Wednesday 18Nov09– Book of Mormon title page – I didn’t know that this was actually a translation of the first ‘page’ of the gold plates, and that it was written by Moroni. ‘...And now, if there are faults, they are the mistakes of men; wherefore, condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment-set of Christ.’
How often do we think that because something comes from God it must be perfect? Concerning this, I had an interesting conversation with someone here at work last night about how a lot of the members in the Church act selfishly and thus hurt those around them, especially if they are in a position of leadership and thus are able to receive revelation for others. We expect, as members, that those in leadership functions will act altruistically and unselfishly, but forget that they are no further along the path of perfection than we are; or if they are further, it’s only a couple of steps along the path. Sadly, even the leaders of wards and stakes are not above using their influence to affect others.
What I told this person last night was a maxim that I have developed in my relationship with my family: ‘if you realize that everyone (with very few exceptions), LDS or not, is not logical, but is short-sighted and selfish (‘natural-man’-ish’, then you won’t be surprised and hurt when they act that way; parents, bishops, leaders of any kind are our spirit-siblings making their way along the path of perfection, and some are farther along than others.’ I know this sounds cynical, but it is, I feel, the basis for moving towards godhood. I feel it even has some charity in it because I don't expect people to act in a way that they probably aren't prepared to act in.
If we are judging people, and their actions, as less than what they ‘should’ be, we are placing ourselves in the spot of Christ and His judgment. The problem is that we can’t know what sort of mental-process is going on and what sort of life experiences have happened to make the individual act the way they do. Only Christ can know those things. All we can see is that their actions are either disagreeable or deplorable, and we are angry because of what we think they ‘should’ have done.
Anger (and its derivatives: annoyance, impatience, intractability and their ilk) is the destroyer of spirituality and makes it impossible to be perfected and purified because we are not ‘full of charity’ and haven’t used that Atonement in ourselves to take away our hurts: our hurts are still there because we have kept the wounds open by dwelling upon them. Anger destroys people’s souls, lives, marriages and relationships. It (hand in hand with its brother ‘pride’) destroyed the Nephite and Jaredite nations and will do the same to anyone unwilling to let go of it.
Finally, how can we be generous to others when we feel that they are mean, uncaring or wrong? We are commanded to be generous and not to withhold our means because we feel/judge that the person is unworthy. So, if a bishop whom we disagree with, &/or dislike, asks us to contribute more to our fast-offerings in order to help those ward members who, perhaps, are not meeting all of their obligations, what is the right thing to do? Simply, to give as the Lord has asked us to give, and He will be able to bless us more. If we seek for the power of His Atonement in order to soften our hearts and to forgive ourselves, He will do so.
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