Elder Thomas S. Monson, Part One - John Greenleaf Whittier's Maud Mueller, and Regret Turned to Joy

For Part Two or Part Three, pick a link and click.

Wait a minute, you say. Didn't we just talk about Elder Monson?

We did.

But that's the nature of Conference talks. You hear from some people every six months or so, and some people less often. Elder (and eventually President) Monson was always one of the regulars as long as I've been alive up until he passed away, and we get to reap the benefits of his clear love of literature along the way!

This first quote is from his classic talk, "Finishers Wanted":

 

The Quote

"Concerning those who fall short, 

John Greenleaf Whittier’s words seem particularly fitting:

“For of all sad words of tongue or pen,

The saddest are these: ‘It might have been!’”

 

In Elder Monson's talk, he referred to those who have chosen sin or wickedness when they could have chosen good.

In the original source material, the poem "Maud Mueller"...well, see for yourself:

 

Wikipedia

It's a story about a chance encounter, a choice made, and lifelong regrets that followed.

What I especially found interesting was the last couplet, where the couple's regrets expand out to all the world's regrets:

"Ah, well! for us all some sweet hope lies

Deeply buried from human eyes;

 

And, in the hereafter, angels may

Roll the stone from its grave away!

 

Jesus Christ made it possible for all of us to have new beginnings, with His sacrifice for everyone. That I do believe. He has turned my regrets to deep gratitude, and made a beauty from my life what I could never manage. He can do that for any of us.

A lovely poem with Christian themes is "Maud Mueller".