The Great Things I Hope For

When singing special musical numbers during sacrament meetings, I am always wary; I want to make sure the focus of the meeting is on Christ and His Gospel, and not on people's musical ability.  That being said, my family apparently received many, many compliments last Sunday after six of us sang "Sleep, Little Jesus" together.

I had a couple of coughing children to take home, so I was able to dodge the acclaim.  And I don't know how much we succeeded in inviting the Holy Ghost more than showing off singing ability; that's hard to tell.  But apparently we sang very well.  People told my wife more than once that day that they love it when our family sings.

What makes that kind of singing possible?  Sure, my wife and I are musically competent, though very far from being as skilled as a professional.  We're not wealthy enough for personal vocal instruction for the kids, though we have been able to get some piano lessons for them.  We definitely did some practicing throughout the week, but the kids have enough musical ability already that we can put together a decent song as a group.  What has brought that about?

If our family being able to sing together is a "great thing", then I think what makes it possible is one of those "small and simple things" (Alma 37:6).  Specifically, we sing together (almost) every night as part of our Family Time tradition I wrote about previously.  Each night we sing a hymn or a children's song--just one song, usually.  Over the years, that little bit of continual practice must have had an effect.  My wife considers us to finally be in the "reward" period, where we get to really enjoy singing together with the children, after years of small efforts.

But that daily singing is the least important part of our Family Time tradition.  While I believe music is important, the more important counsel we're trying to follow is the daily family scripture study and prayer.  If daily singing slowly builds our musical ability so that now we can rejoice in the "great thing" of family musical numbers, what great things will come from our small and simple daily scripture study and prayer?

I'm not sure what those great things will be, but I do believe Alma's words that, "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass".  As I said last time, I think that this simple nightly tradition is the most important thing I do, and I believe that it really will bless my children.

Last thoughts for now:
Daily scripture study and prayer are "small and simple things"; we have promises from the Creator of the Universe that they will bring about great things.  Perhaps the great thing they will bring is a solid faith in Christ that will guide my children throughout their lives.  Maybe it will be the traditions that they carry on with their own families.  Maybe it will include greater ability to meaningfully ponder God's word and to converse with others about it.  Maybe it will be all of that and more.

By Small and Simple Things

"By small and simple things are great things brought to pass..."
  --Alma the Younger to his son Helaman (Alma 37:6)

I've seen that passage many times, and I always wanted to appreciate meaning in it, but yesterday I read it differently for the first time.

I always used to take the meaning as something like, "Pay attention to the small things, because sometimes they're important because they play a part in larger things."  But that's not what the passage says.  The prophet Alma wasn't telling his son that small things are only sometimes important.  The words in that passage of scripture declare a broad truth: that, as a rule, great things happen by means of small things.  That's how life works.

It's easy for me to reflect on Army training exercises or other operations and see this principle in action.  When a large unit accomplishes anything, it happens through multiple people taking and issuing instruction, and through many very small actions over a long period of time.  Many soldiers conducting individual training or learning some seemingly mundane skill may feel like the small, simple task is not very important, but a large exercise comes together only through many people performing many small tasks.

My greatest hopes are, I believe, being realized through simple actions.  My greatest desire is for my children, that they will be faithful disciples of Christ and productive members of society.  I take many small moments to teach them little things about everything from history to science to language to anything else.  The small and simple actions I think are most important are those we've been counseled repeatedly to perform: prayer and scripture study.  Our (usually) nightly tradition of "Family Time", during which we sing a bit, study a few verses of scripture, and pray together, is of the greatest importance to me.  It only takes a few minutes, and the lessons learned are often small, but I do it all hoping that my children will be strong adults, and that will be a great thing.

Last thoughts for now:
I've long taken a view that small things are important.  (I even included a similar thought in my book.)  But perhaps I wanted to take an easier view of things--that the small actions we take, or the small thoughts or feelings we harbor, or any of the other various small concerns we have from day to day are only sometimes important for a larger purpose.  I think that now I have a better understanding of the principle Alma taught to his son.  Of course, I still fail in many small things from day to day, but I continually seek to repent and do better, and I will never underestimate how vital they are.