General MacArthur, renowned for the Incheon Landing during the Korean War, was 70 years old when he served in that conflict. In his office, he always kept a poem he often read like a personal creed, Samuel Ullman’s “Youth.”
Youth is not a time of life;
it is a state of mind;
. . .
Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage
over timidity of the appetite,
for adventure over the love of ease.
This often exists in a man of sixty more than a boy of twenty.
Nobody grows old merely by a number of years.
We grow old by deserting our ideals.
. . .
In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station;
so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power
from men and from the infinite, so long are you young.
Reflecting on this, I ask myself whether the joy, hope, courage, and passion I felt when I first received the truth have faded over time. Have I become content merely to keep worship services, losing the fervor of my early faith? When joy and passion disappear, it may not be just the body that has aged, but the soul as well. And that, perhaps, is the greatest sorrow of all.
But when I see elderly members in Zion living their lives of faith each day with joy and devotion, I’m reminded that the youth of the soul is not measured by the number of years in the faith. Even after decades, those who still possess passion, conviction, and courage for the kingdom of heaven are truly youthful. Today, as I think of Heavenly Father and Mother, who continue to work with boundless love and tireless devotion for Their children, my soul too rises to sing the song of youth.