Remembering 9/11

Today is a day of remembrance––a day of reverence, remembering those who lost their lives ten years ago on 9/11. As I listened this morning to the Sunday Mormon Tabernacle Choir broadcast of “Music and the Spoken Word,” with Tom Brokaw narrating, I was reminded of what is really important in this life. The vivid images of 9/11 have been all over the television screen this past week, but the message of this particular inspirational broadcast was simple. Survivors testified of how their priorities changed in that moment, on that day. While previously they had been more concerned with making money, to have the finer things in life we all desire––in an instant they were reminded of what is really important––Family, Faith, Friends.

I am reminded of a conversation I had with an elderly gentleman recently, while sitting in my doctor's waiting room. He had spent the majority of his life as head of a large corporation of grocery store chains. Now retired, he spends his days caring for his physically handicapped wife, and working in the Salt Lake Temple as a Temple sealer. He was a joyful, positive man--desiring only to serve his fellow human beings.  Someone in the waiting room asked him what he considered to be the secret of his success. He humbly replied that it was understanding the “order of his priorities.” All the years he was working in corporate America he had a plaque in his office to remind him of what was truly important. It read:

Family

Faith

Work/Community

Self

He said that as long as we put “Family and Faith first" in our lives, and “ourselves last," we will be successful!

I am grateful for family and friends today and for my testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are so fortunate to know who we are, where we came from, and where we are going after this life. May we all remember what is truly important and cherish this time we have together.