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Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Humbly Serving Others - Two Cool Stories (Team Hoyt and Shiblon)

Last Sunday, I taught a Sunday School lesson that focused on what it means to love like Jesus loved, and follow in his footsteps. While this post highlights only a small fraction of our class discussion, I want to highlight a few of the stories that I used to illustrate the lesson, for further discussion with friends and family. I have also paired this with a family/singing time lesson here: Come Follow Me - Activity and Song.

 Humbling Serving Others
When Jesus Christ was here on earth, he humbly served others. Keep in mind that this was the Prince of Peace, King of Kings, Savior of the World - but he didn’t sit in a chair and wear a fancy crown. He walked many miles every day, tirelessly looking for people to serve and teach. He healed the sick, he was often engaged in defending and trying to teach at the same time to hostile Pharisees and Sadducees. Never do the scriptures talk about how the disciples praised him for being such a great teacher, healer, or leader. He wasn’t looking for adoration and praise, he was on a mission to teach everyone he knew as much as he could before he left the earth, so that we would have an understanding of how to return to heaven.
I shared some quotes and stories on Sunday about this topic. I won’t share every single quote and story here but here are the ones I most want to emphasize:

It’s About Following In His Footsteps
“At the final day the Savior will not ask about the nature of our callings. He will not inquire about our material possessions or fame. He will ask if we ministered to the sick, gave food and drink to the hungry, visited those in prison, or gave succor to the weak [see Matthew 25:31-40]. When we reach out to assist the least of Heavenly Father’s children, we do it unto Him [see Matthew 24:40]. That is the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”- Joseph B. Wirthlin, “The Great Commandment,” October 2007


Team Hoyt Served Each Other and Others
To emphasize this point, I shared a story about Dick and Rick Hoyt. This is a father and son. The son, Rick Hoyt was born a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy. He couldn’t talk, walk, or write. It wasn’t until he was about 12 (I have heard different ages between 10-12) that, with $5000 (which is the equivalent of $30,000 today) and a talented group of engineers, they were able to have a special computer built by Tuft University, which allowed Rick to communicate by spelling out letters by pressing his head against a board. Can you imagine not being able to communicate for the first ten years of your life? Or having to communicate so slowly, letter by letter? The famous Helen Keller, both deaf and blind, threw tantrums in her childhood, so great was her frustration that she couldn’t communicate. She had to wait until Anne Sullivan came along and found a way to teach her how to communicate.

Suddenly, like Helen Keller, Rick, had a means to share his intelligence, views, and even humor with the world. In 1977, Rick learned about a 5 mile run for a college lacrosse player that had been paralyzed. Rick asked his dad to participate in the race so Dick, who was not a runner, pushed his son’s heavy wheelchair the full five miles. Dick intended to possibly only push his son around the first corner but Rick loved being in the race. Afterward, he told his dad, “When I'm out running, it feels like my disability disappears,'" Dick Hoyt said. "He called himself 'Free Bird."

Rick and Dick Hoyt went on to run for the next thirty or so years, not slowing down until Dick was in his 70s and Rick was in his 50s. They raced in triathlons, marathons, and more, including 32 Boston Marathons.

When it all started though, Dick Hoyt was criticized. “They said, ‘what are you doing dragging hour disabled son through all these races? Are you just looking for glory for yourself?’ What they didn’t realize, he was the one dragging me through all these races,” said Dick Hoyt in an interview with Associated Press. You can listen to that interview here, on “Cerebral palsy doesn’t dim marathon ambitions.”

There are so many nuances and facets to this story but I share this story now because of that early criticism that Dick faces. Just like the Savior, Dick was accused of ulterior motives. The only motive Dick had was the pure love of Christ.


By humbly serving his son, Dick not only brought joy to Rick, but he brought joy to himself. He also inspired families around the world.


In “Labour of Love Dick and Rick Hoyt,” by producers Joe Perskie and Lauren Gaffney on Real Sports, the narrators share, “These days, hundreds of families are pushing their own disabled children in races, inspired by the Hoyt’s devotion. … The Hoyts are inspiring families without disabled members too. In 12 cities across the country volunteer groups have formed to help disabled athletes who don’t have a family member to compete with them. … volunteer pushers are paired with athletes of all ages.”

For Dick Hoyt, his devotion to his son was something he did humbly, out of pure love.

Shiblon Served Humbly, Too 
One of my favorite General Conference talks of all time is by Elder Michael T. Ringwood, "Truly Good and Without Guile". In April 2015, he talked about Shiblon, the lesser known of the three sons of Alma. After all, we sing songs about Shiblon’s brother Helaman, and his great army, but is there a song about Shiblon? I love what Elder Ringwood says, though, “Shiblon was truly good and without guile. He was a person who sacrificed his time, talents, and effort to help and lift others because of a love for God and his fellowman (see Alma 48:17–19; 49:30). He is described perfectly by the words of President Spencer W. Kimball: ‘Great women and men are always more anxious to serve than to have dominion.’3””

I have come to admire those who serve quietly, who don’t seek for recognition or praise. In this way, they are just like the Savior, who wept for Lazarus when he died, who knew the hated and loved the hated, like Zaccheaus, by name.

May we be like the Savior, who said in John 13:34, “as I have loved you … love one another.”
Team Hoyt References

“When I'm out running, it feels like my disability disappears,'" Dick Hoyt remembers. "He called himself 'Free Bird."
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