There are several ways that the word traction can be used, but the most common in this modern age is in respect to a tire on a road surface. The following story is one told by my youngest son at a church meeting in New York City—a story that he would never tell to his parents when he was young and living at home. His story goes as follows: “When I was in high school, I had this little truck that was really fun to drive. It was rear wheel drive, and for those of you who know rear wheel drive vehicles, they’re a little bit more complicated in the snow, but also a lot of fun. It was the perfect doughnut machine. For those of you young city people who don’t know what donuts are, ask your parents. I grew up on a mountain in Ogden, Utah. For those of you who know the area, not far from the “U” on the mountain. One night, I was coming home pretty late from a friend’s house in a big snowstorm with really deep heavy snow. And I was having real trouble trying to get up the hill to the house. Because it was so late, there was no one around, no traffic, no one out on the street. So I felt comfortable to take a few momentum attempts at the hill. I would get a run on the flat part and be able to make it past the steepest part, but each time I would come to a spinning stop on this gradual incline that ran some distance up to the house. Each time I would gingerly turn around and go back down to the bottom of the hill and get an even bigger run at it, as safely as possible. But each time I would get stuck at the same point on the gradual incline. So I realized that I would need to do something different. I considered just leaving the truck there overnight and coming to get it in the morning, but due to the narrowness of the street, and all the snow, I was worried that it would be taken out by a snowplow or another car coming down the hill and be an even more dangerous situation. So I thought I’d better not leave it there. Now, this fun little truck had a couple of issues, one of which was a high idle. For those of you who don’t know what that means, it means that the engine revs a little high all of the time, even when you are standing still. If you let out the clutch, it would just go without having to press on the gas pedal. I probably should have figured out how to fix this or asked my dad to help me, but I actually thought it was kind of fun to drive that way. You could shift through all of the gears without even touching the gas pedal using just the clutch and the gear shifter, but you would need to use the gas pedal to get up to regular speeds. So here I am stuck on this hill and I thought to myself, “wait a minute I’ve got this high idle that will keep the wheels spinning”…Now, I really hesitated in telling this story within earshot of the young men, I normally tell them stories that don’t include dangerous and questionable decisions on my part, but it’s the best story I have to illustrate the point I want to make to you. So with the disclaimer “don’t try this at home” I’ll continue. Forgive me parents. OK, so back to the hill, so I thought the high idle will keep the wheels spinning slowly in first gear and I might be able to potentially get out and push myself. I opened the door and put a foot out, but as soon as my foot hit the ground, I realized that there was no way I was going to get enough traction to push myself out of this. So there I sat spinning in one place in the middle the road in the middle of the night, thinking, “how am going to get this truck home tonight?” Then it came to me, as everyone knows who’ve had rear wheel drive vehicles, the whole key is having weight over the rear wheels. Front wheel drive vehicles are wonderful in the snow because the weight of the motor is over the front wheels. But in a rear wheel drive truck, with an empty bed, there’s very little weight over the rear wheels to give it traction. I had nothing else in the truck, no other weight…but me! So, you can imagine where this is going. Young men, earplug time. Anyway, I ended up standing in the bed of the truck over the rear axle. My weight was enough to get it going a little bit and start to creep, but then it would stall again in place, and I would have to give it a nice firm bounce or two to get it moving again. Now, there was no danger of hitting houses or anything, nothing really in the way, just the risk of damaging the vehicle if it got away from me. Every so often it would start drifting off to the side with the contours of the road, or with the road turning. So, of course, I would have to walk up to the front of the bed, reach through the driver side window, and correct the steering, before returning to the rear axle to bounce again. So, after a while of this, a foot or two at a time, I finally made it home. Now, the young men, on Scout trips and during Sunday lessons, are used to me telling these kinds of stories, not exactly these kinds of stories, but telling stories that have meaning.
So I wonder if they have figured out what I learned from this experience. It seems to me, at times in our lives, we’re each that little truck, stuck on the hill, trying to get home. Sometimes we’re stuck in spiritual stagnation or comfort zones, or otherwise feel like we’re not making progress. The hill can represent the adversity that we all have, and were told that we have all the strength we need to overcome that adversity. We’re promised that. The little truck had plenty of strength to climb that hill if it could only get traction, so the slippery part can represent that stagnation that sometimes happens in our lives. The loads we carry can make all the difference on those slippery parts when we’re not making progress.
