From the Inside Out

Last night I was involved in Reader's Theatre.  I quite enjoyed it!  The script was based on Joseph Smith's life and written by S. Dillworth Young, a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for 36 years, starting in 1945.   ElderYoung was a gifted author and poet.  (By the way, I LOVE that President Packer carves wood and Elder Scott paints, it does my heart good!  Like I have heard my friend Annie say several times, "when culture goes by the wayside, so do so many other things."  I am paraphrasing Annie :)  I think in many instances, art in it's truest form, is a spiritual gift...those are my deep thoughts).

Back to the Reader's Theatre.  It was comprised of poems describing personal details from the life of Joseph Smith and the Restoration of the Church.  I had an instant attachment to the following verse that describes what happened to the 6 men who met in Fayette, New York on April 6, 1830 to organize our Church: 

Evening

All days must end;

This day of marvels

As all others do.

The darkening landscape

Has not changed.

Here and there

A candle twinkles forth,

Its tiny light a beacon

To home-coming men.

The new Church members

Look the same

As yesterday, when

Ordinary things were taking place.

They wend

Their slow way home,

Sobered, it is true,

And filled with awe

And wonderment,

Marveling at the

Things which have been

Said.

The stars come out,

The night birds call.

The early peppers

Trill in nearby ponds.

And tired men,

Their hunger satisfied,

Retire to rest

On corn shuck beds

To sleep the night away.

And morning comes and

Yet another day.

The land must still be plowed,

And planted too,

The livestock sheltered, fed,

The cows milled, clearing done,

Then

More land readied

For the planting

Things don't change.

But these few men-

Their lives would

Never be the same

Again.

It is interesting for me that the Lord took ordinary Men and CHANGED THEIR HEARTS.  He did not change their circumstances, he lit a fire of testimony inside, that would change millions of people (14,131,467  living today).  I have found in my own life that this principle is true.  THE LORD DOES NOT CHANGE MY CIRCUMSTANCES, HE CHANGES MY HEART, THEN I CHANGE MY CIRCUMSTANCES.  This poem instantly reminded me of a quote from President Benson, one of my personal favorites:

“The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.”

I recently read an article about a man who won a 2 million dollars from a lottery ticket, yet still remains on food stamps.....As grave as the situation in our country appears, I think it might be time to start looking at HEARTS instead of CIRCUMSTANCES.