For Part One or Part Two, pick a link and click.
For our final foray into Elder Thomas S. Monson's talk in April 1972, "Finishers Wanted", he references a song from musical theatre:
The Quote
“To dream the impossible dream;
To fight the unbeatable foe;
To bear with unbearable sorrow:
To run where the brave dare not go.
“To right the unrightable wrong;
To love, pure and chaste, from afar;
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star.”
The song lyrics were written by Joe Darion, who wrote for many musicals, but Man of La Mancha was his greatest work. "Man of La Mancha" was based on the story of Don Quixote, a elderly gentleman, full of idealism, who decides to become the knight he has read about in so many books.
His idealism is treated as madness by those around him, and he is ridiculed and mocked, but then his deep conviction also changes the life of some.
It's a lovely song. The movie version stars Peter O'Toole in an intense performance as the Knight Errant, Don Quixote. The story and the music are fantastic.
It's an idea I want to believe in, despite the fear of living up to such a high ideal in a dangerous world. But it's an idea that's every bit a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
To follow the best that is in me, despite all dangers and hazards, can't help but inspire and lift those around me to do the same. It's a worthwhile path to follow, but we don't have to do it alone. Jesus Christ offers help for those who take on such a difficult path, and the love that He offers is a reward that is well worth any effort.
The story of Don Quixote touched our family's life deeply in a fun way, especially when my husband and I first got married. He'd done a production of Man of La Mancha in his local community theatre, playing one of the brutal muleteers. He would often call me his 'Dulcinea', the noble name that Don Quixote names a local humble serving maid, whose real name was Aldonza. Our first little beaten-up white truck he named 'Rosinante', which was Don Quixote's broken-down horse that we envisioned a great steed.
It's entertaining and even a little ennobling to take something humble and envision it a little grander than it is. And it's absolutely what God sees in us - not what we are, but what we could become.
If you haven't seen the play or the movie, then enjoy this little clip of Brian Stokes Mitchell, singing the song from the quote above, "The Impossible Dream".
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