# PonderIt

## Saturday, November 11, 2006

### Humility of the Women Left Behind

A speaker in sacrament meeting asserted that John Taylor was very humble in being able to leave his wife in a ditch for shelter as he departed on a mission. Given the honor culture so prevalent in that day, is surely must have been a degrading thing for a man to leave his family in the care of others.
But it struck me that, as much humility and submission as it took for John Taylor to leave his wife behind, it took more for her to remain without violent objection. She showed true humility in accepting the will of the Lord and supporting her husband's call even when she dearly needed him. I get the impression that her story is not uncommon in the early days of the church.

#### 3 Comments:

- Amen to that. The pattern of women making sacrifices so that their husbands can fulfill priesthood callings is also alive and well in the present, although, it usually take different forms than being left in a ditch.

  By Reach Upward, at 11/14/2006 7:08 AM

- i wonder what it would have been like if there were blogs in John Taylor's time. This would have made a good post and I would be very interested to hear what comments he'd have gotten. Were the early members of the church just tougher than us? I don't know. I wonder if he should have confronted his leader? Isn't family the most important calling even back then? So there is no confusion, I am posting this comment purely in the spirit of argument. :)

  By shelleyg, at 12/12/2006 8:55 AM

- Look at you baiting me! :) One of the reasons that we have living prophets is that the needs of a community change over time--and even the commandments! Here is what Elder Ballard said in our most recent General Conference.
  "As a result of their focusing too much time and energy on their Church service, eternal family relationships can deteriorate. ... This is not healthy, spiritually or otherwise. While there may be times when our Church callings require more intense effort and unusual focus, we need to strive to keep things in proper balance. We should never allow our service to replace the attention needed by other important priorities in our lives. Remember King Benjamin's counsel: "And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength" (Mosiah 4:27)."
  While the Lord may continue to ask people to make sacrifices of family well being in our time, it is certainly the exception more than the rule, and we'd need some sort of explicit personal revelation that we are to act in opposition to this general counsel given to the church.

  By Bradley, at 12/13/2006 10:04 PM

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