Brothers and Sisters, it is a treat to be here with you and to look into your eyes and tell you how much I love you.
It was on December 3, 2021, only two states in the U.S. had blizzard warnings; they were Alaska and Hawaii. Yes, Hawaii had a blizzard warning.
The winter weather system known as a “Kona low” prompted emergency alerts throughout the Hawaiian Islands. There were strong winds, with gusts up to 90 miles per hour, recorded atop Mauna Kea, where a foot of snow fell, making it technically possible to ski and surf in the same hour on the Big Island. The winds were strong, the rains were heavy, and the Kona low brought near-shore waves of up to 30 feet.
So, imagine yourself the owner of a boat moored just off the coast of Maui on December 3—a few clouds in the sky, but you know the storm is coming. What would you do to secure and protect your boat to keep it firmly attached to the mooring or to a dock so that it doesn’t sink or run aground?
Of course, you would check to make sure that your boat is securely attached to the mooring buoy, which is secured to an anchor on the sea bottom, with appropriate swivels on the chain so the boat can move in the wind. Or in the case of a dock, you would be certain your boat was secured at several points with ropes in good repair and stable cleats.
Also, very important to protecting your boat is to “remove windage.” Experts say that removing windage is critical to protecting a boat in a storm. And what does it mean to “remove windage”? Essentially, it is removing anything that the wind can grab. And its importance is paramount because it reduces the load on whatever is keeping you safe, in this case the mooring lines or the ropes and cleats.
So sails must be secured, biminis removed, inflatable dinghies deflated and tied down. Flags, cushions, lights—everything that can be removed or lashed down should be—to reduce windage and protect the boat through the storm.
This picture was taken after the “Kona low” hit Maui. This grand boat lost its connection to its mooring and was carried ashore by the wind and the waves, slamming into the rocky coastline. Can you see the windage? If you look carefully, it appears there were sails and flags still on the boat. Friends, students, faculty, do you have windage you need to remove? Do you need to reduce resistance so that you may weather the storms that are inevitably coming or bearing down on you now? Removing your personal windage will help keep you safe. Windage adds load. Eliminating windage reduces load. It reduces load on the attachment point which will keep you safe. And to what should you be attached so you will be safe? What is your dock, your mooring, your anchor? It is your relationship with the Savior Jesus Christ.
As President Jeffrey R. Holland has so beautifully expressed: “When life is in commotion and nothing seems sure or stable, when people and things are driven about by every wind of doctrine and every wave of society’s whims, when nothing seems deep-rooted or solid or permanent, how dearly we need something firm, steadfast, and immovable. How dearly we need a rock to hold on to. Jesus is that Rock.” [1]
The Savior is steady and sure and rock-solid. He is an anchor that is never displaced. He is a mooring buoy that doesn’t dislodge. He is an immovable dock. It is us who detach from the rock, the anchor, the buoy, the dock when we let windage take us and carry us away.
Recall that when He was on the ship with His disciples, a great storm of wind arose and the waves beat onto the ship. The Savior, who was sleeping, was awakened by His disciples, who naively asked, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?
“And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”
“And he said [to his disciples], Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?” [2]
Brothers and sisters, I have faith and testify that the Savior is the “refuge from the storm.” [3] He is the anchor of our souls. [4]
Are there things on your metaphorical boat creating windage—creating resistance to your attachment to Him? What, if anything, is keeping you from being bound securely to the Savior?
I don’t know the answer for you. But He knows. And I trust that all of us have something we can work on to improve our relationship with the Savior. If you sincerely ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, to know what windage is creating a strain on that connection, I know that the Holy Ghost will communicate it to you. But you must ask, and then be willing to accept and act upon the answer you receive. Perhaps with a prayer in your heart, something will come to you today and you’ll know just how to batten down your hatches in preparation for life’s storms.
I’ll start by telling you about the dinghies I am trying to deflate, the sails I’m trying to secure, and the cushions I’m tossing off my personal ship to stay securely bound to the Savior. Perhaps as I work through these, some inspired ideas will come to you.
