Seeketh So To Do

To my son,

               In one of my favorite talks Brother Brad Wilcox spoke about how taking piano lessons is like the gospel. He said this: “Christ’s arrangement with us is similar to a mom providing music lessons for her child. Mom pays the piano teacher. How many know what I am talking about? Because Mom pays the debt in full, she can turn to her child and ask for something. What is it? Practice! Does the child’s practice pay the piano teacher? No. Does the child’s practice repay Mom for paying the piano teacher? No. Practicing is how the child shows appreciation for Mom’s incredible gift. It is how he takes advantage of the amazing opportunity Mom is giving him to live his life at a higher level. Mom’s joy is found not in getting repaid but in seeing her gift used—seeing her child improve. And so she continues to call for practice, practice, practice.” Does that sound familiar? Our life here is like learning the piano—the Savior has paid for the opportunity for us to learn, and He asks us to practice and learn as much as we can. He continued by explaining how someone might respond to him: “'But Brother Wilcox, don’t you realize how hard it is to practice? I’m just not very good at the piano. I hit a lot of wrong notes. It takes me forever to get it right.’ Now wait. Isn’t that all part of the learning process? When a young pianist hits a wrong note, we don’t say he is not worthy to keep practicing. We don’t expect him to be flawless. We just expect him to keep trying. Perfection may be his ultimate goal, but for now we can be content with progress in the right direction.” In our work to master a talent and in our efforts to become like the Savior, we need practice and it is okay to make mistakes. The Lord is more concerned with the direction we are headed and the intents of our heart than with our specific accomplishments.

               Each week when we partake of the sacrament we make a promise about three things: remembering the Savior, keeping His commandments, and taking His name upon us. There is a key word in the prayer which suggests that we don’t need to do these things perfectly—we just need to be trying. The word is willing. When we take the bread we testify that we are willing to take upon us the name of Christ. I believe this suggests that the Lord realizes that we won’t be able to perfectly keep the commandments or always remember Him, but we can try and be willing and do our best. In another scripture the Lord said that the spiritual gifts He wants us to have are “given for the benefit of those who love me and keep all my commandments, and him that seeketh so to do” (Doctrine and Covenants 46:9). We don’t have to keep the commandments perfectly, but we need to be seeking to do that and keep improving when we make mistakes. I love the way that the Lord put it when describing Oliver Granger who was given a difficult task to accomplish: “Let him contend earnestly for the redemption of the First Presidency of my Church, saith the Lord; and when he falls he shall rise again, for his sacrifice shall be more sacred unto me than his increase, saith the Lord” (Doctrine and Covenants 117:13). We too must contend earnestly to be better and do what the Lord asks us, but we will at times fall and that’s okay. The Lord blesses us for our sacrifice and effort even if we struggle. I know that the Lord loves you and will help you through His grace become the very best person you can be.

 

Love,

Dad