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A little bit of a confession… So, I’m not usually super-cynical, but I can get that way at times. Recently, I was experiencing bit of self-indulgence in cynicism and was thinking about how I hate it when the church refers to the teachings of the prophets, but then quotes them from a time before they were the prophet. As a completely random act, I picked up “Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: George Albert Smith” in an attempt to fuel my fire. I arbitrarily opened to the second lesson, went to the footnotes, notices that note 10 was from April Conference, 1905, which I knew to be long before GAS was President of the Church. In fact, he had only been an Apostle for 18 months, and wouldn’t be President for 40 more years. So, I went searching for the statement to go along with footnote 10 to see what “profound” statement would be included in the “Teachings of the Presidents of the Church” who wasn’t really president… ready to roll my eyes. The statement? “As members of the Church of Christ, we should keep His commandments and love one another. Then our love should pass beyond the border lines of the Church with which we are identified, and reach out after the children of men.” Oh… well… yeah… I guess that is all right… in fact, that is something that we here on StayLDS have said many times, as if we are enlightened and progressive. Yet, here was 35-year-old Apostle, GAS, saying exactly that, 108 years ago.
What I had to swallow back was that it’s probably helpful for me to remember that there is much good in the church; much to be admired and much to be embraced. In my cynical fits, I can easily forget that and focus on the aspects of the church that I DON’T like… They are certainly easy to identify. But in fairness, I’m hurting myself more than the church when I indulge in that. I can help myself and my relationship with friends and family if I also give legitimate regard for the good of the church, and lay off the extra helping of cynicism once in a while.
+1. that was a really cool post. and such a powerful statement! Wonderful insight and example. Thanks for sharing it with us. Thank you. I’ve been experiencing a bit of a cynical streak lately. Sometimes it’s helpful to have something random put you in your place like that. I had a conversation with a family member the other night that did just that. Thanks so much for that story… I needed to read that today. It can be really satisfying to seek (and find) discrepancies, especially with church material, but I am very guilty of being quick to find fault, only to be completely off the mark. I love this. Thanks for honesty in sharing. I’ve recently been trying to look for the positive and laugh off the negative (or plain ‘nutty’).
(The other day in SS someone said that every time we repent we change at a cellular level and this was the process of physically becoming more like God. In the past I would have fought it. Instead I laughed inside and let it slide.)
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