A post from two day's of reading:
This morning I read the last letter Moroni received from his
father. Given the events of yesterday,
it hit my heart with such sorrow. Are we
as depraved a nation as were the Lamanites and Nephites at this time in
history? Sometimes I wonder. To my knowledge we haven’t resorted to
cannibalism. And I believe there are
some people who are still good. Even as
bad as we are fiscally, it’s because one party wants to ease all the pains and
burdens of those who will not lift a hand to help themselves. Of course, they are well paid for their
failed efforts.
I must mention that a young man walked into an elementary
school yesterday and before taking his own life, took the lives of 26 people –
20 of them being small children. How can
a person be so past feeling? This act
sickened a nation, and we all mourn for the families who are grieving. We all mourn for the innocence of which our
own children have been robbed. When will
it end? When we will be a nation of
peace again? We see tiny glimpses of
which are usually at the day’s end of a day like yesterday.
Ironically, I just opened my Ensign to read the next
talk. The last talk I read was Elder
Dallin H. Oaks’ talk entitled “Protect the Children”. Where is my post? Sitting – unsaved, on my computer! I must include it here.
(Yesterday) As I read my scriptures and conference talk this morning,
there was a serious background of laughter and Christmas chatter by my
daughter’s children. This is a little
distracting, but fit in beautifully with the conference talk by Elder Oaks,
which is what I was reading. How blessed
these five little children are to have the example of righteous parents who are
trying to do the right thing as they raise their family.
There is a serious bullet list of the ways children can be
harmed. I’ll take them in the order
Elder Oaks spoke of them:
- Child pornography
- Deny Heavenly Father’s children the right to be born via abortion or birth control.
- Expectant mothers not eating nutritionally
- Orphaned
- Psychological abuse
- Physical abuse
- Divorce
- Unwed mothers
- Parents not marrying but cohabitating
- Same gender parents
There was a day when children were considered a blessing to
parents, and to be protected at all cost.
This trend is reversing quickly.
Elder Oaks calls us to “. . .unite to increase our concern
for the welfare and future of our children – the rising generation.” This is not just to members of the church but
also to all people throughout the world who have ears to hear. Our world is in crisis mode. The next generation is privileged to solve or
live with the burdens we have cast upon them.
Who is teaching them to do so in moralistic ways? Who is setting the example for them to do
what is right in the eyes of God? Who is
teaching them to have faith in a Heavenly Father who is mindful of all that
happens to us?
When you read such sobering statistics, i.e. “. . .41
percent of all births in the United States were to women who were not married”,
it is quite clear we have a problem on our hands. Our missionaries are finding it challenging
to find families where they can baptize a father and potential priesthood
holder. Most are baptizing mothers and children. It doesn’t take a great deal of pondering to
see the seriousness and potential impact of this statistic. Many of the parents teaching their children
today are parents who were not taught values as children. It is sad to say the very least.
So as I prepare to move forward with my day, I feel an even
heavier obligation to set a righteous example for my children and grandchildren
– and all children, and to “unite” my
concern with that of others for the welfare of children everywhere. What does this look like?
And it looks like I was distracted by those adorable
chattering children and never posted this input. Ironic that it was on the day before we took
a huge hit yesterday on children throughout our nation and world. Why was it so widespread? Because the innocence of children has been
robbed!
I was well on my way with today’s post when I realized I
did not even save the last. Life gets
crazy. What was I about to say?
Children are innocent.
Mormon grieved for the innocence lost of those too young to even realize
what was happening in their world. It
grieves me every time I read the last book (Moroni) of the Book of Mormon. It is a warning to us as a people – a nation
– a world, that we must put down our weapons of rebellion and let the Savior
into our lives, to accept Him as our Savior and live worthy of the sacrifice He
made for us. It is a warning that should
we choose to continue in our depravity, we too can expect similar results.
Our Savior will come again.
I know this to be true. We know
the outcome of the battle that is being fought between bad and good. The only unknown is which side we will be on
when the Savior returns. I believe it
was Elder Holland who said it. My goal
is to be on the Lord’s side, to be a key player in His work as those who have
never heard the gospel will have the opportunity to do so.
