We're all looking for the same thing

I'm struggling tonight, I'm struggling a lot with the hate I see all around me. Facebook is ripe with it and every news station talks of riots in the street, property damage, death threats, and a world where safe places to talk are necessary because it would seem we have forgotten how to listen for understanding instead of listening to react. We live in  a world of vast experience, some know poverty,  some know wealth, some know violence,  some know peace, some know fear,  some know plenty, but we all know hope, we all know pain, we all know what it is to want the most out of life, to dream, to want the best for our family.  We all want to be safe.


Perhaps this is why Christ taught to comfort those who stand in need of comfort, to mourn with those who mourn and to bear one another's burdens. He knew that we would come to a world that would teach us division,  He knew that Satan would teach us entitlement, teach us that because we are special no one else can be special (we are all special to Heavenly Father because we are His, we all have a special role to fill and a work to do).  Satan teaches us to knit pick, find fault and prove wrong, instead of uplift, encourage and find common ground. So many times I have grown frustrated with the irony I see all around me and been saddened by the hate flowing through the streets.  Even now I'd love to point out the difference between speaking out against hate and actually showing love, about being an ensign for truth and righteousness,  that which endures, versus following the fads that come and go. But I have a feeling that I would simply be preaching to the choir.

So instead I'll talk about what we can do, because that is all we control,  we can only govern ourselves.  How do we do this? By living our covenants! When we were baptized we promised to be a witness of Christ, we promised to try to love as He loves, to comfort those in need of comfort and to look for the best in others. When we entered the doors of the Holy temple we promised to not speak badly of the Lord's annointed. That means standing with the prophets who speak Christ's words and who have seen His face and seek to teach us how to see His face. We are called to live by faith, to live a higher love, not governed by popular opinion or tradition, but to live by every word that comes from our Lord. Sometimes what we will be called to do won't make sense, sometimes it won't be easy and sometimes it means reaching for love and kindness when we want to reach for irony. He asks us to reach for love from the people closest in our lives who we are usually shortest with.

Heavenly Father loves each of us in our foibles and shortcomings. He understands human pain and sadness, He also invites us to love as He loves. In a time when all around us shows anger, outrage, fear and protest perhaps we can offer love, perhaps we can put covenants first, to wish the best for others and invite the spirit of love and love instead of negative division.
 We are all seeking for the same thing at the root of it, we all want our vine and fig tree....a place to feel safe and a place to find our true selves. It may look different to each of us, but it's still the same thing.