Judge Not

President Monson gave two of my favorite stories 

in one General Conference talk in October 2010.

Click Here to hear Pres. Monson's talk on Charity

I was so happy to see the first story made into a Mormon Message Video. 

I loved the good reminder of my own fault of judging others. 

Enjoy. 

Click here to watch Mormon Message: Judging Others

 I must have heard this second story at an impressionable age because it affected me deeply. It's about a man outwardly ravaged by illness but having a beautiful spirit inside who comes for hospital treatments and asks to stay with a kind hearted women. It helped me realize that developing a beautiful spirit can be of far more lasting value.

A woman by the name of Mary Bartels had a home directly across the street from the entrance to a hospital clinic. Her family lived on the main floor and rented the upstairs room to outpatients at the clinic. One evening a truly awful looking old man came to the door asking if there was room for him to stay the night. He was stooped and shriveled, and his face was lopsided from swelling-- red and raw. He said he’d been hunting for a room since noon but with no success. "I guess it's my face" he said. "I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says it could possibly improve after more treatments."  He indicated he’d be happy to sleep in the rocking chair on the porch. As she talked with him, Mary realized this little old man had an oversized heart crowded into that tiny body. Although her rooms were filled, she told him to wait in the chair and she'd find him a place to sleep. 

At bedtime Mary’s husband set up a camp cot for the man. When she checked in the morning, the bed linens were neatly folded and he was out on the porch. He refused breakfast, but just before he left for his bus, he asked if he could return the next time he had a treatment. “I won’t put you out a bit,” he promised. “I can sleep fine in a chair.” Mary assured him he was welcome to come again.

www.berrycart.com

In the several years he went for treatments and stayed in Mary’s home, the old man, who was a fisherman by trade, always had gifts of seafood or vegetables from his garden. Other times he sent packages in the mail. When Mary received these thoughtful gifts, she often thought of a comment her next door neighbor made after the disfigured, stooped old man had left Mary's home that first morning. "Did you keep that awful looking man last night? I turned him away. You can lose customers by putting up such people." Mary knew that maybe they had lost customers once or twice, but she thought, “Oh, if only they could have known him, perhaps their illnesses would have been easier to bear.”

After the man passed away, Mary was visiting with a friend who had a greenhouse. As she looked at her friend’s flowers, she noticed a beautiful golden chrysanthemum but was puzzled that it was growing in a dented, old, rusty bucket. Her friend explained, “I ran short of pots, and knowing how beautiful this one would be, I thought it wouldn’t mind starting in this old pail. It’s just for a little while, until I can put it out in the garden.”

Mary smiled as she imagined just such a scene in heaven. “Here’s an especially beautiful one,” God might have said when He came to the soul of the little old man. “He won’t mind starting in this small, misshapen body.” But that was long ago, and in God’s garden how tall this lovely soul must stand! ³ 
(Adapted from Mary Bartels, “The Old Fisherman,” Guideposts, June 1965, 24–25.)

Appearances can be so deceiving, such a poor measure of a person. Admonished the Savior, “Judge not according to the appearance.” 

A modern twist to this story of focusing more on the spirit inside is told in a song by Colbie Callait called "Try". Click here to listen to Colbie Caillat sing Try

You Never Know

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n-DOKBffuU

Click here to watch "You Never Know"

 My days were full of forgettable things.

--Neil Marriott, General Women's Mtg, Sept 2014

I loved the opening session of General Conference this year, the General Women's Meeting! The video Mormon Message called "You Never Know" was on my mind as I had watched it that day and read the comments underneath, some so critically picking it apart and focusing on the scripted events and responses chosen. Many seemed to completely miss the point … in fact they didn't even address the very TITLE of it and archly observed they should have done it differently…

Well, I totally recognized myself in ninety percent of the film! (Beautifully orchestrated by my dear friend Robert Elliott.) In fact, I felt like I was watching MY days with a busy husband, six involved children, aging nearby grandparents, all while performing church and community service to the best of my ability. "How on earth did I get through it?" were my thoughts as watched the video.

I discussed my feelings with my now grown daughter, not a mother yet but sincerely able to grasp my thoughts. Me: "You know I really related to how Neil Marriott said, 'My days were full of forgettable things as I folded laundry, drove carpool, and made casseroles.' It's all just a big blur now. A lot of things were pure drudgery, forgettable and unimportant, but service none the less…."

My daughter was silent for a minute and then said, "Well, everything you did was important to me!"

And in that sentence she succinctly summed up the whole point of the whole video. You never know…

Hinderment is Hazardous

While we are on the earth, our bodies form a protective shield for our imperfect thoughts as we grow and mature, but it also prevents us from knowing why and how a person came to feel and believe the way they do. The spirit is the only way we can understand the "feelings and context" of others. 

There are many ways to say the same thing, just as there are many ways to infer what a person is implying. We can use "compassionate language" and "compassionate thought" by cultivating the influence of the Holy Ghost in our dealings with our fellow travelers within and without the church. 

"I bear humble witness that we can "minister grace" through compassionate language when the cultivated gift of the Holy Ghost pierces our hearts with empathy for the feelings and context of others. It enables us to transform hazardous situations into holy places. I testify of a loving Savior who "looketh on [our] heart" and cares what we are thinking."
   --Elder Craig L Zwick 





Free Agency allows us to have our own opinions but it does NOT let us choose the consequences of voicing those opinions. Regarding those who would cause agitation and dissension in those earnestly seeking the peace found within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, choose carefully, those words which form the thoughts you share. 

Becoming a great "hinderment" is hazardous. 

Charity is the pure love of Christ and just as we are asked to cultivate charity for all, we are required to forgive all. To do anything other than using compassionate language and compassionate thought puts us in the same precarious position Alma the Younger found himself in Mosiah 27:9-10. (Book of Mormon)

 9 And he became a great hinderment to the prosperity of the Church of God; stealing away the hearts of the people; causing much dissension among the people; giving a chance for the enemy of God to exercise his power over them.

If we are truly converted we would NOT want to give the enemy of God ANY power over His children. 



True believers would want to protect His children from anything that would separate us from His Love. The following talk given by Elder Bruce R. McConkie in the October 1984 General Conference can give us a clear view of where we stand by answering his "test questions" and give us a visual to cling to, trusting completely in an omnipotent and omniscient Heavenly Father whose entire purpose of being is to bring about our eternal joy and happiness. 

"If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God, it will, in the end, make no difference what you have chosen instead." --William Law

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1984/10/the-caravan-moves-on?lang=eng

Click here to listen to The Caravan Moves On

I am so grateful for my lack of agitation. I am so grateful to feel the peace and confidence found from testimony bearing apostles of God. I am so grateful for their guidance, love, and service in His Kingdom. 

I pray that we can turn "hazardous situations into holy places" as we go about our daily lives and nurture the peace that comes from knowing we can love as we are loved.