Cheering Each Other On

1Recently I read of an experience that touched me deeply. It took place at the USA Masters Track and Field National Championship—a competition for seniors.

2One of the participants in the 1,500-meter event was 100-year-old Orville Rogers. The author writes:

3“When the starter pistol fired, the runners took off, with Orville settling immediately into last place, where he remained alone for the entire race, shuffling along very slowly. [When] the last runner besides Orville finished, Orville still had two and a half laps to go. Nearly 3,000 spectators sat quietly watching him slowly make his way around the track—completely, silently, and uncomfortably alone.

4“[But] when he began his final lap, the crowd rose to their feet, cheering and applauding. By the time he hit the homestretch, the crowd was roaring. With the cheering encouragement of thousands of spectators, Orville called on his last reserves of energy. The crowd erupted with delight as he crossed the finish line and was embraced by his competitors. Orville humbly and gratefully waved to the crowd and walked off the track with his new friends.”

5This was Orville’s fifth race of the competition, and in each of the other events, he had also taken last place. Some might have been tempted to judge Orville, thinking that he shouldn’t have even competed at his age—that he didn’t belong on the track because he greatly prolonged his events for everyone else.

6But even though he always finished last, Orville broke five world records that day. No one watching him race would have believed that possible, but neither the spectators nor his competitors were the judges. Orville didn’t break any rules, and the officials didn’t lower any standards. He ran the same race and fulfilled the same requirements as all the other competitors. But his degree of difficulty—in this case, his age and limited physical capacity—was factored in by placing him in the 100-plus age division. And in that division, he broke five world records.

7Just as it took Orville great courage to step out on that track each time, it also takes great courage for some of our sisters and brothers to step into the arena of life every day, knowing they may be judged unfairly even though they’re doing the best they can against daunting odds to follow the Savior and honor their covenants with Him.

8No matter where we live in the world, no matter our age, it is a basic human need for all of us to feel a sense of belonging, to feel that we are wanted and needed and that our lives have purpose and meaning, no matter our circumstances or limitations.

9On the last lap of the race, the crowd overwhelmingly cheered Orville on, giving him the strength to keep going. It didn’t matter that he finished last. For the participants and the crowd, this was about far more than a competition. In many ways, this was a beautiful example of the Savior’s love in action. When Orville finished, they all rejoiced together.

10Just like the Masters Championship, our congregations and families can be gathering places where we cheer each other on—covenant communities fueled by the love of Christ for one another—helping each other overcome whatever challenges we face, giving each other strength and encouragement without judging one another. We need each other. Divine strength comes from unity, and that is why Satan is intent on dividing us.

11Unfortunately, for some of us, attending church can be hard at times for many different reasons. It could be someone struggling with questions of faith or someone with social anxiety or depression. It could be someone from a different country or race or someone with different life experiences or ways of seeing things who may feel they don’t fit the mold. It could even be sleep-deprived and emotionally stretched parents of babies and young children or someone who is single in a congregation full of couples and families. It could also be someone mustering the courage to return after years of being away or someone with a nagging feeling that they just don’t measure up and will never belong.

12President Russell M. Nelson said: “If a couple in your ward gets divorced, or a young missionary returns home early, or a teenager doubts his testimony, they do not need your judgment. They need to experience the pure love of Jesus Christ reflected in your words and actions.”

13Our experience at church is meant to provide vital connections with the Lord and with each other that are so needed for our spiritual and emotional well-being. Inherent in the covenants we make with God, beginning with baptism, is our responsibility to love and care for each other as members of the family of God, members of the body of Christ, and not just to check off a box on a list of things we’re expected to do.

14Christlike love and care are higher and holier. The pure love of Christ is charity. As President Nelson taught, “Charity propels us ‘to bear one another’s burdens’ [Mosiah 18:8] rather than heap burdens upon each other.”

15The Savior said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” And President Nelson added: “Charity is the principal characteristic of a true follower of Jesus Christ.” “The Savior’s message is clear: His true disciples build, lift, encourage, persuade, and inspire. … How we speak to and about others … really matters.”

16The Savior’s teaching on this is very simple. It’s summed up in the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Put yourself in that person’s place and treat them the way you would want to be treated if you were in their shoes.

17Christlike treatment of others goes far beyond our families and congregations. It includes our sisters and brothers of other faiths or no faith at all. It includes our brothers and sisters from other countries and cultures, as well as those of different political persuasions. We are all part of the family of God, and He loves all His children. He desires that His children love Him and also one another.

18The Savior’s life was an example of loving, gathering, and lifting even those who society had judged as outcasts and unclean. His is an example we are commanded to follow. We are here to develop Christlike attributes and eventually become like our Savior. His is not a gospel of checklists; it is a gospel of becoming—becoming as He is and loving as He does. He wants us to become a Zion people.

19When I was in my late 20s, I went through a period of deep depression, and during that time, it was as if the reality that God existed was suddenly gone. I can’t fully explain the feeling other than to say I felt completely lost. From the time I was a young child, I had always known that my Father in Heaven was there and that I could talk to Him. But during that time, I no longer knew if there was a God. I’d never experienced anything like that before in my life, and it felt like my whole foundation was crumbling.

20As a result, it was hard for me to attend church. I went, but it was partly because I was afraid of being labeled “inactive” or “less faithful,” and I was afraid of becoming someone’s assigned project. What I really needed during that time was to feel genuine love, understanding, and support from those around me, not judgment.

21Some of the assumptions I was afraid people would make about me, I myself had made about others when they didn’t regularly attend church. That painful personal experience taught me some valuable lessons about why we’ve been commanded not to judge one another unrighteously.

22Are there those among us who suffer in silence, afraid for others to know their hidden struggles because they don’t know what the reaction will be?

23Only the Lord fully knows the actual level of difficulty with which each of us is running our race of life—the burdens, the challenges, and the obstacles we face that often cannot be seen by others. Only He fully understands the life-changing wounds and trauma some of us may have experienced in the past that are still affecting us in the present.

24Often we even judge ourselves harshly, thinking we should be much farther ahead on the track. Only the Lord fully knows our individual limitations and capacity, and because of that, He is the only one fully qualified to judge our performance.

25Sisters and brothers, let’s be like those spectators in the story and cheer each other on in our journey of discipleship no matter our circumstances! That doesn’t require us to break rules or lower standards. It’s actually the second great commandment—to love our neighbor as ourselves. And as our Savior has said, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these … , ye have done it unto me,” for good or for ill. He has also told us, “If ye are not one ye are not mine.”

26There will be times in each of our lives when we will be the ones who need help and encouragement. Let’s commit now to always do that for each other. As we do, we will develop greater unity and facilitate a space for the Savior to do His sacred work of healing and transforming each of us.

27To each one of you who may feel you have lagged far behind in this race of life, this journey of mortality, please keep going. Only the Savior can fully judge where you should be at this point, and He is compassionate and just. He is the Great Judge of the race of life and the only one who fully understands the level of difficulty with which you are running or walking or shuffling. He will take into account your limitations, your capacity, your life experiences, and the hidden burdens you carry, as well as the desires of your heart. You may actually be breaking symbolic world records as well. Please don’t lose hope. Please keep going! Please stay! You do belong! The Lord needs you, and we need you!

28Wherever you live in the world, no matter how remote it may be, please always remember that your Father in Heaven and your Savior know you completely and love you perfectly. You are never forgotten to Them. They want to bring you home.

29Keep your eye on the Savior. He is your iron rod. Don’t let go of Him. I testify that He lives and that you can trust Him. I also testify that He is cheering you on.

30May we all follow the Savior’s example and cheer each other on is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.