Tag: Seth

Looking on the Heart

On By Peter WatkinsIn 2011Leave a comment

Dear Will:

When I was in the second grade, Robert Maxwell and I were appointed by Mrs. Appleton as ball monitors at Mariposa Elementary. What that meant is that at the end of the last recess of the day, when all of the other kids were in class doing Reading Time or whatever they called it, Robert and I were roaming the playground, gathering up all of the balls and putting them away for the night. It was fun and cool at the same time, especially because it meant we got more playground time than anyone.

The trickiest task was detaching the tetherballs from their poles. We could barely reach the chains to which they were clipped, as I recall, so we had to give one another a boost to achieve our purpose. It’s hard to believe, to be honest, because I have since returned to Mariposa and noted with some surprise just how close to the ground those chains hang. Could I have really been that small when I was in Mrs. Appleton’s class?

I suppose it was a bit of a stretch (literally!) to assign two boys so small to that task. But what a terrific affirmation it proved to be. We were unsupervised, trusted to do an important job on behalf of the entire school. And although the chore itself was not especially difficult, it was useful to others and an important assignment for me. It caused me to think of myself in a slightly different light—as one who was worthy of trust and capable of representing others in a meaningful way.

I find myself thinking back to Mariposa School because my youngest son Seth turned 12 yesterday, which meant that today he received the Aaronic Priesthood and was ordained a deacon. His initial assignments as a priesthood-holder will not be especially difficult, but they will be of importance to others. He will be passing the sacrament to the congregation each Sunday, facilitating in this small way the renewal of eternal covenants and commitments. He will gather offerings on behalf of the poor and needy and return them to the bishop. And he will be given ongoing responsibility for the upkeep and care of the chapel in which we meet.

Seth admitted to me that he was unsure of whether he was ready and worthy to become a deacon. Our bishop, Bishop Hales, assured him that he was and authorized his ordination—and you can already see that it is having an impact on my son. He was nervous and excited as he anticipated this day, as I’m sure he will be next week when he passes the sacrament for the first time. As he grows increasingly comfortable with his duties, however, I think we will witness a maturation made possible by his acceptance of the authority to serve others in the name of God.

You may recall that when David was anointed King of Israel, he was young and unimpressive compared to his older brothers. The Lord gently chided Samuel the prophet for not seeing in David the divine potential that lay within. “Look not on his countenance,” the Lord told him, “or on the height of his stature; . . . for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

Likewise my son isn’t much to look at (he’s only 12, after all). But today he was set apart from most boys his age because of the goodness in his heart. Although he’ll be stretched in the years ahead as he works to fulfill his duties, and although he’ll need a boost from time to time to complete his assignments, I’m confident that he will prove to be more than worthy of the trust that has been placed in him. I’m proud of who he is and what he is becoming, and pleased that others have seen in him the divine potential that makes him, in my view, extraordinary.

PW

Not Quite Ultra Super Cool Deluxe

On By Peter WatkinsIn 2010Leave a comment

Dear Will:

Some time before the Christmas holiday Costco started selling this K’NEX contraption called the “Hornet Swarm Dueling Coaster.” Now if you’re unfamiliar with K’NEX, they’re sort of like the Tinker Toys I had as a kid only updated significantly for the 21st century. But you don’t even have to know about Tinker Toys to understand some simple calculations: The Hornet Swarm Dueling Coaster comes with 1,116 separate pieces and requires 104 steps to assemble. Once completed the HSDC stands 3 ½ feet tall.

As a rational adult, you could look at those numbers and come to the clear-headed conclusion that what your eleven-year-old really needs for Christmas is a good book to read. Unfortunately, I did not marry such a person. In fact, the Other Santa in our house thought that what our family wouldn’t be complete without a Dueling Coaster of its own. (“Motor! Sound! 4 cars!”)

What I’m trying to say is that last week Seth and I finally finished assembling the Hornet Swarm. It wasn’t even somewhat kind of slightly easy. (“For ages 9 and up”? I don’t think so.) But we “got ‘er done,” as they say. And even though it does indeed stand nearly four feet tall and now occupies a prominent position in our still-unfurnished dining room, I have to admit: It’s pretty cool.

But still. We fired that sucker up a few times and enjoyed it, but since then if there isn’t some new audience to dazzle with it, it sits unused. Or did. Until yesterday.

