A few days ago, my daughter came running out of the house
to me to declare that we had a “big flood” in the bathroom. I ran in to see
what was happening to find that the sink had overflowed and the bathroom and
carpet were soaked. My wife was desperately trying to stop the water from spreading
any further, and I ran downstairs to check the room beneath where the water was
flowing. I was shocked to see water coming down everywhere from the ceiling. We
frantically tried to start catching the water, putting down towels, and moving
wet items. In the midst of the chaos, with my four-year-old crying because she
didn’t understand what was happening, that same daughter who found the flood
said to me, “Daddy, maybe we should say a prayer?” I thought of that moment again
this morning as I read Elder Mark A. Bragg’s talk on Christlike
Poise from the most recent general conference. He quoted what the UCLA
basketball coach John Wooden said to him personally, “Be sure to have poise in
every situation. Be a good man in a storm.” Elder Bragg continued, “That
counsel to be calm, cool, and collected in all situations, particularly in
times of adversity and pressure, resonated with me…. Spiritual poise blesses us
to stay calm and focused on what matters most, especially when we are under
pressure.” My daughter certainly showed great poise and a focus on what mattered
most as we dealt with the stress of an unpleasant situation. I was proud of her
for realizing that everything was going to be okay despite the turmoil and for turning
to prayer in such a moment.
One
of the examples of failing to keep spiritual poise that Elder Bragg shared is the
moment when Peter lashed out at Malchus and cut off his ear on that fateful
night in the Garden of Gethsemane: “To contrast the difference between losing
and maintaining poise, think about what happened as Christ and His Apostles
left the Garden of Gethsemane. When confronted by soldiers seeking to arrest Jesus,
Peter’s reaction was to lose his poise and lash out violently by cutting off
the ear of the high priest’s servant, Malchus. Jesus Christ’s reaction, on the
other hand, was to keep His poise and to bring calm to a tense situation by
healing Malchus.” Peter, it would seem, had not quite kept his poise, but what followed
showed that there is hope for us even when in the past we have not been able to
keep calm like we wish we could: “And for those of us who struggle with
maintaining our poise and perhaps have grown discouraged, consider the rest of
Peter’s story. A short time after this incident and the heartbreak of denying
his association with Christ, Peter stood before the very same religious leaders
who condemned the Savior, and with great poise under intense questioning, he
bore eloquent testimony of the divinity of Jesus Christ.” Indeed, Peter—under
the threat of prison and physical harm—calmly bore witness of the Savior. He declared
to those Jewish leaders who had brought him in and threatened him, “We ought to
obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew
and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince
and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And
we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God
hath given to them that obey him” (Acts 5:29-32). Peter was indeed beaten for
his testimony, but with great Christlike poise, he went away “rejoicing that
they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name” (Acts 5:41). I hope that
I can learn to have the Christlike poise that Peter demonstrated in the book of
Acts and that my daughter showed me this week. Elder Bragg summarized his
message to us with these encouraging words, “As we remember who we are, knowing
that there is a divine plan of mercy and drawing courage in the strength of the
Lord, we can do all things. We will find calm. We will be good women and men in
any storm. May we seek the blessings of Christlike poise, not only to help
ourselves in challenging times but to bless others and help them through the
storms in their lives.”
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