Jesus wears a yellow shirt

A yellow shirt meaning the “Mormon Helping Hands” shirts worn for disaster relief and other things.

Yesterday, trying to practice patience and tolerance I tried to listen to and understand what my bishop said instead of ignoring him. This was a line from his testimony.

My first reaction was to be upset at the arrogance that of the thousands of relief efforts going on in the world to assume that Jesus would automatically join ours.

My second reaction was to think that if Jesus had just guided the hurricane away from NYC, or delayed it so it didn’t come at high tide none of us would need to wear yellow shirts.

But then I thought about this statement some more and thought that I tended to agree with it.

I really don’t know anything about God. Like I have posted previously, I choose to believe that there is a loving God.

The surest manifestation of a God that loves people on this earth comes from people helping each other.

Last week after we finished cleaning out a house (incidentally I was wearing a T-shirt from another organization) the home owner was so grateful and asked how she could repay us, could she take us out to lunch or something. We refused, but she still wanted to do something for us. I said, “One day you will repay us, one day you will find someone in need and you will help them, that will repay us.” That satisfied her.

There was another woman who posted on another bulletin board I frequent that wrote about how she knew HF loved her because on a day she was overwhelmed and tired a friend had made dinner for her. She didn’t just feel gratitude to the friend but to God.

Section 121 of the Doctrine and Covenants was taken from letters that Joseph Smith wrote from Liberty Jail. Only portions of the letters were used, and specifically between verse 6: the end of Joseph’s entreaty to God, and verse 7 God’s response are different parts of the letter. Before what is quoted in verse 7 of D&C 121 in the original text is this:

…one token of friendship from any source whatever awakens and calls into action every sympathetic feeling;…it moves the mind backward and forward, from one thing to another, until finally all enmity, malice and hatred, and past differences, misunderstandings and mismanagements are slain victorious at the feet of hope; and when the heart is sufficiently contrite, then the voice of inspiration steals along and whispers-My son, peace be unto thy soul…(Teachings of the PJS pg 134)

Joseph Smith heard God from the kindness of other people.

Jesus, or God, is more likely to be found among the people who need help, wearing whatever is appropriate to best help them. That is more frequently a t-shirt than a suit.