"AARISE AND SHINE FORTH"
June 28, 2003
Susan K. Bednar
What a pleasure it is for us to be here with you today. We=ve all had a chance to ponder and reflect upon our theme for this Education Week, AArise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations@ (Doctrine and Covenants 115:5). We=ve received great instruction and insight about this theme in our devotionals the past two days. I now wish to invite the spirit of the Holy Ghost to be here with us as I seek to express some of my thoughts and feelings on this penetrating scripture.
When I first learned about our theme for Education Week, my thoughts turned to an experience I had several years ago at a radiology clinic in Arkansas. I had gone there as a part of my yearly exam and had been asked to wait in the examination room, draped in one of those dreadful hospital gowns, while the technician made sure the x-rays she had taken were clear and readable. I sat there for quite some time until the technician returned to the room and remarked, AThe radiologist will be here in a moment to speak with you.@ I thought that was a bit unusual so, of course, I was assuming the worst. I could feel my heart begin to pound as my mind started to anxiously race.
The radiologist calmly entered the room, introduced himself, sat down on a stool next to where I was seated, and said, AI just wanted to meet a Mormon mother!@ You can imagine my shock and my relief. This doctor then explained that his wife was a teacher at the high school where our sons and a small number of LDS youth from our ward attended. His wife had taught our sons as well as several other LDS students, and he wanted me to know how impressed she was with the caliber of these students and how impressed he was with the comments she had made at home about these youth. AThe members of your church just know how to do things right,@ he said.
Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations (Doctrine and Covenants 115:5).
How grateful I felt that day for the example of righteous youth. There were only a handful of LDS students in the high school, yet they had made a positive and distinct impression on this teacher and her husband.
When I consider the words AArise and shine forth,@ I am reminded of a related scripture from the Doctrine and Covenants. In section 82:14 we read:
For Zion must increase in beauty, and in holiness; her borders must be enlarged, her stakes must be strengthened; yea, verily I say unto you, Zion must arise and put on her beautiful garments.
President Ezra Taft Benson taught:
The phrase Aput on her beautiful garments@ refers, of course, to the inner sanctity that must be attained by every member who calls himself or herself a Saint. [Ezra Taft Benson, Come Unto Christ (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1983), Chapter 13, p. 102]
We profess our willingness to become Saints or disciples of the Savior as we repent, enter the waters of baptism, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, make and keep sacred temple covenants, and live according to the doctrines and principles taught in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
As we seek to Aarise and put on [our] beautiful garments@ and become Aspiritually born of God,@ we grow and develop in our discipleship and righteous commitment. We acquire an inner beauty, a holiness, and a strength that reflects a light from within. We=ve all seen that light in the countenance of a mother as she caresses her newborn baby. It=s visible in the faces of worthy sons as we embrace in the celestial room of the temple after they receive their endowments in preparation for full-time missionary service. This light glows from the faces of dedicated and consecrated temple workers who assist us as we renew our sacred covenants. Righteous men, women, and children radiate this light. As noble Saints, they have received His image in their countenances. We can see it; others can see it.
The fact that others can discern this light was brought to my attention one night at a junior high basketball game. Our son was the only LDS player on the team. Our coach=s wife happened to be sitting next to me in the bleachers, and she introduced me to the friend sitting next to her, who happened to be the wife of the coach of the opposing team. Our coach=s wife turned to me and said, AWe=ve been talking about your son. There=s something different about him. You can see it in his face. He=s not like the other boys.@
I knew what it was. It was that light we have been talking aboutCa light reflected by living in such a way that the Spirit is always with us as promised every Sunday in our sacramental prayers. This light makes us distinctive and different.
AArise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations@ (Doctrine and Covenants 115:5).
President Benson has said:
In this revelation is a command to let our light so shine that it becomes a standard for the nations. A standard is a rule of measure by which one determines exactness or perfection. The Saints are to be a standard of holiness for the world to see. [Ezra Taft Benson, Come Unto Christ (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1983), Chapter 13, p. 103]
Embedded in the word standard is the word stand. As a noun this word means to have an attitude or opinion about something or to take position on an issue. As a verb the word stand means to get up or rise. To stand for something means to advocate, endorse, or support.
We have all covenanted in the waters of baptism that we are willing to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things and in all places (see Mosiah 18:9), yet so many of us are content to just sit for truth and righteous because standing may ruffle a few feathers, draw unwanted attention, or bring ill will to us. We are afraid to become involved; we lack courage to stand for truth and righteousness. But sitting will not accomplish the task of building the Lord=s kingdom.
Brother Robert Millet has said:
Discipleship involves standing out from the generality of mankind and standing up for what is true and right and good. We come to make a difference only when we are different, and that difference must be substantive enough to be witnessed and then acknowledged by others. [Robert L. Millet, An Eye Single to the Glory of God, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1991), Chapter 9, p. 47]
I am aware of a group of LDS citizens who banned together to address their concerns to store managers about the suggestive and lewd window front displays in their local mall. A walk down any corridor of any mall in America reveals just how much sensuality we are willing to tolerate. I remember a time when mothers used to protest a similar tactic when offensive images glared from the covers of magazines that were placed within eye level of youngsters at the checkout lines of supermarkets. Yet today we take our young children and teenagers to shop in malls where they see scantily clad mannequins as well as bigger than life-sized photos of immodestly dressed young women posed in provocative positions with male counterparts in many store front windows.
This concerned group asked that store managers move their offensive window dressings and displays to the inside of their stores. This request caused a bit of opposition and controversy in the ALetters to the Editor@ section of the newspaper, but I applaud this group for their efforts. They were willing to take a stand for truth and righteousness.
In his April conference address in 1940, Elder John A. Widtsoe offered this timeless counsel:
So, we need, in this Church and Kingdom, for our own and the world=s welfare a group of men and women in their individual lives who shall be as a light to the nations, and really standards for the world to follow. Such a people must be different from the world as it now is. . . . We cannot walk as other men, or talk as other men, or do as other men for we have a different destiny, obligation, and responsibility placed upon us, and we must fit ourselves for that great destiny and obligation. (One Hundred Tenth Annual Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, April 5, 6, 7, 1940, p. 36)
Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations (Doctrine and Covenants 115:5).
The arising and shining begins in our own homes with our own families. Our light must then be a standard that will illuminate our neighborhoods, our communities, and the nations.
May we have the will to fulfill our destiny and undertake this solemn charge. May we have the courage to be that light that will be the standard the Lord is counting on in this ever darkened and misguided world, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.