A Time To Be Released

A Time To Be Released

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

We May Never Pass This Way (Again) by Seals and C…: http://youtu.be/i3mp4dkm1fQ     

"Elder Neal A. Maxwell reminds us: “It should be clear to us with regard to various callings and assignments that just as soon as we are sustained and set apart the clock begins running toward the moment of our release. How vital it is to manage our time and talents wisely from the moment a task begin! Later, when we have devotedly invested much of ourselves in a particular calling or assignment (and especially when it has been satisfying and we have made a real difference), we may feel the release when it comes, but that, too, is part of our schooling as disciples. Being released gives us experience in patience and humility, as well as a fresh reminder of our replaceability” (The Neal A. Maxwell Quote Book [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1997], p. 52).

            At the time a call is made, there is inherent in the call the pending date for release. We usually are not given the exact day. It may not happen when expected, and it may not be easy when it does happen. It will usually come after we have formed close relationships, shared wonderful experiences, prayed together with associates in the work, and learned to serve and love. And we may think, Why couldn’t it have been just a little longer?

            My mind goes back to the time when President Gordon B. Hinckley informed Sister Patricia Holland that, after serving only two years in the Young Women general presidency, she was to be released. The prophet, of course, was aware of many other important things she was to do, but it seemed untimely to me. In response to our feelings, he counseled, “Don’t be sad that it hasn’t been longer. Be grateful that it happened at all.” We must not look back, but always forward. We must not live in the past, for there is work to be done….

Of course, there is a sense of loss anytime there is a change. You can’t give your heart and soul to a calling and then walk away with no feelings or attachments or concern. If you could, one might wonder about your level of devotion to the calling….

            However, it is important to remember and expect that inspiration and personal revelation will continue – not as they relate to a leader ... but as they belong to every (person) in the gospel….

            The hymn title “We Are All Enlisted” reminds us that whether we have an official call to a specific assignment or not, still we are called to listen to the Spirit. We must all take part in the great conflict that began with the war in heaven and continues to rage here on the earth. Membership in the Church is itself a call to leadership, a call to lead out in the cause of truth and righteousness….

            A release from a calling does not erase our identity with the Lord, nor does it remove any of the good that has been accomplished during the time and season of our service. That remains and often grows, like seeds lying in fertile soil that blossom years later. But it frequently falls to others to harvest the garden we have helped plant....

            ….We have the assurance that when we are called home there will be no question about our being recognized at the gate. The keeper of the gate will know us. Of that I am sure.

            Our callings and titles and positions are not intended to bring us glory, but to bring glory to God. Should we ever lose the importance of that true principle, let the lines from the following poem ring clear:

The Torch Bearer

The God of the High Endeavor

Gave me a torch to bear

I lifted it high above me

In the dark and murky air;

And straightway with loud hosannas

The crowd proclaimed its light

And followed me as I carried my torch

Through the starless night,

Till drunk with people’s praises

And mad with vanity

I forgot ‘twas the torch they followed

And fancied they followed me.

Then slowly my arm grew weary

Upholding the shining load

And my tired feet went stumbling

Over the dusty road

I fell with the torch beneath me.

In a moment the light was out.

When lo! From the throng a stripling

Sprang forth with a mighty shout,

Caught up the torch as it smoldered,

And lifted it high again,

Till fanned by the winds of heaven,
it fired the souls of men.

And as I lay in the darkness

The feet of the trampling crowd

Passed over and far beyond me,

Its paeans proclaimed aloud,

And I learned in the deepening twilight

This glorious verity,

“Tis the torch that the people follow,

Whoever the bearer may be.

(In Thomas Curtis Clark, comp., The Master of Men [Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries Press, 1970], p. 205)

            We must pass the torch on. And when you do pass the torch on to another, and (he) carries the title you once had, you might ask (him)…, “be a little sensitive when you tell me rightly that things are better than they’ve ever been before.” This church will continue to move onward and upward.

            The time of a release is a time to feel, not emptiness, but the fullness of an abundant harvest. In the words of Luther Burbank: “Like the year at the end of summer, I pause now, toward the end of my allotted time, to glance backward and to gather my harvest of experience and growth and friendship and memory. And what has been my harvest of the years? As though they were the grains of the field, the fruits from the orchard and the flowers from the garden, bursting now with seed for another season, I seem to see three kinds of crops: the harvest of work accomplished and aims achieved, the harvested experience and lessons that have molded and impressed my life, and the harvest of dear friendships, happy memories. And the storehouse floor groans, and the walls bulge, and the shingles on the roof have to give a little to make room, for the harvest is rich and heavy and abundant.”

(Ardeth Greene Kapp, Lead, Guide and Walk Beside, Deseret Book, 1998, pgs. 169-175)

When October Goes - Barry Manilow: http://youtu.be/Reiqwbo4b7Q