“All of us have lives filled with minutiae. It’s a confinement of sorts—the endless tasks that fill our time. I have them. You have them. But they don’t need to consume our heads. We can attach the details of our lives to Big Ideas and elevate the way we think and live,” This was the counsel of Sister Virginia Pearce, author and former first counselor in the Young Women General Presidency, during her BYU–Hawaii Devotional address Tuesday, October 23, 2012. She focused her remarks on how this life has provided us with the opportunity to think, learn and grow, both secularly and spiritually.
Sister Pearce is the daughter of the late Gordon B. Hinckley, who served as president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1995 to 2008.
Sister Pearce’s first invitation to students and the university community was to ‘Think Big.’ “What’s a Big Idea? Well, it’s an enduring understanding that has a large context and multiple meanings—something that will be relevant to you five years from now—that you’ll revisit from dozens of different contexts over the years. It’s a fundamental principle on which hang many, many ideas.” She encouraged students to make a physical effort to enlarge their lives by searching for knowledge and virtuous experiences. “Give your friends, professors, and staff members an opportunity to talk—to tell you about their families, their childhoods, the things they understand that you don’t. BYU–Hawaii will enlarge your life forever, if you will take advantage of your time here. So be curious. Wake up and think.”
Her next challenge was to ‘Think Straight’ and filter of the thoughts we allow to live in our minds. “The most fundamental property of thinking straight is to know what is true and what is not. Distorted, crooked thinking is all about thinking out of beliefs that aren’t true. Thinking straight is a vital part of happiness. Remember, our thoughts determine our emotions and our emotions determine our behavior. It’s hard to overestimate the power to be found in straight thinking.”
Sister Pearce’s final invitation was to ‘Think Abundantly’ by having gratitude and delight in the knowledge and presence of others. “Abundant thinking demands that we recognize that what others have or do, doesn’t take away from what I have or do. Abundant thinkers take joy in the blessings and recognition that others receive. We celebrate their good fortune.”
She closed with her testimony, stating, “Just as the sun comes up every single morning, the light of the Son of the living God is ever-available. He is the author and finisher of our faith, the Biggest Idea in the Universe, the Abundant Giver of Truth. He is the One who weeps for us, calls to us, reaches for us—offering to encircle us in the arms of His love. You and I are engraved on the palms of his hands.”
See Sister Pearce’s complete Devotional address from October 23, 2012.
University Devotionals are held each Tuesday at 11 AM in the Cannon Activities Center. Previous Devotionals can be viewed or read at http://devotional.byuh.edu/.