Simply Said Sunday

Helllloooooo Simply Said Sunday!

I was inspired by so many wonderful things I heard at church today. I thought about how much I wish you all could've been there and heard them too, because surely they would have spoken to your heart as well.

So, I've decided to dedicate a post each Sunday to things that I heard that were simply said, and yet were so far from being simple.

Next week I plan to take a little notebook, to write these wonderful little gems in. Today's "simply said" comes from a Sacrament talk given by one of our good friends.

This quote is actually not just a quote, it's more of a story, taken from an Ensign article from December 1971 by President A. Theodore Tuttle of the First Council of the Seventy entitled The Things That Matter Most.

"Some years ago, I read an editorial in the Deseret News entitled “The Mechanical Rabbit.” I quote:

“Most of our readers must have smiled the other day when they read of the greyhounds in Britain who don’t know a rabbit when they see one. So long had they chased a mechanical rabbit around the racetrack, that when a real rabbit bounded across the track, the dogs didn’t give it a second look.

“Stupid, eh? But sad too, this perverting of the natural instincts.…

“We chase mechanical rabbits, too.

“We chase paychecks, and don’t give a second look to the glint of the rising sun on a snow-topped peak.

“We chase our way through the appointments of a crowded desk calendar, and fail to take time to chat with the next-door neighbor or to drop in on a sick friend.

“We chase social pleasures on a glittering noisy treadmill—and ignore the privilege of a quiet hour telling bedtime stories to an innocent-eyed child.

“We chase prestige and wealth, and don’t recognize the real opportunities for joy that cross our paths...”

...

“Race on, you poor, blind over-civilized hounds. You’ll never catch your rabbit until you learn to recognize a genuine one."

This points up our challenge: See “that the things that matter most … are not at the mercy of things that matter least.”

Here's to hoping we can recognize our mechanical rabbits and shift our focus to seek the real, important rabbits instead. Have a great week!