BYU President Shane Reese invited students Tuesday to help increase the light in their lives and on campus by sharing their gifts of light during the university’s 150th year.
He shared parables with profound lessons about how to become excellent givers and receivers of gifts of light. His main point was that those who effectively share light recognize and respond to the need of the receiver of the gift and then give the gift freely.
Reese extended his invitation minutes after an unusual start to the school’s weekly devotional at the Marriott Center in Provo.
The president stood up before an opening musical performance and spoke about the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk in Orem, four miles up University Parkway at Utah Valley University.
“My dear students, the answer to darkness is light. The answer to evil is Christ. He is the ultimate gift of light,” Reese said when he began his main remarks.
“Jesus Christ’s light casts out all darkness,” he said later, and he illustrated simple ways students can make a difference by sharing parables from the life of a senior leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Reese recently reported that an increasing number of BYU graduates — 87% — say their time on campus fortified their faith in Christ.
On Tuesday, he said that the faith of BYU students is a growing light to the world.
“This growing collective witness of Christ is nothing short of powerful,” he said. “Think of it for a moment. Brigham Young University is the single-largest undergraduate student body on any brick-and-mortar private campus in America.”
BYU had 32,823 undergraduate students last fall, and Reese said this fall’s freshmen class is one of the largest in school history.
He also noted that BYU has 466,000 living alumni across the world.
“Alone your light cannot be hid. Together your light floods the earth,” he said.
Reese and his wife, Sister Wendy Reese, traditionally speak at the beginning of each semester, but last week the university held a special term-opening devotional to kickoff its 150th year.
The theme of BYU’s sesquicentennial is sharing gifts of light, and Reese told students that they can reflect light best by following Christ.
“Our light grows to its fullest brilliance only as we draw closer to the greatest gift ever given, even that of our Savior Jesus Christ,” he said.
Reese shared three principles and two parables from what he called a masterful address on gifts by President Henry B. Eyring, during a BYU devotional just before Christmas in 1980. He is now the second counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Reese said that as students consider what gifts of light they have to share, they should remember three principles taught by President Eyring.
“When you’re on the receiving end (of a gift), you will discover three things in great gift givers: (1) they felt what you felt … (2) they gave freely, and (3) they counted sacrifice a bargain," President Eyring said.
Reese also shared two stories from President Eyring’s life that illustrated his point, calling them the parables of the green chalkboard and the red cherries.
As a boy, President Eyring had a fear of failure after concluding he was bad at math. His father, world-class theoretical chemist Henry Eyring, kept a green chalkboard in the family room.
“I didn’t wonder if I could work the math problems,” President Eyring said. “I’d proved to my satisfaction that I couldn’t. … But Dad wasn’t satisfied. He thought I could do it. So, we took turns at that chalkboard. I can’t remember the gifts my dad wrapped and helped put under a tree. But I remember the chalkboard and his quiet voice.”
The second story was about a long day the two Eyring men had greeting friends and family after President Eyring’s mother died.
His aunt and uncle arrived at that quiet moment with a bottle of red cherries. The mourning father and son sat at a table and ate cherries as the aunt and uncle cleared dishes and offered to call relatives who hadn’t yet been contacted.
“I knew that Uncle Bill and Aunt Catherine had felt what I was feeling and had been touched,” President Eyring said. “... I can’t remember the taste of the cherries, but I remember that someone knew my heart and cared.”
Reese also spoke about other gift givers from history and encouraged students to join their ranks.
“I invite you to share your gifts for the Glory of the Savior — give your gold, your frankincense, your alabaster box, your gifts of light," he said.
“As you do so, the light in your life and the light on this campus will grow brighter and brighter until the perfect day.”
The Deseret News will publish a separate story on Sister Reese’s remarks.