Chapter 9: The Code Word Is LIFT
The video titled Lift begins: “What if your neighbor asked you to take 20 minutes one night to help him? Would you do it? Most decent people would. But what if he asked you every night following, with no end in sight? Would you be willing to do it?”
Richard and I were in the midst of a trying situation. For about eight months, one, two, five, ten family members and friends of family members, four who didn’t speak much English, came to stay with us for a weekend or longer. One family stayed six weeks. We felt like our home had turned into a hotel. It was challenging to keep the common areas tidy, food in the refrigerator and on the table, and the kitchen cleaned up. It was hard to keep rewashing sheets and towels and cleaning between visitors. And the noise level with chatter, laughter, music, and activities was constant.
If it is possible, there was actually too much good music. One of the most frequent visitors was a piano performance major at BYU. Although he played with amazing skill and power, he practiced six hours a day. Another trying situation came in the form of a serious medical condition that added stress and responsibility.
Don’t misunderstand. We love running the “hotel.” We love each person who comes and want to serve them, but, honestly, at times, we felt like leaving the house to the visitors and going to a real hotel ourselves. One day, when there were ten extra people in the house, by chance (if you believe in chance), we watched Lift.
The video shows a group of men asking themselves questions about how much service they can give. Their neighbor, Kathy, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, needed more help than they thought they could continue to give. "Serving was beginning to feel like servitude."
Richard and I were in the midst of a trying situation. For about eight months, one, two, five, ten family members and friends of family members, four who didn’t speak much English, came to stay with us for a weekend or longer. One family stayed six weeks. We felt like our home had turned into a hotel. It was challenging to keep the common areas tidy, food in the refrigerator and on the table, and the kitchen cleaned up. It was hard to keep rewashing sheets and towels and cleaning between visitors. And the noise level with chatter, laughter, music, and activities was constant.
If it is possible, there was actually too much good music. One of the most frequent visitors was a piano performance major at BYU. Although he played with amazing skill and power, he practiced six hours a day. Another trying situation came in the form of a serious medical condition that added stress and responsibility.
Don’t misunderstand. We love running the “hotel.” We love each person who comes and want to serve them, but, honestly, at times, we felt like leaving the house to the visitors and going to a real hotel ourselves. One day, when there were ten extra people in the house, by chance (if you believe in chance), we watched Lift.
The video shows a group of men asking themselves questions about how much service they can give. Their neighbor, Kathy, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, needed more help than they thought they could continue to give. "Serving was beginning to feel like servitude."
Kathy's husband divorced her after they had been married 16 years. The demands of her illness were too much for him. She has two grown sons who were coming every night, but the load on them had become too much. They needed help. Some neighbors stepped in to help, but thinking Kathy could need help for many years, they had a meeting to brainstorm other alternatives. There seemed to be no other way than to keep doing what they were doing. Some of the men were hesitant about continuing.
The tide turned when one neighbor said he would continue to do it alone if no one else would or could. His comment changed the hearts of the other men, and for the past seven years (over 3,000 nights at the time the video was produced) about fifty men take turns, coming two at a time, and help Kathy prepare for bed. (Available on YouTube or the Mormon Channel.)
The tide turned when one neighbor said he would continue to do it alone if no one else would or could. His comment changed the hearts of the other men, and for the past seven years (over 3,000 nights at the time the video was produced) about fifty men take turns, coming two at a time, and help Kathy prepare for bed. (Available on YouTube or the Mormon Channel.)
Like the men in the video, sometimes we serve out of duty or by assignment. Our natural preference is to do the quick, unmessy type of service such as sending an encouraging email to a friend, taking a plate of cookies to a neighbor, or helping Kathy for a day or two. Most of us do short-term service well.
It’s the longer-term service that challenges our grit and requires us to “gird up our loins, fresh courage take” (Hymns, 30). It’s like walking the one thousand miles from Nauvoo to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake and then being asked to go 300 more miles to settle St. George. At least in that case, there was a defined end, not so in Kathy’s situation.
King Benjamin, who we read about in the Book of Mormon said, “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God” (Mosiah2:17). He told his people that one way he served them was by laboring “with mine own hands… that ye should not be laden with taxes” (Mosiah2:14).
Jesus, of course, is the ultimate example. “He went about doing good” (Acts 10:38). He said, “I am among you as he that serveth” (Luke 22:27).
Richard's and my perspective changed after watching Lift. When a baby kept crying, or the piano practicing seemed incessant, or someone else called and asked if they could come and stay, we would make eye contact, smile, and mouth to each other, “lift.” It has become our code word to remind ourselves that we know what we were about: serving like the men who lift Kathy; serving like King Benjamin; serving like Jesus did and does.
(c) Marilynne Todd Linford, 2018
It’s the longer-term service that challenges our grit and requires us to “gird up our loins, fresh courage take” (Hymns, 30). It’s like walking the one thousand miles from Nauvoo to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake and then being asked to go 300 more miles to settle St. George. At least in that case, there was a defined end, not so in Kathy’s situation.
King Benjamin, who we read about in the Book of Mormon said, “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God” (Mosiah2:17). He told his people that one way he served them was by laboring “with mine own hands… that ye should not be laden with taxes” (Mosiah2:14).
Jesus, of course, is the ultimate example. “He went about doing good” (Acts 10:38). He said, “I am among you as he that serveth” (Luke 22:27).
Richard's and my perspective changed after watching Lift. When a baby kept crying, or the piano practicing seemed incessant, or someone else called and asked if they could come and stay, we would make eye contact, smile, and mouth to each other, “lift.” It has become our code word to remind ourselves that we know what we were about: serving like the men who lift Kathy; serving like King Benjamin; serving like Jesus did and does.
(c) Marilynne Todd Linford, 2018
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