Another hero died today.
I'm sure during the next few days and weeks, people all over the world will be mourning the loss of dear President Hinckley, and I must admit that I, too, will miss him greatly, but I can't help but be happy for the man. His wife died almost four years ago, so I imagine a joyous reunion between the two is happening right now, and I would be pretty surprised if there wasn't a fairly substantial amount of relief associated with shedding the shackles of an aged body and leaving the weight of the responsibility of presiding over the entire world to another man. Oh, I'm sure there are some mixed emotions, but the man was 97; that's a good long run, and he spent the majority of it serving the Church, so I'm confident that he's getting what he deserves, and he deserves the very best.
All the same, I am very sad to see him go; the Church will be a very different thing without him--not that the teachings or organization or really anything like that will change at all, but
I will miss his loving chastisements. Of course, those chastisements probably caused him quite a bit of frustration--having to say over and over and over again things like, "Brethren, the LORD really does want you to stop gambling and backbiting and looking at pornography when you should be out supporting our recent converts, home teaching, and sharing the gospel--I really don't know how to make this more clear to you!" He worked wonders--building temples like crazy, rearranging the entire face of missionary work, representing the Church in the face of all sorts of mediamongers--but I feel we as laymen really failed him, which is terrible, really.
But the Church moves on, and those of us who loved him will always hold dear the memory of Gordon B. Hinckley.
Latest speculation is such that, because President Monson has had such an extensive personal ministry and has such a thorough understanding of the Church's welfare system and the principle of charity, the LORD has been preparing him for a very long time to preside over the Church at a time of worldwide economic decimation.
ReplyDeleteJust how many points did the S&P 500 drop last week? 400 points in a single day or something like that?
Also (unrelated), President Monson struggles with diabetes and 'twas not so long ago that most were more concerned about his health than President Hinckley's.