The loads we carry can be all different kinds of things. These young men have very heavy school workloads and extracurriculars. For the visitors, these are very heavily scheduled youth here in this ward. They have a lot going on and it can sometimes be overwhelming to them, a burden to be dreaded. Sometimes we have demanding church callings, we have trouble at work, relationship problems that were trying to work out, gospel questions that we don’t quite know the answers to, or sometimes as my wife and I have experienced recently, there are tragic events and losses that bear down on us. It is our loads that can help us pass the slippery points, the stagnation, if we can learn to consider those things a blessing. We can make some of the most profound spiritual prog- ress when we have the combination of the adversity of the hill and a load bearing down to give us traction to climb it. Instead of looking at it as just a burden we can look at it as an opportunity to gain traction or greater traction as needed. Sometimes we need to become the load in the back of our own truck, we need to reach out and serve, instead of just waiting for loads to be put upon us, we can put loads upon ourselves when we need traction through spiritually slippery times, because it’s a great way to gain traction and move forward. The Lord has promised that our burdens can be made light. He promised at the end of Matthew 11: “Come unto to me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” So, I’m celebrating the benefits of a heavy load on us, and the Lord is saying that the burden can be light and easy. These things are in harmony. With the load, we get the traction that we need to move forward, but the loads are sometimes overwhelming, the Lord has promised that through communion with him we will have our efforts magnified in that the burden will become light and the yoke easy.
Without burdens, we actually miss out on the incredible blessings that can come from them, either directly or indirectly, that we wouldn’t have had otherwise without those blessings.
For example, in my calling as scoutmaster, I’ve gotten to know these really great young men. They’re just an amazing inspiration to me, and they live in a world that’s getting worse in a lot of ways, and they have a lot of influences in school and in other aspects of their lives that are more difficult than prior generations. They have temptations and distractions that some of us didn’t have, and I watch these young men overcome all of these things and it’s amazing to see the attitude and strength and consistency and faith that they’re doing the right thing. And it’s just impressive to me the way they handle their lives. I’m so incredibly blessed by the load that I was given in this calling. Because, being a scoutmaster, if you do it well, or at least try to do it well, is very time-consuming. There are a lot of moving parts, a lot of things to consider and act on, a lot of different personalities to adjust to, to make a difference. Perhaps it’s nowhere near a bishopric or some other callings, but it is a huge time commitment if you want to do it well, and I really want to do it well. So, as a result, I dedicate as much time as I can to make this a great program for the youth, and they in turn always turn around and dedicate themselves to the program and they have really made it a great program. So, when we are in communion with the Lord any burden that we are given, any difficulty, any complication at home or at work or at church or anywhere else can be made lighter and our efforts magnified by the Lord.
In conclusion, when I think I’m carrying too much, when bad things happen, and I don’t feel like I can do what I need to do, because it’s either stressful or time-consuming or otherwise demanding, sometimes even faith-shaking, or tragic and heartbreaking. There are so many things happening in the world now that have people, even within the church, at war with themselves and questioning their friends and their leaders, but faith is the critical piece that will help us find resolution to these things and stay on the right road, and find traction again.
So each time I have a difficulty or feel like my load is too much, I can think of that little yellow truck, spinning on the road that beautiful snowy night. These things are meant to give us experience, our loads are made lighter with the help of the Lord, and with the comfort the Lord provides. And we really can learn to embrace and use the loads we carry as the spiritual benefits that they really are. They help us move forward toward the prize in the next life, and help us develop a stronger more efficient ability to move forward with every righteous desire we have. Now, I won’t tell you about the very exciting moment when the truck finally did grab traction again, not far from the house…with me in the back…let’s just focus on what’s important, and that is, that we both made it home fully functional, fully operational. A few more bumps and bruises, but safely home, and with a greater understanding of the blessing that our load gives us traction and experience we can draw from in the future.” End of story!
When I read or hear about things my children have done that became a positive learning experience for them, I am very proud, especially when they can relate it to their growth in a valuable way. Our burdens in life should always be related in some way to God and if we include Him they will always be lighter. I remember reading in the 21st chapter of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon how the Lamanites had put heavy burdens on the backs of King Limhi’s people while in captivity. When the people humbled themselves and cried unto God for relief their burdens were made light. I myself have had my burdens lightened.
There is a another story that makes a negative a positive, referred to as “Shake it off and Step Up,” by Joseph Sica:
Once upon a time there was a farmer who had an old mule. The mule fell into a deep dry well and began to cry loudly. Hearing his mule cry, the farmer came over and assessed the situation. The well was deep and the mule was heavy. He knew it would be difficult, if not impossible, to lift the animal out.
Because the mule was old and the well was dry, the farmer decided to bury the animal in the well. In this way he could solve two problems: put the old mule out of his misery and have his well filled.
He called upon his neighbors to help him and they agreed to help. To work they went. Shovel full of dirt after shovel full of dirt began to fall on the mule’s back. He became hysterical. Then all of a sudden an idea came to the mule. Each time they would throw a shovel full of dirt on his back he could shake it off and step up. Shovel full after shovel full, the mule would shake it off and step up. Now exhausted and dirty, but quite alive, the mule stepped over the top of the well and walked through the crowd.
A great attitude. A great way to approach life. Shake it off and step up. Too often we hang on to problems and they become a burdensome when we should be shaking them off.
In life, we should try to make every experience that we have both good and bad work to our advantage.