When I was about 15 years old, I was in San Francisco with my parents and a couple of my sisters, and we went to a new John Wayne movie, “The High and the Mighty.” I watched it again a few years ago on TV. It’s about a flight which left Hawaii headed for California. After the plane had been in the air quite a while, there were some problems. They had passed the point of no return, so they kept heading for the coast, but they ended up having to dump a bunch of stuff out of the plane to lighten the load.
The movie stayed with me. I think I was trying to figure out what I should throw overboard so that I can make it all the way Home. What kinds of experiences in my life would change my mind about what mattered most and what could be tossed?
One of the things I remember best about the movie is that everyone got REAL. There was a dramatic moment when a woman (headed to meet a man for the first time with whom she’d been corresponding… NOT on the internet – the movie was made before A.G. invented the internet) took off all her make-up, including her long fake eyelashes. What happened to her was like an extreme makeover in reverse – she looked so different! She looked REAL.
There are many who spend much to make external changes in their appearance. Braces to straighten teeth (I wore braces for 10 years! – age 9 to 19). Ways to whiten teeth and “tan” skin. (It took me a while to realize that the reason so many in Asia were covered up while working in the fields was so that they would NOT get more “tan” than they already were). We get help making our hair look a certain way. There are zillions of “miracle ways” of losing weight… all kinds of “promises.” I remember seeing a woman on TV once who’d had so many plastic surgeries on her nose that she could no longer breathe through it!
Once I “googled” the phrase “extreme makeover,” and I got almost a million hits! There was all kinds of information, including stuff about how to sign up for a complete transformation, news about plastic surgeons and cosmetic dentists, and a whole gallery of pictures. Lots of “before and after” pictures. I noticed that people in the “before” pictures were never allowed to smile. Hmmmm. I looked at one application for a makeover. Wowza! I’d have to make a 3-minute video of myself and then got from “head to toe,” explaining everything I wanted changed. “List everything you would like to have altered.” There were some questions on the application, such as “How will this change your life?” (I think that’s a great question!). And “Besides altering your appearance, what is your biggest dream?” Thought-provoking, isn’t it.
I thought of a TV showed called “Where are they now?” … and did those who receive dramatic physical change find what they were looking for? Are they happy?
What is it we’re looking for? What is it that we feel is missing? And will changing the “exterior” help all our dreams come true? Maybe. Maybe not. I began wondering why we’re not as anxious to change the “INTERIOR.” This could be called a TRUE “extreme makeover.” An “inside job! A makeover which REALLY changes lives and helps dreams come true. One which causes people to clap their hands and shout for joy! (Now you’re jumping ahead of me, aren’t you).
In the Book of Mosiah in The Book of Mormon, King Benjamin has finished his remarkable message and wants to know if his people have believed what he has taught them. YES!! And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually. (Mosiah 5:2) We notice that there were TWO major changes: No more disposition to do evil – but a mighty change in disposition such that they had a desire to do good continually. Wow! No wonder it’s called a MIGHTY CHANGE! It happened to King Lamoni and his wife and all those converted during the missions of the sons of King Mosiah and their friends. They were forgiven of their sins, they remained true and faithful – they were reborn spiritually. “…they did all declare unto the people the self‑same thing — that their hearts had been changed; that they had no more desire to do evil.” (Alma 19:33). THIS sounds like an AMAZING “EXTREME MAKEOVER.”
Have you ever wished you were a car? (Of course not, but stay with me, OK?). You could roll into “Jiffy Abs” and be changed in 15 minutes. You could go to a “makeover store” and purchase a new heart…. It doesn’t work that way, does it. We’re NOT cars. The changes we need to make are more than just a change of outward appearance. Read again this quote from President Ezra Taft Benson:
… repentance means more than simply a reformation of behavior. Many men and women in the world demonstrate great will‑power and self‑discipline in overcoming bad habits and the weaknesses of the flesh. Yet at the same time they give no thought to the Master, sometimes even openly rejecting Him. Such changes of behavior, even if in a positive direction, do not constitute true repentance. Repentance involves not just a change of actions, but a change of heart. When we have undergone this mighty change, which is brought about only through faith in Jesus Christ and through the operation of the Spirit upon us, it is as though we have become a new person. Thus the change is likened to a new birth. Thousands of you within the sound of my voice have experienced this change. You have forsaken lives of sin, sometimes deep and offensive sin, and through applying the blood of Christ in your lives, have become clean. You have no more disposition to return to your old ways. You are in reality a new person. This is what is meant by a change of heart. (“A Mighty Change of Heart,” address prepared [but not delivered] 1986; Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.470)
Interestingly, we’re asked to strive to be better when we’re already pretty good. When the Savior appeared to those in the “new world” who were spared because they were the more righteous – they were pretty good – He invited them to be even better: O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you? Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life…. (3 Nephi 9:13-14)
President Hugh B. Brown shared this: Sin creates inner conflict, causes loss of self‑respect, saps moral strength, causes injury to and estranges others, makes men more susceptible to temptation, and in numerous other subtle ways retards, delays, and blocks our journey toward our goal. Its enticements tend to divert us from moral ideals and to obscure our vision of desirable objectives. True repentance halts this disintegration and… places one’s feet on the highway of successful living. With the companionship of [the Holy Ghost], one may release the power which is in the human soul even as men have been able to release the power of the atom. This power, when released and given divine direction and guidance, will lead to immortality and eternal life. (Taken from a radio address given December 7, 1947) (Quoted in Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1969]
Can you think of one “interior” thing you’d like to change? Get Heavenly Help (and any other help you might need). President Gordon B. Hinckley shared this:
We are far from being a perfect society as we travel along the road to immortality and eternal life. The great work of the Church in furthering this process is to help men and women to move toward the perfection exemplified by the Savior of mankind. We are not likely to reach that goal in a day or a year or a lifetime. But as we strive in this direction, we shall become better men and women, sons and daughters of God. (Gordon B. Hinckley, “150‑Year Drama: A Personal View of Our History,” Ensign, Apr. 1980, 14)
Can you think of ANYONE in the scriptures who sincerely cried for help who didn’t receive it?
COME UNTO JESUS (Hymn #117) (First 3 verses)
Come unto Jesus, ye heavy laden, Careworn and fainting, by sin oppressed.
He’ll safely guide you unto that haven Where all who trust him may rest, may rest.
Come unto Jesus; He’ll ever heed you, Though in the darkness you’ve gone astray.
His love will find you and gently lead you From darkest night into day, to day.
Come unto Jesus; He’ll surely hear you, If you in meekness plead for his love.
Oh know you not that angels are near you From brightest mansions above, above?