Gratitude

The most recent Deacon's quorum lesson: View Download

Examples

I am also giving the Deacon's Quorum lesson this morning: View Download

Gifts of the Spirit

I gave the lesson in church Sunday:  View Download(pdf)

I have much to learn about spiritual gifts.

Differences

Tonight’s lesson was about loving people who look different than us.

We talked about minorities, poverty, cerebral palsy, obesity, ‘beauty/ugliness’, people who are mean/nice, smoking, tattoos, earrings. I’ve never felt so strongly the ridiculousness of ranking/prioritizing people.

We asked our son whether he knew anyone that looks different.

What a bizarre question: everyone is different!

Remix

As I have done to you, so may it be done to me: a powerfully personalized form of the Golden Rule.

Who is my Enemy?

I usually excuse myself from the commandment to love my enemy in the same way that a certain lawyer excused himself from the commandment to love his neighbor: Who is my enemy?

Who am I angry with? Whom do I wish ill? Whose suffering do I dismiss as just reward for errant choices? It is unworthy of us as Christians to think that those who suffer deserve their suffering.

Who is my opponent? My rival? My competitor?

Whose perspective do I seek to dismiss, rather than to understand? Whom do I want people to stop paying attention to?

A Patient's Death

Things that I love about being present when a patient dies:

People stop paying attention to numbers, alarms, and medicines, and start paying attention to people.

The sacredness of life is recognized.

It is a moment infused with the same inherent holiness as a birth, or a marriage.

I can ensure that the patient didn’t die alone.

It gives me permission to show my emotional involvement in patient care.

It brings me face to face with a truth that most people expend vast energies denying, making me more honest.