The Spirit of Ricks

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.