Ryan and I are participating in a class/reading group for the book "The 5,000 Year Leap". I'm sure you've heard me talk about it before. It is an awesome book and one I recommed to everyone. It really is a must read. I plan on posting any main points that stick out to me in our discussion. The one for this week is one I have talked about before and feel very strongly about. Its about being involved and doing something, anything. I want to start off by saying I know everyone has different time allowances. I actually haven't been keeping up to date much the past little bit, due to lack of time or other reasons. I have been feeling that I need to do better, however, and I'm glad to have this class right now to keep me motivated. So, tonight the teacher mentioned a story and statement by Elder Dallin H. Oaks. I came home and looked it up and what he says is great. So here's a part of the address given at BYU in November of 2004 entitled "Where Will It Lead?".
Sometimes the choice is not between two different actions but between action and inaction. Should I speak up or remain silent? Should I allow my loved one to pursue a course I know to be injurious and let them learn by experience or should I intervene to save him or her from that experience? Again, it is useful to ask ourselves, “Where will it lead?”
Here I recall an event described by a man I met at a stake conference in the Midwest more than a decade ago. The setting was a beautiful campus in central Illinois. My informant, a participant in a summer workshop, saw a crowd of young students seated on the grass in a large semicircle about 20 feet from one of the large hardwood trees that are so common and so beautiful there. They were watching something at the base of the tree. He turned aside from his walk to see what it was.
There was a handsome tree squirrel with a large, bushy tail playing around the base of the tree—now on the ground, now up and down and around the trunk. But why would that beautiful but familiar sight attract a crowd of students?
Stretched out prone on the grass nearby was an Irish setter. He was the object of the students’ interest, and, though he pretended otherwise, the squirrel was the object of his. Each time the squirrel was momentarily out of sight circling the tree or looking in another direction, the setter would quickly creep forward a few inches and then resume his apparent indifferent posture. Each minute or two he crept closer to the squirrel, and the squirrel apparently did not notice. This was the scene that held the students’ interest. They were silent and immobile, attention riveted on the drama—the probable outcome of which was becoming increasingly obvious.
Finally the setter was close enough to bound at the squirrel and catch it in his mouth. A gasp of horror arose, and the crowd of students surged forward and wrested the beautiful little animal away from the hound, but it was too late. The squirrel was dead.
Anyone in that crowd of students could have warned the squirrel at any time by waving their arms or crying out, but none had done so. They just watched while the inevitable consequence got closer and closer. No one asked “Where will this lead?” and no one wished to interfere. When the predicable outcome occurred, they rushed to the defense, but it was too late. Tearful and regretful expressions were all they could offer.
That true story is a parable of sorts. It has a lesson for things we see in our own lives, in the lives of those around us, and in the events occurring in our cities, states, and nations. In all these areas we can see threats creeping up on things we love, and we cannot afford to be indifferent or quiet. We must be ever vigilant to ask “Where will it lead?” and to sound appropriate warnings or join appropriate preventive efforts while there is still time. Often we cannot prevent the outcome, but we can remove ourselves from the crowd who, by failing to try to intervene, has complicity in the outcome.
The entire talk is very good and I suggest you read the rest. Here's a link to the transcript.
2 comments:
Oo, very interesting. I love the idea of choosing between action and inaction. That question of "Where will it lead?" is a great way to decide between the two. This is a balance I have been working on as a wife a lot. How much do I encourage/nag my husband to do things, and at what point do I simply let him use his own judgment? I am going to try asking myself that question now when I am trying to choose between action or inaction. Thanks!
That was a good little parable. My dad gave me a copy of "The 5000 Year Leap," but I have yet to read it. I would love to know what you think of it...
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