My friend Gordon Bitner Hinckley

Yesterday was the funeral for one of the great men of our age, Gordon B. Hinckley, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He truly was a giant of a man, and all the documentaries and special coverage of his life and work that have aired in the last few days have only increased my awareness of his great legacy of service and faith. I never met the man in person, but I remember the first time when I saw him speak after he had been sustained as President of the Church. It was at the very close of the General Conference of the church, broadcast worldwide to millions of people. When he stood to give his closing remarks, I was expecting some big long talk setting forth some of his goals or initiatives, but he gave a very short talk that touched me very deeply. That was nearly 13 years ago, so my memory was a little fuzzy about what exactly he said in that talk, so I just looked it up and found this beautiful excerpt:

I wish you—each of you, wherever you are—to know that you are loved. You are loved by your Father in Heaven, of whose divine nature you have partaken. And He desires that His Holy Spirit will be near you wherever you go if you will invite it and cultivate it.

There is something of divinity within each of you. You have such tremendous potential with that quality as a part of your inherited nature. Every one of you was endowed by your Father in Heaven with a tremendous capacity to do good in the world. Train your minds and your hands that you may be equipped to serve well in the society of which you are a part. Cultivate the art of being kind, of being thoughtful, of being helpful. Refine within you the quality of mercy which comes as a part of the divine attributes you have inherited.

Some of you may feel that you are not as attractive and beautiful and glamorous as you would like to be. Rise above any such feelings, cultivate the light you have within you, and it will shine through as a radiant expression that will be seen by others.

You need never feel inferior. You need never feel that you were born without talents or without opportunities to give them expression. Cultivate whatever talents you have, and they will grow and refine and become an expression of your true self appreciated by others.

In summary, try a little harder to measure up to the divine within each of you. As Alma said, “Awake and arouse your faculties.”

-Gordon B. Hinckley, April 2, 1995

As I reread this I teared up all over again because the same feelings returned as when he spoke them the first time. I felt so strongly that this man that I never had met loved me so much and wanted me to be the best person I possibly could be. I felt so strongly that this manly truly was a prophet of God and that if I followed his teachings and counsel, I would be blessed and happy.

Yesterday I watched the live broadcast of his funeral. All the speakers were wonderful, and they shared beautiful stories and immortalized the man. But during the final hymn, they showed a montage of President Hinckley meeting with, talking to, and embracing the people that he loved so much. And in that moment, even though I never met him, I felt like I had lost a very close friend.

Thank you for your lifetime of love and service, President Hinckley.