This morning when I woke up a scene from a favorite new movie came to mind. I have pondered this scene more then once since having seen it over a month ago, for it was quite the wake up call to me. Let me describe it to you:
Here you have a dashing prince. He has everything he could desire. Except his one true love, the other half of his soul, his one coquet, the one who was meant to finish his song. Yet what does he do about it? (Other then dream and talk about her to all his friends?) He finds ways to pass the time till she will fall into his lap so to speak. This way he doesn’t feel so empty, or lonely in the mean time.
What the prince is unaware of is, the sad fact, that though he only intended his troll hunting to pass his time till the girl of his dreams fell into his lap, that his troll hunting was actually filling his time and keeping him from finding his one true love at all.
Like this prince, I have seen many of my friends fall into this same adversarial snare. They want to find their one true love, their other half, their Eternal Companion. They talk about this to their friends and family. They think and dream about it. They pray about it, and seek priesthood blessings about it. Yet this is where their effort stops.
I must admit that too often I have found myself in this category. I know that marriage is important. I know that we have been counseled by those in authority that,
“The most important single thing that any Latter-day Saint ever does in this world is to marry the right person, in the right place, by the right authority.” Elder Bruce R. McConkie
I know this. Yet like the prince in the movie, and like many of my friends, I have found myself doing nothing tangible about it. No, we have been doing things to impede it, by filling our time with projects, hobbies, and entertainment thing that we are only passing the time till our one true love will suddenly appear in our lives and we can ride off into out Happily Ever After.
I have received my wake up call. (Even if it did come from watching a Disney movie) Now it is to put what I have learned in action.
1. I cannot just put my life on hold while waiting for my Prince Charming to appear. I need to move forward.
“If you are just marking time waiting for a marriage prospect, stop waiting. You may never have the opportunity for a suitable marriage in this life, so stop waiting and start moving.” Dating Verses Hanging out, Ensign June 2006, Elder Dallin H. Oaks
2. I must be careful not to unrealistically fall for the first thing even resembling a prince that comes my way. What I need to determine what sort of man I wish to DATE and thus MARRY.
“Your chances for a happy and lasting marriage will be far greater if you will date those who are active and faithful in the Church. Such dating is most likely to lead to marriage in the House of the Lord.” Four B’s for Boys, /Ensign,/ Nov. 1981, President Gordon B. Hinckley
3. I need to determine if the things in my life are preparing me or preventing me for an Eternal Marriage, and being an instrument in the Hands of the Lord.
“Prepare yourself for life—even a single life—by education, experience, and planning. Don’t wait for happiness to be thrust upon you. Seek it out in service and learning. Make a life for yourself. And trust in the Lord. Follow King Benjamin’s advice to call ‘on the name of the Lord daily, and [stand] steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come’ (Mosiah 4:11).” Dating Verses Hanging out, Ensign June 2006, Elder Dallin H. Oaks
4. I need to have courage to act. To go out into the real world and meet people, to date (this means asking, and accepting where the spirit prompts), and to open myself up to form friendships, and relationships.
“Once you make a decision concerning whom you would desire to marry, may you have the courage to move forward.” Whom Shall I Marry?, New Era October 2004, President Thomas S. Monson
I pray that we can all take these powerful lessons to heart. That we can set aside the distractions of the world, to prepare ourselves, seek, and find our Eternal Companions. That we may fulfill the measure of our creation, and find joy therein.
