President Hinckley's passing as a similitude of the signs of the times - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

ute4ever · 02-07-2008, 09:35 PM

It seems as though the method of President Hinckley’s passing was in similitude of the signs of the times.

What I mean is, we are told that nobody knows the day when Christ will return, but there will be signs.

With President Hinckley, when his wife passed four years ago, he became noticeably sadder and even spoke about how hard it was to get up in the morning knowing she would not be there. He slowed down a bit, and people said he could soon follow, as many couples do like David and Ruby Haight or June Carter and Johnny Cash.

But he kept plugging along.

In Sep 2006 he had cancer surgery, and there was a lot of speculation in the general conference that it would be his last. I attended the final session, and the closing hymn was We Thank Thee O God For a Prophet, and Craig Jessop turned to the congregation to stand and rise during the final verse, which is uncommon for a closing hymn. The audience remained standing during the prayer, and then President Hinckley spend a couple of minutes just standing there and waving at the crowd, which I've never seen him do in all of the conferences and devotionals that I’ve attended.

But he kept plugging along, and soon his words became slower and stumbling, and he stopped traveling.

But he kept plugging along, and two weeks before his passing, he spoke at my stake conference in San Diego via satellite.

The following Sunday, 7 days before his passing, he attended his home ward in a wheelchair, the first time he was ever seen too weak to walk.

But he kept working through that Wednesday, until he became too weak to get out of bed.

And suddenly he passed, and few saw it coming. The announcement was a surprise because of how quickly he deteriorated. There were scattered signs of weakening as I mentioned, but in a matter of 7 days he went from being able to conduct a stake conference to riding in a wheelchair, and only 4 days later he couldn't get out of bed.

Like a thief in the night.

This is a person who was advanced in age, but looked so vibrant in his televised 90th and 95th birthday celebrations, and whose face kept appearing in stake conferences and other responsibilities.

In San Diego, that stake conference was held at the same time as the Chargers playoff game against Indianapolis. I fell victim to the mindset of, the Chargers never get this far in the playoffs, and I’ve heard President Hinckley speak fifty times and certainly will hear him again, such as in the April conference. I did not suspect that someone who had always been so vibrant and positive would be gone two weeks later.

I wonder if Christ’s return will be the same way: the signs have come and gone, and things seem to be stable again, and there are alternate temptations (i.e. NFL playoffs vs. stake conference) that go against what a person should be doing....and suddenly, unexpectedly, the moment is here.

02-07-2008, 09:35 PM	#1
ute4ever I must not tell lies Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 5,103	President Hinckley's passing as a similitude of the signs of the times It seems as though the method of President Hinckley’s passing was in similitude of the signs of the times. What I mean is, we are told that nobody knows the day when Christ will return, but there will be signs. With President Hinckley, when his wife passed four years ago, he became noticeably sadder and even spoke about how hard it was to get up in the morning knowing she would not be there. He slowed down a bit, and people said he could soon follow, as many couples do like David and Ruby Haight or June Carter and Johnny Cash. But he kept plugging along. In Sep 2006 he had cancer surgery, and there was a lot of speculation in the general conference that it would be his last. I attended the final session, and the closing hymn was We Thank Thee O God For a Prophet, and Craig Jessop turned to the congregation to stand and rise during the final verse, which is uncommon for a closing hymn. The audience remained standing during the prayer, and then President Hinckley spend a couple of minutes just standing there and waving at the crowd, which I've never seen him do in all of the conferences and devotionals that I’ve attended. But he kept plugging along, and soon his words became slower and stumbling, and he stopped traveling. But he kept plugging along, and two weeks before his passing, he spoke at my stake conference in San Diego via satellite. The following Sunday, 7 days before his passing, he attended his home ward in a wheelchair, the first time he was ever seen too weak to walk. But he kept working through that Wednesday, until he became too weak to get out of bed. And suddenly he passed, and few saw it coming. The announcement was a surprise because of how quickly he deteriorated. There were scattered signs of weakening as I mentioned, but in a matter of 7 days he went from being able to conduct a stake conference to riding in a wheelchair, and only 4 days later he couldn't get out of bed. Like a thief in the night. This is a person who was advanced in age, but looked so vibrant in his televised 90th and 95th birthday celebrations, and whose face kept appearing in stake conferences and other responsibilities. In San Diego, that stake conference was held at the same time as the Chargers playoff game against Indianapolis. I fell victim to the mindset of, the Chargers never get this far in the playoffs, and I’ve heard President Hinckley speak fifty times and certainly will hear him again, such as in the April conference. I did not suspect that someone who had always been so vibrant and positive would be gone two weeks later. I wonder if Christ’s return will be the same way: the signs have come and gone, and things seem to be stable again, and there are alternate temptations (i.e. NFL playoffs vs. stake conference) that go against what a person should be doing....and suddenly, unexpectedly, the moment is here.