|
Robert
Wilkes, vice president of Student Life at BYU-Idaho, spoke on the tools
that will help develop a positive and lasting educational experience during
his devotional address Tuesday at BYU-Idaho.
He
began by comparing one’s experience at BYU-Idaho to making a pizza,
saying that there is no ready-made experience, but that the school will
provide the ingredients with the end product being left up to the student
to produce.
He
spoke on the importance of integrity, relating an experience he heard about
his grandfather Ed, who had many talents, but made a modest living through
hard and physical work.
At
a time when a fee was charged to those wishing to ride the bus to school,
his grandfather was unable to afford the fee for one of his son’s to ride the bus. The bus driver passed Ed’s
son everyday on the way to school and became disturbed that he couldn’t
pick him up. After talking to Ed, an agreement was made for the bus driver
to be paid on a specific date months later.
On
the agreed date a terrible blizzard hit the area, bringing with it large
amounts of wet, heavy snow. At 11 p.m.
that night, Ed arrived at the bus driver’s home in a blinding
snowstorm with the amount agreed upon.
After
the bus driver told him he could have waited another day to pay him, Ed
responded, “Perhaps you could have waited for the money, but I could
not delay bringing it to you. It was for me that I brought it tonight. I
need to know that my word is good.” The
second tool of the capacity to create, he said, is the patience born of
faith that allows things to happen in the Lord’s own time.
“Whatever
it is one might seek, or however slow it may seem in coming, if it is
praiseworthy and for one’s good and in harmony with the mind and will
of God, you should be assured that he has not forgotten you and that your
life, like all of our lives, are in fact, continually before him,” he
said.
President
Wilkes spoke next of the ability one must have to be willing and capable of
packing a load and working hard.
He
shared an experience of a time when his pickup truck had gotten stuck in
snow en route to get firewood in the mountains. After failing to come up
with a solution, he started cutting wood and loading his truck as high and
full as he could. After doing so and trying once again to get out, his
truck moved and he was able to go home.
He
continued by saying, “It was the load that freed me. It was the load
that gave me mobility. It was the load that carried me forward.”
Concluding
with the last tool to create, he said, “I have observed that the
happiest among you refuse to whine.”
“Those
who create, seek to understand rather that to whine,” he said,
explaining that one of the great experiences of life is to be confronted
with a situation that is frustrating or disturbing, and then come to an
understanding of what truly is the case, followed by saying “I’m
sorry.”
Next
Tuesday’s devotional speaker will be Stan A. Peterson, retired Church
Educational System administrator. He will speak at 2 p.m. in the Hart Auditorium. Devotionals are
carried live on KBYI, 100.5 FM, and again at 9
p.m. each Tuesday.
|