- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
I was assigned to teach Elder Uchdorf’s talk on Showing Mercy so you can Receive Mercy from General Conference. What a great topic to be assigned to a person who is finding their own way within Mormonism. It was to all the High Priests during HP meeting. Because I am absolutely terrible at forgiving others, I taught the part of the lesson about not being judgmental, and spun it against topics we discuss here. Judgmentalism toward people who dress differently than “standard” at Church. Judgmentalism about people who have doubts. Judgmentalism about people who appear to have broken commandments and therefore seem to DESERVE judgment from others.
Before the lesson, I approached the HPGL and asked if I could teach the lesson in jeans and a loud, flowered shirt to make the point that next time a new convert shows up to Church in shorts and flip flops, that everyone should reach out in love to that person. Surprisingly, he agreed “provided I didn’t wear jeans and the shirt to sacrament meeting”.
So, when everyone arrived in the room, there I was dressed in jeans and a loud shirt. I opened the lesson as if nothing was unusual. I did get some funny looks, but ignored them.
I was amazed at how it was the lower income people in the meeting that hit all the nails on the head about the need for love to overwhelm judgmentalism — because they had all experienced judgmentalism . One brother described how he brought his family to Church when they were recently baptized — with one girl wearing only one shoe because they couldn’t find it, and how the Ward was so loving and supportive of them even though they didn’t have appropriate clothes to wear. How it changed their lives, the love people had and how it inspired them to be a better family. A gentleman from another country described how we tries not to judge people because he doesn’t want to be a stumbling block to their engagement with the gospel.
Uchdorf’s comment to “Stop It” (about judging others) was my birth certificate to be blunt, but kind. Here are my comments:
Quote:
“After judgment day, you will probably be surprised at who joins you in the celestial kingdom for eternity. And a lot of people are going to be really surprised to see YOU there”.“Judgmentalism can be an unintended consequence of trying to live a righteous life. Don’t let your personal righteousness blind you. Don’t let the fact that we have a common moral code be your license to judge others”
“Judgmentalism is alive and well in the LDS Church. How does it rear its head, and what must we do to curb it?”
“When you judge others who have doubts about the Church, you lose the priviledge of knowing their concerns so you can resolve them”.
“I have interacted with people undergoing faith changes online, and have found they are often not active because a) they don’t feel they can raise their doubts about core issues at Church without being labeled apostate and b) they are afraid that admissions of doubt will lead to judgmentalism and loss of opportunity or punishment…so they never share them.”
“I have heard these phrases before, and I think they typify the kind of judgmentalism we should avoid. ‘Even the weakest of Saints can obey the WoW’. Regarding a brother who was living his life against LDS principles ‘He’s an ordained Elder and served a mission — he should KNOW better’ “.
Anyway, the highlight was one when person said “I could be judgmental of the way you are dressed right now”. Everyone laughed really hard, and I pretended to look offended. Everyone chuckled nervously. He continued, saying that even if people dressed that way, he would never say anything about it. Everyone laughed again but harder as I put on a fake squirm.
I then shared how I had cleared my dress with our HPGL, described how I showed up at Church dressed in a white shirt and tie and dress pants and shoes, and had to have a commando strategy to get from the washroom to the classroom without a lot of eyebrows raised or comments from people. That I was planning to change out of the clothes immediately after the lesson.
They laughed hard…real hard.
I ended the lesson with “Next time you feel tempted to judge someone because of how they dress at Church, or for any reason, please remember Silentdawning standing in front of you teaching HP meeting in jeans and a flowered shirt.”
It was a high impact lesson. They were rivetted at all points in the lesson, and particularly when I revealed my dress was to make a point. As I was setting up the room for the lesson, before it started, the thought occurred to me “I am completely engaged and excited about my LDS experience today”.
Awesome! I wish I could’ve been there! Sounds like it went wonderfully. 
I taught today, too, the talk I was assigned was Elder Hallstrom’s recent address about distinguishing between the church and the gospel. I tied in the infamous 1984 Elder Poelman talk. It went well but I have a great class – the women in my ward are pretty fabulous.
That is awesome. Good job, SD. That’s a pretty creative way to get a point across. I must say, though, that I think it is a little ironic that we feel like we have to get special dispensation to wear a particular style of clothing to church — that the way we dress is an issue at all.
Excellent, friend – truly excellent. Truly amazing lesson… A keeper! SD, this is a fantastic post! I think it’s wonderful you were able to make those points in your HP group. Very encouraging post and so happy for you that you could feel that engaged feeling again! I’d have paid money to see that. Totally gutsy and, it seems, effective. This really touched a part of me. I am the mother of 5 children. We have lived most of our lives under the poverty level. It is hard for me to keep my kids in clothing and I haven’t always been able to afford proper Sunday clothing for my family. We have received some negative comments about my sons wearing jeans and sneakers or my daughters wearing flip flops. Unfortunately, I have let this get to me and do not take the kids to church when they don’t have Sunday clothing. I wish everyone could see beyond the physical appearance because poverty is a trial in itself. Great lesson! Love it! very very cool SD! It seems to me I heard that during the second world war, the LDS church (& other churches too) encouraged members to come to church services wearing their work clothes. My understanding was they didn’t want members staying home when they had to work on Saturdays & Sundays to support the war effort.
(In anticipation of your questions, I was not a HP then.) Alittle joke.
Mike from Milton.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.