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We have a thread in General section called, “Useful Quotes of The Day.” Taking a leaf out of that book I am going to start a Chieko Okazaki thread – here. Chieko was the first non-Caucasian member of any auxiliary board. Eventually she was called as a counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency. Her words inspire many people. I think it’s important to remember them. With that here we go.
Quote:“You may think that you’re important because of what you do for people–that you’re important to the world because you take care of your children or your grandchildren, or teach lessons or volunteer at the shelter or take the Boy Scouts on hikes. You may think you count because of the salary you earn and because you provide for your family. Certainly those things are important. But those are jobs, chores, functions. They are things that someone else could do. What’s essential about you is who you are. If you’re someone’s spouse or parent or friend or teacher, that’s a relationship, not a set of tasks. What’s essential in that relationship is you, the real you, not just a smoothly functioning job-doer, No one and no thing can make you happy. Only you can do that. And nothing is more essential.”
-Chieko Okazaki, “Being Enough,” p. 189
Quote:I don’t want anyone to misunderstand what I’m going to say next. The First Presidency has made its opposition to same-sex marriages very clear; as a member of the church I support them in their position. But I want to stress that we can be opposed to a piece of legislation or to a practice and still behave with courtesy and decency toward those who hold other opinions. I would not want anyone to use the First Presidency’s stand as an excuse for being hateful or disrespectful toward others….. It is very likely that every person in the Church knows someone – a family member or a friend – who is gay, lesbian or bisexual. I also think it is very likely that many people do not know that they know a homosexual or bisexual person because that person is afraid to reveal that part of him or herself for fear of being rejected, punished, or excluded. I think there is much we do not understand about how such conditions come to be, or what resources are truly helpful. In the meantime, nothing has suspended the commandment of Jesus to love one another and to bear one another’s burdens. – Chieko Okazaki, “Disciples,” p. 122
Quote:“Showing respect for a person’s national or ethnic background is a way of showing respect for that person. It’s a way of saying, ‘Where you come from and how you do things and how you say things is important to me because you are important to me.’”
-Chieko Okazaki, “Being Enough,” p. 169
Quote:“If we are filled with the love of Christ, we will not only see him as he is but we will see others as he sees them. I promise you that barriers of separation within your heart that are holding your sisters at a distance will crumble. They will disappear even in the moment when you realize, in the sacred presence of our Savior, that they exist.”
-Chieko Okazaki, “Being Enough,” p. 179
Quote:“Kindness without love is not kindness at all. It’s patronage, it’s condescension, it’s smugness and superiority. If you have been the recipient of this species of ‘kindness,’ you know that you would much rather do without it.
But with love, kindness is refreshment and rejoicing. It strengthens bonds and creates new ones. And it’s a tough, patient virtue, not a frilly, fluffy one.
It is significant to me that in the same verse in which Paul says charity is kind, he describes a second virtue, patience, in four different ways: charity ‘suffereth long, . . . is not easily provoked, . . . beareth all things, . . . endureth all things’ (1 Cor. 13:4-7). In other words, a charitable person must endure in patience, endure more than her share, suffer when it is not fair, and suffer ‘long.’ Kindness is not sentimental or weak. It’s tough, strong, and long-lasting.”
-Chieko N. Okazaki, “Sanctuary,” p. 75
LOVE this, mom3. She was my favorite General Authority – and, yes, I know that term generally isn’t used for the female leadership, but it should be, so I do. 
Quote:
Elder John K. Carmack had a wonderful article published in the March 1991 Ensign titled “Unity in Diversity. He wrote: “Labeling a fellow Church member an intellectual, a less-active member, a feminist, a South African, and Armenian, a Utah Mormon, or a Mexican, for example, seemingly provides an excuse to mistreat or ignore that person. . . . Each of us should be fair to everyone, especially the victims of discrimination, isolation, and exclusion. Let us be careful not to snicker at jokes that demean and belittle others because of religious, cultural, racial, national, or gender differences. All are alike unto God. We should walk away or face up to the problem when confronted with these common and unworthy practices.Quoted by Chieko Okazaki, Lighten Up. pg. 22
Thanks for posting these, mom3. I REALLY needed to start the day out with something positive after a somewhat frustrating 3 hour block on Sunday. Chieko was a great leader and very wise. I, like Ray, place her high on my “Favorite General Authorities” list.
Quote:“Diversity is a strength, not a division. I attend a lot of meetings where I’m the only woman. And I attend many, many meetings where I’m the only Oriental woman. You can perhaps imagine how that feels. Have you ever had the feeling that you’re the odd one, the different one? Maybe even too odd or different for this church? The truth is that you’re not odd–you’re special. When white light falls on a wall, it makes a white wall. But when it passes through a prism, that same light makes a rainbow on the wall.”
-Chieko Okazaki, Lighten Up, p. 4
I love these!! Thank you for sharing. Hi Mom3. I love Chieko Okazaki. Thanks for sharing. I will see if I can find some of her quotes to add. Her writings are always uplifting and I think help us to be less hard on ourselves 🙂 :thumbup: Would it be too far off topic to say that I’d just love to have been a fly on the wall listening to a (probably non-existant) conversation between Chieko Okasaki and Julie Beck? 😆 No – I too would have loved the conversation. There are a few I would have loved to sit in on. The discussion she had with President Hinckley after he read the Proclamation on the Family at the General Relief Society Meeting. The other one I would have loved to witness was the day she found out the church had already created Relief Society manuals without consulting the General Relief Society. Ironically – I can’t imagine her getting upset or raising her voice, she delivered her words with such love, courage and wisdom, that it would probably be a joy to have her say anything to anyone. Yet – she still got her point across. Amazing.
Quote:There are times for all of us when we do not understand what is happening or why it is happening or what we are supposed to learn from it. Peace seems very far away. This is the time to be completely honest with the Lord in your prayers and trust completely in him.
-Chieko Okazaki, Being Enough, p.191
Quote:I’m not saying that we should deny our pain or pretend that things are rosy when they’re not. We don’t make things better by wearing masks. I’m just saying that we usually have a choice about our attitudes, and the biggest difference we can make is in where we choose to focus when something is hurting us.
-Chieko Okazaki, Disciples, p.4
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