these important questions: Where
did we come from? Why are we here? Where do we go after this life?
President
Monson tells a story from when he was a boy: When I reflect on the
race of life, I remember another type of race, even from childhood days. My
friends and I would take pocketknives in hand and, from the soft wood of a
willow tree, fashion small toy boats. With a triangular-shaped cotton sail in
place, each would launch his crude craft in the race down the relatively
turbulent waters of Utah’s Provo River. We would run along the river’s bank and
watch the tiny vessels sometimes bobbing violently in the swift current and at
other times sailing serenely as the water deepened.
During a particular race we noted that one boat led all the
rest toward the appointed finish line. Suddenly, the current carried it too
close to a large whirlpool, and the boat heaved to its side and capsized.
Around and around it was carried, unable to make its way back into the main
current. At last it came to an uneasy rest amid the flotsam and jetsam that
surrounded it, held fast by the tentacles of the grasping green moss.
The toy boats of childhood had no keel for stability, no
rudder to provide direction, and no source of power. Inevitably, their
destination was downstream—the path of least resistance.
Unlike toy boats, we have been provided divine attributes to
guide our journey. We enter mortality not to float with the moving currents of
life but with the power to think, to reason, and to achieve.
*As members of the
church we know where we came from. Before this life
we lived in Heaven with our Father, Mother, and Eldest Brother Jesus Christ
as well as many of our other family members. We were taught and trained there
spiritually. We were given a choice to come and join this race of life with the
idea that we would cross the finish line and come back home.
Quote
#1: President Monson said: “Our Heavenly Father did not launch
us on our eternal voyage without providing the means whereby we could receive
from Him guidance to ensure our safe return. I speak of prayer. I speak too of
the whisperings from that still, small voice; and I do not overlook the holy
scriptures, which contain the word of the Lord and the words of the
prophets—provided to us to help us successfully cross the finish line.”
*So what are the
three things he said will guide us to a safe return?
It is easy to get
distracted and fill our lives with the things that do not matter, that actually
can get in the way of us using those tools as guidance.
Matthew
6:19–21
19 Lay
not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither
moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For
where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
*Any racer knows you
need fuel to get you through a long race. What are some of these worldly
distractions that get in the way of us making time for our spiritual
nourishment? Media, Internet, worldly
possessions.
President Monson said: I recently visited with a woman who
has been battling a life-threatening disease for over two years. She indicated
that prior to her illness, her days were filled with activities such as
cleaning her house to perfection and filling it with beautiful furnishings. She
visited her hairdresser twice a week and spent money and time each month adding
to her wardrobe. Her grandchildren were invited to visit infrequently, for she
was always concerned that what she considered her precious possessions might be
broken or otherwise ruined by tiny and careless hands.
And then she received the shocking news that her mortal life
was in jeopardy and that she might have very limited time left here. She said
that at the moment she heard the doctor’s diagnosis, she knew immediately that
she would spend whatever time she had remaining with her family and friends and
with the gospel at the center of her life, for these represented what was most
precious to her.
Such moments of clarity come to all of us at one time or
another, although not always through so dramatic a circumstance. We see clearly
what it is that really matters in our lives and how we should be living.
The Apostle Paul said, “Let us lay aside … the sin which
doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set
before us.”
*So why are we here? To receive bodies, to be
tested, to prove ourselves.
Quote
#2 How grateful we should be that a wise Creator fashioned an
earth and placed us here, with a veil of forgetfulness of our previous
existence so that we might experience a time of testing, an opportunity to
prove ourselves in order to qualify for all that God has prepared for us to
receive.
Clearly, one primary purpose of our existence upon the earth
is to obtain a body of flesh and bones. We have also been given the gift of
agency. In a thousand ways we are privileged to choose for ourselves. Here we
learn from the hard taskmaster of experience. We discern between good and evil.
We differentiate as to the bitter and the sweet. We discover that there are
consequences attached to our actions.
By obedience to God’s commandments, we can qualify for that
“house” spoken of by Jesus when He declared: “In my Father’s house are many
mansions. … I go to prepare a place for you … that where I am, there ye may be
also.”
God, our Father, and Jesus Christ, our Lord, have marked the
way to perfection. They beckon us to follow eternal verities and to become
perfect, as They are perfect.
