In order to gear up for sharing the gospel, it sometimes helps to stand outside ourselves and remember what is rocking the world around us. We live in a time where humanism largely prevails–the notion that we can lift ourselves up by our own bootstraps and accomplish everything on our resources and to our own merit.
It’s true, we can do a lot. We are endowed with a great power to perform, think, create, and live out our lives. But the key difference between thinking we can do it all, and recognizing that what we are ‘able’ to do is all a gift from a loving set of divine parents, is significant. And the world needs to know the difference.
Here’s an example of the prevalent worldview that suggests that we are the full shapers of history, ours or the world’s. You know the poem. It’s recited and memorized in junior highs. It’s William Ernest Henley’s “Invictus,” a proud, self-sufficient expression that ends with these words:
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
[Echoes, 1888, No. 4, In Memoriam R. T. Hamilton Bruce (“Invictus”), stanza 4]
Some years ago an answer to “Invictus” was given. Here it is:
Art thou in truth?
Then what of Him who bought thee with His blood?
Who plunged into devouring seas
And snatched thee from the flood?
Who bore for all our fallen race
What none but him could bear–
The God who died that man might live
And endless glory share.
Of what avail thy vaunted strength
Apart from His vast might?
Pray that His light may pierce the gloom
That thou mayest see aright.
Men are as bubbles on the wave,
As leaves upon the tree,
Thou, captain of thy soul! Forsooth,
Who gave that place to thee?
Free will is thine–free agency,
To wield for right or wrong;
But thou must answer unto Him
To whom all souls belong.
Bend to the dust that “head unbowed,”
Small part of life’s great whole,
And see in Him and Him alone,
The captain of thy soul.
[“The Soul’s Captain,” Improvement Era, May 1926, opposite inside front cover]
The latter was written by Mormon apostle, Orson F. Whitney.
Wouldn’t it be great if everyone at least got the message from us, as members, that we ‘rely’ on the Lord’s help and grace in all we do? First, they would know we are Christian, and secondly, they would know we have personal relationships with the Savior, and that we feel His Spirit.
Why not share with someone today something you’ve learned from depending on the Lord? Why not blog about one way the Savior has helped you do something you were unable to do on your own? You can do that on LDS.net or perhaps start your own blog. For more helps on starting your own blog, please visit our website at www.moregoodfoundation.org.