the ultimate measure of a man speech meaning

So, as time goes by, we ought-as a matter of personal maturity and growth in the gospel-to spend more of our time with and devote more of our energy to the good things, the best things, the things that endure and bless and prevail.

As Mormon told his son, “In Christ there. Without listing a whole catalog of these good and permanent possessions, let me say that all of them are included collectively, in some way or another, in the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are, I suppose, matters that might collectively be labeled “eternal” things. The longer I live the more I come to realize that some things in life are very true and very permanent and very important. Lately they have been on my mind again, and I hope they might have some significance for you this morning. That would only have added to the confusion, and the Big Hand Cafe never could stand much confusion.Īs you might suppose, I have thought a lot more about my grandmother’s words later in my life than I ever thought about them in my youth. And what was “the duration of the war”? I was totally confused and very glad I didn’t sing my song.

“As long as it takes to do what?” for crying out loud-which is exactly what they were doing. Well, I had no idea whatsoever of her meaning. He will be gone for the duration of the war.” Through her tears my grandmother said, “He will be gone as long as it takes. I asked, “How long will he be gone?”-not knowing then that some of the boys were never coming home. I asked why they were crying, and they said it was because Uncle Herb was going to war. I refused to sing a note.īut my silence seemed to work out all right anyway because my mother and my grandmother and my aunts were all crying and nobody cared much whether I sang or not. She loves her sailor boy / And he loves her too.” However, as with other assignments later in my life, I panicked in the public eye and went stone silent. I had practiced and was now supposed to sing in my four-year-old solo voice a little ditty that celebrated sailors with lyrics beginning “Bell-bottom trousers / Coat of navy blue.

He had joined the United States Navy, and we were there to say goodbye.Īctually, I had a rather formal part in this bus stop program. Apparently in 1944 there was a war on somewhere, and he was now deemed old enough to go and do his part. That’s where the Greyhound bus stopped in our little town, and that morning my Uncle Herb, all of seventeen years of age, was leaving for San Diego, California-wherever that was. In the final few weeks of 1944 I was bundled up and taken, at about six in the morning as I recall, down to the Big Hand Cafe on the corner of Main Street and Highway 91 in St.

The ultimate measure of a man speech meaning