It Might Have Been

John Greenleaf Whittier penned these famous words in a poem called Maud Muller: “For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: ‘It might have been!’” I thought of that today as I read the words of Captain Moroni to his government as he mourned the unnecessary loss of life in the city of Nephihah. Men, women, and children had been killed “with an exceedingly great slaughter” by the Lamanites there. Moroni “had supposed that there should be men sent to the city of Nephihah, to the assistance of the people to maintain that city,” but because there weren’t, many innocent Nephites unnecessarily lost their lives (Alma 59:7, 9). It was after this terrible event that Moroni was led by the Spirit to write to the Nephite leaders, and he sorrowed over what might have been if a sufficient army had just been sent in time.

               The language of his letter in Alma 60 underscores Moroni’s lament for what could have been a much better outcome. He wrote, “It might have otherwise been if ye had rendered unto our armies sufficient strength and succor for them” (v5). He also lamented, “Ye might have sent armies unto them, to have strengthened them, and have saved thousands of them from falling by the sword” (v8). Wishing that they had done differently he mourned, “Ye ought to have stirred yourselves more diligently for the welfare and the freedom of this people” (v10). Perhaps envisioning the many children who brutally lost their lives at the hands of the Lamanites he contemplated, “For were it not for the wickedness which first commenced at our head, we could have withstood our enemies that they could have gained no power over us” (v15). Each of these statements suggests the sentiment of what might have been if only those leading the government had acted differently. He summarized his lament in these sorrow-filled words: “If we had united our strength as we hitherto have done; yea, had it not been for the desire of power and authority which those king-men had over us; had they been true to the cause of our freedom, and united with us, and gone forth against our enemies, instead of taking up their swords against us, which was the cause of so much bloodshed among ourselves; yea, if we had gone forth against them in the strength of the Lord, we should have dispersed our enemies, for it would have been done, according to the fulfilling of his word” (v16). Again, all this language ponders what might have been if only they had acted differently and done more to stay faithful to the cause of freedom and unit to protect their country.

               Moroni’s words remind us to seek to live so that we do not have this kind of remorse. We want to have “no regrets” as my friends and I used to say to each other as we departed on missions. Surely there will be many small errors we make in life for which we will have some level of regret, but we do not want regrets the size of the calamity of Nephihah to be with us. That means we have to take the long view and look ahead and understand what will have really mattered in our lives when we get to the end. For example, President Oaks commented, “I have never known of a man who looked back on his working life and said, ‘I just didn’t spend enough time with my job.’” It will not be our careers but our relationships and love of the Lord that in the end, will have mattered most. If our primary aim has been prestige and power like those king-men Moroni referred to, we may one day say to ourselves with Whittier, “It might have been.”