Spiritual Grit

Thank you for inviting me to speak this morning. President Kusch, I’m honored to share this time with the Ensign College community. My admiration for Ensign, its leadership and the unique opportunities it provides students is deep.

I have been introduced as the President of the University of Utah, but today I speak to you as Brother Randall, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

My topic today is what I call spiritual grit. I’ll begin with a story.

Two years after our marriage, Janet and I moved to Philadelphia so I could attend graduate school. We attended a ward in West Philadelphia. Immediately, I was asked to serve in the Young Men’s organization, a calling I would have for nearly seven years.

I soon discovered the young men in our ward lived in a rugged environment, deprived of many of the opportunities found in many other parts of our country. High school graduation rates were about 20%. Crime and drugs ravaged their neighborhoods. Gun violence took the lives of many neighborhood youth. Most did not have parents in the home or role models to follow.

As I served, I realized the odds stacked up against these young men. It would take tremendous grit to rise above the circumstances of their lives. Yet as I have communicated with a few of these individuals over the past 30 years, I have seen the grit of their personalities allow them to succeed.

Xanhuahu carried a little brother across Cambodia to freedom in the United States. He was one of a few members in his family who joined the church. He served a successful mission, married and has a wonderful family.

I talked recently to Brian who despite the heartache of divorce, remarried and continues to be faithful in the church.

Their stories, and those of many others, inspire me. They are stories of grit.

Many researchers have studied grit. It is defined as using passion and perseverance to overcome obstacles in order to accomplish a long-term goal. Grit is about working on something you love so much you are willing to stay loyal to it. Grit comes from thousands of small habits working together to accomplish a greater task.

A study of high-performance swimmers concluded that grit is mundane. However, grit has been shown to be a deciding factor as to whether one is successful or not in life. Graduation from inner city schools, winning spelling bees and finishing army bootcamp have all been strongly correlated with the grit of an individual.

The purpose of my talk is not to expound on the need for grit in our secular lives, but to talk about the need for grit in our spiritual lives. The magnitude of the physical and socio-economic challenges facing the young men of the church in West Philadelphia were great, but they are likely comparable in magnitude to the spiritual challenges you face today.

Serving in a singles ward bishopric a few years ago, I remember being asked how to find spiritual guidance for a set of difficult questions that ranged from the personal to the social to the doctrinal. How do I know who to marry? How do I know what career to choose? How do I deal with difficult family members or friends? Why don’t women hold the priesthood? Why did the church in its early history not allow all worthy men to hold the priesthood? Why does the church feel the way it does on same sex attraction? What do I do when my personal revelation conflicts with others?

For many individuals, these are questions without ready answers. Finding clarity on these types of questions requires spiritual grit to strengthen our faith until answers come.

If secular grit is defined as using passion and perseverance to overcome obstacles to accomplish a long-term goal, let us define spiritual grit as exercising passionate and persevering faith to overcome obstacles in order to accomplish eternal goals.

The science of grit in the secular sense identifies virtues that enable individuals to successfully exercise grit. Those virtues include resilience, hope and persistence. Likewise, I believe spiritual grit requires us to exercise several enabling virtues that sustain our faith and help us achieve eternal objectives. In my life’s experiences, those critical virtues include courage, patience and gratitude.

How do these spiritual-grit-enabling virtues work together to enhance faith?

Courage at crucial times activates our faith to make life-changing decisions or to tackle difficult questions.

Patience supports courage as our actions lead us down uncertain paths that require us to wait on the Lord to make his will known.

Gratitude changes and elevates our perspective so we can see the Lord’s will and his hand guiding our lives.

Let’s talk first about courage. I see courage as the initiating virtue.

Consider the role courage played in Joseph Smith’s effort to restore the church. It took courage to kneel in humble prayer and be willing to receive an unfettered answer to his question of which church was true. His public acknowledgement of the first vision required courage to endure instant public ridicule. Yet he still did not know the magnitude of courage he needed to finish his task. After losing the 116 pages of the translated Book of Mormon, he received the following rebuke:

For, behold, you should not have feared man more than God…Yet you should have been faithful; and he would have extended his arm and supported you against all the fiery darts of the adversary; and he would have been with you in every time of trouble.ⁱ

At this rebuke would we have given up? Yet Joseph did not. He redoubled his courage and focused on the knowledge that the Lord’s arm would be extended, and he would be supported.

