- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
I have been thinking about starting a thread like this for a while. Sometimes when something bad happens at church we give it a lot of attention, but I think there are good things that happen all the time that we just don’t mention and they get overlooked. I think we should have a thread that celebrates the good, even if the good thing is small. With that, what good things happened in your meetings yesterday or recently in your “church” experience (including interactions with members outside the meeting house)?
Our meetings yesterday were nothing to crow about, but the speakers were not horrible. We had one speaker who talked about this being the church of Jesus Christ, but didn’t use the common rhetoric that Christ leads the church – he simply talked about how as members we’re followers of Christ and should reflect that in our daily lives. Another speaker was asked relate his favorite Book of Mormon story (it was Ammon), but what stuck out to me was his testimony at the end – he didn’t profess to know anything and didn’t even testify of the Book of Mormon, but he did testify of Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost (using the word “testify”). The last speaker (high council) became a dry council talk toward the end, but the first part had some great personal stories about his own family history, including how he loved to hear stories about his father (some of which he told) because his father passed away when he was in his early teens. I didn’t go to Sunday School, but the priesthood lesson was on baptism – and focused on the part of the lesson that talks about it being symbolic of rebirth.
I know these aren’t earth shattering talks or lessons, and I would have loved if they talked more about Christ – but there were good things in there too, which might have been missed were I focusing on the negative.
I believe it is critically important to recognize and celebrate the good that happens everywhere, including at church. I also believe it is vital to fight the tendency when things are difficult to focus solely or obsessively on the bad – particularly since such a focus often makes mountains out of molehills. I know how hard it can be to see the good when times are bad, but it’s important to try. Honestly, I have become very good at seeing the good, so I will leave this thread to others for comments – but I do think it’s really important to try to see the good all around us, not only but including at church.
Going into specifics would take forever so I’ll just say this. I’ve got a very good BP, the man is full of charity. I’ve also got a good stake presidency and it’s clear to me that the three of them truly want to lift people up at the individual level.
As I mentioned in a previous thread – Brothers showing up last Saturday to help a single mom load her moving truck. 20 brethre, 20 minutes, all done. On Sunday the GD lessons was on King Solomon. The teacher referenced a CES talk that went through a list of some things can be strengths and turned into weaknesses. I thought that was a very interesting perspective and brought in a good way to look at how we balance things in our lives. I know that as I am working through my faith transition, I sometimes get caught up in leaning too far to one side, but the lesson reminded me that moderation in all things (even my frustrations) is probably a good approach.
Thanks Jedi, good post topic.
Some good things that happened last Sunday. Various people in the ward did the following: visited 4 older folks in the hospital or care centers to give them support, helped at least two people with food who are struggling financially, helped a person give up alcohol and pain killer addictions, and helped a single mom clean an filthy house (ok that was the next day). The church has given my daughter a strong, moral view of the world — the judgmentalism of which I consistently keep at bay. Last week she and my wife really enjoyed interacting with some french-speaking members, and she has made some very good friends in our non-geographical ward we attend, and at a BYU summer camp she attended recently. The church works for her.
Glad you started this thread, DJ. Last Sunday I got to teach the Primary kids about
Ruth and NaomiMy wife and I were talking during the week about how we weren’t being spiritually fed at church, but today was a very good Sunday. Sacrament talks were about Patriarchal blessings. We had a fantastic youth speaker who gave a very well prepared, thoughtful talk. It is a great aspect of the church of how some of these little things we take for granted teach our youth excellent skills.
The last speaker talked about the story of Lehi and used his journey to the promised land as an analogy for our Patriarchal blessing. And he told his very personal story of how his father was diagnosed with Lou Gherig’s disease and how his father worked with his hands and his final act before the disease took away his abilities was to build his own coffin. He related how his blessing gave him comfort in dealing with his father’s death and the health implications it might have for him. It was very moving and powerful. I felt the spirit of his experience.
