The best run of my life

When I heard this hymn arrangement at General Conference this year, I couldn't move because I thought it was so beautiful. And when I went running yesterday after work, guess what I listened to on repeat for about 20 minutes? Yep.

this

Ah! I love it. Dr. Mac, you are a musical genius. I appreciate you more every time you write something, and I mean that.

The words are just beautiful. But add that arrangement? * happy sigh * I love the hymns... :)

“163: Lord, Dismiss Us with Thy Blessing,” Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, no. 163

Thoughtfully

Lord, dismiss us with thy blessing;
Fill our hearts with joy and peace.
Let us each, thy love possessing,
Triumph in redeeming grace.
Oh, refresh us, oh, refresh us,
Trav’ling thru this wilderness.
Oh, refresh us, oh, refresh us,
Trav’ling thru this wilderness.

Thanks we give and adoration
For the gospel’s joyful sound.
May the fruits of thy salvation
In our hearts and lives abound.
Ever faithful, ever faithful
To the truth may we be found.
Ever faithful, ever faithful
To the truth may we be found.

Text: John Fawcett, 1740–1817

Psalm 31:23–24

Doctrine and Covenants 6:13

Ever faithful...I have to say...that's the most motivating thing I've gone running to in a long time. That, and President Uchtdorf's talk from Priesthood Session.

And because this is my blog, I'm inserting my favorite parts...because for me, this talk was just as beautiful as the song.

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"I watched and learned from my parents. I admired their determination and optimism. From them I learned that adversity, when confronted with faith, courage, and tenacity, could be overcome."

"That’s the thing about work. If we simply keep at it—steady and constant—things certainly will improve."

"Work is an antidote for anxiety, an ointment for sorrow, and a doorway to possibility. Whatever our circumstances in life,... us do the best we can and cultivate a reputation for excellence in all that we do. Let us set our minds and bodies to the glorious opportunity for work that each new day presents.

When our wagon gets stuck in the mud, God is much more likely to assist the man who gets out to push than the man who merely raises his voice in prayer—no matter how eloquent the oration. President Thomas S. Monson put it this way: 'It is not enough to want to make the effort and to say we’ll make the effort. . . . It’s in the doing, not just the thinking, that we accomplish our goals. If we constantly put our goals off, we will never see them fulfilled.' "

"I remember one day, while I was out on my bike delivering laundry, I entered the home of a classmate of mine. In one of the rooms, two small desks were nestled against the wall. What a wonderful sight that was! How fortunate those children were to have desks of their own! I could imagine them sitting with open books studying their lessons and doing their homework. It seemed to me that having a desk of my own would be the most wonderful thing in the world.

I had to wait a long time before that wish was fulfilled. Years later, I got a job at a research institution that had a large library. I remember spending much of my free time in that library. There I could finally sit at a desk—by myself—and drink in the information and knowledge that books provide. How I loved to read and learn! In those days I understood firsthand the words of an old saying: Education is not so much the filling of a bucket as the lighting of a fire."

"While I would not be eager to relive those days of trial and trouble, I have little doubt that the lessons I learned were a necessary preparation for future opportunity. Now, many years later, I know this for a certainty: it is often in the trial of adversity that we learn those most critical lessons that form our character and shape our destiny."

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All of this reminds me of something I was talking to a friend about the other day. He said, in the midst of the conversation, "...And then I'm going to live my life like it means something."

Our lives are so much more valuable than we realize they are. His statement made me realize that all over again. And maybe that's because we're living them every single day...maybe our lives seem mundane to us because we forget to look at them.

It's like what Mr. Emerson says, "If the stars should appear but one night every thousand years how man would marvel and stare."

I guess this is all mostly just a reminder I've stumbled upon the past few days. The beautiful strains of that music, the words of the text, the reminders that we are traveling through a wilderness...and we need to be refreshed! We need it because what we are doing matters. Anyway. Just go read that talk and listen to that song again. :)

Tuesday, out.