A Memorial of Faith

I was shocked along with the rest of the world yesterday to see Notre-Dame de Paris on fire.  I last visited it about two years ago, and I remember the awe I felt by the height alone as I walked through it and gazed up the 850 year old building.  What impressed me most I think was imagining the faith and determination of those who built it.  To me it is an engineering marvel, and to think that it was done without any of the modern equipment is amazing.  Who knows how many thousands of the French people from 1160 – 1260 labored to raise this incredible edifice.  No matter what kind of corruption doubtless existed then among some religious leaders at the time, surely there was much sincere faith put into that building by the masses who constructed it.  Though those who worked on it remain nameless today, the building has stood through the centuries as a testament to the Christian faith. 

I wonder if some who labored to build it felt that their minor contributions would never amount to anything because of the greatness of the project.  But the Lord doesn’t look upon the magnitude of our achievements to measure us, but on the devotion and goodness of the heart.  Or, as he said to Oliver Granger, “His sacrifice shall be more sacred unto me than his increase, saith the Lord.”  Though in the Church we speak little of Oliver Granger and most wouldn’t know who he was, the Lord does and promised that He would always remember his contribution: “His name shall be had in sacred remembrance from generation to generation, forever and ever”  (Doctrine and Covenants 117:12-13).  In the same manner, surely the Lord remembers the faith of all those who have ever sought to serve Him.  Jesus taught, “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows” (Matt. 10:29-31).  We need not worry whether our service is seen of men; we need only to worry about pleasing the Lord.  And usually the service that really counts to God is not readily appreciated by men.  Near the end of the Savior’s life, “There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head.”  Some of the disciples were upset, saying that the service she had done was wasteful.  But the Lord responded, “Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me….  Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her” (Matt. 26:7-13).  Her great service, though rejected by peers, would be remembered by the Lord.  The same surely goes for the widow who cast in two mites the treasury.  I remember once as I walked through a museum in Cairo, Egypt being impressed by a humble Muslim man who, at one of the appointed times for prayer, went unassumingly into a corner and knelt down before his God.  Doubtless this man never did anything in life that would be heralded by men, surely God saw his faith and he too will be remembered for his devotion to the Lord.  The Father “seeth in secret” and will reward us in His own way (3 Nephi 13:4).  We all hope that the cathedral at Notre-Dame can be rebuilt and rise from the ashes as a memorial of faith for woman and man who through the centuries has labored to serve God in his or her own small way.