One
of my favorite Lorenzo Snow quotes goes as follows:
I saw the … imperfections in
[Joseph Smith] … I thanked God that He would put upon a man who had those
imperfections the power and authority He placed upon him … for I knew that I
myself had weakness, and I thought there was a chance for me … I thanked God
that I saw these imperfections.”
It
was with that perspective on weaknesses in mind that I thought about George
Albert Smith.
Now
the basic facts about George Albert Smith are simple. He was born on April 4, 1870, in Salt Lake
City. His father, John Henry Smith, and grandfather, George A. Smith, had both
been counselors to Church Presidents. While employed in the Federal Land Office
for Utah, he was called at the age of 33 to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
in 1903.
George
Albert Smith had to work the day his calling was announced in general conference
and he had not been warned of it in advance, so the first he heard of it was
from well wishers dropping by to see him at the office between conference
sessions.
He
had fragile health and impaired eyesight. His father, an apostle, thought that
the work load of being called as an apostle would be George Albert Smith's
death in a matter of a few short years.
However,
instead of dying, George Albert Smith served as an apostle for more than forty
years and he became President of the Church on May 21, 1945.
George
Albert Smith was the one who organized the Church's massive welfare assistance
to Europe following World War II shortly after his call to be President of the
Church. After six years as President of the Church, George Albert Smith died in
Salt Lake City on his eighty-first birthday, April 4, 1951.
A longer summary of his life brings up the fact that a very significant part of his life was wrapped up in his disability issues. He suffered from lupus (an autoimmune disease) and was disabled to the point of being bedridden, from 1909 to 1912.
I
would like to talk about what we can learn from his disabilities.
George Albert Smith had disability
issues, severe ones, in spite of being an exemplary man from an exemplary
family. His disability had nothing to do with his personal righteousness
or that of his family. Most of us can
not expect to have a father and a grandfather who were apostles or to be called
as an apostle.
If George
Albert Smith could have disabilities, having them probably had little to do
with some failing in faith on his behalf or of that of his family. We should not look at the physical problems
others have as signs of a lack of personal righteousness or criticize ourselves
for the weaknesses we have.
We know
from his writings and from those of others that George Albert Smith's first
response to physical disability was to try to just work through it. The work load on the members of the quorum of
the twelve was very great and he felt that he would be letting his brethren
down if he did not respond to his physical problems by just working harder.
However, when
he tried to just "work through" things, when he tried to face his disability
by just working harder, all he succeeded in doing was working himself into the
ground and making things worse. We know from the letters that were saved
that his father and others advised him in person and in writing to take a
different approach, but that from 1903 to about 1909 when he finally collapsed,
he just tried to work harder.
The lesson
learned from that experience is disability is not overcome by denial or by
ignoring the symptoms. It was not just a
matter of having more faith, of trying harder of doubling down and working even
more. That was not the solution to his
problems. Instead, he had to finally
give in to the physical limits he faced.
From surviving letters, we know that before his disability lifted, George Albert
Smith's father and others had expected him to die before he was 40. The
expectation that they had was that regardless of faith or personal effort, many
disabilities were things that only death could be expected to free one
from. We should not expect people who
have disabilities to be freed from them.
In fact, the
Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 that when he prayed to God to relieve
him of his physical disability, God spoke to him and told him no.
As verse 8
reads: Three
times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. Then, in vs. 9 Paul records God's
answer: But he said to me, “My grace is
sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul was not healed, even though he
could pray and God gave him verbal answers.
George Albert
Smith, in his disability and in spite of his health problems remained committed
to caring and ministering to others, in kindness. There is nothing about
disability that prevents people from being Christlike or following
Christ. The spirit of Charity welcomes everyone.
As 1
Corinthians, Chapter 13 reads:
5Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
George Albert
Smith's experiences strengthened his belief in his personal creed he had
established before his calling. That creed
reads:
·
I would be a friend to the friendless and find joy in
ministering to the needs of the poor.
·
I would visit the
sick and afflicted and inspire in them a desire for faith to be healed.
·
I would teach the
truth to the understanding and blessing of all mankind.
·
I would seek out
the erring one and try to win him back to a righteous and happy life.
·
I would not seek
to force people to live up to my ideals, but rather love them into doing the
thing that is right.
·
I would live by
the masses and help to solve their problems that their earth life may be happy.
·
I would avoid the
publicity of high positions and discourage the flattery of thoughtless friends.
·
I would not
knowingly wound the feelings of any, not even one who may have wronged me, but
would seek to do him good and make him my friend.
·
I would overcome
the tendency to selfishness and jealousy and rejoice in the success of all the
children of my Heavenly Father.
·
I would not be an
enemy to any living soul.
In spite of
disability, he had a loving and full life. There is value in all life,
including the lives of those with disabilities. whether physical, emotional, mental
or otherwise.
In thinking
on the weaknesses of George Albert Smith and the way he faced them, I think
that if we approached disability more with those points in mind, we would be
more Christlike and more Christian. To have Charity, as Moroni says (7:47) but acharity
is the pure blove
of Christ, and it endureth cforever;
and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
While George
Albert Smith had physical disabilities, each of us has weaknesses that keep us
spiritually from kindness, from charity and from expressing the love of
Christ. But by reflecting on how George
Albert Smith lived his life and overcame physical disability, not allowing it
to define or destroy him, we can learn to face our weaknesses and draw closer
to God, so that it may be well with us.
This is my
testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
5 comments:
Thanks for sharing this, Stephen. It's a much needed lesson today.
Just read this to my daughter who has suffered from chronic fatigue for fifteen years and has been unable to attend church in all that time. It's good for her to be able to identify with others who have had to attend to the need of their own health whilst striving to serve others, and a great comfort.
This is great, nicely done.
Great post. Thank you.
Loved this. Thanks for sharing it.
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