This weekend we traveled to Philadelphia, planning a grand day of fun events. Since it takes a few hours to get to Philly from DC, we drove up and spent the night.
My sweet, autistic daughter took a shower the next morning, and we heard her talking quietly, muttering, “Please, warm up…. please warm up…”
In an instant I knew what had happened. The hotel shower is new to her, so she had set it the way she sets our home shower. But that position wasn’t enough to make the water warm.
My daughter thought she just had to wait for the water to warm up, not realizing that she needed to do something. We were able to make it so her shower was warm, and life was good.
But this little incident got me thinking about the times when we wait patiently but unhappily, hoping things will get better, yet not taking action to make them better.
This is the genius of God, the genius of the Christ, the genius of all good individuals. When something is wrong, these good individuals act to make things better. Sometimes the “better” is on a scale that boggles us mortals, and thus sometimes people inaccurately attribute negligence or harm to God. From my perspective this is because they are unable to see His perspective or hope as He hopes or have the faith in mankind that He has.
Let us reach out and warm each other with our love and kindness. Let us hope that the gospel that blesses us will bless those around us, that the ordinances that we treasure will be desired and treasured by those beyond the veil. When we see inequity, let us do what we can to make things equal. Let us build on bedrock and help others to do so as well.
How many are cold because they simply don’t know how to act to obtain warmth?
Let us act to make the world a better place, as all good people do.
Thanks, (I think) that’s an important concept to remember.
Meg, thank-you for bringing this up.
All sorts of attitudes (good or bad) are contagious, in a way that fire is contagious. Spiritual fire and spiritual warmth is contagious too.
I think it would be good, that if you (anyone) are warm/on fire, to warm up/fire up others while you can, because in the future you may need some warming up, and those other people might still be on fire then, and can share the heat. And even before it gets back to you, they may spread the fire to others. Mathematically, an exponential growth can start with “1”.
I see a lot of light (righteousness) everywhere in the church. But in some wards, while they have lots of light, there seems to be too little fire. To put it another way, the Spirit is there, but there is not the corresponding degree of action/movement. You can see the light, but a lesser degree of feeling the Spiritual Wind blowing.
Share what fire you have, fan the flames, feel the Wind blow.
I enjoy remembering the Serenity Prayer:
God, grant me
the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can, and
the wisdom to know the difference.
Faith in Christ, Hope in all that scripture promises, and Love for God and all humanity add light and power to the Serenity Prayer.
Each of us has our own set of missions to pursue, in this grand fulfillment of the hope for saving the world. For a neighbor last night, her part of this grand fulfillment involved bringing us zucchini bread to thank my husband for his service as choir director. Her effort and visit, given her afflictions, was a precious blessing. [Zucchini bread is always a blessing, IMHO…]