Consider these reassurances as we exercise courage in our own lives. Do you have the courage to take actions that will fulfill your divine destiny? How does courage play a role in decisions to pursue a career path or get married? What role does courage play in pursuing the answer to difficult questions?

To me, the exercise of courage is required at every critical decision point in life. C.S. Lewis said, “Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point.”ⁱⁱ Each of us must confront and prevail against our own “testing points.”

Now let’s turn to examining patience. I believe patience is the sustaining virtue.

In Psalms we read, “I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.”ⁱⁱⁱ

I remember praying many nights as a teenager to know if God existed. I remember long months of study towards the end of my mission and then one day bearing testimony of the divinity of Christ and finally knowing at that defining moment that he was my Savior. I remember a dozen years ago, finally feeling I had an initial understanding of the temple and temple covenants.

It is interesting to note that for me understanding and answers have often required an extended period of waiting and patience. In the words of James in the New Testament…I needed patience to do “her perfect work.”^iv Perhaps we do not value that which comes too easily. Thus, as Neal Maxwell once reminded us, patience is a companion to faith.^v

If we look at the conversion stories of several past church leaders, we see in their own lives a prolonged period of patience.

Brigham Young gained a testimony after two years of study.

Wilford Woodruff searched 6 years before finding the truth.

As a young boy, President David O. McKay desired to know if Joseph Smith had truly seen the father and the son in a vision. One day while tending cattle in the foothills above Huntsville, Utah he sought that testimony through prayer. In his own words he said, “I dismounted, threw my reins over my horse’s head, and there, under a serviceberry bush, I prayed that God would declare to me the truth of his revelation to Joseph Smith.”^vi

Young David prayed with as much faith as he could find within, finished and waited for an answer. But nothing came. Not a thing.

He rode slowly on saying to himself at the time, and I quote: “No spiritual manifestation has come to me. If I am true to myself, I must say I am just the same ‘old boy’ that I was before I prayed.”^vii

A direct answer to his prayer was many years in the making. President McKay explained it like this. He said, “The spiritual manifestation for which I had prayed as a boy in my teens came as a natural sequence to the performance of duty.”^viii What an impactful insight.

He then described a powerful spiritual manifestation he felt while serving a mission in Glasgow, Scotland. In a 1968 General Conference talk he said: “Never before had I experienced such an emotion. It was a manifestation for which as a doubting youth I had secretly prayed most earnestly on hillside and in a meadow. It was an assurance to me that sincere prayer is answered sometime, somewhere.”^ix

Sometime…somewhere…I think it would be interesting to have insight into what sustained David O. McKay’s faith during the multiple years he did not feel he had received an answer to prayer. Why didn’t this period of patience in life devolve into a period of unbelief and frustration? It seems he made a choice to continue to believe and do. Perhaps he made the mundane choices required of spiritual grit. He prayed, he went to church, he studied his scriptures…all as a “natural sequence to the performance of duty.”

He patiently and faithfully waited upon the Lord.

I’d like to now expound upon the twin concepts of patience and faith expressed by Neal Maxwell that I mentioned earlier. Elder Maxwell said, “Patience is not only a companion to faith but is also a friend to free agency.”^x Even more, he emphasized, “It is, in fact, the very interplay of God’s everlasting commitment to free agency and his perfect love for us which inevitably places a high premium upon the virtue of patience. There is simply no other way for true growth to occur.”^xi

To my understanding, the uncomfortable times between questions and answers are moments for us to choose whether we will use faith to believe in a loving heavenly father. It is a time to grow. It is the time to show our spiritual grit. Perhaps this is what was meant by the scripture in Luke that states, “In your patience possess ye your souls.”^xii

Finally, let’s examine gratitude. When practiced gratitude becomes the clarifying and joy-enabling virtue.

The Roman philosopher Marcus Cicero is known to have famously said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”^xiii

Using courage and patience to initiate and sustain faith in trying moments is often difficult and painful. It can often seem that our faith hangs by a thread. In these long, lingering moments of uncertainty, gratitude can come to the rescue.

With apologies for the personal nature of this story, allow me to share another experience from my own life.

At the end of graduate school, I had several choices. I studied the choices in my mind and decided to teach at what I considered the very best program for me and my career. In fact, I called and accepted a job offer from a prominent university…a place that just years earlier I could only dream of making the start of my academic career. I was so excited.

While in my mind the decision was exhilarating and clear, in my heart the decision was unsettled. Something didn’t feel right.

After prayerful consideration, the impression came that I should call back and decline the job offer. Yet, that was it. No further insight.

