A Noteworthy Lesson

I was sitting there wide-eyed, bushy-tailed and ready to learn the ways of missionary work. You could still see the creases on my white shirt that revealed I’d just pulled it out that morning and put it on. It was my first real meeting of my first full day of my mission. It had come! I was a missionary. I’ll never forget the feeling I had in that meeting and the power I felt in joining my voice with other missionaries as I for the first time gave myself over to a hymn and truly sung, “Called to Serve”.
It was during that meeting that I heard a phrase that has forever changed the way I look at reading, writing, and all literature in general. In reference to the importance of taking notes that older Brother very passionately said, “Elders, realize that when you put your pen to paper and write down the feelings and impressions you have – you are bringing Heaven to earth. “ Naturally, I wrote that down. I captured that bit of Heaven, immediately.
I’ve thought many times about the TRUTHFULNESS of that phrase. When you put your ideas to paper you take a concept, something that is inherently spiritual and give birth to its reality. Whether it’s the ink spilling and then staining the page in various lines or chunks of graphite sticking to the paper, you make it tangible, substantial, and real.
Before this last week I thought of the ability “to bring heaven to earth” as a given. I hadn’t ever tried to conceive what a world without unlimited college-ruled paper and Bic pens would be like. In going to the Special Collections section of the Library this past week I finally realized what a blessing even the ability to write my thoughts on paper are. It TRULY is a gift to be able to write.
About half a century ago there were still men who would dedicate multiple years and even decades of their lives to the writing of a single bible. Can you imagine? That quad I carry around was printed and put together in a matter of days by machines. What would it be like to write the bible?
Man has instinctively sought the ability to record that which is important. Whether it be a cave wall, clay, a stone, an animal skin, plates, a scroll, a dried papyrus, a book, a piece of paper, or a blog – writing is a human need.
I, for one, am so grateful for the scribes of the past. A world without men who are willing to write would be a world unwilling to learn, grow, and improve. Writing is the process of turning blood into ink. The import of this art will forever affect the lives of mankind. To write is to believe. To record is to grow. To inscribe is to inspire.