Christ, The Helmsman

Hey everybody, I know it's been a long time since I've updated this. Sorry about that, hopefully I'll get a little bit better. This past weekend I was asked to speak at Stake Conference. Some have expressed interest in reading the talk I gave, so the closest thing I have follows. As always, this is an approximation of what I said based on the talk I brought with me and what I can remember changing when I gave the talk - I think it's fairly close to the talk I actually gave. Here you go:

Imagine yourself out on a small boat at sea. The night falls and a storm comes, water beings pounded against you, the boat tosses on the waves. You fear capsizing, thunder roars as you being taking on water. How do you react, what do you feel?
Now, imagine yourself at home, lying in bed. It’s a clear cool night and just as you’re about to fall asleep for the night you hear shouts in the street. Your friends and neighbors are being beaten, and forced from their homes. They’re coming for you as well. Your house is being torn down, and all you possess is being tossed into the street. You try to reason with your oppressors but all they know is hate for you and your people. Screams of murder fill the night. And even when you finally find a new place to live, a little north, you feel safer – but you have no home, and it’s the winter. You’ve lost most of your possessions. How do you react? What do you feel?

Is it peace?

“And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” (Mark 4:39) “Let your hearts be comforted… for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God.”

When others faced these challenges, the Savior came to them and gave those words of comfort. He taught them peace. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27). All of us will know intimately both joy and sorrow in our lives. Yet the Savior's message in times of sorrows has consistently been that of peace, of his peace. When Alma, the younger faced harrowing so great he thought he would perish, he remembered the Savior of whom his father had taught and received joy so great as to exceed his sorrow. Jacob, the brother of Nephi described his life by saying "the time passed away with us, and also our lives passed away like as it were unto a dream, we being a lonesome and a solemn people, wanderers, castout from Jerusalem, born in tribulation, in a wilderness, and hated of our bretheren, which caused wars and contentions; wherefore we did mourn out our days." (Jacob 7:26). When Joseph Smith faced despair as he was imprisoned and his people faced discrimination he called out " O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?" (Doctrine and Covenants 121:1) In response he was told "thou art not yet as Job" (Doctrine and Covenants 121:10) and "The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?" (Doctrine and Covenants 122:8). When Christ tells us that he offers us not the peace of the world, but his peace, we should look at His life. This man who knew little more than scourn throughout his life, he was betrayed by one of his closest friends, spit upon, mocked, tortured, and killed. The peace he spoke of was an inner peace, a comfort that comes when we entrust our lives in his hands.
This past week I had a small experience with trial and trusting my life to be led by my Savior. Last Thursday morning I received a phone call from my Dad. He and I are close, and we talk fairly often, but I cannot recall the last time I talked to him on a Thursday morning... He had called to inform me that my grandmother had passed away the night before. When I asked how he was doing I could hear sorrow in his voice as he said "you're never ready to lose your mother." He told me that he would let me know about the funeral details and I said I wished I could make it, but I had finals the next week and probably wouldn't. After I got off the phone with him, and spent a few moments recalling my grandmother, I felt a strong impression and desire to go home. I needed to say goodbye, family is far more important than school. I flew home to watch as my grandfather said goodbye to the woman who had been his closest friend from the time they were 13 years old. I spoke with and embraced each of the 10 children, my father, my aunts, and my uncles, who were now without their mother. As I looked at the frail body that had been her vessel in this life, and watched our family mourn, I felt peace. And as I spoke with my grandfather, and my aunts and uncles I could tell how much it meant that I was there, where I belonged. Among the greatest blessings I received for being where I belonged happened the morning of the funeral. For the first time I can recall in my adult life, I heard my father pray. You would have to know a great deal more of my life and my past to understand what that moment meant, but it may have been the greatest blessing I received so far this year.

It may be death or illness, poverty or heart break. But, all men, no matter their station in life, will pass through sorrow. Whatever struggles we have in life, however minor they may seem can shake us. The storms of life will come upon us, they will toss us, and we may fear capsizing. Yet, if we have Christ at our head, all will be well.

Jesus, Savior, Pilot me
Over life’s tempestuous sea;
As a mother stills her child,
Thou canst hush the ocean wild;
Boist’rous waves obey thy will
When thou say’st to them, “Be Still!”
Wondrous Sov’reign of the sea
Jesus, Savior, Pilot me
(Hymn 104 – Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me)

Christ calls unto all of us. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
Christ is at the helm of this church, piloting us through life’s stormy seas. He is at the helm of our lives, if we will only let him have the wheel. When his disciples were on that storm-tossed boat, they asked “what manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:41). He is our Savior, the manner of man who can command the wind and waters that rage on in the storms of our lives, and they will obey him. Whatever travails we may pass through, they will be for our good, and if we trust in him, he will stop the storm before we perish. Who would you rather have at the head of your lives than He who is master of earth, wind, and sea? He who can calm and command the storms in our lives.
He lives. I know that he lives. He has comforted me through those few trials I have faced so far, he will guide me through all trials that may come. Because of this Restored Gospel, I know him more intimately and personally. He has given men on this earth his authority that they may aid him as he guides us through life’s rocky shoals. Trust him, and he will lead you home to that God who loves you. I testify of this. In the name of Jesus Christ, my pilot, Amen.