*I have gained a new
perspective on perfection. It is not about coming in first place. It is not
about being flawless. It is about practice and endurance. If someone is
training for a race and falls down do we say oh well you’ll never be a great
runner you might as well give up. If someone is out of breath or gets a leg
cramp and has to sit down for a minute during the race do we say, well at this
rate you won’t make it to first place so you might as well not even try. No, we
need to reach out and give encouragement we pat their shoulder and say you can do
it! Or we reach down, take their hand and help them walk until they have the
strength to run again. That is what our Savior does for us. Brad Wilcox gave a
talk entitled “His Grace is Sufficient” He says: Christ is not waiting at the
finish line once we have done “all we can do” He is with us every step of the
way.
*There are going to be
times when we want to stop running and just walk or sit down because the race
seems too hard. What motivates you to get up and keep going?
Doctrine
and Covenants 10:4
4 Do not
run faster or labor more than you have strength and means provided to enable
you to translate; but be diligent unto the end.
*Last weekend I returned
from a great vacation where I got to spend time with family and friends that I
hadn’t seen for a long time. I had people around me who wanted to help with my
children, and I was able to relax and enjoy a little down time. When I came
home and back to reality it got overwhelming really fast. I think I sat down
too long and I didn’t want to get up again. I left for vacation in the mode of
go go go and came home feeling just plain tired. I started feeling like “man, how long is this
uphill climb?” Then I came to church last Sunday by myself and struggled with
my 4 kids and left feeling like I just couldn’t keep doing this alone. My Home
teachers came over and visited with me. I asked for a blessing of comfort and
received one. I have had several different situations this week where I have
needed help with one thing or another and there have been sisters who have
volunteered and been able to help. These were people who reached out and said: “take my hand, let me help you for a few
moments until you can walk on your own again.” What a blessing! It was just
what I needed.
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. What do you think
this prize is? Eternal life.
President Monson says: In our zeal, let us not overlook the
counsel from Ecclesiastes: “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the
strong.”Actually, the prize belongs to him or her who endures to the end.
*I think sometimes we
can become overwhelmed when we see someone else running their race and they
seem so glide by on smooth flat roads. We may wonder why our race seems to be
one big hill after another, one obstacle after another to overcome. Why do they
have it so easy? Or do they? Who is to say they didn’t have their steep hills
farther back, that maybe the reason they are in such great shape is because of
the challenges they have already overcome. It is my personal belief that we
each have our own custom made races to run. Our personal race is designed to
make us into the people we need to be.
Just as each person’s
race is custom fitted to them, each person’s finish line comes at a different
time. President Monson says: At some period in our mortal mission,
there appears the faltering step, the wan smile, the pain of sickness—even the
fading of summer, the approach of autumn, the chill of winter, and the
experience we call death.
Quote
#3: Every thoughtful person has asked himself the question best
phrased by Job of old: “If a man die, shall he live again?” Try as we might to
put the question out of our thoughts, it always returns. Death comes to all
mankind. It comes to the aged as they walk on faltering feet. Its summons is
heard by those who have scarcely reached midway in life’s journey. At times it
hushes the laughter of little children.
The author Robert Blatchford wrote: “Death is not what some
people imagine. It is only like going into another room. In that other room we
shall find … the dear women and men and the sweet children we have loved and
lost.”
Where
do we go after this life?
Quote
#4: “Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and
the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the
spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea,
the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that
God who gave them life.
“And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those
who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called
paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all
their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.”
It is in the presence of God we desire to dwell. It is a
forever family in which we want membership. Such blessings are earned through a
lifetime of striving, seeking, repenting, and finally succeeding.
Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where do we go
after this life? No longer need these universal questions remain unanswered.
From the very depths of my soul and in all humility, I testify that those
things of which I have spoken are true.
Our Heavenly Father rejoices for those who keep His
commandments. He is concerned also for the lost child, the tardy teenager, the
wayward youth, the delinquent parent. Tenderly the Master speaks to these and
indeed to all: “Come back. Come up. Come in. Come home. Come unto me.”
*Sisters let us
diligently press forward in this race of life. Even when the road gets rough
and the hills seem too long and too high, let us not give up and lose sight of
these most important truths that we know. I know Heavenly Father will bless us,
the Savior will strengthen us, and will send us help when we need it. If we
keep striving in righteousness we will finish the race well.
