The Touch of the Master's Hand

The Touch of the Master's Hand

It was battered and scarred,
and the auctioneer thought it
hardly worth his while
to waste his time on the old violin,
but he held it up with a smile.

"What am I bid, good people", he cried,
"Who starts the bidding for me?"
"One dollar, one dollar, Do I hear two?"
"Two dollars, who makes it three?"
"Three dollars once, three dollars twice, going for three,"

But, No,
From the room far back a gray bearded man
Came forward and picked up the bow,
Then wiping the dust from the old violin
And tightening up the strings,
He played a melody, pure and sweet
As sweet as the angel sings.

The music ceased and the auctioneer
with a voice that was quiet and low,
Said "What now am I bid for this old violin?"
As he held it aloft with its' bow.

"One thousand, one thousand, Do I hear two?"
"Two thousand, Who makes it three?"
"Three thousand once, three thousand twice,
Going and gone", said he.

The audience cheered,
But some of them cried,
"We just don't understand."
"What changed its' worth?"
Swift came the reply.
"The Touch of the Masters Hand."

And many a man with life out of tune
All battered with bourbon and gin
is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd
Much like that old violin

A mess of pottage, a glass of wine,
A game and he travels on.
He is going once, he is going twice,
He is going and almost gone. But the Master comes,
And the foolish crowd never can quite understand,
The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought
By the Touch of the Masters' Hand.

Myra Brooks Welch

This is another one of my favorite poems. This poem along with the scripture in doctrine and convents make me thing about every soul and how we all have a purpose out there. The scripture is (doctrine and convents 18: 10-17)  10 .Remember the ^aworth of ^bsouls is great in the sight of God; 11. For, behold, the Lord your ^aRedeemer suffered ^bdeath in the flesh; wherefore he ^csuffered the ^dpain of all men, that all men might repent and ^ecome unto him.12. And he hath ^arisen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of ^brepentance. 13. And how great is his ^ajoy in the ^bsoul that ^crepenteth!14. Wherefore, you are called to ^acry repentance unto this people.15. And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one ^asoul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!16. And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the ^akingdom of my Father, how great will be your ^bjoy if you should bring many ^csouls unto me.17. Behold, you have my gospel before you, and my rock, and my ^asalvation.

If we fall behind and lose are values we need to remember we have a purpose here. And with the touch of the masters’ hand we can regain the value we have lost. So of you have lost your value go regain it. 

The poem was written by: Myra Brooks Welch

Scripture came from http://lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/18.10-17?lang=eng#9

It was contributed by sanders.

Preparing for the Finish Line

Racing and God's Plan of Happiness

Growing up with a racing addicted brother I have had a lot of time out in the middle of the boonies waiting for him to come in. When we are out waiting, I tend to think of life and the great things it holds in store for us. It never crossed my mind until I got to my mission how much a race is set up like life.  In a race there is a committee over all of it to make all the rules fair and just. They oversee and create the race from the start to the finish. Then in the race there are certain rules and guidelines you have to follow. They are set there for your own protection and the safety of others around you. The committee's main goal is for everyone to try their hardest and to finish the race. For example you can't cut the course in a race. If you do so you can be penalized for a half an hour because of your own actions. The committee makes sure everyone gets off the course at the end of the day.
You might be wondering how this sounds like life? The committee is like God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. They created the earth for us to live on and try our best. God, like the racing committee gave us rules and guidelines to live our life by. Some of these rules are the ten-commandments, word-of-wisdom, praying often, study the scriptures, etc.When we get off course in life we lose the presence of God. In my eyes that is like getting penalized. Through the love of God and his son, Jesus Christ, they made it possible for us to get to the finish. The way we can get over are small detour in life is through the gift of repentance.  Like the committee, Gods main goal is for us to finish the race and live with him again. I know the harder we prepare a race truck for a race the better it will do. That preparation goes for life as well. The harder we prepare to keep Gods rules the easier it will be for us to live with him in the next life.

