I really enjoyed general conference, and I will likely have some poems in future weeks about some of the messages. For this week, here is a poem I wrote on my mission:
Sep 03, 2018
My poem for this week was written in answer to a question my brother James had: How can we literally fulfill the commandment to “always remember Christ?” When I first heard this question, my mind went to a quote I had heard by President Eyring: “I have learned… something about always remembering. Fathers and mothers who love their children already know it. It is this: The child may be absent. The cares of the day may be great. Yet love for the child can be ever present in the heart of the parent, coloring and shaping every word, every act, and every choice.” I once thought, on my mission, that the Gospel should impact every part of our lives. I thought about it, and my mind thought “There is no way that the Gospel can influence the way I clip my fingernails.” With a little bit of thought, and D&C 42:41, I realized that we are commanded to be clean, and therefore it does matter. Maybe that’s a little bit of a stretch, and it’s certainly an odd metaphor, but the gospel affects everything from how we work (be diligent and be honest, etc.), to everything we let it affect. That kind of relates to my poem. (It made more sense in my head):
Always Remember Him
We’re commanded, and we promise
Each week we eat the bread,
To “always remember Him”
Who made salvation possible.
But how can we remember,
Every second, minute, moment,
And still live a life-
Still think, still survive.
I don’t know the perfect answer,
But perhaps my thoughts might help
In understanding how we can
Keep our covenants.
First, I don’t think Christ means
That every moment, in our conscious thought,
We must think His name-
That just wouldn’t work.
But I think part of what He means
Is that every act and every word
Must be because of who we are-
Followers of Him.
When I help an old woman
Onto a bus, I don’t think (actively, at least):
“I must remember Christ”, but
I remember Him in what I do.
I don’t believe our life has any piece
That the gospel, if lived, cannot touch.
And so, as we consistently do what He would do,
We will find that we always remember Him.
