A Blind Eye to Badness??

Okay, this post is a little different than some of the other ones that have been posted before… I kind of want some feedback on this one.

I have been struggling a little with how people (myself included) seem to just block out the “badness” of the world.  Sometimes people will turn a blind eye to what is really going on, and refuse to address the issues.  

I feel like I am not expressing myself very well.  Here are a few examples of things that I have seen/heard in the last little while that kind of fall into what I am talking about:

• There is a kid in one of my classes that literally ducks and covers his ears when one of my professors swears in his lecture.
• Different political candidates refuse to address issues or say things like, “stuff happens.”
• Comments from church members in real life or on Facebook about gays and about how (I am summarizing/paraphrasing here) “are ruining our community/school/children”.
• People that I love and respect from church that call all muslims terrorists.
• (you may not think this one applies - but here it is anyways) A girl I know delayed breaking up with her boyfriend for a LONG TIME because it was easier to avoid the problem than it was to address it.
• A kid in my Russian literature class refused to read a short story because he didn’t like the “material” (it was about a woman who changed husbands/committed adultery)

I don’t know if these examples are helping much - but in short, I feel like a lot of times we, as human beings, get caught up in OUR OWN WORLDS.  We forget that there are a lot of people, a lot of different scenarios, and a lot of different trials out there.

But then, there is a balance, right?  We don’t want to just say, when it comes to a sin, “well that is what the world is doing; learn to roll with it.”  We don’t want to downplay the dirt in the world.  BUT, there is a difference in downplaying it and understanding it, isn’t there?

Is this making any sense at all?  Has anyone else ever felt this way?

We can close our eyes and pretend that there is not evil in the world… and lock down and live in our bubble, OR, we can try to read and experience and understand what is going on around us.

Children are innocent.  They aren’t expected to understand others immediately.  They are expected to see these problems and deal with them like adults are expected to.

Paul:  1 Cornithians 13:11 -  When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

Sometimes we prefer to IGNORE things.  But no matter how hard we ignore it, there IS dirt in the world.  It is there whether or not we decide to see it.  And our job durning this life is to learn how to deal with it.

How do we do that?

Here is a list that I have compiled:

• Pray
• God can give the best insights as to how to understand the world around us.
• Read the scriptures
• This is often how our answers will come.  It may be through the words of Paul or maybe through the example of Moroni.  
• Serve
• Service helps us understand people.  The people we serve we will begin to love.  We will understand the world from their point of view.
• Read the news (multiple sources)
• Learning about and thinking about current events help us understand difficult situations we may be placed in later.
• Travel
• We can see the REAL WORLD.  Often times our little bubble gives a very skewed perspective as to what is REALLY going on in the world.  Changing our physical location gives new perspective and helps see the world through other people’s eyes.
• Have patience with people
• I think this is the hardest one for me - I feel like people should act how I THINK they should act.  And when they don’t, I get mad.
• Read classical literature
• Probably the EASIEST way to understand the minds of real life people in real life situations is to read the classics.  Sure the characters in these stories are not real, BUT, we can get in the minds of all kinds of people - from murderers, to prostitutes, to priests, to animals.  We read classics because there is a need to understand ourselves.  
• Listen to prophets
• This is a hard one - sometimes prophets can be seen as “old, white men that are out-of-touch”.  And that is dangerous.  It is the fact that they are in direct communication with God that we MUST TRUST THEM.  In fact, I would argue that their council can be our best ally when it comes to understanding sin.  BUT - I also feel that it can, if we are not careful, it can push us to believe that because we know the TRUTH and WHAT IS RIGHT, that other people that don’t, are bad, evil-doers that should be ostracized.  

Anyways, that is what I have got so far on the topic.  I would REALLY love to hear from some of you concerning this.  If you have other points to add or maybe somewhere I can turn for some more guidance on the issue… 

Thanks guys!

What's on your mind during sacrament?

Pretty sure that most of you have heard of one of my cities on the mission - Tver.  I tend to talk about it a lot.  It is a special place.  

Anyways, the first councilor there would give a (I kid you not) 10 minute preach session EVERY SUNDAY right before the sacrament about how we need to be thinking of the Savior durning sacrament.  

He made such a point of this, that I really can't hear the words "now we will prepare to partake of the sacrament" without thinking of his weekly preach session.  It is BURNED into my memory.

And then today, as I was browsing lds.org, I found a talk that was being featured on the front page - What's on your mind during sacrament?.  I smiled and immediately thought of Brother Oxyonov in Tver.  So I clicked it.  

I ended up read the talk by Don R. Clarke and REALLY REALLY liked the activity that his Sunday school teacher did.  Check it out:

"There are special experiences in the lives of all of us that touch our souls and make things different forever. One such experience happened in my youth. This experience transformed my life.

I was always active in the Church and progressed through the Aaronic Priesthood. When I was a teenager, Brother Jacob, my teacher, asked that I write down on a card what I had thought about during the sacrament. I took my card and began to write. First on the list was a basketball game we had won the night before. And then came a date after the game, and so went the list. Far removed and certainly not in bold letters was the name of Jesus Christ.

Each Sunday the card was filled out. For a young Aaronic Priesthood holder, the sacrament and sacrament meeting took on a new, expanded, and spiritual meaning. I anxiously looked forward to Sundays and to the opportunity to partake of the sacrament, as understanding the Savior’s Atonement was changing me. Every Sunday to this day, as I partake of the sacrament, I can see my card and review my list. Always on my list now, first of all, is the Savior of mankind."

I liked it so much, I set a reminder of my phone to ask "what were you thinking about durning Sacrament?"  I plan on making a note for every Sunday and write down what I am thinking about.  Hopefully, like he states in his talk, I will be able to say Jesus Christ in big bold letters. I will let you all know how that works out.  haha

I hope that I will be able to always have the Savior in big bold letters.  I hope that it will not only help me remember Him and His sacrifice for me during the sacrament, but that it will help keep Him in my mind throughout the week.

Love you all!