Devotional

Your text goes here...

President Thomas S Monson has quoted the poet Wordsworth from his poem  “Ode on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood”

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;

The Soul that rises with us, our life’s Star,

Hath had elsewhere its setting

And cometh from afar;

Not in entire forgetfulness,

And not in utter nakedness,

But trailing clouds of glory do we come

From God, who is our home:
Heaven lies about us in our infancy!

We begin life as weak and helpless beings who must depend on others’ mercy to keep us alive.  As we grow, we discover our talents, gifts given by God to help us during our mortal lives.

The Savior in Matthew 5:13-16 described talents as gifts given by God to each of his people to be lights to the world and bring glory to God and His kingdom. He stated:

Ye are the salt of the earth:
but if the salt have lost his savour,
wherewith shall it be salted?
it is thenceforth good for nothing,
but to be cast out, and to be
trodden under foot of men.

Ye are the light of the world.
A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

Neither do men light a candle,
and put it under a bushel,
but on a candlestick;
and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

When my son was born he developed normally.  He cut his first tooth, rolled over, crawled, sat up, and walked in the usual time most healthy babies do.  As he grew older his communication skills did not develop as quickly as others and this caused him to develop in other areas. 

Because he had some difficulty expressing himself verbally he began drawing on every surface around him even coloring with markers on his own skin. As time went by he began using clay to model things he thought about.  This ability is seen in the clay he holds and models as he speaks to people.

His need to express ideas and the ability to model clay gave him a desire to learn the same process on computers. Each talent or skill he has developed has begun with a desire and a struggle to express something inside himself. Each struggle has led to greater growth and wisdom as long as he never gives up. He has the light of the Savior and His words to help him remember to keep trying.

Each person has a light God gave them to bring to the world, to make the world a glorious place.  He gives all of us different skills and opportunities so we will learn to help each other and get along.  He is at the Bishop’s storehouse using his ability to volunteer to improve the lives of other people.

Today is the first day of the year 2016.  Each year brings a new beginning for all of us. We don’t know what the year will be like so we can’t plan all of it and expect our plans to work out but we can begin our new year with hope and resolve to listen to the Savior’s words, remember who we are and why we are here, and shine our lights to lighten the world.