Humpty-Dumpty

This last weekend was LDS General Conference. I do think I appreciate conference more and more. It is a blessing that we can felt and hear some answers to our prayers.

I’m so grateful that conference can bless us, strengthen us, and encourage us. Some themes that stood out for me include taking care of each other, finding peace in the temple, being steadfast, and depending on the Savior and His Atonement.

Earlier this week I read the Lanford Wilson play Talley’s Folly. It’s a two-character play, and one of them claims that many of us suffer from the Humpty-Dumpty complex. We all have such fragile shells that we do everything we can not to upset our delicate little worlds, and we’re oh so afraid of bumping into someone or an experience and crack. We protect ourselves so well, that nothing can penetrate our shells, and we worry that if we do crack, we can’t be repaired.

Conference, on the other hand, repeatedly expresses that, yes, we are fragile and that this world is dangerous and unfriendly, but we are not alone. We have each other, and we have a very definite responsibility to help each other. Wasn’t President Eyring’s reference to Black Hawk Down great?—leave no man behind. And Bishop Edgely gave us the “call,” like Brother Brigham. to leave now to rescue those stranded on the plains of unemployment, despair, and hardship. And President Uchtdorf’s admonition to focus on what is eternal and significant and not be distracted in our duties. He sure sounded like Captain Moroni raising the banner of “I am doing a great work and cannot come down!”

We have a duty and a sacred responsibility to search out, rescue, and serve others. Even though Elder Perry was talking about member-missionary work, there are those stranded sheep who need us. And Elder Bednar’s and Elder Scott’s powerful talks about temples and the peace, power, and the “fire of the covenant” burning within us will protect, guide, and direct us to the Lord’s work on both sides of the veil.

But most important of all, the sacred testimonies of the Savior, especially Elder Holland’s witness that because of the Savior’s experience of betrayal and abandonment on our behalf means that Divine Passion is never absent in our lives—we will never be left alone. So unlike broken Humpty-Dumpty where all the king’s horses and all the king’s men could not repair Humpty-Dumpty, we are eternally blessed because all the King’s men (His servants, our families, our quorums, and each other) and the King Jesus can put us back together, can make us whole, complete, and well.

So many of my students are the King’s choicest men and women—He loves us and needs us. And He is with us.

We need to remember President Monson’s encouragement to study diligently, pray fervently, and live righteously with his promise that the Lord shapes our backs to bear the burdens placed upon them.