What Defines Me

I came across a lovely, touching video today and wanted to share.

Rachel grew up in British Columbia (my home province in Canada) and did all kinds of neat things - including an active political career and a lovely family. She passed away July 2, 2009 of cancer. But in March 2009, she gave a talk to what was supposed to have been a small gathering of women from her church (she is not LDS) but turned into a presentation to over 600 women from the Vancouver area.

The title of her talk is "Death is not dying" and she talks about her unshakable faith in the Savior despite her impending death. She is inspiring. But what most touched me was her declaration: "Cancer does not define me. Neither does being a wife or a mother. All these things are part of who I am but they do not define me. What defines me is my relationship with Jesus."

This is a monumental change of perspective. What I do, what I am, who I serve are all important and certainly part of who I am, but what defines me is my relationship with the Savior. And all of a sudden Matt 16:25-26 has so much more meaning:

"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man a profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"