Spriritual Stability

Elder Renlund recounted a story from Sweden’s history about a king named Gustav II Adolf who in the 1600s had a warship built for their kingdom.  Elder Renlund recounted, “After construction had begun, Gustav Adolf ordered the Vasa to be made longer. Because the width supports had already been built from precious oak, the king directed the builders to increase the ship’s length without increasing its width. Although the shipwrights knew that doing so would compromise the Vasa’s seaworthiness, they were hesitant to tell the king something they knew he did not want to hear. They complied.”  He told of other modifications that the king made which should have been made, and then Elder Renlund told how on its maiden voyage the ship sunk.  He explained, “Despite the Vasa’s magnificent appearance, the ship was not seaworthy. The alterations in its construction resulted in it not having sufficient lateral stability to enable safe seafaring. Gustav Adolf’s desire for an extravagant status symbol ruined the design of what would have been a magnificent sailing vessel, the mightiest warship of its time.”  He used this story to talk about the spiritual stability that we need in our lives to be able to successfully navigate the challenges that we face.  It’s not our outward appearance or even how the world sees us that matters; it’s what’s on the inside and how we have constructed our own spiritual foundation that will make the difference. 

               Today is my oldest child’s birthday, and thinking about this story makes me consider how I can send her off into the world at some point in the future with “sufficient lateral stability” to successfully navigate her journey in life.  There are of course many things which will contribute to spiritual stability, but what marks me as at least one of the most important habits that I can help her to develop is that of daily scripture study.  I remember once walking through the city of Nice on my mission having a conversation with another missionary.  I don’t remember exactly what he said, but he made a comment something like this: “You seem to be pretty emotionally stable.  What do you do to maintain this?”  I’m not sure I really had it all together like he thought I did, but as I considered his question the only answer that made sense to me was simply, “I read the Book of Mormon every day.”  There are many reasons that we read the scriptures: to learn the doctrines of the gospel; to receive revelation for our lives; and to be obedient to the Lord’s commands.  But I think there is another reason as well which is to simply to bring a stability and anchor to our daily lives that we really can’t get in any other way.  Sincerely reading the scriptures each day does not change our problems or protect us from life’s challenges.  But I believe that it does give us the “lateral stability” that we need to stay steady and sure when those challenges hit us from all sides.  One of my favorite scriptures about the scriptures comes from Moses: “Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.  And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up” (Deuteronomy 11:18-19).  One of my most important jobs as a parent is to get the words of God into my heart and then to teach them to my children at every opportunity that arises.  I can’t control the destiny of my children, but I can try to equip them with a love of the scriptures that will hopefully give them the spiritual stability they will need in their lives.