The Infinite Power of Hope by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
I'm thrilled that this is the talk that is next in the line up. I remember hearing the talk and feeling the testimony of his words during conference. It answered many prayers both spoken and unspoken and calmed my troubled heart.
Please read the section, even if you don't feel like sharing your thoughts, you will be greatly uplifted. For those interested, we'd love to hear your thoughts, feelings and impressions.
I've read this talk 5 times since posting this. My thoughts are all over the place. I have hesitated to post, for fear of tainting the swimming pool before anyone else has a chance to get their feet wet.
I love the simple way that he defines hope. The simple way that he talks about hope, charity and faith being a 3 legged tripod. No matter how hard we try too much focus on anyone of the 3 legs will create an imbalance.
I was also touched by the part where he said we must avoid the temptation to give up hope, I've always thought of temptation as tempting to sin. But I now know that it can be to give up something good and make room for something less.
Another point that I truly loved was when he spoke about his mother, I imagine searching for my children under those circumstances and the temptation to stop and cry is great. But like he said she put her faith and hope to work. And got busy doing. Like the scriptures say, 'faith without works is dead'. I believe that it goes the same for hope. Hope without action does us no good.
2 comments:
I loved rereading this talk! President Uchtdorf really explained the principle of hope well. It's one I've always been a little foggy on -- where does it fit with faith and charity.
A couple of things I liked:
"Like Father Abraham, we will “against hope [believe] in hope.”"
I loved this!
It seems like sometimes the only thing we have is hope -- hope that tomorrow will be better.
Another section I really liked was:
"The things we hope FOR lead us to faith, while the things we hope IN lead us to charity. The three qualities—faith, hope, and charity—working together, grounded on the truth and light of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, lead us to abound in good works."
I want to think about that some more, but I like it a lot.
I really needed this talk. I tend to get caught up in my loneliness (and self-pity). I really enjoyed how he ended the talk by saying that those of us that suffer (feel discouraged, worried or lonely) shouldn't give in. We need to embrace and rely on hope.
Another part I enjoyed was where he said, "The adversary uses despair to bind hearts and minds in suffocating darkness. Despair drains from us all that is vibrant and joyful and leaves behind the empty remnants of what life was meant to be." SO true. Then he said what hope does: It encourages and inspires. That sounds so much better than despair!
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