Indispensable Virtues

It’s been unbelievably heartbreaking to watch all the events that have occurred over the last week throughout the country. Tonight the feelings in my heart are too tender to try and write about them so instead I decided to share an excerpt from a talk by Jeffrey R. Holland titled “A Perfect Brightness of Hope”:

“Even as we speak, we are waging an “all hands on deck” war with COVID-19, a solemn reminder that a virus 1,000 times smaller than a grain of sand can bring entire populations and global economies to their knees. We pray for those who have lost loved ones in this modern plague, as well as for those who are currently infected or at risk. We certainly pray for those who are giving such magnificent health care.  When we have conquered this—and we will—may we be equally committed to freeing the world from the virus of hunger, freeing neighborhoods and nations from the virus of poverty. May we hope for schools where students are taught—not terrified they will be shot—and for the gift of personal dignity for every child of God, unmarred by any form of racial, ethnic, or religious prejudice. Undergirding all of this is our relentless hope for greater devotion to the two greatest of all commandments: to love God by keeping His counsel and to love our neighbors by showing kindness and compassion, patience and forgiveness.  These two divine directives are still—and forever will be—the only real hope we have for giving our children a better world than the one they now know.

Indeed, if we finally lose hope, we lose our last sustaining possession. It was over the very gate of hell that Dante wrote a warning to all those traveling through his Divina Commedia: “Abandon all hope,” he said, “ye who enter here.” Truly when hope is gone, what we have left is the flame of the inferno raging on every side.

So, when our backs are to the wall and, as the hymn says, “other helpers fail and comforts flee,” among our most indispensable virtues will be this precious gift of hope linked inextricably to our faith in God and our charity to others.

 “… Ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. … If ye shall[,] … saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.”    (end of excerpt)

~Amy Rees Anderson (author of the book “What Awesome Looks Like: How To Excel in Business & Life” )

    

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.