One of my incorrect assumptions occurred during a recent visit to the Church's website. I saw this image on the front page --
With the headline of “Righteous Leadership,” the mother is relatively hidden while the photo's subject, the father, actively engages in a discussion with the children. That's what I saw anyway.
Immediately I opined that:
a) Some careless design editor has hidden the mother and should be increasingly thoughtful in the future.
b) It would be nice if the Church publicized more of its messages on women as leaders in the family.
c) The video clip wouldn't speak directly to mothers.
Thus, I wasn't going to bother watching the video (not that I watch every video highlighted on lds.org, but usually I don't consciously turn down messages from the First Presidency).
Before clicking out of the site, I felt prompted to just go ahead and click "View Now." So I did.
The video shows a sincere President Henry B. Eyring sharing a personal and inspiring message about mothers and fathers leading their families.
But I saw its significance for me in the first two seconds, in the very first frame. That frame shows a mother with her child while you hear President Eyring’s sonorous first words -- "My mother.” He's simply introducing the topic by talking about parental leadership in his childhood home, but I was left profoundly humbled:
1. Because I got a reminder that our Heavenly Father knows and loves me, and, if I listen to the promptings of His Spirit,
a) Some careless design editor has hidden the mother and should be increasingly thoughtful in the future.
b) It would be nice if the Church publicized more of its messages on women as leaders in the family.
c) The video clip wouldn't speak directly to mothers.
Thus, I wasn't going to bother watching the video (not that I watch every video highlighted on lds.org, but usually I don't consciously turn down messages from the First Presidency).
Before clicking out of the site, I felt prompted to just go ahead and click "View Now." So I did.
The video shows a sincere President Henry B. Eyring sharing a personal and inspiring message about mothers and fathers leading their families.
But I saw its significance for me in the first two seconds, in the very first frame. That frame shows a mother with her child while you hear President Eyring’s sonorous first words -- "My mother.” He's simply introducing the topic by talking about parental leadership in his childhood home, but I was left profoundly humbled:
1. Because I got a reminder that our Heavenly Father knows and loves me, and, if I listen to the promptings of His Spirit,
He will direct me in even simple questions.
2. Because I felt Him asking me to trust Him and not worry so much about the stuff that gets in the way of real faith.
Skepticism is much faster. Skepticism gets me out of sticky dilemmas like tests of faith quickly. I can immediately doubt and marginalize with a "That's cheesy" or "That looks politically incorrect" or "This must look silly to other people," move on to a new thought and avoid tackling the most important questions of life. When I allow skeptical assumptions to take me away from my faith however slightly, who benefits?
I could have missed a meaningful message because a video looked like it would be out of touch.
Instead I saw “the divine work in process, with manifestations abounding.”
Having worked in politics and health care, Erika's unexpected primary love is raising her two girls. She's originally from Southern California and craves Chicago-style pizza fortnightly. With her husband, she pursues heavenly living in Sin City and blogs about it at www.lovefromlv.com.
2. Because I felt Him asking me to trust Him and not worry so much about the stuff that gets in the way of real faith.
"Brothers and sisters, this is a divine work in process, with the manifestations and blessings of it abounding in every direction, so please don’t hyperventilate if from time to time issues arise that need to be examined, understood, and resolved. They do and they will. In this Church, what we know will always trump what we do not know. And remember, in this world, everyone is to walk by faith.
So be kind regarding human frailty—your own as well as that of those who serve with you in a Church led by volunteer, mortal men and women. Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it. So should we. And when you see imperfection, remember that the limitation is not in the divinity of the work." -Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
Skepticism is much faster. Skepticism gets me out of sticky dilemmas like tests of faith quickly. I can immediately doubt and marginalize with a "That's cheesy" or "That looks politically incorrect" or "This must look silly to other people," move on to a new thought and avoid tackling the most important questions of life. When I allow skeptical assumptions to take me away from my faith however slightly, who benefits?
I could have missed a meaningful message because a video looked like it would be out of touch.
Instead I saw “the divine work in process, with manifestations abounding.”
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Having worked in politics and health care, Erika's unexpected primary love is raising her two girls. She's originally from Southern California and craves Chicago-style pizza fortnightly. With her husband, she pursues heavenly living in Sin City and blogs about it at www.lovefromlv.com.
