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| Photo from: my.englishclub.com |
Every child has a dream. To become something great,
something that is marveled at; that is the universal dream. There is something
deep within us that inspires us from birth to want to become something special.
A fireman, astronaut, professional musician. The list goes on and on.
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| Photo from: kidsdreamspot.com |
There is one thing in common with these dreams: virtuosity.
Becoming something above and beyond the average person. To become so skilled
and fluent in one thing that you shine above the rest.
A main theme in the
book, Added Upon by Nephi Anderson, is virtuosic excellence, although not in
the way we normally view it.
It came in the criticism of Sardus’ love of music. His
friend Homan tells him, “I think there is danger in it. Some I know who neglect
every other duty except the cultivation of a certain gift.”
At first, this makes no sense. How could working towards
that childhood dream, that universal goal, be so terrible? But Homan continues.
Homan explains, “I think we ought to grow into a perfectly rounded character,
cultivating all of Father’s gifts to us, but not permitting any of them to
become an object of worship.”
Delsa affirms Homan’s stance, saying, “It is well enough to
excel at one thing, but that should not endanger our harmonious development.”
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| Photo from: questforgod.org |
And here we find a continuous theme throughout the book. The
author expands our view of excellence and that dream that we were all born
with.
Orson F. Whitney exhorts all in his talk, Home Literature,
to rise up in our own sphere and to be like Shakespeare, Goethe, and Carlyle. He says of them, “[they
brought] rich treasures of inspired thought and intelligent research into the
lap of humanity, giving birth to civilization and filling earth with fame and
glory.”
He shows us that it is not enough to improve one aspect of our lives. No,
we should be striving toward a much higher goal. In the eternal scope that the novel,
Added Upon, places us in, the goal becomes excellence in more than just one aspect of
our lives.
The goal becomes excellence in every aspect of our lives.
