{"id":201,"date":"2015-06-01T20:09:37","date_gmt":"2015-06-02T02:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.grassmonk.net\/blog\/?p=201"},"modified":"2016-06-15T15:34:06","modified_gmt":"2016-06-15T21:34:06","slug":"greatest-talks-etc-godly-characteristics-of-the-master","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grassmonk.net\/blog\/2015\/06\/01\/greatest-talks-etc-godly-characteristics-of-the-master\/","title":{"rendered":"Greatest Talks, Etc.: “Godly Characteristics of the Master”"},"content":{"rendered":"

A little more than ten\u00a0years ago, I compiled a list of what I called “Greatest Talks, Etc.” \u00a0This is a selection\u00a0of 25 talks given by General Authorities of the LDS Church<\/a> that I found particularly inspiring at the time. \u00a0They are mostly, and possibly all, culled from issues of the\u00a0Ensign<\/em> magazine that I found in various apartments while on my mission and from General Conference talks given during the same timeframe. \u00a0The moniker “Greatest Talks, Etc.” is an homage to Paul Simon’s 1976 album “Greatest Hits, Etc.” \u00a0Most of the talks are from various General Conferences, with a few being from other speeches given at different times and locations.<\/p>\n

I always meant to continue to add to the collection with new discoveries as the years progressed, but I never did.\u00a0 Now ten and more years later, I am revisiting this group of talks with my ten-and-more-years-older eyes and mind, to discover\u00a0what\u00a0value and wisdom I still find in them\u2014if they are, indeed, the greatest.\u00a0 I may also offer commentary on the speaker if I have any to give, and the reasons why a particular talk stood out to me, if I can remember them.<\/p>\n

The entries in this series will be ordered alphabetically by the last name of the speaker, then chronologically by year where there is more than one discourse for the given person.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

First up is “Godly Characteristics of the Master<\/a>,” given by President Ezra Taft Benson in the Priesthood session of the October 1986 General Conference.\u00a0 Benson was the President of the Church for a good portion of my childhood, but I don’t really remember anything about him, or ever hearing him speak (the only two presidents I really have good memory of are Gordon B. Hinckley and Thomas S. Monson).<\/p>\n

Much of this talk is repeated verbatim from a talk that he gave<\/a> just three years previously in General Conference\u2014though at that time he was not yet President of the Church\u2014specifically the sections about virtue, temperance, patience, and kindness.<\/p>\n

After greeting the congregation and expressing gratitude for the priesthood, Benson wonders what kind of men priesthood holders should be.\u00a0 He quotes Christ speaking to the Nephites, \u201cTherefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am\u201d (3 Nephi 27:27<\/a>).\u00a0 Benson then asks:<\/p>\n

Is it possible for us… to be even as He is? The answer is yes. Not only\u00a0can<\/em>\u00a0we, but that is our charge, our responsibility. He would not give us that commandment if He did not mean for us to do it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I think back to when God gave two commandments to Adam and Eve:<\/p>\n