Sister Eubank Explains How Men and Women of the Law Can Build Zion for Good
Contributed By Aubrey Eyre, Church News staff writer
Sister Sharon Eubank speaks during the J. Reuben Clark Law Society Annual Fireside at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Friday, January 24, 2020.
Article Highlights
- Circumstances around the world need solutions before people can progress spiritually.
- All those who wish to participate in building up the kingdom of God have a responsibility to strive for good.
“Zion will be built by those who are willing to unify their hearts and minds for peaceful progress—people of all faiths, people who are willing to dwell in obedience to law and eradicate all kinds of poverty.” —Sister Sharon Eubank, Relief Society General Presidency
Those who practice law have the ability to improve society in countless ways—especially when they are motivated to lend their expertise, experience, and faith to help build up and rescue the finest parts of individuals and societies, said Sister Sharon Eubank.
But how many men and women of the law are committed to really helping build better societies? How many will not bend to corruption for their personal interest? How many are willing to consecrate their efforts so there will be no poor among their societies?
Speaking at the J. Reuben Clark Law Society Annual Fireside at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Friday, January 24, Sister Eubank highlighted how individuals, in the hands of God, can play key roles in revolutionizing the world and providing a “feast of fat things” for all of God’s children.
“If we are aware, each of us, in our circles, has many opportunities at the local level, with whatever unique professional and spiritual skills we have, to bring solutions and resources to [difficult] circumstances,” Sister Eubank said.
In her many years of working in the Welfare Department of the Church, Sister Eubank said, she has come to understand that the nature of relief and development work is to “be exposed to everything that’s unjust and everything that’s disastrous.”
There are circumstances in the world that are “like a killing frost to the potential flower and fruitage in human beings,” leading them to struggle even for survival, she said. Such circumstances stop people from progressing, particularly along the spiritual and covenant path.
The genius of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society, Sister Eubank continued, is that it organizes and motivates those who practice law to utilize their field for good, to stand up and be counted among the few dedicated bettering the world.
The mission and purpose of the Church and its welfare plan is “to rescue the finest parts of every individual,” said Sister Eubank, quoting from President J. Reuben Clark—the Church Apostle for whom the BYU law society is named. And in today’s world, where there is increasing polarization regarding everything from faith to politics to common decency, Sister Eubank explained, “Zion will be built by those who are willing to unify their hearts and minds for peaceful progress—people of all faiths, people who are willing to dwell in obedience to law and eradicate all kinds of poverty.”
Prior to her address, during the broadcast, Sister Eubank was awarded the J. Reuben Clark Law Society Exemplary Service Award for her many years of dedicated service to helping those in need around the world through her work with Latter-day Saint Charities.
Sister Sharon Eubank speaks during the J. Reuben Clark Law Society Annual Fireside at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Friday, January 24, 2020. Photo courtesy of Matthew Imbler, J. Reuben Clark Law Society.
In what she deemed “the Zion revolution,” Sister Eubank explained that all those who wish to participate in building up the kingdom of God, or Zion, on the earth have a responsibility to strive for good, “to share expertise freely so we can be of one mind, to work side by side with others very different from us so we can be of one heart, to keep the laws of heaven and earth so we can dwell in righteousness, to build up our characters so there will be no poor among us.”
Sharing a video of a man who goes about doing good without expectation of gaining anything personally, Sister Eubank highlighted the difference between those seeking for personal gain in their daily efforts and those seeking to contribute to the happiness of others in their daily efforts.
Every day people see burdens around them, she explained, but it is how individuals respond to those burdens that determines the outcome of their mortal experience.
Quoting from President Dallin H. Oaks, Sister Eubank explained that “the really important achievements of this life are those that carry enduring, favorable consequences for the eternities to come.”
The things that each individual does on a micro level in his or her daily life can help contribute to the work of the Lord at the macro level in bringing to pass the eternal life of all mankind, Sister Eubank explained. And by lifting one’s vision beyond the here and now, to see through an eternal lens, it becomes clearer that each person has the ability to contribute, in some way, to revolutionizing the world and rescuing “the finest parts of individuals.”
Sister Sharon Eubank speaks to attendees of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society Annual Fireside at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Friday, January 24, 2020. Photo courtesy of Matthew Imbler, J. Reuben Clark Law Society.
Sister Sharon Eubank is awarded the J. Reuben Clark Law Society Exemplary Award at the society’s annual fireside at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Friday, January 24, 2020. Photo courtesy of Matthew Imbler, J. Reuben Clark Law Society.
Attendees of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society Annual Fireside find their seats in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Friday, January 24, 2020. Photo courtesy of Matthew Imbler, J. Reuben Clark Law Society.
