For whatever reason I've become a lot more sympathetic towards those who don't quite "fit the mold"--whatever that means. I also sympathize much more with those who no longer share in my faith, those of no faith, and those who choose a different lifestyle altogether.
Why is it that even our evolution into becoming less judgmental we are sometimes most critical towards our own people--those closest to us?
There are Latter-day Saints who are indeed Saints, and there are LDS who are judgmental bigots. I must remember that my job is to love them all. I must extend the grace Heaven knows I so desperately need.
There are Latter-day Saints who are indeed Saints, and there are LDS who are judgmental bigots. I must remember that my job is to love them all. I must extend the grace Heaven knows I so desperately need.
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Amen, CC - and I think you knew I would respond that way, given how often I've said the same basic thing at multiple sites. *grin*
I think perhaps the best indicator of our charity is how we view those who are close enough to us to have let us down in a dignificant way - who have not lived up to our wants or expectations of them. Whether or not those wants or expectations are unrealistic is another topic altogether, but I believe it's really easy to say we love those whom we don't know all that well. It's those whose actions or beliefs "hurt us" somehow directly through which our core attitude is manifested.
"I believe it's really easy to say we love those whom we don't know all that well. It's those whose actions or beliefs "hurt us" somehow directly through which our core attitude is manifested."
So true, Papa D. Thanks for the reminder.
I just has a thought about this post, so I hope it helps somehow:
I am involved with some members who are struggling with some sort of faith crisis, and I point out to them regularly that they can't ask of others what they aren't willing to give those others FIRST - without being hypocrites. Particularly, they can't ask more orthodox members to accept their heterodoxy as legitimate unless they are able and willing to accept those members' orthodoxy as legitimate.
That's not an easy balance, especially since I'm NOT advocating a totally relativistic view of truth. What I'm saying is that "loving someone" often involves accepting their differences in thought and perspective and realizing that ALL of us see through our glass, darkly - and extending charity by not judging and being narrow-minded.
It helps if everyone has some sort of orthopraxy around which they can rally, but it extends even into some (but not all) areas of heteropraxy.
Exactly. Even as I wrote this post I was forced to see the irony in myself of how I can so easily become so judging of fellow members of the Church who are so judgmental!
"ALL of us see through our glass, darkly."
That reminds me of a wise comment you made awhile back on one of your own posts:
"To me, the idea that 'I know and understand it all, and if you disagree with me about anything you are wrong' is the height of arrogance - and it is a 'natural man' conceit that can afflict people in any organization. I saw it regularly in college; I have seen it often in my professional life; I see it all around me in religious communities - including, all too often, in my own."
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