From his book ‘Moving in His Majesty and Power,’ Neal A. Maxwell shared:
“President Brigham Young said with painful clarity of life’s daily micromoments:
“It is the aggregate of the acts which I preform through life that makes up the conduct that will be exhibited in the day of judgment, and when the books are opened, there will be the life which I have lived for me to look upon, and there will also be the acts of your lives for you to look upon. Do you know that the building up of the kingdom of God . . . is to be done by little acts? You breathe one breath at a time; each moment is set apart to its act, and each act to its moment. It is the moment and the little acts that make the sum of the life of man. Let every second, minute, hour and day we live be spent in doing that which we know is right” (Journal of Discourses, 3: 342-43).
In all these “little acts,” as President Young called them, do we worship Jesus enough to strive to be like Him? (see 3 Nephi 27:27). This is the comprehensive exam! Many things that are hard to measure now ultimately matter most.
Postdoctoral credit is a highly individualized thing. Remarkable Moses had been wearied because the children of Israel were restless. They were thirsty, unremembering and ungrateful. In a place called Meribah, Moses—one of the greatest souls ever—was stressed, wearied and burned out, or whatever they called “people” fatigue in those days. The scriptures say that momentarily frustrated, Moses “spake inadvisedly,” saying, “Must we fetch you water?” (Psalm 106:33; Numbers 20:10; italics added).
He had a little pronoun problem, and yet the Lord mentored him and tutored him and brought him along, so that Moses would not be confused about who had brought forth the the water from the rock. It is a high compliment for the Lord to mentor and tutor us, and Moses handled the mentoring well.
A wintry verse of scripture reads, “He trieth their patience and their faith” (Mosiah 23:21). If we do not understand this fact we will misread life. But why does God try our faith and patience in particular? Why not try our ability to make money or amass political power? The Lord is not concerned with these skills. Patience, however, is an eternal quality. It is portable. So is faith. These qualities are out of developmental reach of those who are caught up in the cares of the world.
The strait and narrow path is well posted with warnings of such common failures as misusing authority, covering our sins, and gratifying our vain ambitions. These negative traits can be seen in a bookkeeper as well as in a dishonest CEO. Such falsifying can be displayed by a prominent political leader or by a plumber.
. . . . Where are the classrooms in this process of this spiritual education? They are friendships at school or university, in family life, in civic clubs, in politics—all offering opportunities for taming ourselves and our egos.
And the teacher is often the Holy Ghost.
~Neal A. Maxwell, Moving in His Majesty and Power (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2004) 56-60
Jason: This message, Elder Maxwell gave at the University of Utah or a clip of it. I’m looking to read if there is more.
I don’t know how long it has been since you made your request to me. . . . What you asked about was part of a more complete message preceded by the following:
In HIGHER EDUCATION WE SPEAK often of “student credit hours.” Furthermore, we are not auditing life’s courses but, instead,taking life’s “classes” for credit, thereby accumulating character—the last coin of the Regal Realm.
The ongoing spiritual “courses” include the equivalent of general education—the trials, temptations and afflictions which are, said Paul, “common to man” (1 Corinthians 10:13)—along with upper division work, and there very customized curricula for the meek and the righteous: postdoctoral work. In sum, these experiences constitute daily discipleship.
Furthermore, our enrollment in these individual “classes” may not be highly visible to others, and even our own awareness of this ongoing precious process is often minimal. Hence such courses are embedded in every life situation to some degree. What we are and what we are becoming are, therefore, what matters, even if some do not acknowledge that they are thus enrolled! ~Elder Neal A. Maxwell, “Moving in His Majesty and Power” (Salt Lake City, Deseret Book,2004) p.55
(Continued with what you have already read. . . .p.55-60)
Kent D. Marble