“Standing for Something” by Gordon B. Hinckley is an mp3 recording of a New York Times bestselling book by the late President of the LDS Church that was released into and received by the buying public, not just Latter-day Saints.

President Gordon B. Hinckley has a magnificent grasp of what individuals and families need, and this is shown perfectly in the timeliness of his insights to the world when, I believe, it could use nothing more than a general “healing of its hearts and its homes”.  As a financial advisor and father of young children, I find myself watching the current news with a certain focus on the details that might affect the economic markets in which I and the families with whom I have working relationships are participating.

As we are currently steeped in the 2008 presidential campaign, the world, and more specifically the USA and its economy, appears to be falling apart at the seams. As I listened to the words of our late prophet, I was usually in the gym, and funny enough, the national and local news was being broadcast in the background on the various television sets throughout that building. Every time I gave my attention to the closed caption scrolling across the screens, or to the images captured by the constantly vigilant cameras throughout the world and our nation, I commonly found myself sinking into a “sky is falling” attitude.  It was certainly ironic, that the voice over commentary, as I listened to the book in my earphones, was precisely describing the situations in which we would find ourselves today. Even though the words of this book were penned well before the devastating floods and fires, financial and moral dishonesty, and commodity disasters that have recently annihilated crops, markets, homes and even hopes, the alerts, advice, and admonitions are exactly testifying further to the prophetic mantle that President Gordon B. Hinckley wore. The author uses historical characters, personal experiences, scriptural references, and invitational testimony to urge the world to the actions of virtue, integrity and honest living. The book itself, albeit descriptive of tougher times ahead, is not in any stretch of the imagination about doom and gloom, but rather, as its subtitle suggests, a call to hope in the remembrance of the neglected virtues, that if returned to, can heal us despite the awful scene around the world today.I have been grateful throughout my short life for a living prophet, who as a “watchman on the tower” guides my family with his vision.  It has been an even greater strength to test his words in my own life and to verify their truthfulness by following his insights.  And greater still, with what has developed into a complete separation of church from state, when what he shares can be applied to every area of our lives, even outside of the various church activities in which we participate, it lets us know that we are lead by a greater power, through him, that is interested in our every safety, happiness, and that all is well in “our hearts and homes”. These have all been strengthened for me personally, as I have listened to writings of this great man.

“Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes” by President Gordon B. Hinckley is available on Mp3 download at LDSAudio.com.

R. Dunn
Father of Three; Financial Advisor