"When the real history of mankind is fully disclosed, will it feature the echoes of gunfire or the shaping sound of lullabies? The great armistices made by military men or the peacemaking of women in homes and in neighborhoods? Will what happened in cradles and kitchens prove to be more controlling than what happened in congresses? When the surf of the centuries has made the great pyramids so much sand, the everlasting family will still be standing, because it is a celestial institution, formed outside telestial time. The women of God know this.
"No wonder the men of God support and sustain you sisters in your unique roles, for the act of deserting home in order to shape society is like thoughtlessly removing crucial fingers from an imperiled dike in order to teach people to swim.
"We men love you for meeting inconsiderateness with consideration and selfishness with selflessness. We are touched by the eloquence of your example. We are deeply grateful for your enduring us as men when we are not at our best because—like God—you love us not only for what we are, but for what we have the power to become.
"We have special admiration for the unsung but unsullied single women among whom are some of the noblest daughters of God. These sisters know that God loves them, individually and distinctly. They make wise career choices even though they cannot now have the most choice career. Though in their second estate they do not have their first desire, they still overcome the world. These sisters who cannot now enrich the institution of their own marriage so often enrich other institutions in society. They do not withhold their blessings simply because some blessings are now withheld from them. Their trust in God is like that of the wives who are childless, but not by choice, but who in the justice of God will receive special blessings one day."
- Neal A. Maxwell, "The Women of God," General Conference April 1978
Click here to read or listen to the full talk
This is a beautiful, classic talk from Elder Maxwell, shared when he was a member of the Seventy. He shares an important perspective about what really, ultimately matters in this life; it is not the achievements of men and women in the world, but the quiet, powerful things that happen in home and family:
How grateful we should all be for the women who have given so much to contribute to the building of individual lives and character!
Elder Maxwell also acknowledges the faithful contribution of the women who don't have the privilege of serving currently as mothers, noting they "are some of the noblest daughters of God." I know many of those, and am grateful for their examples of faith and patience, trusting in God and in God's timing.
(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2018)
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