I was thinking about her yesterday and realized something. She's not a pro-walker yet, she's unsteady, slow, not very confident, but when she walks, instead of looking at the ground to make sure of her footing, she's looking up. This realization surprised me. Her natural inclination is not to look down, but up.
Have you ever realized whether or not you have a habit of looking down when you walk? Maybe some of you don't, but I know there are times when I realize that I'm looking at my feet when walking or thinking. It seems to happen more dramatically and more often during times I feel weighed down with cares or at particularly contemplative times. Why is this? I doubt that little Harper is the exception to the rule. Now that I think about it, isn't that how babies normally learn to walk? By looking up? If so, then when do we start setting our sights lower until we are literally looking at the ground as we go through daily life?
It's true that life is much more complicated now than when we were fresh from another world and had no more cares than whether we were fed, warm and clean. I think as the additional worries of this life unfold to us, we start to physically feel the difference and now as an adult I, at least, have times when it's difficult to look up at all. It takes so much energy and life is so exhausting!
Elder Carl B. Cook told a story about such a time in his life in a speech he gave in General Conference in 2011. "At the end of a particularly tiring day toward the end of my first week as a General Authority, my briefcase was overloaded and my mind was preoccupied with the question 'How can I possibly do this?' I left the office of the Seventy and entered the elevator of the Church Administration Building. As the elevator descended, my head was down and I stared blankly at the floor.
"The door opened and someone entered, but I didn't look up. As the door closed, I heard someone ask, 'What are you looking at down there?' I recognized that voice- it was President Thomas S. Monson.
"I quickly looked up and responded, 'Oh, nothing.' (I'm sure that clever response inspired confidence in my abilities!)
"But he had seen my subdued countenance and my heavy briefcase. he smiled and lovingly suggested, while pointing heavenward, 'It is better to look up!' As we traveled down one more level, he cheerfully explained that he was on his way to the temple. When he bid me farewell, his parting glance spoke again to my heart, 'Now, remember, it is better to look up.'"Elder Cook later adds, "Experience has taught me that if we, like President Monson, exercise our faith and look to God for help, we will not be overwhelmed with the burdens of life. We will not feel incapable of doing what we are called to do or need to do. We will be strengthened, and our lives will be filled with peace and joy. We will come to realize that most of what we worry about is not of eternal significance- and if it is, the Lord will help us. But we must have the faith to look up and the courage to follow His direction.
"Why is it a challenge to consistently look up in our lives? Perhaps we lack the faith that such a simple act can solve our problems."
That reminds me of the children of Israel. In the book of Numbers in the Old Testament, this people, who struggled for so many years in the wilderness were plagued with fiery serpents and the solution to their problem, literally, was to look up. Moses was commanded to fashion a brass serpent and put it on a pole and lift it up and all those who would look up at the serpent on the pole would be healed. Nephi wrote about the incident in the Book of Mormon and used the story as a teaching tool to his own people. "And he did straiten them in the wilderness with his rod; for they hardened their hearts, even as ye have; and the Lord straitened them because of their iniquity. He sent fiery flying serpents among them; and after they were bitten he prepared a way that they might be healed; and the labor which they had to perform was to look; and because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished." (1 Nephi 17:41)
This idea of looking up has been a somewhat recurring them in my life. I've seen glimpses of this particular counsel here and there, splashed across my life in times I least expect it. For instance, during the time I was taking Tae Kwon Do, I was taught that to keep myself safe I needed to focus all my abilities toward that goal. My teacher, Mr. Jones, asked us if we realized how often we look down at the sidewalk while walking. He counseled us to look up, that we need to keep our heads up and to continually be scanning the area for possible dangers up ahead. How can we be prepared for the problems in front of us if we can't even see them coming? Though he was talking about our physical well being, I think the same thing goes for our emotional and spiritual well being also.Another time, a friend of mine talked to me about possibly joining a group of friends to sing some songs about the temple written by Steven Kapp Perry. Though it never happened, I did attend one practice and ended up hearing one song that made me think.
Look Up
The stars fall down from heaven
And scatter upon the earth
As strangers in a strange land
Forgetting their heavenly birth
Adrift and untethered they wander
Through kingdoms of darkness and light
Unschooled and unlearned they follow the tide
And many are lost in the night
Look up! Look up!
The stars in the heavens cry out!
Look up! Look up!
Your course does not lie
On the land or the sea
It lies in the heavens above
Look up!
The prince of darkness covets
These glimmering sparks of light
And seeks to blind and bind them
With treasures that have no life
But blazing and bright is the Prince of the Light
Revealing the mystery
Endowing the stars with His power and might
He shows them their destiny
Look up! Look up!
The stars in the heavens cry out!
