Richard L. Evans

"Music and the Spoken Word" Talks

Selected talks from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Broadcasts

The Character to Carry Responsibility

Among the distinguishing differences between people -- one which classifies and separates men in significant measure -- is the willingness, the ability, the character, the demonstrated desire to accept an assignment, to take responsibility, to follow through.

In a sense, nothing simply does itself. Someone has to do everything that is done. Someone has to produce; someone has to improve the process and the product; someone has to sell; someone has to stay solvent. Almost everyone, it seems, can make some suggestions -- some semifinal decisions -- but sooner or later someone has to make final decisions -- to decide what to do and when it would be best to do it.

At home, at work, in all public and private places, always and in everything, someone has to see that every essential thing is followed through. And there is no real happiness, no real contentment, no great growth of character, and little sense of accomplishment, in running away from responsibility. And if freedom from responsibility were ever to become an ultimate ideal, it would be a matter of very serious concern.

Of course there are times when we need temporary respite from responsibility -- when we are overweary of being pressured and pushed -- when we need some diversion from the same daily round of routine. Every person needs a change of pace, a change of sights and scenery. Vacation, yes; we need refreshment, recreation, the hour of rest, relief, and relaxation between the doing of duties, all these we need. No one can stay fresh without refreshment. No one can effectively carry responsibility relentlessly and ever, unrelieved.

But the sincerest satisfactions in life come in doing and not in dodging duty; in meeting and solving problems, in facing facts, in being a dependable person. There is ample evidence that the Lord God Himself, when He sent us here, expected us to use our time and talents and intelligence, to think, to act, to make commitments, to keep commandments, and to accept real responsibility. And one thing that separates men in significant measure, is the willingness, the character, the ability, the demonstrated desire to take responsibility, to accept assignments, to follow through. And one of the great discoveries in life is finding a dependable person.

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Page Modified November 4, 1999