Choir Notes

Look Around You

From Music and the Spoken Word

Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell • Program 4330

The story is told of a devout young man whose car broke down, forcing him to make his way to his place of worship on foot. As he walked, he passed an area of startling poverty—where destitute people lined the streets, struggling to keep warm; troubled and angry individuals wandered the streets. The depressing scene filled him with a sense of hopelessness.

 

In his despair, he offered a prayer to God. In a voice both pleading and questioning, he said, "How can You allow all this suffering and do nothing?” Then someone behind him whispered, "He didn’t do nothing. He made you.” At once the young man realized that he could be God’s hands. He could help a troubled world—or at least a troubled individual.1

 

At times it can be easy to relate to the helplessness this young man felt, because we certainly do live in a world of turmoil. Society’s problems seem so immense, and we seem so small. Too often, we conclude that there is nothing we can do—and we consequently do nothing.

 

What we need is the gentle reminder this young man received: that we can be the instruments of constructive change. As one influential leader put it: "God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other.”2

 

 We were made with a purpose, and that purpose is to do something for others, to help and bless those in need, and thereby to make a difference in the world. Most often it doesn’t take much—a change of perspective that can lead to a change of heart, a willingness to accept our part in making things better, a simple desire to help others and look for the good. That positive energy and action can truly change the world in the way most real change happens: one person at a time.

 

1 See Michael Josephson, "He Made You,” What Will Matter, May 7, 2012, http://whatwillmatter.com/2012/05/commentary-774-2-he-made-you.

2 Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball (2006), 82.