. . . seeketh not her own.

The theme of our RS commemoration evening was the scripture on charity found in I Corinthians and Moroni 7 which begins "And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, . . . ."  Twelve sisters were asked to speak briefly and to be creative in sharing one of the twelve phrases in the scripture.  It was a memorable evening.  Each sister presented something that was meaningful to her in one of the phrases.

We heard about the long suffering of a man a couple in the ward had worked with while on their inner-city mission.  A woman who no longer had a beautiful singing voice had asked a younger woman to sing a lovely song with guitar accompaniment and envied not.  A single sister related the circumstances of several photos she had taken on a trip to Ireland with family and the rejoicing in good times together.  Another shared a varied list of many things to believe in.  One recently widowed sister, referred to the pioneers and their crossing the plains and burying loved ones and played "Come, Come Ye Saints" on her harmonica.  Her music seemed to unknowingly introduce the words of the last sister who shared that over a period of six years, the loss of her own three young children while three good friends each lost a child--enduring all things.  Now I know what has made her who she is.  None of us knew until now  what has made her the gentle good person that she is.  Our few YW had sung our opening musical number  "A Woman's Heart" and six of our RS sisters sang the closing number, "My Sister's Hands."  Beautiful music.

It really was a memorable evening.  I don't believe our presidency knew when they asked, the inspiring stories we would hear.  The food wasn't catered food which has often been the case, but simple good food made by a committee and the tables simply decorated with a focus on the Savior and Relief Society.

"Seeketh not her own" was the phrase I was assigned.  After looking to see what the prophets have said of that scripture I decided to use some of President Eyring's words that had pointed me to the sacrament.  For the past couple of weeks I've tried to paint an 8 x 10 wrapped canvas depicting the emblems of the sacrament to illustrate the message I would give.  It became a  personal expression to illustrate the words I shared and for a wall in my loft.  It joins Darrel George's leather engraving of The Last Supper, Faith's collage framing of The Living Christ, a frame of The Family proclamation and Relief Society declaration, and the Romanian icon Bruce brought back from his mission.  Since I moved into my corner cottage the loft has become at times my personal "upper room."

This is my part on the program.


Charity . . .  seeketh not her own.
The bread and water, tokens of the sacrament,  remind me of the love of the Savior  and to seek not my own.        

 

The sacramental prayers tell us--

To put the  [Savior] first in our lives.                                                                                                        We should want what He wants rather than what we want or what the world teaches us to want.                                                                                                                                           

It’s not what I want but what He wants.   He knows best.  He knows what I don’t know.

We promise always to remember Him.. . . .  That remembering fills our hearts with love.     Remembering Him, helps us to love better and to do hard things.

We promise as we take the sacrament to keep His commandments,….    The Lord has given us nothing that is useless or unnecessary.                                                                                                              

He will always help us when we try.

Remember Him.

Charity . . .  seeketh not her own--the needy, the naked, the afflicted.  Whatever it is that He would have us do.  That is what we seek. 

Whenever we partake of the sacrament we are reminded that we will remember what he has asked us to do.  Remembering fills our hearts with love for others. 

Quotes in italics  from The Ensign » 1998 » May, pp 67-68,  That We May Be One,  Elder Henry B. Eyring.  “Seeketh Not Her Own,”   M.E. Parkinson, acrylic on wrapped canvas, 2010.