Look up! Look up!
Your course does not lie
On the land or the sea
It lies in the heavens above
Look up!
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Rejoice in the Prince of the Light!
Rejoice! Rejoice!
For stars that were fading
Now shine like the Son
Reflecting the light of His love
Rejoice!
I find it interesting that this was included with his collection of songs about the temple. He writes, "We're on a journey! The temple is like the ancient stars the navigators used to chart their course. Once the sailors had been endowed with an understanding of the heavens, those celestial beacons never failed them as long as the travelers remembered to look up." In thinking about it I notice that the architectural and interior designs of our temples, particularly the Celestial Rooms, are design to inspire us to look up to our Heavenly Father.
It sounds so simple doesn't it, looking up. How can it be so difficult to remember to look up for direction, for safety, for help? Yet life frequently gets in the way with distractions and busyness, survival and enjoyment, and sometimes the simplest things are forgotten. Life also has a way of making us harder and more jaded, and having faith in something so simple seems ridiculously hard. I guess that's why I've needed many reminders during the course of my life.
Jeffery R. Holland writes, "When times are trying, we must keep our heads up. We can't see the rising of the sun or the silver lining on a cloud or God's glory anywhere if we are always looking at the stones in our path."
I guess it really is true that we can't see the beautiful things around us if we aren't looking. It's also hard to focus on the good things we are doing if we can only see the difficulties that are before us. In Alma 8:14-15, Alma the Younger was given this counsel after departing from Ammonihah, a particularly difficult and faithless city where he had been preaching unsuccessfully, "And it came to pass that while he was journeying thither, being weighed down with sorrow...behold and angel of the Lord appeared unto him, saying: Blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou has great cause to rejoice; for thou hast been faithful in keeping the commandments of God..."
Look up, Laura! You're doing the best you can and you are seen and known by your Creator.
In this month's Ensign there's a story called, 'Can He See Me?' A young boy, Daniel, is being counseled by his mother that God would always see and hear him wherever he went. "With a look of excitement, Daniel ran immediately to the backyard. I followed closely behind him. Daniel looked upward at the cloudless, blue sky and asked, 'If I look up at the sky and smile, will He see me and will He smile back?'
"Rendered speechless from the lump in my throat and the tug on my heartstrings, I nodded, 'Yes!'
"Still looking heavenward, this time with squinted, searching eyes and perfect, childlike faith, Daniel thoughtfully asked, 'Can I see Him?'
"'You might not be able to see Him,' I replied, 'But you will know He is there because you will feel His smile in your heart...'
"When times get tough in my own life, I remember Daniel's example, and with all the childlike faith a grown-up can muster, I too look searchingly heavenward and ask, 'Can He see me?' Then, Daniel-like, I quietly ponder, 'Can I see Him?' As I consider the multitude of His tender mercies in my life, the Holy Ghost confirms that I have truly felt Heavenly Father's love. Renewed in my faith an inspired by hope, the Spirit assures me that I always can."
It seems to be that I need to be a lot more like Harper and Daniel and look up with faith.
Look up, Laura! You're doing the best you can and you are seen and known by your Creator.
In this month's Ensign there's a story called, 'Can He See Me?' A young boy, Daniel, is being counseled by his mother that God would always see and hear him wherever he went. "With a look of excitement, Daniel ran immediately to the backyard. I followed closely behind him. Daniel looked upward at the cloudless, blue sky and asked, 'If I look up at the sky and smile, will He see me and will He smile back?'
"Rendered speechless from the lump in my throat and the tug on my heartstrings, I nodded, 'Yes!'
"Still looking heavenward, this time with squinted, searching eyes and perfect, childlike faith, Daniel thoughtfully asked, 'Can I see Him?'
"'You might not be able to see Him,' I replied, 'But you will know He is there because you will feel His smile in your heart...'
"When times get tough in my own life, I remember Daniel's example, and with all the childlike faith a grown-up can muster, I too look searchingly heavenward and ask, 'Can He see me?' Then, Daniel-like, I quietly ponder, 'Can I see Him?' As I consider the multitude of His tender mercies in my life, the Holy Ghost confirms that I have truly felt Heavenly Father's love. Renewed in my faith an inspired by hope, the Spirit assures me that I always can."
It seems to be that I need to be a lot more like Harper and Daniel and look up with faith.
Etched in the stone on my grandparents grave is Psalm 121:1 "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help." Every time I visit their grave I read this scripture and lift up my eyes to see the beautiful eastern mountains and the blue sky and I am reminded of all of the extraordinary things in this world provided for my needs and comfort. It is a reminder to me of where my help comes from. I hope I will continue to be reminded to look up. I certainly could use a happier point of view.
