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“Just as He wanted them to be” Talk presented in SM by Roy on 6/19/11 – Father’s Day
[Personal Introduction] Not too long ago I was visiting both wards. I wasn’t sure where my family and I would end up living, and I felt it would be nice to get a head start in fellowshipping whatever ward we would end up calling our own. In this time the B family had invited me over to join them for dinner. In polite conversation Sister B urged me to join the ward choir of which she is the director. I had a list of reasons why that didn’t appeal to me, but rather than to be rude…I made an effort to be non-committal.
In the ensuing weeks as I was trying to kill time between ward sessions, I heard such lovely music. Like a moth to the flame, I drew too near and they saw me. I was asked what part I sing. {shrug} Well…I had always sung the melody and I can’t really read music. What could I say? … I quickly pointed at Brother B and blurted out, “I’ll sing with him.”
We sang base. It turns out that in a choir everyone has different voices but rather than try to sing the same, we sing
differentparts. There are soprano, alto, tenor, and base – the combination of which becomes a beautiful harmony. Life is a lot like this. Elder Wirthlin in his landmark talk “Concern for the One” says the following, “[some] may look, act, think, and speak differently than those around them and that sometimes causes them to assume they don’t fit in. They conclude that they are not needed. Tied to this misconception is the erroneous belief that all members of the Church should look, talk, and be alike. The Lord did not people the earth with a vibrant orchestra of personalities only to value the piccolos of the world. Every instrument is precious and adds to the complex beauty of the symphony. All of Heavenly Father’s children are different in some degree, yet each has his own beautiful sound that adds depth and richness to the whole. The variety of creation itself is a testament of how the Lord values all His children.”
One of the biggest surprises of fatherhood to me was to realize how different each member of our family is. When we were young parents, my Mom and Dad came to visit us. When it came time for our 2 year old daughter, J, to go to bed -I took her into her bedroom, read her a short bedtime story, turned on her nightlight, kissed her goodnight and closed the door. My parents were amazed, “that’s all you have to do?” they asked incredulously. I shrugged my shoulders and said something to the effect of, “we’re just awesome parents.”
When my son, R, was old enough to start a regular bedtime we found out what my parents were referring to. Bedtime is no longer a quiet blissful experience in the Jones household. Our parenting has remained the same, but our children are different. This one example is just the tip of the iceberg for the many differences between our children. I hope to never catch myself saying, “Why can’t you be more like your sister?” or conversely “Why can’t you be more like your brother?” Each of us came to earth with unique and wonderful personalities. Following Elder Wirthlin’s lead, I like to think of our family as an orchestra, each unique and special, everyone contributing immeasurably to the beauty of the whole.
This applies to our church family as well. The apostle Paul spoke of this variation in explaining the diversity of spiritual gifts in his letter to the Corinthians: 1 Cor. 12: 14-18
14) The body is not one member but many.
15) If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body: is it therefore not of the body?
16)And if the ear shall say, because I am not the eye, I am not of the body: is it therefore not of the body?
17)If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole body were hearing, where were the smelling?
And now verse 18)But now hath God set the members, every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
The New International Version of the Bible renders this same verse as follows, “But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be.”
And later in the same letter, Paul wrote, (1 Cor. 15: 10) …”by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain”
Wow, that is some powerful stuff.
Elder Uchdorf spoke about one aspect of the diversity that makes him different, that of his family’s faith heritage. He said, “I marvel at the different backgrounds of members of the Church. You come from all walks of life—all cultures, languages, political circumstances, and religious traditions.
This multiplicity of life experiences has caused me to reflect on the message of one of our hymns, “Faith of Our Fathers.”
The faith of our fathers—I love that phrase…. When my own family contemplates the phrase “faith of our fathers,” often it is the Lutheran faith that comes to mind. For generations our ancestors belonged to that denomination. In fact, my son recently discovered that one of our family lines connects back to Martin Luther himself.
We honor and respect sincere souls from all religions, no matter where or when they lived…We embrace them as brothers and sisters, children of our Heavenly Father….
