The Bishop of Digne

My uncle once said to me that he thought every new bishop in the Church ought to read the story of Bishop Myriel covered in the first 60 pages of Les Misérables by Victor Hugo.  His humble life was one of complete devotion to God that was shown through his unceasing service to those in need around him.  One of my favorite anecdotes about this bishop comes near the very beginning of the book when he came to occupy his post as Bishop in Digne. 

Shortly after arriving at the house that was designated for the bishop, he visited the nearby hospital and found it small and full of beds with the sick.  He called the director of the hospital to come to his house and they examined the number of beds that could fit there.  The bishop then said, “There is apparently an error.  You are 26 people in five or six little rooms.  We are three here and we have room for 60, there is an error, I tell you, you have my place and I have yours.  Give me my house; this is yours.”  And so the bishop moved into the small hospital and his spacious home was turned into the hospital.  His story reminds me of the Savior’s words that “he that is greatest among you shall be your servant” (Matthew 23:11).  The Savior of course showed that He really meant that in the way that He served the people during the three years of his ministry; the creator of the world did not even have a home of his own: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (Luke 9:58).  During the final hours of His life, though He was their “Master and Lord,” yet he washed their feet and told them simply, “Ye also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14).  Whereas the world teaches us that the popular men and women of our day should be admired and put on a pedestal for all to see, the gospel teaches us that truly great men and women humbly put others before themselves.  Clearly President Monson is an example for us in this regard as he has spent his life in service to those in need.  Elder Holland’s brief story of President Monson from last general conference is representative of the prophet’s life’s work: “The image of him I will cherish until I die is of him flying home from then–economically devastated East Germany in his house slippers because he had given away not only his second suit and his extra shirts but the very shoes from off his feet” (General Conference, October 2014).  I’m not sure how we get to the point where our first instinct is to give rather than keep for ourselves, but President Monson and the bishop of Digne (who gave even to the ex-convict who stole from him) surely stand as models for us to follow.