Our GD lesson was better than usual. I was able to contribute in making a few points about agency; that we should not abnegate our agency to others, and that we have the right to question our leaders and seek understanding in constructive ways for decisions that have been made that affect us personally. It is a subject I have been thinking about a lot this week (ties in to Ray’s podcast if you haven’t checked out that thread or listened to it).
-SBRed
My wife and I were talking during the week about how we weren’t being spiritually fed at church, but today was a very good Sunday. Sacrament talks were about Patriarchal blessings. We had a fantastic youth speaker who gave a very well prepared, thoughtful talk. It is a great aspect of the church of how some of these little things we take for granted teach our youth excellent skills.
The last speaker talked about the story of Lehi and used his journey to the promised land as an analogy for our Patriarchal blessing. And he told his very personal story of how his father was diagnosed with Lou Gherig’s disease and how his father worked with his hands and his final act before the disease took away his abilities was to build his own coffin. He related how his blessing gave him comfort in dealing with his father’s death and the health implications it might have for him. It was very moving and powerful. I felt the spirit of his experience.
Our GD lesson was better than usual. I was able to contribute in making a few points about agency; that we should not abnegate our agency to others, and that we have the right to question our leaders and seek understanding in constructive ways for decisions that have been made that affect us personally. It is a subject I have been thinking about a lot this week (ties in to Ray’s podcast if you haven’t checked out that thread or listened to it).
-SBRed
I enjoyed three things today. First, in Sunday School the teacher was well prepared and he was very listenable. he involved the class very well, and my wife and I attended together. There was no leadership worship, no training on how to be a good Mormon, just an interesting lesson about King Ahab. SEcond, a member asked me about my work and listened to what was happening with it. It was nice that someone took interest in that aspect of my life — particularly in a Ward where we don’t have our records and generally, don’t belong due to attending it “illegally”. And then, in priesthood, a woman cornered me and we talked about health and weight loss together for quite a while. I enjoyed her intelligence and observing her flow of conversation. She was very easy to talk to.
The last speaker in Sacrament Meeting had only about two minutes, instead of the 15-20 he had prepared. He summarized his talk in a pretty amazing way – and it was a simple, powerful, funny, touching message about accepting ourselves, since we have been given life without parole with ourselves. Our fourth Sunday lesson was Elder Christofferson’s talk about the resurrection of Christ. The HPGL did a great job of sticking to the resurrection and not bringing in the atonement which I think we tend to focus on too much in the church (at the expense of the miracle of the resurrection). I am the youngest guy in the group and have been for 20 years. There were some great, heartfelt testimonies from the some of the older (70s/80s) guys. Sorry, I just can’t let this thread die out. I really enjoy hearing about the good experience people had. I have been using the sacrament the last few weeks to think about someone I can be of service to. As a result, had a great lunch this last week with a fellow doubter in my ward. I don’t think he has shared his experience very often, so hopefully it helps him to know he is not alone.
I got to hang out with an investigator during sacrament today. He reeked of smoke (not that that’s important, just made me glad to have someone a little rough around the edges there) but was an interesting guy. I hope he comes back.
Our testimony meeting was full of references to Christ and the Atonement – and more than one really funny comment, including something like: Quote:“I normally don’t like to be nice to people who are mean to me, and I’m grateful for a husband who told me this past week when I was struggling that he would punch someone out for me if I wanted.”
She and her husband are older than I am, so the comment was even funnier than it sounds already.
In a ward I visit there is a convert of about three months. He is a single guy in his 40s. I didn’t visit the ward in July, but when I visited in June he was sustained and ordained a priest. Today he blessed the sacrament for the first time. He was very nervous and really stumbled through the first time and the bishop signaled for him to repeat it. The second time was much smoother, and he caught and corrected both of his mistakes (with the help of a youth priest). Some bishops would have had him do it again, I suppose. The bishop also made note of the fact it was his first time, and personally thanked him. This is a ward that has enough priests and deacons that they never need adult help. (I know that’s a bit foreign to you Utahns, but it is quite common out here to not have enough youth AP holders to do all the sacrament.) So it was nice to see him progress and be able to do that.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.