Valuing the Contributions of Others

Thought—August, 2009—Valuing the Contributions of Others
Perhaps 20 years ago my mother and a friend were working together on Name Extraction (a forerunner to Internet Indexing today) and came upon a page with very shaky handwriting. They joked that the scribe must have been drinking pretty hard that day. Then they heard a clear voice: “I was NOT! It was just so cold.”
I have been reading again the book Fire in the Bones about William Tyndale’s intense struggle to translate the Bible into English for the first time. He was strangled then burned at the stake in 1536 at age 38 for his efforts. His work became the basis for the King James Version of the Bible.
Friday at the temple, I was happy to help someone but not long afterward, someone noticed that I needed help and graciously helped me. In the prayer circle we were short a couple and before the leader could encourage more to participate, man on the front row who was severely paralyzed rose to his feet and invited a sister to also participate. He didn’t wait to be asked.
In each of these examples, people are giving service, doing the best they can under the circumstances.
When we are doing family history, we have help from both sides of the veil. We trainers learn new things and witness tender mercies and miracles discovering “lost” information on a daily basis.
Synergy—two people working together can accomplish much more than two people working separately. (Example, two horses can pull much more weight together much more than two horses pulling alone.)
In the parable of the Prodigal Son, eventually we play every part.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell: “Do you and I understand that the significance of our service does not depend upon its scale? (Quotes, p. 313)”
“Of a truth, those who can easily bend their knees in prayer do not feel they are stooping when they bend to help a neighbor in need. (Quotes, p. 314)”
“God does not begin by asking us about our ability, but only about our availability, and if we then prove our dependability, he will increase our capability! (Quotes, p. 1)”
“I know that celestial criteria measure service, not status; the use of our talents, not the relative size of talent inventories. (Quotes, p. 312)”
No one receives all the revelation. Knowledge is given line upon line, precept upon precept, and every person can be part of the process by sharing and receiving ideas from one another. No one knows all the answers and you will find that wherever you are assigned. We are not in a competition. We are working for the benefit of the Lord’s work. May we take the roles of the helper and the helped with grace and gratitude.