...With a Privilege

While reading an apostle's remarks about the honor of holding the priesthood, the authority to act in God's name, I gained some insight of my own. Although I don't hold the priesthood, I am still a daughter of God with great potential and privilege. The apostle, Dieter F. Uchtdorf shared the following story:

There once was a man whose lifelong dream was to board a cruise ship and sail the Mediterranean Sea. He dreamed of walking the streets of Rome, Athens, and Istanbul. He saved every penny until he had enough for his passage. Since money was tight, he brought an extra suitcase filled with cans of beans, boxes of crackers, and bags of powdered lemonade, and that is what he lived on every day.

He would have loved to take part in the many activities offered on the ship—working out in the gym, playing miniature golf, and swimming in the pool. He envied those who went to movies, shows, and cultural presentations. And, oh, how he yearned for only a taste of the amazing food he saw on the ship—every meal appeared to be a feast! But the man wanted to spend so very little money that he didn’t participate in any of these. He was able to see the cities he had longed to visit, but for the most part of the journey, he stayed in his cabin and ate only his humble food.

On the last day of the cruise, a crew member asked him which of the farewell parties he would be attending. It was then that the man learned that not only the farewell party but almost everything on board the cruise ship—the food, the entertainment, all the activities—had been included in the price of his ticket. Too late the man realized that he had been living far beneath his privileges. (Your Potential, Your Privilege)

My heart breaks everytime I hear that story! How horrible it is imagining all the great meals and activities the man missed out on! Yet, how often do we make the same type of decisions, missing out on the many blessings surrounding us?

We are blessed to have a prophet and apostles again on the earth. People who gain direction from God for our benefit! Do we truly understand how wonderful that news is?! Do we take the opportunity to listen and improve our lives? Or are these inspiried men like those many activities on the cruise ship that we don't take full privilege in?

I think the same principle can also be applied to the blessing we do receive in our lives, but don't take the time to recognize. In the scriptures we see the example of a group of people who "began to prosper by degrees" (Mosiah 21:16) and didn't recognize the wonderful blessings they could take part in and rejoice over.

I hope we'll never be like the man on that ship. I hope that we don't get too caught up in the expectations and focus on what we want that we don't recognize the many blessing that we have, esspecially the blessing of having a spokesman for God on the earth.