Sunday, March 22, 2015

Being a Prophet is More than Just Prophesying

(Index -- Great poems) 

Being a prophet is more than just prophesying. One of the ways a prophet is a prophet, is that he directs us to truths and leads us into God's ways. As I was searching for inspirational poetry tonight, I ran across a website featuring five poems quoted in General Conference by Thomas S. Monson, our current prophet.
  I had been searching through poems, looking for some I might consider the best poems of all time. Some of these quoted by President Monson, I consider as among the best. This first one, I'm not sure I'd include in the world's finest, if the whole poem were quoted, but I like this verse quoted by President Monson.

Good timber does not grow with ease:
 The stronger wind, the stronger trees;
The further sky, the greater length;
 The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
 In trees and men good timbers grow.
   -- Douglas Malloch

This one also seems to have been quoted just in part, though I could not find more of it.

Why build these buildings glorious,
If man unbuilded goes?
In vain we build the world,
Unless the builder also grows.
We are blind,
Until we see
That in the universal plan
Nothing is worth the making if
It does not make the man.
  -- Edwin Markham

One more, I'll quote here. This one is titled, It Shows in Your Face.

You don't have to tell how you live each day;
You don't have to say if you work or play.
A tried true thermometer serves in the place,
However you live it shows in your face.

The false, the lies, that you bear in your heart,
Will not stay inside where if first got it's start.
Blood and muscle are a thin veil of lace;
What you wear in your heart, you wear on your face.

If your life is unselfish, if for others you live,
Not how much you get, but how much you give,
If you live close to God and his infinite grace
You won't have to tell, it shows in your face.

 -- Karlene Garner

 It is true another person could have quoted to me these poems. But, prophets are special sources for obtaining wisdom. Guiding me into truth is part of their calling, and I tend to appreciate truths that come from them.

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