Elder Maxwell never disappoints
Pure genius. Pure spirit.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell has never disappointed me when it comes to inspiration and just downright deep insight.
My New Testament teacher told us about this talk today, and I plan on printing out a copy and sticking it in my scriptures/journal.
It's called "The Women of God". He gave it in General Conference in 1978 when he was a member of the Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy.
It's not super long (which, let's be honest, is nice), but it has AMAZING insight and comfort for women. I am seriously feeling really good about myself right now. :)
Just on a personal note, I think it is so nice to hear every once in while how much we women are loved in this church. I'm not saying we aren't loved at all, because I know the General Authorities, leaders, and most importantly, the Lord loves us women so much. And they are grateful for the examples we try to set in this crazy world.
Yet....
.....it's nice to get a little praise every so often. :) it means I'm doing what I should be. And that I'm on the right path....
And Elder Maxwell just puts a smile on your face. Enjoy :)
Song of the Day: Light Your Lamp---Doris Day
The Women of God
We know so
little, brothers and sisters, about the reasons for the division of
duties between womanhood and manhood as well as between motherhood and
priesthood. These were divinely determined in another time and another
place. We are accustomed to focusing on the men of God because theirs is
the priesthood and leadership line. But paralleling that authority line
is a stream of righteous influence reflecting the remarkable women of
God who have existed in all ages and dispensations, including our own.
Greatness is not measured by coverage in column inches, either in
newspapers or in the scriptures. The story of the women of God,
therefore, is, for now, an untold drama within a drama.
We men know the
women of God as wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, associates, and
friends. You seem to tame us and to gentle us, and, yes, to teach us and
to inspire us. For you, we have admiration as well as affection,
because righteousness is not a matter of role, nor goodness a matter of
gender. In the work of the Kingdom, men and women are not without each
other, but do not envy each other, lest by reversals and renunciations
of role we make a wasteland of both womanhood and manhood.
Just as certain
men were foreordained from before the foundations of the world, so were
certain women appointed to certain tasks. Divine design—not
chance—brought Mary forward to be the mother of Jesus. The boy prophet, Joseph Smith, was blessed not only with a great father but also with a superb mother, Lucy Mack, who influenced a whole dispensation.
When we would
measure loving loyalty in a human relationship, do we not speak of Ruth
and Naomi even more than David and Jonathan? And no wonder God with His
perfect regard for women is so insistent about our obligations to
widows.
A widow with
her mite taught us how to tithe. An impoverished and starving widow with
her hungry son taught us how to share, as she gave her meal and oil to
Elijah. The divine maternal instincts of an Egyptian woman retrieved Moses from the bullrushes, thereby shaping history and demonstrating how a baby is a blessing—not a burden.
What greater
conversation of anticipation has there been than that of Elisabeth and
Mary when also the babe in Elisabeth leaped in recognition of Mary? (Luke 1:41).
Does it not
tell us much about the intrinsic intelligence of women to read of the
crucifixion scene at Calvary, “And many women were there beholding afar
off.” (Matt. 27:55.) Their presence was a prayer; their lingering was like a litany.
And who came first to the empty tomb of the risen Christ? Two women.
Who was the
first mortal to see the resurrected Savior? Mary of Magdala. Special
spiritual sensitivity keeps the women of God hoping long after many
others have ceased.
The charity of
good women is such that their “love makes no parade”; they are not glad
“when others go wrong”; they are too busy serving to sit statusfully
about, waiting to be offended. Like Mary, they ponder trustingly those
puzzlements that disable others. God trusts women so much that He lets
them bear and care for His spirit children.
In our modern
kingdom, it is no accident that women were, through the Relief Society,
assigned compassionate service. So often the service of women seems
instinctive, while that of some men seems more labored. It is precisely
because the daughters of Zion are so uncommon that the adversary will
not leave them alone.
We salute you,
sisters, for the joy that is yours as you rejoice in a baby’s first
smile and as you listen with eager ear to a child’s first day at school
which bespeaks a special selflessness. Women, more quickly than others,
will understand the possible dangers when the word self is militantly placed before other words like fulfillment.
You rock a sobbing child without wondering if today’s world is passing
you by, because you know you hold tomorrow tightly in your arms.
So often our
sisters comfort others when their own needs are greater than those being
comforted. That quality is like the generosity of Jesus on the cross.
Empathy during agony is a portion of divinity!
I thank the
Father that His Only Begotten Son did not say in defiant protest at
Calvary, “My body is my own!” I stand in admiration of women today who
resist the fashion of abortion, by refusing to make the sacred womb a tomb!
When the real
history of mankind is fully disclosed, will it feature the echoes of
gunfire or the shaping sound of lullabies? The great armistices made by
military men or the peacemaking of women in homes and in neighborhoods?
Will what happened in cradles and kitchens prove to be more controlling
than what happened in congresses? When the surf of the centuries has
made the great pyramids so much sand, the everlasting family will still be standing, because it is a celestial institution, formed outside telestial time. The women of God know this.
No wonder the
men of God support and sustain you sisters in your unique roles, for the
act of deserting home in order to shape society is like thoughtlessly
removing crucial fingers from an imperiled dike in order to teach people
to swim.
We men love
you for meeting inconsiderateness with consideration and selfishness
with selflessness. We are touched by the eloquence of your example. We
are deeply grateful for your enduring us as men when we are not at our
best because—like God—you love us not only for what we are, but for what
we have the power to become.
We have
special admiration for the unsung but unsullied single women among whom
are some of the noblest daughters of God. These sisters know that God
loves them, individually and distinctly. They make wise career choices
even though they cannot now have the most choice career. Though in their
second estate they do not have their first desire, they still overcome
the world. These sisters who cannot now enrich the institution of their
own marriage so often enrich other institutions in society. They do not
withhold their blessings simply because some blessings are now withheld
from them. Their trust in God
is like that of the wives who are childless, but not by choice, but who
in the justice of God will receive special blessings one day.
I, along with my brethren of the priesthood, express undying gratitude
to our eternal partners. We know that we can go no place that matters
without you, nor would we have it otherwise. When we kneel to pray, we
kneel together. When we kneel at the altar of the holy temple, we kneel
together. When we approach the final gate where Jesus Himself is the
gatekeeper, we will, if faithful, pass through that gate together.
The prophet
who sits with us today could tell us of such togetherness, when at the
time of his overwhelming apostolic calling he was consoled by his
Camilla, who met his anguished, sobbing sense of inadequacy and, running
her fingers through his hair, said, “You can do it, you can do it.” He
surely has done it, but with her at his side.
Notice, brethren, how all the prophets treat their wives and honor women, and let us do likewise!
Finally,
remember: When we return to our real home, it will be with the “mutual
approbation” of those who reign in the “royal courts on high.” There we
will find beauty such as mortal “eye hath not seen”; we will hear sounds
of surpassing music which mortal “ear hath not heard.” Could such a
regal homecoming be possible without the anticipatory arrangements of a
Heavenly Mother?
Meanwhile,
there are no separate paths back to that heavenly home. Just one
straight and narrow way, at the end of which, though we arrive trailing
tears, we shall at once be “drenched in joy.” I so testify in the name
of Jesus Christ. Amen.
About the Author
0 comments