My first potential source of windage: failure to employ the joyful gift of daily repentance.
Sin, as it turns out, puts an undesirable load on our connection to the Savior, but only if we fail to employ the timeless gift of repentance. Remember, the Savior stands at the door knocking. He wants a relationship with you. Don’t let sin be your windage.
President Russell M. Nelson has counseled us: “Nothing is more liberating, more ennobling, or more crucial to our individual progression than is a regular, daily focus on repentance. Repentance is not an event; it is a process. It is the key to happiness and peace of mind. When coupled with faith, repentance opens our access to the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.” [5]
And perhaps here we should identify another source of windage, procrastination.
“Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today,” said Benjamin Franklin. [6] We should work at repentance daily as President Nelson has counseled us, identifying changes we can make to “do better and be better.” [7]
What else do we procrastinate? Sometimes we procrastinate joy, gratitude, and the beauty of today.
So don’t procrastinate a recognition of your blessings in the moment, right now. Finding joy in your journey and offering gratitude to your Heavenly Father and Savior for those blessings is a way to batten down the hatches, prepare for storms, and secure your relationship with Jesus Christ.
Another potential source of windage is looking for validation and affirmation from unreliable sources. Could that create windage and put a strain on your connection to the Savior?
Value and pay heed to the opinions of people you truly respect. I was taught that lesson by my parents—decades before social media created influencers. When an unkind thing was said about me, my mom or dad would counsel, “Do you really care what they think?” And as it turned out, I usually didn’t. And if I did, then perhaps the comment was not misplaced and I had some self-correction to make. Value and pay heed to your relationship with the Savior. Seek validation and affirmation from Him first.
Let’s think about how we use our time. Are we using our time to secure our attachment to the Savior, or are the choices we make for our time a reason we are flapping around in the wind? Is time an asset or has it become windage?
Our dear prophet has said: “I plead with you to make time for the Lord! Make your own spiritual foundation firm and able to stand the test of time by doing those things that allow the Holy Ghost to be with you always.” [8]
President Nelson used the word plead. Will you respond to the prophet’s plea and make time for the Lord?
What does that look like for me?
It means more time in the temple.
It means that above and beyond my regular scripture study and prayer, I need to give the Holy Ghost the chance to communicate to me by being still, by pondering on the things I read and hear and feel.
I will seek the Savior’s approval and not the world’s.
I will not wait to count my blessings, nor will I wait to repent of my sins.
I will put my trust in Him.
I have been quite forthcoming with you about my areas of weakness and need for improvement. Will you be candid with yourselves? What does it look like for you to make time for the Lord? What will it require? What windage can you remove?
My dear friends, it doesn’t work to be moored at two competing points. “No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other.” [9] We must be secured to the Savior, our Rock and Redeemer.
And yes, sometimes our mooring lines get tangled and perhaps our ship even breaks loose from its mooring buoy in a storm when windage puts a strain on our attachment point, and then, thankfully and joyfully, I testify that our Savior, Jesus Christ, stands as the lighthouse leading us back to safety if we will just follow His light. “Brightly beams our Father’s mercy from his lighthouse evermore.” [10]
I testify that Jesus Christ lives and knows and loves us. I am sure that He leads our church through prophets, seers, and revelators. What a privilege it is to hear from them today.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes:
[1] Jeffrey R. Holland, Witness for His Names [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2019], 130.
[2] Mark 4:37-40
[3] Isaiah 25:4
[4] See Hebrews 6:19
[5] Russell M. Nelson, “We Can Do Better and Be Better,” Ensign or Liahona, April 2019, 67
[6] Benjamin Franklin, n.d.
[7] Russell M. Nelson, “We Can Do Better and Be Better,” Ensign or Liahona, April 2019, 67
[8] Russell M. Nelson, “Make Time for the Lord,” Liahona, November 2021, 120
[9] 3 Nephi 13:24
[10] “Brightly Beams Our Father’s Mercy” [Hymns, no. 335].