He emphasized this point, emphatically declaring that a man who said, "'I hold the priesthood and you've got to do what I say'" ... should be tried for his membership." [ellipses in original]
-- from Lengthen Your Stride, The Presidency of Spencer W. Kimpball, Deseret Book, 168-169
WATER
a medley by Stephen M (Ethesis)
a man is supple and weak when living
hard and stiff when dead
No power or influence can be maintained, except
the hard and the strong are the signs of death
the supple and changing the signs of life
by persuasion, by long suffering, by meekness and by gentleness
that which is forceful will not vanquish
that which is strong will fall to the axe
by kindness and pure knowledge
the strong fails
the supple succeeds
without hypocrisy and without guile
nothing is more submissive and weak than water
yet for breaking mountains, nothing can surpass it
Charity and virtue
that the weak overcome the strong, the
submissive the hard, all know
Yet none can put it into practice
Then the priesthood shall distill upon thy soul
as the dew from heaven and without
compulsory means dominion
shall flow unto thee
Forever and ever
Lao Tze
Tao Te Ching
Joseph Smith
Doctrine and Covenants 121
My thoughts on what the priesthood means and what it means to "preside" -- it means a call (a reminder, a duty, a command) to act by persuasion, by long suffering, by meekness and by gentleness by kindness and pure knowledge, without hypocrisy and without guile.
4 comments:
Wonderful, Stephen, I'm going to print this and share it, okay?
Feel very free to share it.
The full meaning of the poem has not sunk in yet as I am a little sleepy. I read it before but there are so many layers to it. What I understand thus far, is very powerful.
This is a wonderous medley. I too will be sharing it with family and friends.
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