Have you ever taken a walk with a child, either to school, around the block, or just for a little saunter down the street? Have you noticed they have to stop and look at every single weed, rock, and bug you pass? While most of us as adults would rather get to our destination as quickly as possible, I think it’s important for us to once in a while stop and share in the joy of the world God has created for us.
January is the official month to “Celebrate Life.” Ironically I recently gave a lesson about the importance of life in my Young Women class (girls 12-17 in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, otherwise known as Mormons). In it President David O. McKay, a former leader of our church, relates a story about Helen Keller.
“Have you ever read Helen Keller’s comment on a girl who had just taken a walk in the woods, who in answer to Helen’s question, ‘What did you observe?’ replied, ‘Nothing in particular.’
“ ‘How is it possible,’ Helen asked herself, ‘to walk for an hour through the woods and see nothing worthy of note? I, who cannot see, find hundreds of things to interest me through mere touch. I feel the delicate symmetry of a leaf. I pass my hands lovingly about the smooth skin of a silver birch, or the rough shaggy bark of a pine. In the spring I touch the branches of trees hopefully in search of a bud, the first sign of awakening Nature after her winter’s sleep. Occasionally, if I am very fortunate, I place my hand gently on a small tree and feel the happy quiver of a bird in full song.
“ ‘At times my heart cries out with longing to see all these things with physical eyes, but if I can get so much pleasure from mere touch, how much more beauty must be revealed by sight. And I have imagined what I should most like to see if I were granted the use of my eyes—even for just three days!’ ” (“Lesson 32: The Importance of Life,” Young Women Manual 2).
I love nature passionately, and find myself frequently looking to it when I need peace, comfort, or the joy of beauty. I especially love to take a short walk to a particular overpass (a road that leads over a highway) where I can see much of the Salt Lake Valley. The mountains to the east or the west, whether in summer or winter, frequently take my breath away. Sunset is perhaps my favorite time, especially as myriads of colors splash the mountains, drenching them in pinks, yellows, and purples. I love to see the way the clouds are painted in brilliant orange, complimented by the darkening blue sky behind. I especially love that if you blink, it has all changed, becoming something even more remarkable.
God gave us this world because he loves us. We can read this in Doctrine and Covenants 59:16-20.
“Verily I say, that inasmuch as ye do this, the fulness of the earth is yours, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which climbeth upon the trees and walketh upon the earth; Yea, and the herb, and the good things which come of the earth, whether for food or for raiment, or for houses, or for barns, or for orchards, or for gardens, or for vineyards; Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart; Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul. And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion” (italics added).
God wanted us to have the good things of this world because it pleaseth Him. He charges us to treat these things with judgement. We must be cautious in how we use the good things of this earth.
There is another part of life that can bring us so much more joy than the things of this earth. I have five of my own, though one passed on just after his birth. My children are the greatest joy of my life. They are the reason I continue in my goal to be a good parent, a good wife, and a good daughter of God. As I look at my children I realize how much of a gift they are, entrusted to me by my Heavenly Father to raise them with love, understanding, and patience. I take joy in their little accomplishments, knowing I played a part in helping learn something new.
If we are to treat this earth with judgement, taking care of it and the creatures upon it, how much more important is it for us to rear our children in the ways of God? How much more precious must they be in His his sight?
this month.
