Praise to the Man

Quick followup to the last post: No EFY for Joseph this year. After all of that aggravation, random selection would have let him go to Alaska, Illinois, Iowa or BC. No can do this year.
But this is all about Gordon B. Hinckley. He passed away last Sunday evening, after putting in a full week of work. Somehow I thought he would never go. Selfish of me. I am so grateful that he was able to leave us without the years of decline that accompanied his predecessors. He was, after all, the counselor who took the burden from the feeble prophets. And he is reunited with Marjorie. He was so lonely without her.
People say that he was the prophet of temples, and the prophet of media. I think he was the prophet of the whole earth. I don't remember another who was so versed in world events, so involved with people across the world, so concerned for the welfare of every soul. He was asked once, (if it's not official, I'm sorry) what he would be remembered for, and he said that he was the prophet nobody listened to. I think he is in good company there, but I also think that he understood that his stewardship was everyone. And those of us who knew who and what he was must have been a disappointment to him in our failings as Christians. We did listen, we just didn't always act. And he always acted.
As the Quorum of the Twelve said in their statement, "We cannot but rejoice in his reunion with the prophets of God, both ancient and modern, among whose eternal ranks he now stands."
What will we do without him?