THIS IS MY WORK AND MY GLORY

When I read the scriptures I choke up when I come across sentences such as "I am Helaman, the son of Alma" (Alma 58:41) or "I am Mormon, and I am a disciple of Jesus Christ" (3 Nephi 5:12,13). I lap up the war chapters of The Book of Mormon where Moroni, Helaman, Teancum and Antipus distinguish themselves in war strategies and moments of battle, and I want to bow to Lehi, at the mention of whose name the Lamanites trembled because "they feared Lehi exceedingly" (Alma 49:17). I long to have the penmanship skills of Isaiah and unnerving passion of Jeremiah who could not refrain from preaching because "the word of God was as a burning fire shut up in his bones" (Jeremiah 20:9). I see people all through the scriptures and I see people everywhere in this rich tapestry of life we call mortality. I imagine if there were no mortal days of probation I might never have heard of a man called Abraham Lincoln in the vastness of the Universe or been moved by music written by Mozart or heard Renee Fleming sing Casta Diva. What an amazing gift it is to be a witness of someone's unique expression of self and of the mark they leave on this world. What an amazing assortment of humanity we are. I marvel at our uniqueness, our creativity, our intelligence, our very essence and all that we are and are yet to become.

When Moses encountered God on Mount Sinai, God revealed Himself to him and Moses saw the glory of God and every particle of this earth and all the children of men (Moses 1:8,27) that have ever been created. The vision of God's power was overwhelming to a man who grew up in an Egyptian court believing that Pharoah was god and there was no one greater than him so he exclaimed that now he could see that man is nothing (Moses :10). God, however, didn't want Moses to miss the point so He showed him the same vision again and concluded it with the most important message in the scriptures: "For behold this is my work and my glory - to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). The point that God didn't want Moses to miss is this: amongst all of God's creations, none are greater than man. Why? Because man constitutes Gods glory. All that we are and all that we become matters because it leads to our glory and adds to His.

Most of us will not earn a page in the annals of history. Most of us will never become another Abraham Lincoln or Mozart or Helaman or Isaiah. We can, however, fight a good fight, do much good, accomplish our purpose, become the best we can possibly be. In the words of Abraham Lincoln: "Whatever you are, be a good one". And in the process, share your uniqueness with the world because according to Dr. Seuss: "Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You". How true and how magnificant are you!