WHY I AM, WHO I AM

WHILE RESTING ON A BIG BROWN BOULDER ONE DAY
SURROUNDED BY TREES OF CEDAR AND PINE
I WAS LOOKING UP THROUGH A CLOUDY SKY
AND I THOUGHT OF THIS OLD LIFE OF MINE

HOW DID IT COME THAT I’M SO BLESSED
WAS IT JUST LUCK THAT PUT ME HERE
AMONGST THESE VALLEY’S THAT I LOVE
WITH MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY SO NEAR

WHY WAS I BORN IN THIS FREE COUNTRY
AND NOT SOME THIRD WORLD STATE
WHERE THERE’S LITTLE FOOD OR WATER
AND FOLKS THERE ARE GOVERNED BY PURE HATE

HOW WAS I BORN A MORMON
I NEVER HAD TO SEARCH OUT FOR THE TRUTH
I WAS TAUGHT THE GOSPEL IN MY HOME
FROM MY VERY YOUTH

I THOUGHT, MAYBE I AM SPECIAL
AND I DESERVED THIS BLESSED LIFE
BUT I DON’T RECALL THIS SIDE OF THE VEIL
ANYTIME I’VE SACRIFICED

SO IN MY MIND I STARTED TO BACKTRACK
TO REMEMBER SOME GREAT THING I’D DONE
I TRACKED CLEAR BACK TO MY CHILDHOOD
AND I COULDN’T THINK OF ONE

SO I BACKED UP A LITTLE FURTHER
TO MY GREAT GRANDAD, WILLIAM LAMB
AND THERE IT FINALLY CAME TO MIND
WHY I AM, WHO I AM

HE MOVED HIS FAMILY FROM TUBA CITY
IN 1905 HE LANDED HERE
AND HIS FAMILY HAS CALLED THIS VALLEY HOME
SINCE THAT EARLY YEAR

HIS GRANDAD ABLE CAME FROM NEW YORK STATE
WHERE HE WAS BAPTIZED BY JOSEPH SMITH SR., IN “33"
HE FOUGHT THE MOBS AND CROSSED THE PLAINS
AND STAYED AS DILIGENT AS HE COULD BE

I HAD TWO GRANDADS WHO FOUGHT IN THE REVOLUTION
AND SENT THE BRITS BACK ACROSS THE SEA
ONE GRANDDAD DIED AT BUNKER HILL
AND THAT’S WHY I CAN BE FREE

THAT’S WHY I AM, WHO I AM
AND WHY I’M BLESSED TODAY
IT WAS NEVER NOTHING THAT I DID
IT WAS MY ANCESTOR’S WHO PAVED THE WAY

THEY ARE THE ONES IN WHICH I OWE
A VERY GRACIOUS DEBT
AND I HOPE SOMEDAY TO THANK THEM
BUT I’M NOT QUIT READY TO DO SO YET

WE ALL HAVE OUR OWN FAMILY PIONEERS
WHO THROUGH THEIR SACRIFICE HAS HAD TO PAY
FOR EACH OF US TO BE WHO WE ARE
AND WHY WE ARE HERE TODAY

Typical

He was out on the cliff’s edge; further than he’d ever been before.
He sat with legs a-danglin’ high above the valley floor.
He was lost in thought while drinkin’ in the grandeur of it all,
When a gust of wind unseated him, and he began to fall.
Tis a drastic situation! He didn’t dare to think slow
For certain death awaited him on those rocky crags below.
So… Well.. He called upon a good friend. I guess the only one he could.
The one we all forget about when things are going good.
“God, if you help me now I’ll quit my sinful ways.
I’d do the things you’d have me do and I’ll work hard all my days!
I’ll spend time with my children; I’ll help my lovin’ wife.
I’ll quit the booze and whiskey and I’ll turn around my life.
I’ll work to help the needy and I’ll promise to repent…
Just then a tree limb caught his coat and stopped his fast descent.
And while hanging from that tree that grew out of that rocky shelf,
He looked skyward saying, “Never mind! I handled it myself!”

Waddie Mitchell 

I love this poem. We need to not be like this guy. It happens so many times. We get caught up in life; some of us get busy with our kids, schooling, jobs and many more things. We forget who and what is really important in our life. We should remember that God created everything. We should be thankful for that and everything he gave to us. We should live our life with no regrets having no sin with us. I'm not saying I am perfect. I'm not even close to being perfect but I know that if I live my life closer to heavenly father I will be blessed. It's funny how the man on the cliff turns straight to God when he is in trouble. He starts thinking of all the bad he did and how much more there is to life. He thinks of his kids and his wife and repenting. Then he gets saved by the limp he thinks he did it himself. There are times in our life when the road gets bumpy and rough but when we get out we need to remember that God plays a roll in all of our lives. We should always thank the good man for making it all happen for us. When life’s going good and when life’s not going so well.