Elder Dallin H. Oaks on the eternal perspective of our lives

President Dallin H. Oaks (born August 12, 1932) served as president of BYU from 1971-1980.  He was then appointed as a justice of the Utah Supreme Court, and resigned when he was called to the Quorum of Twelve Apostles in 1984. He became President of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles and also 1st Counselor in the First Presidency in January 2018.

"The pure in heart have a distinctive way of looking at life. Their attitudes and desires cause them to view their experiences in terms of eternity. This eternal perspective affects their choices and priorities. As they draw farther from worldliness they feel closer to our Father in Heaven and more able to be guided by his Spirit. We call this state of mind, this quality of life, spirituality. 

"Spirituality is a lens through which we view life and a gauge by which we evaluate it.... To be spiritually minded is to view and evaluate experiences in terms of the enlarged perspective of eternity." 

- Dallin H. Oaks, "Pure in Heart" (Deseret 1991), pp. 111-112; see also Dallin H. Oaks, "Spirituality," Ensign, November 1985, pp. 61-63
Click here to read the full talk

Somehow, it seems to be a challenge for many of us to view our more challenging experiences "in terms of eternity." Instead, our tendency is to forget eternity in the midst of trials and difficulties. But Elder Oaks points out that the "pure in heart" find that perspective easy to maintain. The more we are able to separate ourselves from worldliness, the more we can be guided by God's influence and can see things in eternal perspective.

As we become more "pure in heart" wewill see that our way of looking at life changes, and the eternal perspective is much more natural. Spirituality allows us to view everything that occurs to us "in terms of theenlarged perspective of eternity." What a blessing, and what an advantage! That should truly be our quest.

(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2021)
March 9, 2015