Today we watched a video playlist from the Youtube channel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
After listening to the latest message from Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf about Sharing the Gospel In Challenging Times and a couple of other recent messages from Elder Bednar (How I #HearHim) and President Nelson (The Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ) the playlist started showing an older talk by then-President Dieter F. Uchtdorf titled: Of Things That Matter Most.
I was still remembering his joke “That’s all very fine and good, but what does it have to do with flying an airplane?” but not all the details of his talk. Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s message is still needed 10 years later, and it will be for a long time.
Have you ever been in an airplane and experienced turbulence? … While planes are built to withstand far greater turbulence than anything you would encounter on a regular flight, it still may be disconcerting to passengers…
What do you suppose pilots do when they encounter turbulence? A student pilot may think that increasing speed is a good strategy because it will get them through the turbulence faster. But that may be the wrong thing to do. Professional pilots understand that there is an optimum turbulence penetration speed that will minimize the negative effects of turbulence. And most of the time that would mean to reduce your speed. The same principle applies also to speed bumps on a road.
Therefore, it is good advice to slow down a little, steady the course, and focus on the essentials when experiencing adverse conditions.
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf continues:
When stress levels rise, when distress appears, when tragedy strikes, too often we attempt to keep up the same frantic pace or even accelerate, thinking somehow that the more rushed our pace, the better off we will be.
One of the characteristics of modern life seems to be that we are moving at an ever-increasing rate, regardless of turbulence or obstacles.
Let’s be honest; it’s rather easy to be busy. We all can think up a list of tasks that will overwhelm our schedules. Some might even think that their self-worth depends on the length of their to-do list. They flood the open spaces in their time with lists of meetings and minutia—even during times of stress and fatigue…
It is said that any virtue when taken to an extreme can become a vice. Overscheduling our days would certainly qualify for this…
What Is the Solution?
The wise … follows the advice “There is more to life than increasing its speed.”
Elder Dallin H. Oaks, in a recent general conference, taught, “We have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen our families.”
The search for the best things inevitably leads to the foundational principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ—the simple and beautiful truths revealed to us by a caring, eternal, and all-knowing Father in Heaven. These core doctrines and principles, though simple enough for a child to understand, provide the answers to the most complex questions of life.
There is a beauty and clarity that comes from simplicity that we sometimes do not appreciate in our thirst for intricate solutions…
Leonardo da Vinci is quoted as saying that “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
Read the full talk here: Of Things That Matter Most
