Finding and Following Our Polar Star

Years ago, on a moonless night in the mountains of Northern Utah, I looked up at the sky and saw thousands and thousands of sparkling "diamonds in the sky."

Out of habit, I searched for the North Star. I looked first for the Big Dipper, which is easy to find because of its recognizable shape and the brightness of its stars. Then I traced a line through the two "pointer stars" opposite its handle and extended that line upward until I found Polaris, the North Star, at the end of the handle of the Little Dipper.

I thought of this experience later when I came across the following story that President Gordon B. Hinckley told about when he and his brother worked summers on their father's farm. He said:

“‘After a day of good, hard labor, my younger brother Sherm and I would sleep out under the stars in the box of an old farm wagon . . . .  On those clear, clean summer nights, we would lie on our backs in that old wagon box and look at the myriads of stars in the heavens. We could identify some of the constellations and other stars as they were illustrated in the encyclopedia which was always available in our family library. We identified some of the more visible patterns in the heavens, but our favorite was the North Star. Each night, like many generations of boys before us, we would trace the Big Dipper, down the handle and out past the cup, to find the North Star.

“‘We came to know of the constancy of that star. . . .  As the earth turned, the others appeared to move through the night. But the North Star held its position in line with the axis of the earth. Because of those boyhood musings, the polar star came to mean something to me. I recognized it as a constant in the midst of change. It was something that could always be counted on, something that was dependable, an anchor in what otherwise appeared to me a moving and unstable firmament’” (Quoted by Jeffrey R. Holland, "President Gordon B. Hinckley: Stalwart and Brave He Stands,” Ensign, June 1995, p. 5).

Perhaps President Hinckley had this boyhood realization in mind when, on another occasion, he compared Jesus Christ to the North Star:

“Like the polar star in the heavens, regardless of what the future holds, there stands the Redeemer of the world, the Son of God, certain and sure as the anchor of our immortal lives. He is the rock of our salvation, our strength, our comfort, the very focus of our faith” (Gordon B. Hinckley, “We Look to Christ,” Ensign, May 2002).

This is something that I have come to know for myself.

Just as the North Star, with its fixed bearing, guides travelers safely to their destinations, so too is Jesus Christ our fixed and unchanging spiritual beacon. He is the Light and Life of the World. He is our Guide and our Stay. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is our Polar Star. He shows us the way home. He is the way home, and He brings us safely there.

But if the Savior is our Polar Star, how shall we find Him? What are the pointer stars that point us to Christ?

There are many possible answers to that question. Indeed, the scriptures teach that all things bear record of Christ (see, e.g., Moses 6:63). But in this context, the following metaphor has become meaningful to me:

• I am the bottom pointer star.

• Apostles and prophets are the top pointer star.

When I look to the apostles and prophets of Jesus Christ, they point me toward Him. By looking to apostles and prophets, I am more easily able to find and follow Jesus Christ.

Of course, I can use my own faculties to try to find and follow the Savior. But sometimes trying to find Christ on my own can seem like searching the heavens for a particular star without knowing where to look.

Apostles and prophets, past and present, provide a crucial reference point that helps me find and follow Jesus Christ.

However, on another more recent night, when I looked up and traced a line through the pointer stars of the Big Dipper, I noticed something I hadn't stopped to think about before. The line I was tracing didn't point exactly straight toward the North Star. It pointed ever so slightly to the left of it.

Once I realized this, I began to question whether the pointer stars were a good metaphor for myself and apostles and prophets after all.

I thought a lot about recent and past opposition to apostles and prophets and their teachings. There has almost always been such opposition. That opposition has included such things as criticism, faultfinding, ridicule, rejection, anger, resentment and dismissal. Over the ages, many apostles and prophets have been persecuted, imprisoned and killed.

I also thought about the genuine struggles that many people—myself included—have had with some of their teachings. Sometimes those struggles have left people feeling frustrated, disappointed, angry or disaffected.

It occurred to me that anyone finding fault with apostles and prophets and their teachings might want to turn my metaphor around and use it to illustrate their belief that apostles and prophets, with all their shortcomings, actually point us away from that which is good and right.

I have taken a lot of time to think about that, and here is how I would respond.

First, apostles and prophets are, of course, imperfect human beings. Admittedly so.

While serving in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf stated:

"We openly acknowledge that in nearly 200 years of Church history—along with an uninterrupted line of inspired, honorable, and divine events—there have been some things said and done that could cause people to question.

"Sometimes questions arise because we simply don’t have all the information and we just need a bit more patience. When the entire truth is eventually known, things that didn’t make sense to us before will be resolved to our satisfaction.

"Sometimes there is a difference of opinion as to what the 'facts' really mean. A question that creates doubt in some can, after careful investigation, build faith in others.

