Waiting Along the River

A couple weeks ago we went on a Preparation day to Letchworth State Park. Its called the Grand Canyon of the East. As we walked along side the mighty Genesee River I thought of what Joesph B Wirthlin, a modern-day Apostle, said, "Those who stand at the threshold of life always waiting for the right time to change are like the man who stands at the bank of a river waiting for the water to pass so he can cross on dry land."

So I waited...

And the water never passed. It never even seemed to slow down. It just kept on its path. It really was a silly experiment, but it seemed to prove Joesph Wirthlin right. If we expect for life to slow down long enough for us make the changes we want to with ease, we will probably be waiting until we just give up.

Thomas S. Monson, another apostle, spoke about the master bridge builder, Jesus Christ. He has built the bridge of change for us to cross over. He has overcame our problems and challenges when he completed the Atonement. He built the bridges for us to cross so that we can be lead through change.

The bridge that we found at Letchworth isn't visible until you come right to it. You have to go through the woods, and trust the signs. But it makes it easy to cross the river. Just as in life we have to step with faith into the woods, and follow the scriptural sign posts.

In Thomas S. Monson's talk he quotes the poem "The Bridge Builder." I quote it with the changes he made.

An old man, going a lone highway,
Came at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast and deep and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
The sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned when safe on the other side
And built a bridge to span the tide.
“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near,
“You are wasting strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again must pass this way;
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide—
Why build you the bridge at the eventide?”
“There followeth after me today
A vast throng whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm that has been naught to me
To that great throng may a pitfall be.
They too must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building the bridge for them."

I Am a Mormon