All The Water

There is a quote that has stayed with me all the days of my life.  From the time that I first heard it as a youth.  I memorized it and remember it always.  It was told in a Stake Conference where Brother Boyd K Packer was the speaker.  He was talking to the youth and he gave us this poem.

All the water in the world

However hard it tries,

Can never sink the smallest ship

Unless it gets inside.

All the evil in the world

The blackest kind of sin

Can never hurt you one least bit

Unless you let it in.

We have all the power.  We have to choose to let sin in.  It can not come if it cannot find a place there.  I have learned that I can replace the thoughts of temptation, anger, disappointment, or fear with better thoughts.  My chosen way to replace anything is simply with music.

I love the hymns of the Church. They are an inspiration and a protection to me.  I also love good music.  The classics, some contemporary music.  I love Hilary Weeks, Michael McLean, and Mercy River.  There are so many wonderful musicians and composers out there.  Their goal is to help lift you up and bring you closer to your Heavenly Father.  

I know that not all music is good music.  Some can be very destructive.  I have heard songs which I still remember to this day.  I let it in and it does not go away.  Again, it is a choice.  We choose what we let into our ships.  

I find it amazing that Louisa May Alcott was only 14 when she wrote:

A little kingdom I possess, 

Where thoughts and feelings dwell, 

And very hard I find the task 

Of governing it well; … 

I do not ask for any crown 

But that which all may win, 

Nor seek to conquer any world 

Except the one within.

If we would all seek to conquer the world within ourselves, we would ever find ourselves more in tune with our Heavenly Father, more able to follow in His footsteps and more like Him.