A Great Man

Gordon B. Hinckley, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, passed away Sunday night. I felt a sense of loss, but more a sense of peace and rightness. He served well, and now he is with his beloved wife.

I checked the Richmond news later that evening, to see if they would talk about this great man. There was nothing. Instead, they spoke of seeming trivialities - gas prices, caucuses, bank ATM fees. No mention of a man who dedicated his life to God. No word of his service. No respect paid to a man who shaped millions of lives, thousands of homes. The world has suffered an immense loss, and it doesn't know.

In a way, it is fitting. Few of the truly great men that have walked this earth received a second thought when their lives ended. They die as they lived, humbly. While stories of other men fill the history books, their legacies are written in the lives of those who knew them. And that, afterall, is the greater tribute.

I thank my Father in Heaven for the love He has shown me through the great men who have touched my life and the knowledge I have that I can be with my family forever.