Family Time

Have we not all one father? When I see deep and important conflicts,

Hath not one God created us? it’s easier to consider my enemy an alien.

Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother? But Jesus’

God that made the world and all things therein neighborhood is all-

hath made of one blood all nations of men inclusive, leaving me stunned

That they should seek the Lord, that so much could come from a single

and find him, source. God must be so much more intricate and interesting

he be not far from every one of us: than my self-interested sketches allow.

note to self

May fantasy and inspiration make lithe your little world,
And fractal meaning dewfall on each moment,
May sonorous waves buoy up as you rise and fall, let rise and fall,
And turgored leaves unfold, eclipse, elapse;
Each one in season.

May shadow add depth,
And wind fill sails,
And stricken arms wrest strength from all oppressors.
May quand'ries card a wooley mind,
And weightiness draw out the spun decision.

May life, and death’s, invariable majesty
Transcend humanity's humanity:
That elegance be not maligned as terse.

May empathy outstrip entropy
And whorls fill time and race
With resonant compassion.

Learn from each other

10 Men of God can never be like men of the world. The world has enough men who are tough; we need men who are tender. There are enough men who are coarse; we need men who are kind. There are enough men who are rude; we need men who are refined. We have enough men of fame and fortune; we need more men of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity. (The Joy of Womanhood: substituted the word men)

But one of the startling things about Christ is that He praises "the wicked" (woman at the well, the weeping sinner, the Pharisees). He sees their goodness. Christ might agree with this first passage while simultaneously endorsing the converse: not to criticize, but to complete.

Men of God must learn to be like men of the world. The Church has enough of men who sit; we need men who stand. There are enough men who are secluded; we need men who are connected. There are enough men who are quiet; we need men who are open. We have enough men of distinction; we need more men of unity. We have enough piety; we need more compassion. We have enough criticism; we need more proposition. (The Joy of Womanhood: deeply re-adapted)

Good enough

I asked the question: when are imperfect people good enough? I was confronted by the legion-of-devils-possessed-man. When was he “good enough”? Thankfully, I was stunned by this wisdom from someone I was supposed to be leading: “He was always good enough: he wanted to be better, he was willing to be open about his problem, he asked for help, and he showed gratitude for the help that was given, even though it was not what he had expected.”

They were forgiven

¹³: Moroni 6:8 But as oft as they repented and sought forgiveness, with real intent, they were forgiven.

God doesn’t need me to say that I’m worthless in order to receive forgiveness. He can hardly be excited about my telling Him that I am horrible: after all, He made me. He gave me my weaknesses, so it’s no surprise to him that I mess up. But that doesn’t mean that everything I do is right. I remember leading a class once on values: one of the people in the class said she didn’t know what a value was, and I felt inspired to define it as something other than what you are that you think is right. Repentance is about me admitting that I’m not perfect, despite my tendency to assume that I am. Repentance is about trying, not about being perfect.

Mistake? Oh, you must be human!

¹¹: 1 Corinthians 6:9–11

9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

This passage moves from categorical deviations to unity: a multiplicity of dirty become a single clean, a multitude of defiled become a single sacred, and a myriad of discriminations become a single justice. No longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens, understanding weaknesses as unifiers, not differentiators.

Whose faith?

1: Luke 5:17

And it came to pass on a certain day, When I have good days, frequently the question arises in my mind: why can’t every day be like today? But that is not the way that the Lord lived His life: He drew strength and/or poured virtue into the day as it came, moving in the direction that He wanted to go, recognizing the impermanence of His audience, but wanting to provide them with the best

as he was teaching, opportunity available to be taught.

that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, And although I usually think of this as a story about the faith of the man who is physically healed and his friends in lowering him through the roof,

which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judæa, and Jerusalem: Luke here points to the scribes and Pharisees as having faith sufficient to be healed. Christ was not so abrasive in his rebukes that his enemies would not hear, so that when they showed faith, He could proffer the awaited healing.

and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.