WALKING SEARCHING LOOKING 1

Walking, Walking, Walking
Only to discover
I was in the wrong tow’n

Searching, Searching, Searching
Only to discover
I had the map upside dow’n

Looking, Looking, Looking
Only to discover
The lights were all turned low’n

Walking, Searching, Looking
I never discovered
How to find the crow’n


It has been said in many different ways, such as ‘I was climbing the ladder of success only to find it was leaning against the wrong wall.’ I think my favorite words on the subject come from the Doctrine and Covenants section 95: verses 5, 6. Verily I say unto you, that there are many who have been ordained among you, whom I have called but few are chosen… in that they are walking in darkness at noon-day.

There have been many times in my own life and I believe I have observed it in the lives of those with whom I have tarried, that it is not the lack of effort we expend, but the object and direction of our efforts which cause us to fall short of our intended goals.

As my Uncle Owen once told me, ‘you’ll never get the barn mucked out by weeding the garden.’

In my life I have discovered that many times I was either in the wrong town, had the map upside down or couldn't see clearly because of the lack of light. I am sure I will continue to do a lot of unnecessary wandering in the days I have remaining, but I also know that my efforts have been more productive when I have at least had a glimpse of the true path.

Maybe, if I give some examples of my preliminary directional discoveries it might help you to get a better idea of what this Thought is all about.
For more years than I want to admit I thought that Lehi’s admonition that ‘man is that he might have joy’ had something to do with how much pleasure and happiness I could pack into a single day. Then one day I walked into a new town, turned the map around and saw more clearly as I wondered what Adam having fallen had to do with me having joy. One day while reading the words of Elder Henry B. Eyring I was given the key. Having joy has to do with overcoming the conditions of the fall which took us out of our Father in Heaven’s presence. Hence, whenever I am walking, searching, looking toward returning to Him or feeling His love in my daily life, I will have joy. It turned out that it was a much different path than the one which led to an amusement park or entering into a cruise ship.

I remember when President Ezra Taft Benson turned the whole church upside down when he announced that there was ‘no such thing as righteous pride.’ It was almost comical as speakers and teachers searched out a multiplicity of synonyms such as ‘pleased’ or ‘happy’ so that they would not be found guilty of perpetuating pride by saying the word itself. When we walk in the correct town with our map right side up and see more clearly, beginning with the writings of Moses and continuing down to the Latter Day Prophets, when speaking of pride or its antonym humility, we are being taught that pride and humility have to do with our relationship between ourselves and our Heavenly Father and has little to do with our neighbors. We need to be kind, compassionate and understanding with neighbors, but an overzealous self-esteem is evidently not what the scriptures are referring to when they speak of pride and humility. Probably the most condemning words we might ever hear as children of God, is that we have become gods unto ourselves.

It would be difficult for me to recall how many times I led people through a study of the Book of Mormon before I realized I had taken them to the wrong town because the map I was using was upside down and I wasn’t looking at the scriptures with enough light. I do know it was after Kathleen and I were blessed with spending three years in Colombia with those wonderful brothers and sisters before I finally started to lead students to the right town, using the map correctly and seeing more clearly. The first 2/3 or my life were spent teaching about a people who were either living lives which would lead to destruction or lives which would lead to being saved from destruction. I can't recall what caused the change of understanding, but I do know that from a certain point on after we returned from Colombia I could only teach the Book of Mormon as an instruction book of how we individually and collectively prepare to be in the company of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.

Walking, Walking, Walking
Only to discover
I was in the wrong tow’n

Searching, Searching, Searching
Only to discover
I had the map upside dow’n

Looking, Looking, Looking
Only to discover
The lights were all turned low’n

Walking, Searching, Looking
I never discovered
How to find the crow’n


(To be continued)