LtWobo days 3 and 4

 Yesterday I posted this picture without a caption. 

My sister was the first to make a comment to which I replied:

 “That is Palmyra.  They don’t know where in the sacred grove was the first vision.  It’s not so much because of the first vision [that this picture brings peace] but because of the solitude I felt just being there."

 NY had just reopened and had barely started phase one.  Tours were done virtually - although we took a self guided tour before the missionaries showed.  There were more cars in the parking lot when we left than had arrived.  It was a nice peaceful feeling being in the grove by ourselves.

I provided more info in this post 

Today’s caption for this photo:

“When the angel comes to the shepherds to announce the child’s birth there is a light that shines through the darkness and changes the countenance of each shepherd (or shepherdess) and I can see a sign of “hope” in their faces.”

My Ignorant Friends

          There are so many creative posts to facebook lately, and just as many that are hurtful such as warnings to NOT buy products from the Chinese.  Really?  Someone has the odyssey to promote bigotry during these trying times.  I would think the citizens of China have even less to say about their government than do US citizens.  Though there are Trump supporters and followers many Americans are just as offended by his lack of leadership skills or lack of compassion as perhaps citizens of other countries are ashamed.  In China it is against the law to cross the government whereas in the USA citizens have the right to voice their opinions and even criticize the government without being arrested.  This pandemic is not the fault of the Chinese citizens.  They are victims just as much as anybody.  They did not choose to become guinea pigs of some governmental experience anymore than soldiers of this country when fighting in Vietnam chose to become victims to agent orange from 1962 to 1971. 

          People make mistakes.  Leaders make mistakes.  It happens.  As of now we are not or should not pit country against country.  We are not against one another (as a whole – I know Trump has said many things that have offended those outside of the U.S.  But trust me, he has offended just as many American citizens with his sometimes childish but mostly idiotic behavior) as we are all fighting the same demon regardless of where it originated.  Let’s not throw bigotry into the mix as well. 

          I have some friends who live in fear as well as isolation .  I have other friends who are skeptics and view this entire pandemic as a hoax staged for an upcoming election.  There is so much out there – some truths, others misinterpretations of the truth, still others that are bold faced lies.  I don’t even know what to believe anymore and may think of this as a hoax myself except for the church’s involvement.

          When else in history has the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or any other denomination) closed its doors?  The church had announced the cancellation of all meetings before the government did.  They have closed the temples.  Seamstresses who worked on temple clothes have been asked to sew masks.  Other organizations have put their teams to work for sewing masks.  Even when the leaders are fooled into thinking the pandemic is over, it won’t be over.  If we’re not careful it will sneak upon us and perhaps become worse for it is than it is right now.

          Let us not cast blame.  Blame doesn’t solve anything.  We need to be cautious of the disease not necessarily one another.  We need each other’s support not prejudices.  We are in this together.  Let us remember the children of Israel who made it out of darkness after the first Passover.  Let us remember the citizens of Jerusalem and around the world who came out of darkness after the first Easter’s resurrection.  We too will come out of darkness.  But we have to lift one another into the light.  If we point fingers or cast stones at one another, it will only prolong the darkness.

We All Need HOPE

Hold

On -

Perseverance,

Endurance

Yesterday I made a comment to a quote expressing a limited hope targeted to a certain group of people for basically following his or her own heart.  Perhaps I was out of line with my answer, but I elaborated as the one who posted the quote followed my comment with a question that sounded to me as though she is feeling despair.

But we have to have hope.  Hope is what brought the children of Israel out of bondage.  And it was hope that caused slaves in America to move from the South to the North.  It was with hope that so many Jewish people (among others) stayed hidden before and during World War II.  It is with hope that we are even to leave our house each morning.

I like how President Uchtdorf says, “Hope, on the other hand, is like the beam of sunlight rising up and above the horizon of our present circumstances.” In his talk The Infinite Power of Hope

We all hope to get out of bondage. We all hope that we can get through each day without harm or accident – whether physically, emotionally, spiritually, or mentally.  We hope that our loved ones will be safe.  We hope that things could be different.  We hope that some things will remain the same.  We hope that our children have learned what we tried to teach them.  We often hope that they may turn out better than we did.

If we didn’t have hope, we wouldn’t try new things.  We wouldn’t try to run (let alone finish) the race.  We wouldn’t put forth any effort without hope.  We wouldn’t go to the doctor’s or the attorney’s office or even work without hope.  We wouldn’t vote or elect officials.  We wouldn’t leave our comfort zone – though often times it may be our hope that we won’t ever have to.  There is no growth without hope.