"I believe that every human soul is teaching something to someone nearly every minute here in mortality"
About this Quote
Ballard’s line turns everyday life into a live classroom and quietly drafts you as both student and instructor, whether you volunteered or not. The genius is in the word “nearly”: it keeps the claim sweeping without sounding mystical to the point of parody. “Nearly every minute” doesn’t demand proof; it asks for attention. If you’re irritated, lonely, bored, or stuck in traffic, the sentence reframes that moment as potential curriculum.
The intent is pastoral and practical. As a senior leader in the LDS Church, Ballard is speaking to a community built on mentoring, family roles, missionary work, and the idea of mortal life as a formative stage. “Here in mortality” signals the theological backdrop without spelling it out: this life is temporary, supervised by eternity, and therefore charged with purpose. It’s a gentle antidote to nihilism, but also a nudge toward accountability.
The subtext is behavioral: watch what you model. People are learning from you even when you’re not “teaching.” Your patience becomes a lesson; your sarcasm becomes one too. In a faith culture that prizes example, this functions as soft discipline: it doesn’t threaten, it dignifies. You’re not just trying to be good; you’re constantly observed, constantly influencing, constantly participating in someone else’s spiritual formation.
Culturally, it’s also a democratizing move. Authority isn’t reserved for pulpits. The ordinary person, in the ordinary minute, becomes the medium through which meaning is transmitted. That’s consoling, yes, but it’s also demanding: you don’t get to opt out of being part of the lesson plan.
The intent is pastoral and practical. As a senior leader in the LDS Church, Ballard is speaking to a community built on mentoring, family roles, missionary work, and the idea of mortal life as a formative stage. “Here in mortality” signals the theological backdrop without spelling it out: this life is temporary, supervised by eternity, and therefore charged with purpose. It’s a gentle antidote to nihilism, but also a nudge toward accountability.
The subtext is behavioral: watch what you model. People are learning from you even when you’re not “teaching.” Your patience becomes a lesson; your sarcasm becomes one too. In a faith culture that prizes example, this functions as soft discipline: it doesn’t threaten, it dignifies. You’re not just trying to be good; you’re constantly observed, constantly influencing, constantly participating in someone else’s spiritual formation.
Culturally, it’s also a democratizing move. Authority isn’t reserved for pulpits. The ordinary person, in the ordinary minute, becomes the medium through which meaning is transmitted. That’s consoling, yes, but it’s also demanding: you don’t get to opt out of being part of the lesson plan.
Quote Details
| Topic | Teaching |
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