We Owe Them Something!

As with everything I write, I am never quite sure what to write as an introduction.  This week is no exception.  Honestly all of the weeks here seem to blend together without a whole lot to distinguish them.  It's probably a good thing this isn't really a blog about what I do with my life.  Anyone who is hoping for updates on that, I sincerely apologize.  I'm not that exciting to write about, so I don't write much about myself.

I got a call this morning about an hour and a half before Church.  It was the guy that I teach with.  He had come down with the flu and wasn't going to be able to teach, so I got to teach today.  And then the teacher of the 16-17 year olds was sick, so they came into my class also, meaning that I got to teach the 14-17 year olds.  It was a lot of fun, at least it was for me.

The lesson was on how learning is a part of God's plan for us.  I'm afraid that the opportunity to teach on a subject that I devoted several years of my life and my Master's Thesis to was too tempting of an opportunity for me to avoid giving a prolonged lecture to the kids.  When I was preparing the lesson, I was reminded of one of my absolute favorite talks by Elder Holland, "Who We Are and What God Expects Us To Do" (video also available here).  Elder Holland derived his message from Tevye's famous song "Tradition," in which he reminds us that "because of our traditions, everyone knows who he is and what God expects him to do."  Elder Holland then went on to relate that we too have a tradition, a tradition of faith, sacrifice, and learning.  He told of Saints holding schools in wagons or around campfires in a wickiup, sharing books around the class so that each might have an equal privilege.  He reminded the students of the long and expensive struggles to build a single school building, let alone a campus full of them.  Finally, Elder Holland stated, "We owe them something.  We who are the beneficiaries of their sacrifice and their faith--we owe them the best effort we can put forward in obtaining a truly edifying and liberating and spirit-soaring education."

I've thought a lot about that phrase, "We owe them something" and what it means for me.

I've thought about my Grandpa Dowdle, who would get up at four in the morning to hitch a ride from Springville into Provo where he worked as a janitor at BYU, and who would then go to classes and then go off to another job where he worked until late at night, again hitching a ride back to Springville where he would study and then get into be around one in the morning, to repeat the process again the next day.  I've thought about my Grandma Dowdle who helped me learn how to read "Dick and Jane" when I was a small boy, knowing that it was a skill I would need throughout my life.  I've thought about my Papa Haycock who never had the opportunity for a college education, but who was among the most profoundly learned men I have ever known, filling his house with books and a thirst for knowledge.  I've thought about my Nana Haycock who beamed with each accomplishment that her grandchildren reached.  I've thought about the many who came before them, each in their own way adding faith and learning to my heritage and struggling to make it possible for me to enjoy what I have today.  I've thought about my parents who have sacrificed comfort and means and probably more than a few dreams for each one of their children to achieve our own dreams.  And with all these thoughts, I can only conclude with Elder Holland, "I owe them something."

What do I owe?  At the very least I owe them my faith and continued diligence in the gospel cause.  I owe them my best studies, my best writing, my best work.  But more than that, I owe them a continued heritage of faith and righteousness and learning, passed onto succeeding generations with the same level of devotion with which it was passed on to me.

Tradition? Tradition!  It is in understanding and appreciating these traditions that each of us keeps our balance in this world and prepares a world of meaning for the rising generation.  It is in knowing and understanding these traditions that we truly come to see that we are a small part of something much grander, a family and a plan devised by God Himself, in a word, a "tradition."

Brett