Priesthood holders must rise to manhood
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As an example of manhood, Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Presidency of the Seventy related to the priesthood session congregation an incident involving his father and mother. His father bought his mother a machine that would make it easier to iron clothes. She had undergone radical cancer surgery that for a long time made it very painful to use her right arm.
On the way home from purchasing the machine, Elder Christofferson's mother was upset, wondering how they could afford it. "Finally, Dad told her that he had gone without lunches for nearly a year to save enough money. 'Now when you iron,' he said, ' you won't have to stop and go into the bedroom and cry until the pain in your arm stops.' She didn't know he knew about that. I was not aware of my father's sacrifice and act of love for my mother at the time, but now that I know, I say to myself, 'There is a man."'
Citing Lehi's plea to his rebellious sons to "arise from the dust" and be men (2 Nephi 1:21), Elder Christofferson said that, like Laman and Lemuel, some today act as if man's highest goal should be his own pleasure.
"Permissive social mores have 'let men off the hook' as it were," he lamented, "so that many think it acceptable to father children out of wedlock and to cohabit rather than marry. Dodging commitments is considered smart, but sacrificing for the good of others, naive. For some, a life of work and achievement is optional."
Priesthood holders cannot afford to drift, Elder Christofferson declared. "We have work to do. We must arise from the dust of self-indulgence and be men! It is a wonderful aspiration for a boy to become a man — strong and capable; someone who can build and create things, run things; someone who makes a difference in the world. It is a wonderful aspiration for those of us who are older to make the vision of true manhood a reality in our lives, and be models for those who look to us for an example."
