Real faith requires something from you;
Answer the riddle to know what to do.
It’s a phrase, can you guess it? We shall see.
First is a word that, in short, means “me”.

Word number two is the spinning part
That hooks at the hub to a horse-drawn cart.
Then follows a verb that’s linked to green,
Third in a stack at a crossroad scene.

A conjunction is next to come our way;
A simple word that starts with “a”.
Last is a word like drops that run
Off blades of grass in morning sun.

Did you get it? If not, then here’s a clue:
1 Nephi 3:7 just might help you.
And now that you know, may you do your best
To make real faith your mortal quest.

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I was thinking of the neighbor’s geese the other day.  Big snowy-white birds that strut around honking like they own the place.  My dad sometimes shares an old Chinese proverb about geese—usually at a time when you don’t want to hear the message and it just gets you (more) irritated.  It goes something like this:

“Man who sits cross-legged with mouth open
waiting for roast goose to fly in
will have long wait.”

Ancient Apostle James said the same thing, though, perhaps more straightforward and less sarcastically: “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26).  Either way, if you sit with your head tipped back and mouth open waiting for a hot meal to fall in, the only thing you are going to get is a stiff neck and more hungry.

Speaking of stiff necks, I was lying in bed the other night when this poem came.  I was thinking about Lehi telling his sons how the Lord had commanded them to go back to Jerusalem and get the Brass Plates.  Unfortunately, I feel I relate more to Laman and Lemuel complaining about the difficulty of the task than to Nephi’s positive attitude of “I will go and do!”  Even on my more faith-filled and Nephi-minded days, I feel like I would have given up after the first or second attempt and never even made it to cutting off someone’s head, impersonating a Jewish leader, and wrestling the servant Zoram to prevent his return to the city—all to successfully complete the task (see 1 Nephi chapters 3 and 4).

Maybe not.  But then, again, I did just finish preparing my lesson outline for teaching class on Sunday.  I still paid my tithing even though it hurt a little.  I will go to church this week even though I don’t always feel like it.  I may not be Nephi, but I can still work at being obedient.  Maybe that is why the story is in the scriptures anyway.

So, watch out, my fine feathered friends . . . I am going goose hunting!

Written: January 5, 2020