Richard
Paul Anderson is an associate
professor of music at Brigham Young
University, where he has taught for
thirty-five years. During that time,
he also taught Book of Mormon for
five years and Doctrine and
Covenants and Church History for ten
years.
1.
What motivated you to write
this book?
There
were several things, but I will just
mention two. Over the
years, I have read a number of
successful books by authors not of
our faith that dealt with our
relationship with God and the
importance of submitting ourselves
to Him. Many of them
were wonderful and insightful.
But as I read, I thought to
myself how books like this would
bless the lives of people even more
if they had the perspective of the
restored gospel. Secondly,
I wrote this with the idea of
getting myself back into His
spiritual saddle, rather than
comfortably sitting in my own.
My life was becoming too
routine. I was getting
bogged down in my daily schedule and
with meeting my normal
responsibilities. My
own concerns were pushing my
spiritual priorities out the window.
2.
What has been one of the most
rewarding parts of writing this
book?
One
of the rewards for writing this has
been remembering some of the stories
and experiences of my life and the
feelings associated with them,
especially those related to my
conversion. Reliving
life's experiences and relating them
to the scriptures and gospel
principles refuels the fire, puts
things in the right perspective, and
helps you learn from your mistakes.
3.
What has been the most
difficult?
The
most difficult thing was trying to
determine what to keep in the book
and what to leave out. I
gained a new appreciation for the
deep reservoir of information we
have in the conference talks, the
articles in the Church magazines,
and in books published by the
general authorities. It's
amazing how much the Lord has put at
our disposal.
4.
Can a person really know what
God's purpose for his/her life is?
There
is no doubt about it. An
easy test is to make some plans and
goals and start trying to achieve
them while at the same time trying
to do God's will. Pretty
soon you see those plans and goals
changing, your life going in
directions you didn't anticipate,
and arriving at destinations you
hadn't planned on. It
is undoubtedly the greatest and most
exciting adventure available to us
if we'll just let go. The
blessing is, with time, you come to
see God's handprint in your life,
and with that comes a sense of calm
confidence in the face of life's
not-so-subtle experiences.
5.
Does knowing our divine
purpose make life easier?
No,
but it does make it more fulfilling,
meaningful, and rewarding. You come
to realize that everything has a
divine purpose and that each
experience and each relationship is
important. That makes life much
easier to endure and to enjoy.
