I get really passionate when people ask me what I want to do with Anthropology and when we talk about the research I did in Ghana and it often leads to a dialogue containing a lot of talk about healing, about improving and maintaining sustainable solutions, about what we as individuals can do to really make a difference and implement effective change... I am trying to find my role in all of that. I have had a few really meaningful conversations with friends lately that have allowed me to think and feel even deeper than I did before. For those people I am grateful.
As I think about my future and work toward the goals I have, I find myself being more and more consumed with thoughts of inadequacy and recognition about how small I am. I am just one person, just one person in this big world. But then I think about all those one persons who have changed history, who have led revolutions, who have saved a life, cured a disease, put a smile on someone's face encouraging them to hold on for one more day, and then I realize that to be just one person is enough. There is strength in numbers, of that I am sure, but it just takes one to start a movement, one to circulate an idea, one to encourage hope and trust and love.
I believe that the most powerful force on earth is love. Love triumphs over hate, over poverty, over hurt, over sadness, over a whole myriad of emotions. It is that one thing that heals ALL things. The Atonement is a perfect example of that love, its a perfect example of how one person has influenced everyones life who ever has lived and who ever will live. Because of the love the Father has for us, he sent His son whom he loves to live and die for us. Christ loves His father and each one of us so He willingly lived and died for us. It is not only in the act of His atoning sacrifice that we can see and feel His love for us. It is in every act he did, every word He spoke, and every doctrinal truth that we receive. His gospel is a perfect gospel and it is all centered around love. My purpose here is twofold with Christs, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Full-time missionaries are deeply invested in that work every hour of every day and though the rest of us cannot be physically and mentally devoted to it 100% of the time we can make sure that we are staying close to the spirit at all times thus allowing the Lord to use us as instruments in His hands when He needs us to extend His love to an individual, to a group, even to a whole community... but we cant do it without Christ.
This quote by Ezra Taft Benson spoke directly to the thoughts I was having...
"The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature...Yes, Christ changes men, and changed men can change the world. Men changed for Christ will be captained by Christ"
That quote illustrates perfectly the way I want to go about my work. The earth cannot be healed through the efforts of man alone. Christ must be involved. Just as the atonement can cleanse our lives, it will cleanse the earth as well. It is the only way to solve poverty and other world issues. Humanitarian efforts are incredible and noble and do a lot to alleviate suffering temporarily but the only true and complete healing will come when people take themselves out of the work and allow Christ to lead and guide everything they do. It is then that His love will allow for sustainable solutions through people who serve and love one another. It is then that we will see a happier and more successful people. Working together with Christ is the solution, but there is power in one heart and one voice. One person is worth so much.
Beautifully said.
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