It Is Better to Look Up

This entry is part of my general conference application series.

It Is Better to Look Up, by Carl B. Cook
Of the Seventy


Long ago I approached a saleswoman in a LDS bookstore. I was looking for the CD that contained a certain song I had heard. After brief describing the song, she assured me that she knew exactly which album I was looking for. I asked her if she recommended it, because I was hesitant to purchase a CD if I had only heard one song. "Oh yes," she reassured me, "in fact, there's another song that I like even more. Just thinking about it gives me excited chills right now!"

Which song inspired such a reaction from this helpful woman?

It's called Look Up!

I was looking for the song, Sacraments and Symbols, but found a great album that I still listen to today. (It's "Come to the House of the Lord", by Steven Kapp Perry, link.)


The Look Up! song encourages us to remember who we really are, and where our course really lies. Its message is similar to something that Elder Cook shared from an encounter with President Monson.

While riding in an elevator after a difficult day, Elder Cook stared at the floor. Someone entered at another floor and asked, "What are you looking at down there?" It was, of course, President Monson. After a brief noncommittal response, President Monson reminded, "It is better to look up!" When later leaving the elevator, he reminded, "Now remember, it is better to look up!"


Look up!

In addition to the encouragement to "exercise our faith and look to God for help," the two words, look up, remind me of something I heard LDS speaker John Bytheway say. While speaking of references in scripture that contain these very words, look up, John asked listeners why the directionality was included.

"Why would we look up?", he asks.

When we ultimately see/meet Christ, if we are prepared, we will be on our knees and trying to hide under a rock.

That's why we'll look up.

We'll literally look up to Christ then if we live our lives looking up to Him with faith!

As President Monson taught Elder Cook in an elevator, "It is better to look up!"