Be Thou Humble, Part I

In April 2016, Elder Steven E. Snow of the Seventy, and acting Church Historian, gave an inspired talk entitled, "Be Thou Humble".  Before jumping into the text, I always find it fascinating when General Authorities and Officers give talks and make no reference to their day-to-day duties.  They are delivering a message that they have strived to receive through revelation, and are striving to deliver through revelation.

Elder Snow does not talk about or even allude to his duties as Church Historian.  Similarly, I recall both Merrill Bateman and Cecil Samuelson giving Conference talks while serving both as a Seventy and as President of BYU-Provo.  Apart from a few minor references to working with young adults, neither message, as I recall, seemed a direct reflection of their current position.

One could read that perspective and approach as self-diminishing and demonstrating some humility: who the speaker is and what the speaker does is not important compared to the message God has inspired to deliver.

The talk opens well, but for now, let me jump into the middle of this talk: "Like all of the Church's hymns, 'Be Thou Humble' teaches pure and simple truths.  It teaches that if we humble ourselves, our prayers are answered; we enjoy peace of mind; we serve more effectively in our callings; and, if we continue to be faithful, we will ultimately return to the presence of our Heavenly Father."

The consequences of humility presented here seem understated, almost fittingly humble in themselves.  Prayers being answered, peace of mind, and more effectively serving in callings may seem like small potatoes compared to the miracles we read of in the scriptures of healing and acts of nature.  They may seem small compared to the challenges we face.  They may seem small compared to the epic sweep and vision of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which could be understood as a transformation and exaltation of all creation.

Why do the blessings seem so small?  Why doesn't Elder Snow swing for the fences a little more?  Of course, I do not have a definitive answer, but perhaps there are some lessons we could draw from this.

All of us are in different spots in our spiritual space.  We have different friends and understandings and experiences.  And yet these relatively simple blessings can apply to us all.  No matter our age or stage, we could all benefit from increased capacity to serve, for a deeper and more enduring sense of peace, for answers to prayer.

Answers to prayer seem almost a mirror-like reflection of us, of what we want, what we humbly seek from God's hand, and of what God can do for us.  Notice that Elder Snow does not say how or when our prayers are answered, only that they are.  Any divine response to a sincere prayer, whether it meets with our expectations or not, is a blessing of great worth.

For those in the middle of personal, financial, family, emotional, or spiritual turmoil, peace is a literal godsend.  Further, we may wonder how many are there in the world, where the external trappings of their life seem in order, but peace is out of reach.

Notice also that Elder Snow doesn't teach that humility leads to external peace: freedom from suffering.  Instead, he says that humility leads to peace of mind, a deep, inner tranquility that cannot be purchased, imposed, or conjured.

Why is the capacity to serve such a great blessing?

In God's transformational work, we are being prepared to return back to live with our Heavenly Parents as families.  He sent His Son to redeem, to atone, to save, to heal a broken world.  The world remains broken; how does God save it today?  Surely God does at least some of this work through mortals, including in our current Church calling and responsibility.  As we express our willingness to serve, and as we give ourselves to God, we offer ourselves as a small sacrifice to help in that healing, in that work of redemption.

It is as if Elder Snow is saying that humility is actually what empowers the servants of God to do the work that God has for them.  And make no mistake: God has a work for you to do!

As we examine these blessings in greater depth, we see the great potential and power in each of them, and that as in many other things, so in humility: out of simple things proceeds that which is great (Alma 37:6-7).