Keeping Balance In Our Life Is Important

"Awake, my sons; put on the armor of righteousness. Shake off the chains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity and arise from the dust" (2 Nephi 1:23)."

On August 10, 1628, the "Vasa" set sail on it maiden voyage. The "Vasa" was the premier warship for Sweden's Navy. It took 1,000 oaks to contruct the hull. The masts were more than fifty meters high; on-board were sixty-four large guns and hundreds of sculptures.

The "Vasa" was the most expensive and richly ornamented naval vessel built in Sweden at this time. When the "Vasa" sailed forth on her maiden voyage, Stockholmers stood along the shore to wish her good luck. They were eyewitnesses to the disaster.

The ship capsized in the Stockholmers harbor. Why did it sink? A small gust of wind-just a breeze-caused it to capsize. The ship was top heavy. To counter-balance a ship in those days, rocks wer placed in the bottom to offset the masts and force of the wind. In the 1600s it was difficult to calculate the amount of weight needed to balance a ship, and most ships were designed according to what had been learned in the design of their predecessors. Since the "Vasa" was much larger than other vessels that had been built, the measurements and counter-balance methods used in previous ships did not work.

Between four and five o'clock, the great new warship "Vasa" keeled over and sank. A few short lines about a major disaster were written... on August 10, 1628: "For a magnificent ship that sank on her very first voyage, this could have been the end. Instead, it was the beginning of an adventure that is still in progress. The "Vasa" was found almost intact, standing on the seabed, after three centuries. The ship was salvaged and is now one of the foremost tourist attraction in the world" (The Vasa Catalogue, Vasa, 1-3).

When we are not balanced with our life, we too can capsize. It takes a lot of effort to get back to the surface, but it can be done. Through the Atonement of Christ, we can be rescued. Much like the "Vasa," we still have great work to do. As we learn and do the works of righteousness, we can be salvaged, begain a new and productive stage of life, and be blessed wih peace.

"But learn that he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his rreward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come" (D&C 59:23).