This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Priesthood Session of the October 2004 Conference.
I noticed a theme in this session about seeing the best in people. President Faust said, talking about some young men in a ward he knew of:
Previous to this time I had been with four of these priests in a different situation. … They drove away every seminary teacher after two or three months. They spread havoc over the countryside on Scouting trips. But when they were needed—when they were trusted with a vital mission—they were among those who shone the most brilliantly in priesthood service.
The secret was that the bishop called upon his Aaronic Priesthood to rise to the stature of men to whom angels might well appear; and they rose to that stature, administering relief to those who might be in want and strengthening those who needed strengthening.
[One] fundamental reason that largely accounts for great changes of attitudes, of habits, of actions [is that] men have been shown their eternal possibilities and have made the decision to achieve them. They cannot really long rest content with mediocrity once excellence is within their reach.…The passage of time has not altered the capacity of the Redeemer to change men’s lives. As He said to the dead Lazarus, so He says to you and to me, “Come forth.” I add: Come forth from the despair of doubt. Come forth from the sorrow of sin. Come forth from the death of disbelief. Come forth to a newness of life.
Theoretically I have always believed in thinking and expecting the best of people, especially my own children. But I think in practice it's sometimes so hard for me to believe that ordinary people really can rise to God's high expectations. I think about "the youth" even in the church and see how many things they are (in my view) failing at…the challenges they aren't rising to…the standards they are rejecting…and I feel like there's nothing anyone can do to help them! But that shows such a lack of faith. I'm sure Jesus Christ can help and change them, just as he can change all of us! And I need to remember to keep my own vision clear to see that possibility, so I can help my children see and believe in that great potential in themselves as well.
I have a couple of daughters like the priests in President Faust's story. They were so difficult for everyone most of the time, but when they were really needed, they were rock stars!!! It makes me realize how badly we're limiting our teens with our work/school laws and insurance issues that prevent them from taking real risks and proving themselves truly capable. I'm forever searching for more meaningful work for my teens, and it is a difficult, difficult search. I have a 12-year old son at the moment who would thrive in an old-fashioned apprenticeship, but he can't because we don't have those any more, and no one can hire him for on-the-job training because he's a minor and because of all of The Laws! He's so in need of doing something more important (to him) than his household chores and his schoolwork that he's just ready to boil over.
ReplyDeleteAnd this was true for those daughters of mine when they were teens.
(As you can see, this is a personal soapbox of mine!)
That is such an interesting point. I hadn't thought about it specifically, but I DO wish there were a lot more opportunities for teens to do real work. And it seems such a shame that in the name of safety (or whatever it may be), we have thrown out all the GOOD parts of apprenticeships and so forth too!
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