As the restored Church of Jesus Christ blossoms throughout the globe—now with more than 13 million members—”the faith of our fathers” has an expanded meaning. For some, it could refer to their family’s heritage in one of the hundreds of Christian faiths; for others, it could refer to Middle-Eastern, Asian, or African faiths and traditions.” Faith of Our Father (Apr 2008)
The early saints were all converts and they brought many elements of their former faith traditions and diverse heritage with them. While some of these things later fell by the wayside, many elements were impactful and the effects of which continue to be felt today in music and meeting structure, as well as in other respects. These differences contribute to the vibrancy and harmony of the whole. What heritage do you bring? How has this coloured your perspective? How can the rest of us learn and grow from what you have to offer?
Sister Okazaki, the first non-Caucasian member of a church general board and also the first in a general presidency comes to us with a Buddhist heritage. She has such a gift for seeing beauty in the harmony. She had this to say, “Diversity is a strength. I attend a lot of meetings where I’m the only woman. And I attend many, many meetings where I’m the only Oriental woman. Have you ever had the feeling that you’re the odd one, the different one? Maybe even too odd or different for this church? The truth is that you’re not odd—you’re special. When white light falls on a wall, it makes a white wall. But when it passes through a prism, that same light makes a rainbow on the wall…[Like God during creation, I’d like to say]”Let there be light.” All kinds of light! Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet light. We need our differences.” (Lighten up! 17)
In Hawaii, I was surrounded from babyhood by differences- in language, in physical appearance, in dress, in economic level, in religion, in traditional men’s and women’s roles, in education, in race, in life-styles, and in customs. I observed differences, but I did not learn to label them as “good” or “bad”… Being different, I internalized, is all right. Heavenly Father wants differences. He does not make two identical blossoms or two snowflakes that are the same” (ibid 122-3)
Thank you, Sister Okazaki for not giving up and thinking that you were too different for the Lord’s church. Thank you for being you and for choosing to be you while in our midst. May you continue to shine.
Brother G (who assigned me to speak on testimony) is probably wondering right about now, “that sounds good and all but what does it have to do with testimony?” Well, I will tell you.
Testimony means to witness or to give witness. A “witness” is an:
“individual who, being present, personally sees or perceives a thing; a beholder, spectator, or eyewitness.”
Now I wasn’t physically present at Gethsemane, I wasn’t there with the remaining 11 apostles in the upper room to feel the prints in the hands of our Savior, or in the sacred grove to see the personages descending upon the boy, Joseph Smith. What then is my witness? My testimony?
I can confidently testify to some things. In fact, I know enough about one subject to be considered an expert – my life. I can testify to the feelings of joy and love I felt when I emerged from the waters of baptism and embraced my father. I can speak to the feeling of power I felt as I laid my hands upon the head of a young man and participated in his being set apart as a missionary. I know about the sealing power of the priesthood that binds me to my dear wife and about the process of becoming one that we have been working on these last seven years. I can witness the miracle that is the first moment I hold my newborn child in my arms. I know something about the pain and despair I felt after we lost our third child and about the tender mercies of our Savior as He came for me and comforted me. In short: the manifestation of Heavenly Father’s love and grace in my life
is my testimony, and my faith in the restored gospel is built upon this. I can’t speak with any degree of certainty about others, but as I analyze
mytestimony. I see that the fabric of it is literally made up of thousands of experiences that combine together to form a “witness.” I may not be able to remember most of the moments that have shaped my testimony. Still, all of these instances have left their mark and contributed to the whole. (see also Testimony as a Process, Elder Carlos Godoy November 2008) I am left with a tapestry in progress, adding line upon line and thread upon thread, to discover as Jesus said in the Pearl of Great Price – that all things testify of Him (Moses 6:63) Each little strand in its own way and the whole mosaic together bear record that He is the Christ. Because our individual testimonies come through varied experiences and at different stages, it is to be expected that there should be some variation and nuance in how each of us experience the Restored Gospel. (See also Elder Donald L. Staheli of the Seventy Saturday, Oct. 9, 2004 ) Elder Uchdorf says, “A testimony is very personal and may be a little different for each of us, because everyone is a unique person.” [The Power of a Personal Testimony (Oct 2006) Uchdorf]
OK, so I am a unique and special child of my Heavenly Father – I have my testimony – I can tell you all about it…what next?
