A Field of Onions

President Eyring once wrote,

"To appreciate this story, you have to realize that it occurred when my father was nearly eighty and had bone cancer. He had bone cancer so badly in his hips that he could hardly move. The pain was great.

"Dad was the senior high councilor in his stake with the responsibility for the welfare farm. An assignment was given to weed a field of onions, so Dad assigned himself to go work on the farm.
Dad never told me how hard it was, but I have met several people who were with him that day. I talked to one of them on the phone the other night to check the story. The one I talked to said that he was weeding in the row next to Dad through much of the day. He told me the same thing that others who were there that day have told me. He said that the pain was so great that Dad was pulling himself along on his stomach with his elbows. He couldn’t kneel. The pain was too great for him to kneel. Everyone who has talked to me has remarked how Dad smiled, and laughed, and talked happily with them as they worked in that field of onions.

"Now, this is the joke Dad told me on himself, afterward. He said he was there at the end of the day. After all the work was finished and the onions were all weeded, someone asked him, “Henry, good heavens! You didn’t pull those weeds, did you? Those weeds were sprayed two days ago, and they were going to die anyway.”

"Dad just roared. He thought that was the funniest thing. He thought it was a great joke on himself. He had worked through the day in the wrong weeds. They had been sprayed and would have died anyway.

"When Dad told me this story, I knew how tough it was. So I said to him, “Dad, how could you make a joke out of that? How could you take it so pleasantly?”

"He said something to me that I will never forget, and I hope you won’t. He said, “Hal, I wasn’t there for the weeds.”

"Now, you’ll be in an onion patch much of your life. So will I. It will be hard to see the powers of heaven magnifying us or our efforts. It may even be hard to see our work being of any value at all. And sometimes our work won’t go well.

"But you didn’t come for the weeds. You came for the Savior. And if you pray, and if you choose to be clean, and if you choose to follow God’s servants, you will be able to work and wait long enough to bring down the powers of heaven.
-Henry B. Eyring, "To Draw Closer to God"

I think about this story occasionally. This time around though I'm thinking about the weeds differently.

What if the weeds are the things we've chosen to defend when it comes to the church?

What if you had a firm testimony that young moms shouldn't teach release-time seminary, and you spent time and effort defending that position online?

What if you were an ardent supporter of the creationist views of Joseph Fielding Smith and worked to make sure evolution wasn't taught to your kids?

What if you cross-stitched the Young Woman's theme with your arthritic fingers so that your granddaughters could have it adorning their bedroom walls?

And then . . . what if none of those things mattered? What if you didn't have to defend the church's position on women, on evolution, on any policy because it ended up changing? Was it all a waste?

Dad just roared. He thought that was the funniest thing. He thought it was a great joke on himself. He had worked through the day in the wrong weeds. They had been sprayed and would have died anyway.

When Dad told me this story, I knew how tough it was. So I said to him, “Dad, how could you make a joke out of that? How could you take it so pleasantly?”

He said something to me that I will never forget, and I hope you won’t. He said, “Hal, I wasn’t there for the weeds.”

 We aren't here for the weeds. We aren't here to defend the culture a all costs. We aren't here to criticize those who approach the gospel differently. And, as hard as it is to accept, we aren't here to be right about everything.

As President Eyring said, "You came for the Savior. And if you pray, and if you choose to be clean, and if you choose to follow God’s servants, you will be able to work and wait long enough to bring down the powers of heaven."

We came for the Savior.