'Love one another'
Fleming was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to eke out a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog. There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself.
Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death. The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.
"I want to repay you," said the nobleman. "You saved my son's life."
"No, I can't accept payment for what I did," the Scottish farmer replied, waving off the offer.
At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel.
"Is that your son?" the nobleman asked.
"Yes," the farmer replied proudly.
"I'll make you a deal. Let me take him and give him a good education. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll grow to a man you can be proud of."
And that he did. In time, Farmer Fleming's son graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.
Years afterward, the nobleman's son was stricken with pneumonia. What saved him? Penicillin.
The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill. His son's name? Sir Winston Churchill.
What if Lord Randolph Churchill had not helped Alexander Fleming through school? Sir Winston Churchill would have died before World War II. And what if Winston Churchill had not been available to provide his strong leadership and inspiration during the dark days of World War II? Might that have made the difference between victory and defeat against Hitler's hoards?
If "normal" circumstances had played themselves out, Alexander Fleming would have never gone to college. His father could not have afforded it. The destiny of mankind would have been drastically changed.
Now, multiply Alexander Fleming by thousands and consider where our world might be if millions of youngsters around the world were given the opportunity to enhance their education? One of the strongest arguments I ever hear against population control was this: Instead of seeing people as a threat or a burden, we should see people as the world's greatest resource. The people born to this world have buried within their souls the very solutions to all of our problems.
How might we tap into the incredible resources within the billions of people who have been born into this world?
In the days of the early church, the Christian disciples gave all their possessions to the Kingdom of God -- along with their time and talent. They were living the Law of Consecration.
In these latter days the Law of Consecration has been restored. While the United Order ceased after the early years of the Mormon pioneers, the Law of Consecration is still the Law of the Celestial Kingdom -- and it is one of the primary covenants we make with Heavenly Father in the temple.
At this time, the Lord does not ask us to deed everything over to the church. Instead, God leaves it to us -- disciples of his son, Jesus Christ -- to determine by inspiration how we should invest our time, talent and resources on his behalf.
That is the essence of discipleship, and that is the law of the Celestial Kingdom.
Recently about 80 volunteers and I were in Zintel Canyon blazing trails and feeding limbs into a chipper. We had used older chippers in the past, which constantly plugged up and needed to be stopped and cleaned out. The chipper my group was using Saturday was taking in 6-inch branches and spitting them out with great ease -- until we started feeding in berry vines along with smaller branches and leaves.
This less-imposing debris quickly clogged up the chipper and forced us to stop work for nearly 1/2 hour to clean the chipper out. A worker who accompanied the chipper into the canyon said it could chew up a railroad tie, yet it couldn't handle a few tangled vines.
I saw in this a parable. How is that chipper like us "Christians"? Think about it. In the Savior's parable of the sower he taught: "And some [seed] fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them." He explained to his disciples: "He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful" (Matthew 13:3-9, 18-23).
The temptations of our society can be very subtle. In one of his very last parables Jesus taught how important it is to keep life in perspective.
"Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed. … For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
"Then shall they answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
"Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me" (Matthew 25:31-46).
On the other hand, if we are truly disciples of Jesus Christ, we shall reach out and touch the lives of those around us. You've almost certainly heard this old poem, and it applies to each of us in two ways: as the recipient of God's loving grace and as those who -- in the name of the Master -- would touch the lives of others:
'Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin,
But he held it up with a smile.
"What am I bidden, good folks," he cried,
"Who will start bidding for me?
"A dollar, a dollar" -- then "Two! Only two?
Two dollars, and who'll make it three?
Three dollars once; three dollars twice;
Going for three--" But no,
From the room, far back, a gray-haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow;
Then wiping the dust from the old violin,
And tightening the loose strings,
He played a melody pure and sweet,
As sweet as a caroling angel sings.
The music ceased, and the auctioneer,
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said, "What am I bidden for the old violin?"
And he held it up with the bow.
"A thousand dollars, and who'll make it two?
Two thousand, And who'll make it three?
Three thousand once; three thousand twice;
And going and gone!" says he.
The people cheered, but some of them cried,
"We do not quite understand
What changed its worth?" Swift came the reply:
"The touch of the master's hand."
And many a man with life out of tune,
And battered and scattered with sin,
Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd,
Much life the old violin.
A "mess of pottage," a glass of wine;
A game -- and he travels on.
He's "going" once, and "going" twice;
He's "going" and "almost gone."
But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd
Never can quite understand
The worth of a soul, and the change that's wrought
By the touch of the Master's hand.
--Myra Brooks Welch
In Christ's last sermon given in the upper room before he walked into the night to the Garden of Gethsemane to take upon himself our sins and eventually to face arrest, trial, torture and crucifixion, Jesus taught: "Love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
May we truly be his disciples, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.