The Parable & The Poem

The parable:

A merchant man seeking precious jewels found at last the perfect pearl. He had the finest craftsman carve a superb jewel box and line it with blue velvet. He put his pearl of great price on display so others could share his treasure. He watched as people came to see it. Soon he turned away in sorrow. It was the box they admired, not the pearl.

The poem:

We are all blind, until we see

That in the universal plan

Nothing is worth the making if

It does not make the man.

Why build these buildings glorious,

If man unbuilded goes?

In vain we build the world, unless

The builder also grows.

-Edwin Markham

This parable and poem are from a talk by President Boyd K. Packer. It is an awesome talk and you should read it. Here.

Essentially, the talk is about the Gift of the Holy Ghost. To those of you who do not know what this precious gift is, I will explain. It is the best gift ever, and I treasure it more than anything I have ever been given. I will elaborate. There is a difference, first of all, between the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and being able to feel the influence of the Holy Ghost, aka: the Spirit, or the Light of Christ.

I believe and have a strong conviction that all men and women are born with the Light of Christ. "What exactly do you mean by the light of Christ?", you may ask. The Light of Christ is a feeling of being uplifted, it provides enlightenment, and inspires people to do good. It is like our conscience that tells us the difference between what is right and what is wrong. (More, if you want it.)

The Gift of the Holy Ghost, however, is not something all men and women are born with. This gift is given to those who are baptized into God's church upon the earth today. I believe with every part of my soul that I belong to this Church. In fact, not only do I believe it. I know it. It is the Church of Jesus Christ. The very one that He himself founded while He was on the earth. However, after He was crucified, and as each of his twelve apostles were killed off, one by one, his Priesthood was eventually lost from the earth, and the Gospel and its doctrines that Jesus taught were forgotten by men, or added to, or changed by them. With the Priesthood being gone from the earth, so too was the ability to establish and spread His Church. Thus the Church was lost from the earth.

History tells us that the world then went through a period called the Dark Ages. Fast forward many years until a nation with religious freedom, a nation which God inspired men to find and establish, was created. Not too long after the United States Declaration of Independence was written in 1776, God began to restore His Church. In the Spring of 1820, God called a prophet on the earth, just like He had done in "Bible Times" to lead His Church and restore it back to the earth. This prophet's name was Joseph Smith. After Joseph Smith was martyred, God called another prophet, and there has been one on the earth that He has called ever since, as well as 12 Apostles. (Today our prophet is Thomas S. Monson.)

So that is a brief history of The Church of Jesus Christ, which today, in these latter days, is called "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

Back to the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I was baptized when I was 8 years old. After being baptized by immersion in water, I was given a priesthood blessing, wherein I was given this most precious gift. The gift is a promise that the spirit of God will always be with me, when I am awake, when I am sleeping, when I am talking, when I am thinking, ALWAYS, so long as I live worthy to have it with me (by striving to keep God's commandments), and I do not go places where the Spirit would not go with me (like, say, a strip club, for example).

So why is this Gift so amazing? Why do I treasure it more than anything? Where do I begin? I will just jump right in, I guess. This gift not only provides me with comfort and peace, it also: assures me of my Heavenly Father's love for me and His awareness of me, provides me with answers to questions I am seeking, inspires me to do good, to not be judgmental or hold grudges, inspires me to look for the good in others (essentially to try and be like Christ), gives me happiness and peace when I think of times to come (aka: helps me to be a more optimistic person), witnesses to me the divinity of Jesus Christ and our Father in Heaven, sends promptings to my heart (of what to say, of what to do), solidifies and strengthens my faith and testimony of the Gospel, fuels my heart with love and gratitude for those around me, for my Savior, for my Father in Heaven, and for His miracles that are often times subtle, and sometimes not-so-subtle, warns me of danger (I have had a very profound experience with this...had I not heeded the promptings of the Spirit, I don't know if I would be alive), and reminds me of who I am...who I really am. I am not my blonde hair. I am not the style of clothes I wear. Who I am is perhaps not perceptible by the human eye. But I know who I am. I am a child of God. I am a daughter of a King. And He loves me. I know this. All of the people I see everyday, talk to everyday, in fact, all of the people all over the earth, are children of a loving God Who knows them infinitely better than they know themselves, and loves them with a love unfathomable & incomparable.

The Gift of the Holy Ghost does all of those things for me, plus more, I am sure. There is nothing more important for me to do than to strive to keep the presence of the Holy Ghost with me, because if it is with me, it means I am on the right track and it will lead me to do the things, whether as a mother, a wife, a sister, a daughter, a friend, etc, that Heavenly Father would have me do, and will do all of those things above for me when I need it.

So back to the parable and the poem. The pearl in the parable is the Gift of the Holy Ghost. A scripture that comes to mind that can be related is 1 Timothy 4:14 (no, I didn't have the reference memorized! just some of the words), which says: "Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands..." (Priesthood blessings, such as the blessing to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost after being baptized, are given by the "laying on of hands" that is, hands placed upon one's head-- the person's whose hands are laid on one's head then speaks, through the power of the Priesthood, the words which God would speak if He were there.) So, don't neglect the actual gift, the gift of the Holy Ghost, don't hide it in a pretty box, or mask it with, as Boyd K. Packer puts it: "programs and activities and schedules and so many meetings. There are so many places to go, so many things to do in this noisy world. We can be too busy to pay attention to the promptings of the Spirit." It is not enough just to have been given the Gift of the Holy Ghost, we must be ready and willing to pay attention to its promptings.

I really loved the poem. I know it could be interpreted and applied in more ways than one, but to me, it says: why waste my time doing anything that does not contribute to the well being of my family and of those around me, and that does not build my character and my relationship with my Father in Heaven? Of course, fun and leisure are so important and they are good! We need time to rest, as Elder Christofferson (one of the 12 Apostles on the earth today) said last week during General Conference here. You can be playing and also listening to the promptings of the Spirit! Most importantly, why do anything that the Spirit wouldn't influence me to do?

That was a really long post that I didn't intend on when I first typed in the title of it. But there it is. If you would like a copy of my favorite book which contains in it more information about the Holy Ghost, as well as the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and truths about the importance of families, I will gladly send it to you along with a personal message. Just send me an email at sirmanskimberly@yahoo.com, or Facebook me, or leave a comment here. If you'd rather request a copy anonymously, click here. This book, The Book of Mormon, goes hand in hand with the Bible, and is another testament of Jesus Christ. The Bible is God's word and I believe in it and love it! The Book of Mormon is His word, as well. It and the Gospel that was restored with it, have changed me forever.

Love you all.