"And, to be perfectly frank, there have been times when members or leaders in the Church have simply made mistakes. There may have been things said or done that were not in harmony with our values, principles, or doctrine.

"I suppose the Church would be perfect only if it were run by perfect beings. God is perfect, and His doctrine is pure. But He works through us—His imperfect children—and imperfect people make mistakes.

"In the title page of the Book of Mormon we read, 'And now, if there are faults they are the mistakes of men; wherefore, condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment-seat of Christ.'

"This is the way it has always been and will be until the perfect day when Christ Himself reigns personally upon the earth.

"It is unfortunate that some have stumbled because of mistakes made by men. But in spite of this, the eternal truth of the restored gospel found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not tarnished, diminished, or destroyed.

"As an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ and as one who has seen firsthand the councils and workings of this Church, I bear solemn witness that no decision of significance affecting this Church or its members is ever made without earnestly seeking the inspiration, guidance, and approbation of our Eternal Father. This is the Church of Jesus Christ. God will not allow His Church to drift from its appointed course or fail to fulfill its divine destiny" ("Come, Join with Us," Ensign, November 2013, p. 21).

Some understandably balk at the idea of putting their trust in apostles and prophets who are not perfect. But God, who is perfect, can only work through us, his imperfect children, and apparently he doesn't hesitate to do so. As the apostle Paul said:

"But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty" (1 Corinthians 1:27). "Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men" (1 Corinthians 1:25).

I have not experienced what it is like to shoulder the solemn responsibility of being called as an apostle or prophet, but I can tell you what it felt like to be called as a bishop of my ward (congregation). I felt the weight of the mantle of responsibility that rests on the shoulders of a bishop, who, under the direction of the First Presidency of the Church, is given priesthood keys and responsibilities to serve as a judge in Israel and as the presiding high priest and president of the Aaronic Priesthood in his ward. In addition, I felt the tremendous burden of my own inadequacies. Individually and together with the men and women with whom I served, I spent many, many hours in prayer seeking direction from the Lord and waiting upon the Lord. We counseled together, prayed together and served together. I often stood in awe at what the members of our ward accomplished as we followed that direction. Nevertheless, I became keenly aware of times when I made mistakes and fell short and of other times when I sincerely thought I was doing the right thing but someone let me know they still felt hurt or offended by what I had done. I wonder how many times I might have offended someone else without knowing it.

Yet, I also felt the sustaining influence of Heaven throughout my service as a bishop as I simply tried to do my best. When I was released from that calling, I felt the enormous spiritual weight of the bishop's mantle, along with the abiding support God had granted me to bear it, simultaneously lifted—something I know many bishops feel when they are released from that calling. I have felt nothing else like that moment. The mantle of a bishop is real. I know it.

Imagine the sense of responsibility and inadequacy, and also of divine support, one must feel who is called to bear the weight of the mantle of an apostle or prophet. Some of the great prophets of the ages, like Moses and Enoch, were extremely reluctant to assume that responsibility because of perceived personal weaknesses. And yet they did.

What would it be like to actually be called as an apostle of the Lord, Jesus Christ, and to try to fulfill the enormous responsibilities of that calling? How would it be to know you would serve in that calling for the rest of your life, always in the public eye and under public scrutiny every minute of every day?

I suspect that most people's perspective about apostles and prophets would change dramatically after walking just a mile or two in their shoes.

Second, I am obviously imperfect, too. Undoubtedly more so.

In the constellation of my experience, the top pointer star of apostles and prophets at times seems to be out of line. But what about the position of my own bottom pointer star? What is my own responsibility in the matter? How much of the sideward slant of the line from my bottom pointer star through the top pointer star is caused by my own imperfections and my own imperfect placement. Am I not also "out of line"?  (Click here to read my musings about how I actually judge myself whenever I judge others: "Judging Myself".)

For me, what is important is that, when I look to apostles and prophets and their teachings about Jesus Christ and His gospel, I am better able to find and follow Jesus Christ in spite of their imperfections and mine.

For me, the metaphor still works!

Whenever I trace a line from my pointer star through the pointer star of apostles and prophets, I am always able to find the Polar Star of Jesus Christ, just like I can always find the North Star whenever I trace a line through the pointer stars of the Big Dipper. I can't miss it, even though the angle of the line is slightly off.

Once I find the Polar Star, I can shift my focus from the imperfect angle of the line and fix my focus on our perfect, loving, unchanging Savior. He is uniquely able to comfort and teach me in my struggles and help me find my way in a world of imperfection, opposition, contradictions and contrasts—a world in which answers are not always evident and the truth is not always black and white. See also my analogy on this subject in "Hugging the Inside Line."

I feel blessed to be able to make this grand journey in a church that is real, as Melissa Inouye has so eloquently expressed. See "A Church That Is Real: Walking the Path of Most Resistance," Wayfare Magazine, Jan. 7, 2025.

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