Pure religion: Caring enough
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He had not been a bishop long when a member of his ward came to him for help. She had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Worse, after the doctor told her the bad news, her husband left, leaving her to deal not only with her illness but to raise three teenagers by herself.
She had devoted her life to being a mother — she didn't have the health or the skills to get a job to support her family — and so she came to her bishop asking for his counsel.
Of course, the young bishop offered to help. But he knew the Lord's money was sacred and that it was important to preserve the integrity of the Lord's treasury. And so he sat down with her and developed a detailed budget.
This was what bishops did, he thought: ensure that the sacred funds of the Church were not used extravagantly while at the same time helping those in distress. And the woman was so grateful.
One evening, however, after reviewing the bishop's guidelines, the weary mother said, "I don't think I can keep doing this."
This took the bishop by surprise. All through the process, the woman had been so willing to do what he had asked her to do. He asked her what she meant.
Tears filled her eyes as she replied, "You're making it so hard for me, I just don't know if I can keep it up."
Her words struck the young bishop like a thunderbolt. He asked if she would give him some time to think about it.
"When I die," the bishop decided, "I'll accept it if the Savior says to me, 'You were too liberal with my people who are poor and in need.' But I decided I would not face my Savior and have Him ask, 'Why did you grind the faces of my poor?' "
Decades later, that young bishop — Harold C. Brown — was asked to serve as the managing director of the Church's Welfare Services Department. During his tenure, Brother Brown would often reflect on and teach to others the simple lesson he had learned from a young mother so many years before.
Brother Brown has been called to serve as president of the Utah Provo Mission. — Neil K. Newell, Welfare Services
