October 27, 2024

How has a month gone by? Sorry if anyone was greatly anticipating our next post!

One thing I wanted to be sure to include in the blog history is… 

The Rock 

I’m not talking about Dwayne Johnson (though he has roots at the Polynesian Cultural Center and visited here just before we came—Google it).

 I’m talking about this one. It’s tucked away in the nonpublic area of the Center, and workers visit it frequently.

 When life or work or a calling just seems hard and you don’t feel like you’re getting anywhere, this can be a source of strength. Here’s what the plaque says [editing some for length and for specificity to the Center]:

 

Pushing Against the Rock

There was a man who was asleep one night in his cabin, when suddenly his room filled with light and the Savior appeared. The Lord told the man He had an important work for him to do and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all of his might. This the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sun up to sun down, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might.  Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.

 

Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, Satan decided to enter the picture, place negative thoughts into the man’s mind. “You have been pushing against that rock for a long time and it hasn’t budged! Why kill yourself over this? You are never going to move it!” … Satan discouraged and disheartened the man until he began to think, “Why kill myself over this? I’ll just put in my time, giving just the minimum effort and that will be good enough.” This he planned to do until he decided to … take his troubled thoughts to the Lord. “Lord,” he said, “I have labored long and hard in your service, putting all my strength into doing that which you have asked of me. Yet even after all this time, I have not even budged that rock half a millimeter. What am I doing wrong? Why am I failing?”

 

To this the Lord responded compassionately. “My friend, when long ago I asked you to serve and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push…. But now you come to me …, thinking that you have failed. But it that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are thick and muscled, your back powerful, your hands are strong and calloused from constant pressure, and your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much and your abilities now far surpass that which you used to have…..

 

“Your calling was to be obedient, to push, to exercise your faith and trust in my wisdom. This you have done…and now, my friend, I will move the rock.”

 

It is not always given to us to know what kind of difference we can make in people’s lives while we are here. Ours is simply to be obedient and push, doing we very best we can in every task, no matter how unimportant it may seem or how difficult the task might appear.

 

…we are not here by chance. Our loving Heavenly Father has led and guided you to be here… at this particular time. Then He inspires His children from all over the world to come to this… small island…to be with YOU…to learn from YOU… to be touched by YOU… and to feel of YOUR spirit….

 

“Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for His arm to be revealed.”

(D&C 123: 17)

 

We push against the rock to show dedication.

We push against the rock to exhibit obedience.

We push against the rock to prove that we are willing.

We push against the rock to demonstrate our love for the Lord and His children.

 

I don’t get over to the rock very often, but I and some of my coworkers keep smaller rocks on our desks as reminders. We often don’t know why the Lord asks us to do things. Faith is doing them anyway, and knowing that the time will come when we will understand why.