General Conference From the Past: "Anonymous"

by Nola Redd | More from this Blogger

In April of 1983, Elder Thomas S. Monson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave a wonderful talk entitled "Anonymous." In it, he expressed the joys of giving solely to give, of doing good for the sake of goodness. He particularly cites the happiness that comes with anonymous works of righteousness.

Throughout the scriptures, Christ did many miracles. At various points, He asked those healed to "tell no man". Sometimes they obeyed; sometimes they did not. Either way, Christ did not do His miracles to impress or to convert. He did not do them to be lifted up and praised. He did them because of the joy He took in doing good. Elder Monson also cites the scripture from the Sermon on the Mount that states "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them....But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." (Matt 6:1,3) How anonymous can you get, when one hand is ignorant of the good works done by the other!

Elder Monson goes on to cite fictional and real-life accounts of anonymous good works. He discusses the change in Ebenezer Scrooge, and outlines a story by Henry Van Dyke entitled "The Mansion". I particularly enjoyed the summary of the second, and look forward to obtaining and reading the full version of the tale! Basically, a well-known philanthropist had a dream in which he found himself amidst a group of people in Heaven. An angel promised to lead them to the mansions which they had built, brick by brick, with their good works. After viewing several of these beautiful buildings, the philanthropist was shocked to arrive at a shack. Acknowledging that the works done were all good, the angel points out that they were marked for his mansion in the world. The angel then asks, "Verily, you have had your reward for them. Would you be paid twice?"

He also discusses real-life acts of goodness, including two instances when someone gave their life for strangers. One of these was American multimillionaire Alfred Vanderbilt; the other, an unknown man in the icy waters of the Potomic who five times passed the life line to others before sinking into the river. Other good works were listed; a father who takes his sons out to shovel their neighbors walks before daylight; a young man who gave his jacket to an elderly woman; a deacon who tended the grave of a foreign missionary.

Of all the gifts that we should aspire to, the greatest is charity, the pure love of Christ. That gift manifests itself best when we seek to do works without hope of worldly praise or reward. Indeed, let us all find ways to serve the Lord. We will never be anonymous to Him who sees all we do.

Related Articles:

Gospel Doctrine: Pride and Charity

Gospel Doctrine: Receiving What We Give

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Freelance writer Nola Redd is a stay-at-home mom to three kids, with a fourth on the way.

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