I would like to be more humble as I have always had a problem with pride. Whenever I think that I have overcome so much of my pride – wham! I find myself fighting all over again. And here are just two examples:
1)
When
I was in the young women’s presidency
the YW president had asked me to write a skit for camp – which I did
but it took some time to incorporate my ideas.
When I tried to present my idea the YW pres. said it was no longer
needed. The girls had decided that they
wanted to do something else –
which really didn’t even relate
to the topic. At least at the time I didn’t think it did. I felt a bit put out that I had worked on
this skit and they didn’t even want to
listen to my ideas. And I knew it was
wrong to feel resentment. After all it
is the girls who should be involved and they were. I should have expressed praise or some kind
of encouragement. I tried to shrug it
off especially since I didn’t
want pride to win – and yet I
think I let it win.
2) Yesterday I watched a tiktok that someone had posted about gratitude to the Mormon “angels” with the destruction of Hurricane Laura. Feeling the horrors of the fires, evacuations and the outpouring of volunteers I thought it a fitting video to share with a church group that I started. I had missed the part where Tara Parks (original tiktok poster) said “ . . . garan . . damn . . . tee you . . .” which to some people made the video offensive and it was removed from the page because of “inappropriate language” okay . . . I guess there are a few sisters on the page that might find that offensive but I also know that others might smile at her choice of words. I did.
I had missed the word that created negotiation on censorship in “Gone With the Wind” (see here) Seriously. I had missed it. I had to rewatch it. The second time it made me laugh. I know it would make other sisters laugh as well – but not all. So did those who decided to have it removed even watch the entire thing? It was funny and it had a good message.
It’s through pride that I felt offended although I had initially questioned as to whether to even posted it or not. I didn’t (still don’t) want to be upset about it. I understood the censorship and the concern. Thus far I haven't had to "approve" others' postings but I know the ward page changed for approval because of some "not so uplifting" content. I found the tiktok video to be very uplifting.
A few hours after church had ended I had reached out to at least one person who watched the video (I have no idea how many views it had before it was taken down) when I received an unexpected phone call from someone who had been added to the page. When she called to ask about the video I felt God’s tender mercy. Perhaps that was the initial plan. I still have a ways to go with this pride thing. I hope these examples will help me stay where He wants me to.