I Am Only One

I’m listening to a book right now that takes place in Cambodia.  While I believe the book is a fictional account, it portrays examples of some of the intense suffering in that country among the poor.  It also speaks of the terrible deeds of some evil individuals that cause innocent children unthinkable misery.  The fact that organizations such as this one even exist show that there really are people in our world who are that terrible.  Trying to wrap my brain around the fact that such wickedness could exist makes me think of Mormon’s lament at his people, “O the depravity of my people! They are without order and without mercy….  Thou knowest the wickedness of this people; thou knowest that they are without principle, and past feeling; and their wickedness doth exceed that of the Lamanites” (Moroni 9:18, 20).  That Mormon—who told us that he did “love little children with a perfect love”—was able to emotionally and spiritually survive these times when “the suffering of [the] women and [the] children upon all the face of this land [did] exceed everything” is simply amazing (Moroni 8:17, 9:19). 

              So how should one respond to the knowledge of the atrocities across the globe in our day?  In one sense we can do very little as individuals, and thinking about macro type statistics will always leave us feeling that there is nothing we can do to help the various crises around the world.  As President Packer said to us regarding the “war with the forces of the adversary” that we are engaged in, “You might think, ‘What can I do? I am only one person.’”  My favorite answer to this comes from the famous quote by Edward Everett Hale, “I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do. And by the grace of God, I will.”  I think this is really the sentiment behind the Lord’s injunction in our time, “Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness” (D&C 58:27).  Perhaps the Lord is telling us that there are many good causes that we could be engaged in, and we surely cannot participate in them all.  But we can do something in some cause the bring to pass righteousness to help somebody—even if global problems of poverty and abuse and war and famine remain.  As Mother Teresa said, “We can do no great things, only small things with great love.”  These ideas are embodied well in the popular story of the boy on the beach throwing starfish back into the ocean.  When told there were miles and miles of beach with starfish and that he couldn’t possibly make a difference, he picked one up and threw it into the ocean and said, “It made a difference for that one.”  The best example for us of course is the Savior who “went about doing good” during His life (Acts 10:38).  He helped all those that were placed in His path, and the fact that there were others across the globe that He wasn’t able to be with didn’t stop Him from helping the people He was with.