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TheDiscipleMD

Many years ago, I was attending a Stake Conference presided over by  Elder Neil L. Anderson of the Twelve. The conference was filled with good advice and inspiring counsel.  I thoroughly enjoyed the messages. One of the more inspiring lessons I was taught wasn’t while I was seated in the meetings.  Rather, it was in a conversation I held with the Stake Patriarch between sessions.

I found myself sitting with him at a meal that had been prepared for us in between meetings.  He and I have known each other for many years. We have served together in various capacities.  I hold him in very high esteem.  We exchanged pleasantries and then I asked him about his health and that of his family. We briefly chatted and then he told me the life story of a faithful man who had recently passed on to the other side of the veil. This faithful Latter-Day-Saint man had been blind from birth. Nevertheless, despite his blindness, he had raised a large family unto the Lord. He had championed the cause of the blind in his city and been a leader in various community groups. He had served in multiple capacities in the church.  He apparently had been a light to all he came into contact with. He used his disability to inspire and motivate all those around him. He lived and died without bitterness and anger as to his plight.

As I listened to the Patriarch tell the life story of another “anonymous” soul, I couldn’t help but feel ashamed about my own attitude toward life. When compared to this man, I could vividly see that he had been presented a life of challenges that made mine pale in comparison. I was again reminded that I needed to be grateful for my many blessings. Clearly, the Patriarch had been inspired and motivated by this man’s life. Time ran out on our conversation as another meeting was about to begin. But I left that table with a renewed determination to “count my blessings” and not take for granted the everyday gifts of life, like my sight. This great man has since passed on to the other side but his footprints have been deep in the lives of those who knew him. I cherish every interaction I had with him. My mind reflected on the words found in the scriptures:

“And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things…” (D&C 59:21)

If there is anything that most of us need to confess more often, its the Lord’s hand in our lives and the bounteous blessings that he bestows on us on a daily basis. May we take the time to thank the Lord often for all we have!