Relief Society General Meeting

My first reaction to the part of the talk Canadiangirl posted was that… I didn’t agree he covered every situation an lds woman finds herself in. He did great covering marital, family, educational and financial statuses, but failed to mention anything about women who are at different places as far as their testimonies, spiritual paths, and how well they put gospel principles in to practice.

In my experience LDS women can be extremely judgmental (thus the reason this was such a needed talk) but they reserve their harshest judgments for those who are not living life to their expectations and standards. I would have loved to hear the message that we are also unique in our views (including political), practices, beliefs and levels of spirituality… and this is okay! Judge not!

Okay… then I took a closer look at President Monson’s words of the evening on lds.org and found this quote on charity…

“I consider charity—or the “pure love of Christ”—to be the opposite of criticism and judging. In speaking of charity, I do not at this moment have in mind the relief of the suffering through the giving of our substance. That, of course, is necessary and proper. Tonight, however, I have in mind the charity that manifests itself when we are tolerant of others and lenient toward their actions; the kind of charity that forgives; the kind of charity that is patient…. Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down; it is resisting the impulse to become offended easily. It is accepting weaknesses and shortcomings. It is accepting people as they truly are. It is looking beyond physical appearances to attributes that will not dim through time. It is resisting the impulse to categorize others.” —President Thomas S. Monson

I loved this talk! I loved that he quoted Mother Theresa… I loved that he focused on Christ’s admonishment to not judge, to love everyone!

Amen Pres. Monson!!!! This talk was awesome!

I was also uplifted by Pres. Monson’s talk but wished he had focused more on the non-visible differences. Thanks for pointing out that part of his talk flowerdrops.

Just a quick note as food for thought:

I’m not sure it’s possible to cover everything possible in a talk – and I hope we don’t criticize a talk for not meeting ALL of our own expectations (wanting Pres. Monson to include absolutely everyone possible) when talking about something that did address SO MANY of our expectations.

Whether or not this will cause change is up to individual members now – and I did hear this talk referenced in Testimony Meeting today, in the context of how wonderful it was to hear the Prophet include ALL women as special no matter the circumstances of their lives. If that is the message that many women take from the talk, wonderful – even if there are some circumstances that weren’t mentioned explicitly.

I think the fact that he didn’t talk assuming that everyone is a stay-at-home Mom married to an “righteous priestholder” is a step in the right direction.

Today I was teaching about Family History in Gospel Essentials, and a woman who is normally very spiritually receptive to everything I say clammed up entirely. I could see something was bothering her. I thought it might be that she didn’t know who her parents were — a novel thought and sensitivity when learning/teaching geneology.

So, I said “what about people who don’t know who their parents are? How can family history bless them?” And then her eyes lit up and she looked at me in a moment of mutual understanding.

So, the fact that Monson expanded his comments to be more inclusive than usual, is good — but I wouldn’t expect him to include everyone given the sheer diversity of the human condition.

Flowerdrop,

I also loved the quote about charity and what he was meaning by using that word. How wonderful it is to hear the essence of Christ’s teachings being taught by the prophet.

I was saddened when I went to fast and testimony meeting today and there wasn’t a mention of this talk. It really bothered me that more people didn’t seem to see the significance that I saw. My perspective I guess and yes I could have gotten up and given my perspective but boy am I not ready for that yet. I thought about it hard actually but I was afraid of what might come out of my mouth. So what do I do instead. Tell you all here and mention it on facebook. Someday I hope to feel safe in my ward again.

Thanks for all the input. I would love to know what Carol Lynn Pearson thought of the talk. I recently watched her 5 part Mormonstories interview and loved her take on things. It was well worth the time. She is definitely an advocate for women.