Once more I find myself on a Sunday night facing a blank post page and wondering what in the world I intend to write. It's not that I don't have plenty of different topics and ideas rolling around in my head. Writing a post about reasons why we are so drawn to super hero movies (my idea is that it is because our divine nature tells us that we are made to do spectacular things, that faith can move mountains and that as we live faithful we can expect the companionship of angels and do things that seem so sci fi or fantasy, but really are part of our birthright {instantaneous transportation for one, the ability to alter history for another}given time, faith and learning).
Or a post about decisiveness, I'm so tired of the hatred all around me, yes I realize I have my own preconceived notions I have much to do to overcome incorrect stereotypes and to see people as they are, God's children. It isn't any wonder that in a time when we are to be preparing for Zion that we are seeing more and more divisions and what seems like really good reasons for division. Please, please be kind. I admit I feel really helpless to make changes, but I do know that what is happening isn't good and kindness and love to all those we encounter can and does go a very long way. I just wish we could learn to be kind or better yet, unlearn all the hate, bitterness, judgement, and natural man and simply choose our divine nature, to remember the love Christ offers us and to offer it to others. I've been feeling some frustration this week at just how insidious temptation has become. I look at books from some of my favorite authors and all I see is sex, plugs for non heterosexual relationships, and violence, and this is in a young adult book. I am very tired of being surrounded by things that I know are not things that can lead to eternal progression.
Today however, sitting in sacrament meeting while a sister talked about not letting politics divide us or causing us to judge others I thought about Christ talking with the Samaritan woman at the well. He knew that she lived a life very far from the one he taught about each day. She lived a religion that many in Israel viewed as a knock off of the true religion of Abraham and that she had known (biblically speaking) many men, yet He took the time to talk to her. He saw her worth as someone who had gone through so much, yet kept enduring and trying and someone who had a spark of faith and just needed something to help her. I am not saying that we surround ourselves with that which is immoral or temptations that can wear us down to poor decisions overtime. But we can give attention and we can give love to those who feel on the fringes and those that feel beat up by life. If a book I read portrays a relationship that I wouldn't consider for myself, perhaps it is one that someone needs to know is out there because they feel alone, forsaken and strange.
Ultimately this life is much more about how I loved people than how I judged them. Yes there are commandments we obey to have the Spirit of the Lord with us to guide us and I'm pretty sure that the first commandment is to love the Lord thy God and the second is to love our neighbor as ourselves. Love doesn't see boundaries or limitations, but it does see hurt and sadness and seeks to alleviate them. I hope that as we seek to become more like our Savior Jesus Christ we choose love. We may one day regret being too distracted or too harsh, but I don't think we will ever regret having too much love. In my heart I think love is going by the Spirit for the best good...and I would guess that the Spirit will tell us to follow our Savior and love.
We all carry hurts inside us, and we don't know what hurts others carry. Just because someone else's burden looks different to you doesn't make it any less of a burden to the person carrying it. We have no right nor place to judge you for what a hurt might have led you to. Instead I can love, I can share your burden and hopefully help you through.
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