I went home, called the university and declined their offer. I then came to the University of Utah aware of its stellar reputation, but without knowing why it was right for me.

In the ensuing weeks, months and years, I lost patience waiting for an answer and I became frustrated and discouraged.

The question of why was always at the forefront of my mind. Why did I feel I had to make this choice? What led me here?

Soon after we moved to Salt Lake, Janet’s father was diagnosed with terminal cancer. We spent hours by his side. Even while frustrated in my career, I was grateful we had been at his side when he passed away. It was a unifying time for our family.

At routine family dinners, I watched my children play with cousins surrounded by the influence of loving grandparents. I was happy and grateful in those moments.

Yet, my unsettled mood continued. I lacked an understanding of why this career track was right for me.

In a short story titled, “A Letter to God,” Gregorio Lopez y Fuentes writes of a poor farmer named Lencho. Early one growing season, a hailstorm destroys the entire season of Lencho’s crops and hence his entire income. Having faith, Lencho decides to write a letter to God requesting 100 pesos in order to fund the replanting of the field. He delivers the letter to the post office. Not surprisingly, the letter is first met with incredulity and ridicule. Then realizing the faith of Lencho, the postal workers decide to take up a collection to help Lencho and his family. Unfortunately, the postal workers are only able to come up with part of the request. A week later, Lencho returns to the post office and asks for his letter. He quickly counts the pesos then returns to the counter and asks for a piece of paper and a pencil and writes another letter to God. On that letter, he asks God to send more pesos but don’t send it via the post office, because the employees there are a bunch of thieves!”^xiv

How many times are we so confident and precise in what we require of our Heavenly Father that we fail to recognize our prayers have been answered? How often do we fail to recognize our life has been directed on a divine course?

The word gratitude in Hebrew literally means “recognizing the good.”

One of my daughters, has spent a lot of time studying the concept of mindfulness. She will tell you that a critical element of being mindful is to be grateful, to recognize small positive moments that surround us every day. She will tell you that gratitude can turn hardened criminals into individuals with positive outlooks on life.

I love this thought expressed by President Joseph F. Smith. He said, “The spirit of gratitude is always pleasant and satisfying because it…engenders divine influence.”^xv

I’m also fond of the old French proverb, “Gratitude is the memory of the heart.”^xvi

Even more to the point, in the Old Testament we read, “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”^xvii

Returning to my personal career journey…slowly the moments of gratitude accumulated to calm and overcome my unsettled mind. I realized that my decision to move to Salt Lake wasn’t about my career, it wasn’t even about the subsequent positions I have held in my career. In the end, being grateful allowed me to see that a loving Heavenly Father understood what my family needed to thrive. It taught me that gratitude can refocus priorities and bring clarity to questions. It taught me that gratitude allows me to enjoy the journey.

It is my hope that each of us can develop the capacity to exercise spiritual grit. This grit will be essential as we exercise our faith in bringing to pass our own divine destinies.

In my life, spiritual grit has required exercising the initiating virtue of courage, the sustaining virtue of patience and the clarifying and joy-enabling virtue of gratitude. Courage sets our inspired but uncertain course, patience supports faith as we wait on divine direction, and gratitude allows us to recognize divine direction and enjoy the journey.

May all of you cultivate these virtues in your spiritual life and find the spiritual grit that helps you and those around you thrive.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

ⁱ Doctrine and Covenants 3:7-8.
ⁱⁱ Lewis, C. S. Lewis (1955) The Screwtape Letters. (London: Fontana Books), pp. 148-149.
ⁱⁱⁱPsalm 40:1.
^iv James 1:4.
^v Maxwell, Neal A. (November 27, 1979) “Patience,” BYU Speeches, p.2.
^vi McKay, David O. (December 1968) “Priesthood Holders to Be Examples in Daily Life as Representatives of the Most High,” Improvement Era, p.85.
^vii Ibid.
^viii Ibid.
^ix Ibid.
^x Ibid., Maxwell
^xi Ibid., Maxwell, p.4.
^xii Luke 21:19.
^xiii ForbesQuotes (2015), Thoughts on the Business of Life. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/quotes/1814/.
^xiv Various versions of this story can be found online. Here is one example: http://ditson.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/71401594/A_Letter_to_God.pdf
^xvGospel Doctrine, 11th ed. [1939], “The Sermons and Writings of Joseph F. Smith,” (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company), p. 262.
^xvi Generally attributed to Jean-Baptiste Massieu.
^xvii Proverbs 3:6.