Random Sabbath Reflections

Sometimes I fail to render charitable service when I should.  It just so happens that I failed miserably this week when there was an opportunity.  Too many personal issues were involved, which hampered my ability to follow the example of Jesus Christ.  That opportunity is gone, but there will be more.  Next time I hope to have grown out of my cloud of concerns and just freely be able to give.

Concerning service to others in our family, home, community, and world:

"Or do ye suppose that the Lord will still deliver us, while we sit upon our thrones and do not make use of the means which the Lord has provided for us?  Yea, will ye sit in idleness while ye are surrounded with thousands of those, yea, and tens of thousands, who do also sit in idleness, while there are thousands round about in the borders of the land who are falling by the sword, yea, wounded and bleeding?  Do ye suppose that God will look upon you as guiltless while ye sit still and behold these things?  Behold, I say unto you, Nay.  Now I would that ye should remember that God has said that the inward vessel shall be cleansed first, and then shall the outer vessel be cleansed also.  And now, except ye do repent of that which ye have done, and begin to be up and doing . . ."  Alma 60:21-24

Talks and lessons today were on the topic of faith, accountability, agency/choice, and service.  Sometimes we have to just do something and have faith that it will work out.  Just sitting around and hoping things will get better won't help that to happen.  We have to act when we see the needs of others and do something to meet those needs.

One speaker said agency was like a box of chocolates.  It can be one box of chocolates but there are a lot of different choices of individual treats within the box.

When we break commandments, we can spiritually paint ourselves into a corner.  We have to make the choice to walk across the newly varnished floor and get ourselves out of a situation we've gotten ourselves into that we know is wrong.  Just like we would have to repair the damage to the floor by sanding and refurnishing the floor we ruined, once we change our ways, there is still a lot of work to repair the damage we've done. 

In a frame in the  Relief Society room is the following poem that had no author printed on it:

Support Groups

You can fall here.

We are a quilt set to catch you.

A quilt of women's hands

Threaded by pain made useful.

With generations of comfort-making

Behind us, we offer this gift--

Warm as Grandma's feather bed,

Sweet as Heavenly Mother's

Lullaby song.

You can fall here.

Women's hands are strong.

The teacher in Relief Society today said to live love as a verb instead as a noun.  As a verb, there will be action with it and we will be showing love by doing service for others.  As a noun, it is just a word or concept neither we nor others will feel.

The wounded and bleeding around us are on the battlefield of life, trying to live in this challenging world.  Can we see them?

Do you want to be uplifted by true stories from people who are trying to live Christian lives?  See the writing on the car?  These elders were spreading the word as a service to others using a very creative method on the back of what used to be our mission car.  Way to go, Elders!!