The quote said, “One of the greatest weaknesses in most of us is our lack of faith in ourselves.” So, naturally, I had to go and read the talk that this was quoted from, and that was how I found the basis for my post on individual worth today!
In his talk, titled “Be The Best of
Whatever You Are,” L. Tom Perry recites part of a poem by Douglas Malloch.
If you can't be a pine on the top of the hill,
Be a scrub in the valley—but be
The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
Be a bush if you can't be a tree.
If you can't be a highway then just be a trail,
If you can't be the sun be a star;
It isn't by size that you win or you fail—
Be the best of whatever you are!
Another great man summarized this
principle of our individual worth very well. Nelson Mandela said, “Our
deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are
powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?”
Additionally, Bishop H. Burke Peterson has said:
“One of the greatest challenges is to overcome the feeling that we are unimportant, that we are not special and unique. Do you think for a moment that Heavenly Father would have sent one of His children to this earth by accident, without the possibility of a significant work to perform? …"
**My favorite Disney movie is The Lion
King and it has a lot of symbolism in it that parallels with the gospel.
In the
movie, after Simba's father is killed, he runs away and grows up away from
home. After Simba's best friend from childhood, Nala, finds him while hunting for
food, she insists that he has to come back home. Simba, however, tells her over and
over again that he cannot come back. He still feels guilt for causing his father's death, a notion that his Uncle Scar put into his head when he was just a small cub.
It is after this event that one of the
most influential parts of the movie takes place. Simba is all alone on the African plains and
speaks out loud to his father,
“You said you’d always be there for me, but
you’re not, and it’s my own fault.”
He hangs his head and is feeling
hopeless. This is when Rafiki, the mandrill baboon, comes along.
Simba asks, “Who are you?” To which Rafiki answers, “The question is, WHO are you?” And Simba says, “I thought I knew, but now I’m not so sure.”
Rafiki tells Simba that he knows
who Simba is, that he is Mufasa's son and that Mufasa is alive and that he
knows where he is. Rafiki leads Simba to a small body of water, in which
Simba peers over the edge, only to find that he sees a reflection of himself in the water. He
sighs and says, “That’s not my father. It’s just my reflection.”
Rafiki responds while pointing…”No….look harder….” Simba looks again. Rafiki says, “You see…he lives in YOU.” Then Simba has an experience where he sees his father… “Simba, you have forgotten me….” his father says. “No…how could I?” Simba responds. And then Mufasa says one of the most profound things in the entire movie…
“You have forgotten who you are
and so forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba. You are MORE than what you
have become. Remember who you are. You are my son. Remember who you are.”
And
then he disappears…**
Doesn't that sound like something our Father in Heaven might say to us?
“You
have forgotten who you are, and so forgotten me. Look inside yourself, You
are MORE than what you have become. Remember who you are. You are my son, or
you are my daughter. You are my child. Remember who you are.”
I'd like to bear my testimony that
I know that we are all sons and daughters of God and that we were all sent
here for a specific purpose. I know that he knows each individually and if we
will try to be the best people that we can be, no matter how hard it may seem, it
will all be worth it in the end.
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