The Weekend that I arrived at Brigham Young University-
Idaho I signed up for 'Get Connected'. Get connected is the equivalent of a new
student orientation and it happens the weekend before classes start. During a
special seminar called 'The Spirit of Ricks' I learned the sacred nature of
Brigham Young University- Idaho. I am so grateful for all of those early
pioneers who sacrificed so much to start this university. They saw our day and
they knew the potential of the students here. One particular notion stayed with
me over the weeks: "The Lord has brought you here to become who He
is."
As I pondered that comment, I few things came to
mind. What exactly does it mean to "become who He is"? I don't mean
that I will become Christ! Obviously that's impossible, right? Wrong! Then, who is Christ? In Mosiah (in the Book
of Mormon, pages 151-152) Chapter 3 versus 5-11 it talks of Him. Specifically
it mentions that He is Lord Omnipotent (all Powerful), He works miracles, He
suffered temptation, He’s the Creator, and eventually He Atoned (died) for the
sins of the world. He is amazing! I am sure that He has done more than these particular
scriptures mention. What I found particularly interesting is the lack of words
like prideful, unloving, unforgiving, or selfish. That’s the point of it all. We
become Christ as we develop our lives in such a way that our mind is the mind
of Christ. If we were Him would we be mean, crude, immoral, vulgar, prideful,
unloving, or unforgiving to name a few? In 3 Nephi (Book of Mormon, page 460)
it reads:
“…What manner
of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am.”
How do I develop my life in such a way that I can
become Him? It makes me think back to that seminar in ‘The Spirit of Ricks’. I
learned how the university (then known as ‘Ricks College’) had struggled at the
beginning from money being low to needing professors and yet through it all
they kept trucking along. The feelings of gratitude and admiration were strong
as I left that building. Why does it matter? Those people sacrificed not really
knowing what led ahead. Yes, they had a vision of one day being a religious
university but how many of us say I want to be this or I want to do that and
then do NOTHING. These pioneers pushed when they wanted to give up and they sacrificed
money and time and many other things for the cause of this special university.
Like Ricks College, Christ knew our potential, He
saw our faces in that Garden as He bled and I am sure He continued to see our
faces when he was on the cross. He pushed when He wanted to give up (Luke
22:43-44).
The song sums up exactly how I feel:
Becoming like Christ means doing as Christ did. It
means gaining the attributes that He possesses. It will take time and I am
still working on it. When I do actually take the time to heed Christ’s counsel
and His direction I notice how much I become more like the pioneers of old and
most importantly I become more like the Savior. Oh how I love the spirit of
Ricks. I testify that as we mold ourselves to become Christ, we will be happy,
we will have added strength. And as we
make sacrifices to create our own spirit of Ricks, we will develop to become
more like Christ.
