The Great Wall of China was supposed to be impenetrable, yet during the first hundred years of its existence, China was invaded three times. The wall was never torn down, nor was it scaled by invading armies; instead gatekeepers allowed the invaders to enter after accepting a bribe. The Chinese had banked on the physical integrity of the formidable stone walls but had overlooked the moral integrity of their soldiers.
It is not the intent of this blog to argue politics. Rather, it is my desire here to reiterate the importance of character and integrity. Even missionaries can struggle with issues of character and integrity as they seek to serve God with all their heart, might, mind and strength, and with an eye single to His glory. It is often said that 20 percent of missionaries do 80 percent of the work while 80 percent do 20 percent of the work -- I always thought the split was more like 90-10. Many missionaries also struggle to live the mission rules; some may find specific rules difficult or even pointless, still others think it is cool to break the rules.
As with the Chinese and their soldiers, our first line of defense is not the "walls" of commandments, rules or laws, but is rather our personal integrity and character. Character underpins our humanity; ultimately it defines us as individuals and has a significant impact on motivation and performance. Indeed, character is the foundation of all decision-making.
Integrity is a vital component of an individual's character; the word comes from the Latin integritas, which referred to the quality of a Roman Legionnaire's armor. With integrity, all was possible in battle and all was whole. Absent integrity, there was vulnerability; indeed, there would be a "disintegrity" or disintegration.
We might also consider the barges which the brother of Jared was commanded to build, they were to be "tight like unto a dish" or "watertight." In discussing how effectively watertight a ship or submarine is they use the term "watertight integrity." If all of the hatches and openings are closed to the sea, and if all the hatches to the interior compartments are closed and dogged shut, then the watertight integrity is good. If even one hatch or opening is left open it can doom a submarine. In May 1939, the submarine USS Squalus sank to the bottom of Long Island Sound when her main induction valve -- which drew in air for the engines when on the surface -- was stuck open. Quick action by the crew prevented the forward compartments from flooding, allowing 33 men to be rescued.
It seems, however, that no matter how strong we are, or how much character and integrity we have, there is always room for improvement. No matter how much we have learned or how much we have progressed, we are still human and continue to fall short of perfection because of our weaknesses and inadequacies. There is clearly a gap between reality and the ideals we strive to live by. We strive, we stretch, we reach, and still we fall short.
The Lord said to Moroni that He gives us weaknesses so that we may be humble; He also said that "my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.” This is open to all of us; if we come unto Him he will show us our weaknesses, and if we humble ourselves before Him and exercise faith in Him, He will lift us with His grace and make "weak things become strong". If we desire to increase the strength of our character and integrity, we need only come unto Christ and humble ourselves.
Moroni's father, Mormon, has told us how we can every good thing, which would include character and integrity. The recipe is simple: Faith, Hope and Charity. If we come unto Christ, humble ourselves and have faith in him, that we might be lifted by his grace, then we must have hope, and if we have faith and hope, then we must have charity. Charity is the pure love of Christ, it endures forever, and without it we are nothing.
To have charity means that we have patience, that we are kind, that we do not envy others, that we are not prideful, that we do not put ourselves ahead of everyone else, that we are slow to get angry, and that instead of striking back when someone hits us that we turn the other cheek. Having Charity means that we rejoice in truth, that we shun evil, that we are humble and submissive to our parents and our Heavenly Father, and that we have faith and hope. Having charity means that we to love as Jesus loves.
Mormon counseled us that when we pray that we should pray to be filled with this love. It is never too early to start, and we should continue to pray that we may continue to be filled with charity, that we may be purified and that we may truly be like Jesus. We must be careful to always have faith and hope, and to always pray and study the scriptures, so that we may never lose this charity once we have been filled with it.
If we are filled with charity, then might our character and integrity be strong, then might we be watertight. But there are still threats to our integrity. Some of the worst things that happen to us are the things we do to ourselves; the doubts we entertain, the grudges that we carry, the habits we pick up and the sins we commit. We may also become prideful; we may ignore reality and say that we have achieved the ideal, even as we continue to fall short. Or we may forget the ideal, saying that it is too hard to achieve, so why even try? We must be ever vigilant, we must be meek and lowly in heart, and we must pray always.
The good news is that the Atonement is there for us, even if our failings are not great sins. There will always be the the opportunity to humble ourselves and have faith in Christ and to be lifted by His grace.
No comments:
Post a Comment