Elder Bednar adds a new twist. He states, “We should remember that bearing a heartfelt testimony is only a beginning. We need to bear testimony, we need to mean it, and most importantly we need consistently to live it. We need to both declare and live our testimonies.” David A. Bednar, “More Diligent and Concerned at Home,” Ensign, Nov. 2009, 19
Live my testimony? What could he mean by that? Well if my testimony is derived from the meaning of my life experiences and they testify of Christ and form a witness of Him, then to live my testimony means to move forward with that purpose and meaning and to encourage the future experiences to be more meaningful and fulfilling than the past. It can become like a feedback loop of testimony…self sustaining. We can live our testimonies by standing “as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places.” (Mosiah 18:9) Our lives are as songs, lived and sung to His glory.
The group Casting Crowns has a song called Lifesong that adds meaning to living your testimony. In practicing my talk with my wife she gave me one point of advice – she asked me to please, please, please don’t sing!!! So I will just read these excerpts to you instead.
May the words I say
And the things I do
Make my lifesong sing
Bring a smile to you
I want to sign your name
to the end of this day
Knowing that my heart was true
Let my lifesong sing to You
Your lifesong is unique and personal. Remember what Elder Wirthlin said, “The Lord did not people the earth with a vibrant orchestra of personalities only to value the piccolos of the world.” A piccolo is a type of flute that produces sound an octave higher than a traditional flute. “Piccolos are often orchestrated to double (i.e., to play together with) the violins or the flutes, adding sparkle and brilliance to the overall sound because of the contrast”. I got that from Wikipedia, what it means is that Piccolos by themselves don’t sound so great, they need a group of different instruments to really shine. What instrument do you play in your lifesong? Is it a saxophone, the drums, a tambourine, an accordion, or a kazoo (my own daughter seems partial to the maracas)? Play it to glorify God and to show gratitude for your gift…the gift of being you.
In honor of Father’s Day I would like to testify as though you were my kids. You are all somebody’s kids and also all Heavenly Father’s kids so this shouldn’t be too much of a stretch.
I testify that you are of Worth, that your value is not correlated to your actions. I know that your Heavenly Father, who knows you completely – every nook and cranny, also loves you completely. Your life has prepared you to be you, and your unique contribution adds completeness to the whole. I know that we need you. I wish to encourage you to cultivate and develop what it means to be you in the Light of Christ and without fear. Take my hand, let’s do it together. Or as Sister B might say in one of our choir practices, “Let’s try it all together now, from the top.” I share this with you from my heart, and in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
Wonderful, Roy – truly wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing this with us. Beautiful talk. I even went and re-read Concern for the One. Thank you for sharing your vision and testimony with us. I’m glad to be included in your ward. I had sent a copy of my talk to my former Bishop (and all around lovable guy) from several moves ago. I just got a response back: Quote:What a great talk!!!!!!!!
That’s what bothers me about the no beard/mustache policy in temple work.
It’s kind of tough for the workers to be told not to be different when the two primary persons in the ceremony/pagent have beards and mustaches.
Truly like the talk but I’ve always enjoyed and been edified by your work.
Take care of each other and God Bless.
That was wonderful Roy. I loved this paragraph:
Quote:The early saints were all converts and they brought many elements of their former faith traditions and diverse heritage with them. While some of these things later fell by the wayside, many elements were impactful and the effects of which continue to be felt today in music and meeting structure, as well as in other respects. These differences contribute to the vibrancy and harmony of the whole. What heritage do you bring? How has this coloured your perspective? How can the rest of us learn and grow from what you have to offer?
I nominate Roy to speak in General Conference in October.
:thumbup: Yes, I love that passage too. I suggest we start referring to him as Roy R. Royerson. Just to bring that enlightened, apostolic ring to it 
Roy linked to this post in a comment on another thread, and it deserves to be bumped up so those who weren’t around when he posted it can read his talk, also. This one is my favorite from Elder Royerson. I’ll quote from him any day. 🙂 Great post…talk. this happened during my exile, so I missed it the first time. Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
What a wonderful talk Roy. I don’t usually stay interested in the longer posts, but I read yours all the way through (twice). A very powerful message. Thanks for sharing it.
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