"I Am A Nobody"

Reviewing a few semi-recent General Conference talks, I came across and unusual anecdote. In April 2009, Elder Neil L. Andersen shared:

Just after my call as a General Authority 16 years ago, in a stake conference where I accompanied President Boyd K. Packer, he said something I have not forgotten. As he addressed the congregation, he said, “I know who I am.” Then after a pause, he added, “I am a nobody.” He then turned to me, sitting on the stand behind him, and said, “And, Brother Andersen, you are a nobody too.” Then he added these words: “If you ever forget it, the Lord will remind you of it instantly, and it won’t be pleasant.”

President Packer's word surprised me as much as I imagine they surprised Elder Andersen. After learning so much about how we are children of God, with endless divine potential, and how we must see ourselves as God sees us, it seems contradictory to say "I am a nobody." I must be misinterpreting what President Packer was trying to say.

Perhaps, to put the concept more clearly, one could say "Compared to God, I am a nobody," or "Without God, I am a nobody." A few days ago, I quoted Ammon as having said something similar:

Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.
Alma 26: 12

The idea of the message is Humility. If we ever forget to be humble, God will give us a reason to be humble.  "If [we] ever forget [that without God, we are nobodies], the Lord will remind [us] of it instantly, and it won’t be pleasant."

I may have just had an experience like that, if I'm interpreting the situation correctly, and one thing was clear - it wasn't pleasant. Still, this is a hard teaching to take for those of us who struggle with self-esteem issues. I didn't need to hear that President Packer, who understands his standing with God better than I do mine, and is most definitely in better standing with God than I am, feels that he can describe himself as a nobody. If President Packer is a nobody, what must that make me?

I think what President Packer was trying to say was that we are all nobodies in the sense that we need a great deal of guidance and help. We are to be humble, to acknowledge our faults and weaknesses to ourselves, each other, and especially God, and then rely on God to make up for the deficiencies in our lives. Only when we are humble can we receive all the blessings God has in store for us. The commandment to be humble does not imply that we need to despair and feel worthless. Though we are nothing without God, God by Himself is worth everything. When He gives us even a small portion of His power, and potential, and worth, we can become magnificent, even though we, by ourselves, are nothing.

Venturing into an area that none of you care about, solely for my own benefit for getting these thoughts down on paper, so to speak, this whole concept could be related to wizardry. With magic, a wizard is tremendously powerful, capable of performing tasks well above and beyond any normal human level, but without magic, the average wizard has even less strength and power than an average human (this is because wizards tend to be unbelievably old). Likewise, we, without God, are pathetic. We have so little power, and even less wisdom. Without God, we are, in many ways, nothing, just as a wizard is nothing without magic. But with God, when we do have access to even the tiniest portion of His wisdom and power, we are incredible, we are powerful, and we are a million miles away from anyone's definition of nothing.

Yet, as Mr. Gold often said, "All magic comes with a price," and part of the "price" of God's "magic" is humility. When we're humble, God blesses us. When we're prideful, He leaves us alone until we remember how badly we need Him.

I know that of myself, I am nothing. I know that I desperately need God's help. And apparently, I also need occasional reminders of how badly I need God's help, because He just gave me one. I hope I can be humble enough and faithful enough to earn the blessings I need. I hope that I can do whatever it takes to receive God's help. I hope that I can be strong enough (with God's help) to overcome the challenges in my life and become the person that God wants me to be. It'll take a lot of effort on my part, and a lot of help from God, but we can do it. I can't do it alone, but we can do it. I need to remember that.