You see, yesterday someone’s dad decided that it would be a good idea to reengineer the Hornet Swarm. You know what’s cooler than a Dueling Coaster, don’t you? A Single Coaster with Dueling Tracks, of course! And someone’s dad decided that he could easily enough cross the tracks and thus transform the Hornet Swarm from pretty cool to ultra super cool deluxe.

It seemed so simple. It took a little ingenuity inasmuch as the new design required a few pieces that were not included with the original 1,116. But hey, the box did say “Imagine • Build • Play,” didn’t it? When faced with such a challenge, you find a way is what you do. Because “our” idea was even better than the original.

The trouble was that although we got the tracks to go in the right places, and we only broke one piece in so doing, for some reason the chain that pulls the cars to the top of the coaster was no longer pulling. All we got was a click-click-click that told us the chain was stuck and the motor was straining to pull it along. Pieces started detaching themselves, leaving our enterprising engineers with only one thought: “She’s gonna blow!”

Nuts. It really did seem like a good idea. But ultimately someone’s dad had to admit that there was probably a good reason why the good folks at K’NEX didn’t draw up the HSDC his way. Maybe, he had to admit, the people who designed the thing really knew what they were doing all along.

And so, the lesson: The tragic tale of the Hornet Swarm Single Coaster with Dueling Tracks reminds us that the best way to stay on track is to stick with the plan—or should I say, the Plan—set out by the Master Builder responsible for the design itself. It is, after all, with good reason that God encourages us to “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). Or as the prophet Isaiah once taught: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).

To which I might add: As you face the dips and turns and loop-the-loops of life, may you always put your trust in the Master Builder. And when you think you have a better idea, think again.

PW

This Is Why We’re Here

On By Peter WatkinsIn 2009Leave a comment

Dear Will:

Last week we returned from one of the greatest family adventures ever. Among the greatest for us, anyway. Along with another family of friends, we took our two youngest for a backpacking trip in Zion National Park. Specifically, we hiked from one end of the Narrows to the other.

If you have never visited the Narrows, here’s a snapshot which, even in its beauty, doesn’t begin to capture the spectacular scenery.

Now if I tell you that it took us two days to complete the 16-mile hike, you’ll probably think, “No big deal.” That’s sort of what we thought as well. But it turned out to be much more difficult than we would have guessed. For starters, the hike is 16 miles long if you walk it in a straight line—which you can’t. To hike the Narrows, you must crisscross the Virgin River repeatedly throughout the hike, which turns the 16 miles into 25 or 30 instead. Further adding to the challenge, as you proceed downstream, springs and streams continuously add volume to the river, so it gets deeper and swifter the farther along you go. Consequently, as you grow more tired, the invisible terrain on the riverbed becomes more treacherous: the boulders are larger, slicker, and more irregular, the currents stronger, the rapids more frequent. What’s more, as this picture suggests, there are long stretches in which there is no riverbank whatsoever, meaning that you have no choice but to hike in the river itself.

That’s not that bad if you are carrying little more than a water-bottle and some trail mix. But since we spent the night at the river’s edge, we were all wearing backpacks, some of us laden with 30 pounds or more of gear and food. That’s not the sort of load that makes it easy to stay balanced while maneuvering over algae-covered rocks in a swiftly-moving, muddy river. In fact, there were many stretches in which we had to cross the river in pairs to keep one another from being swept downstream. There were many areas in which the water was too deep for Seth, my 10-year-old, one area in which all 11 of us were required to swim with our packs strapped to our backs.

It was hard—so hard that we often fell into the trap of focusing strictly on our footing. Periodically, someone in the party would admonish us all to stop and look up—to take in the amazing beauty that can only be seen if you go there on foot. “This is why we’re here,” we would remind ourselves. “This is the point of our ordeal.”

Toward the end, Seth (wise beyond his years) speculated that this would turn out to be the sort of experience that we would look back on with joy, relishing both the difficulty and the magnificence of the experience. But, he added, “right now I’m not enjoying it much at all.”

Ah, life. Strewn with boulders, fraught with peril, harder than we would wish and often not much fun. All the more reason that periodically we should stop and look around, marveling at the miracles around us and relishing the privilege of being here, now, wherever and whenever that might be. In many ways, the ordeal is the point, a challenge for which we should all be grateful.

God has said: “Peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high” (D&C 121:7-8). May it be so.

PW