Who cannot love the Southern folk song turned primary treasure, “The Wise Man and the Foolish Man”?  Based upon the parable told by Jesus Christ, recorded in Matthew 7:24-27, the words of the song are as follows:

The wise man built his house upon the rock,

The wise man built his house upon the rock,

The wise man built his house upon the rock,

And the rains came tumbling down.

The rains came down and the floods came up,

The rains came down and the floods came up,

The rains came down and the floods came up,

And the house on the rock stood firm.

The foolish man built his house upon the sand,

The foolish man built his house upon the sand,

The foolish man built his house upon the sand,

And the rains came tumbling down.

The rains came down and the floods came up,

The rains came down and the floods came up,

The rains came down and the floods came up,

And the house on the sand washed away.

Now, you add the sweet voices of primary children and the wonderful hand motions, and you have a real treasure that brings to life all of those precious childhood memories and feelings.  What a joy it is to remember.

Now am I talking about childhood, or the seemingly so distant memory of seeing primary children together, gathered in song?

2020 has been, I think, the most memorable year that most of us would most like to forget.  The floods of bad fortune have certainly come up.  I am not saying nothing good has come of this unique time, but I think for most it is associated more for disaster than for rejoicing.  The depth of disaster is probably in large part based upon whether one’s house is built upon a rock or on sand, but I believe that nobody has come through this time unscathed, even those with the firmest foundations.

In Matthew 5:45 we read the Lord’s own words, “for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”  The blessings of light, warmth and moisture are often received of all, as are the curses of darkness, scorching heat and torrential flooding.  Remember, as Helaman taught and warned his own righteous sons Nephi and Lehi, of coming evil, mighty winds, shafts in the whirlwind, hail and mighty storms shall beat upon us, even the righteous.

This has indeed been a year of mighty winds, shafts in the whirlwind, hail and mighty storms, lightnings and fire storms, famine and pestilence, depression and discord, withering heat and toxic air, loneliness and feeling without purpose, riotousness and unrest, a dearth of cooperation, peace and kindness, and the righteous have been exposed to these things even as have the wicked.  Never in the flesh have I been a personal witness to so much wrong and sorrow, and rejoicing in evil.  It is shaking the very fabric of our civilization, the great family of man, God’s children.

But there is hope, it is provided in the Lord Jesus Christ.  For even as Helaman taught his sons, it is supremely relevant, no, imperative, to us and to our day, “it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall” (Helaman 5:12).

It is painful.  We will not come through this without wound or scar, but we can come through with our faith intact and even reinforced.  For if we build upon a foundation of Christ, the rock of our Redeemer, we will not fall, and no adversarial incursion will bring us down and beyond rescue and redemption.  Indeed, in Christ the faith of our house will stand firm.  In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.