Remember

What is the most important word in the dictionary? President Spencer W. Kimball's insight to this question was this: "When you look in the dictionary for the most important word, do you know what it is? It could be 'remember.' Because all of you have made covenants, you know what to do and you know how to do it. Our greatest need is to remember. That is why everyone goes to sacrament meeting every Sabbath day-to take the sacrament and listen to the priests pray 'that they may always remember Him and keep His commandments which He has given them.'...'Remember' is the word. 'Remember' is the program" (Circles of Exaltation, Address to Seminary and Institute Personnel, BYU, June 28, 1968).

Not only is it our greatest need to remember things of a spiritual nature, I think it is equally important to remember events of historical significance. Today is certainly no exception! I have felt to pause (if only very briefly) and remember what it was like to get into my car to drive to work, only to turn on the radio and hear frantic radio commentary concerning a second airplane that had struck the Twin Towers. I remember watching the TV in a school faculty workroom, completely dumbfounded, as the first tower fell...and then the second. It was all so bizarre, wasn't it?

But I also remember how, all of a sudden, it was okay to call for prayers in civic and governmental locations. And it was okay to proudly display the American flag every day; there was no need to wait for Veterans Day. And I remember thinking, "Now, more than ever, it is a time for strong, righteous women to bring children into the world to teach them to stand up against this tide of evil." I hoped I'd shared that message of empowerment to the young women I served with at the time.

Even today, it is not a time to fear but a time to remember--and it is a time to move forward with the same resolve we had seven years ago!

This post authored by Amber