Looking Forward to Mondays

So usually Mondays are one of the days I really look forward to. Yeah I know that sounds odd, but Mondays are usually the day when the amazing young Missionaries come by to see us and talk to us and try to help us along on this crazy journey we have started. Well this Monday, my Wife and I were simply too exhausted from driving a 1500+ mile round trip and supervising the moving of our furniture and such. (Thank you God for finally helping us get it done!) So this week, we rescheduled for Tuesday.

Our current Elder is flying solo right now because his companion returned home so on his last two trips, he has been accompanied by other people. Last Monday it was two amazing Elders from the Spanish Speaking Ward and this week, it was a High Priest that I had met several times before in what I lovingly call “Geezer Class.” Despite all his jokes about falling asleep and letting the Elder do all the talking, he engaged us in a spirited and lively conversation. This helped remind me of one of the things I find most amazing about the Mormon Church.

I always joke about how, since I was raised with the old fashioned Fire and Brimstone Preachers, that I find the opening service a little to quiet. People get up and they speak very seriously and passionately about the church and their lives, but it is always done so quietly. Majorly different from when I was growing up. The next section (Forgive me, still trying to remember all the terms) is a little better because it is usually filled with discussion and debate, but it is still kind of quiet. All of that changes when I head to the High Priests meeting,

Everyone I have met in the church so far has been filled with energy and joy, but nothing compares to the almost insane energy that flows when us older men get together. We talk, we joke and we hold incredibly lively discussions about whatever the subject is that Sunday. I see men probably in their 60s and 70s filled with an amazing force that boggles the mind. They have all been members of the Church for a very long time, but their excitement and joy is a bright and shining as if they had just found the way yesterday.

I have nothing but good things to say about the Elders and Sisters I have met so far. They are all bright examples of the way young people should be. However, they always seem so shy and even a little hesitant sometimes. Even those who were born into the Church seem to still be finding their way. I guess this makes sense because part of their mission is to explore and learn while teaching. They are growing in faith and courage every single day.

Not the guys from Geezer Class though. Oh no, these men are completely comfortable with their faith and discussing it. They shout the Word with pride and conviction. I just pray to Our Heavenly Father that one day, I can have the same conviction and courage that they do.

Amen

Are you being served? Better question, Are you helping serve others?

So one of the things I have observed and been so very impressed with since beginning to explore the mysteries of the Mormon Faith is the almost overwhelming dedication Mormons seem to have to the concept of Service to the Church and Service to the people around them. Many Religions, especially the various Christian Sects preach of helping those who need help and doing good deeds to further the word of God, but most of the members of those Churches seem to fall far short of the ideal. From what I have seen so far, Mormons not only talk the talk but walk the walk as well.

Some of this is seen in dramatic ways as Mormons go out of missions of service. Young and Old alike often journey to very distant lands where life is often very dangerous. They go willingly and from what I have seen eagerly not just to spread the word of the Mormon faith, but also help so many people that desperately need their help. Now as an aside here, some Missionaries get rather cushy jobs where they spread the word in developed lands that have air conditioning, but even these brave souls must leave their homes and families to go on their missions. Especially when you are as young as some of these people are, that is far from easy. So like I said, some of the instances of service are dramatic and impressive. Others are much less impressive and often more subtle.

I keep using my wife's best friend, Stephanie as an example of both an amazing Christian and a shining example of the Mormon faith. Her family epitomize what being a good person is all about.. When we first began our move to the Capital, my wife had to stay with her friend for several months. She slept in the guest room, played in the family area and ate their food. It had to have cost Stephanie a healthy amount of change for all of this. A lot of people would be concerned with being paid back for all of their expenses or wondering how long it would be before they got their spare room back. Stephanie has flatly refused any recompense for her expenses and actually seemed surprised that my wife wouldn't still be living with her even after we found a house and I moved up here.

When it looked like we were going to have to move our things ourselves, Stephanie assured us not to worry. She volunteered her entire family in our old town and the Church members there to get us packed up and moved. Her husband even offered to drive down the 700+ miles with us to help out. They did this without a second thought and certainly would not have accepted any sort of payment if they had done it.

When it turned out that the Government was indeed going to pack and move us, we were required to go to the old house to supervise. I was concerned about my menagerie of pets (2 dogs, 5 cats. Yes I said 5 cats.) So I asked the Elders who have been visiting us if they would mind stopping by the new house and keeping an eye on them. They happily said they would and not only did they feed the animals, they also scooped the litter boxes AND picked up all of Doggy Poo in the back yard. (Two 60+ Labradors, Three Days, Loads of Poo and hot sun. Talk about going above and beyond the call of duty.) I arrived home today to 7 healthy and happy animals.

People criticize the Mormon faith. They make fun of its tenets and its teachings. They call it q cult. All I can honestly say to these people is this. If a Church/Faith can instill such a sense of Love and Devotion to the world and its people, how can it be a bad thing?

Amen

The Journey Begins

     Since most of you are not aware of me and my more than interesting life, I will take a moment or three to give you some back on the strange and odd journey my exploration of religions and spirituality has been.  Hopefully that will help you all understand exactly how far I have come and how far I have to go in this journey of revelation and healing.

     Religion in its myriad shapes and forms has been a part of my life for literally longer than I can remember.  My Mom was dragging me and my siblings to church as soon as we were out of the hospital and home.  My Mom was a big believer in GOD and went to church (Pardon the pun) religiously Sunday Morning, Sunday Night, Wednesday Evening and any other day that someone might be up in the pulpit preaching. 

     I like to say that my Mom was a Church Groupie because she went to churches that had the loudest and most energetic preachers.   She’d switch churches and Sects at the drop of a Bible if someone told her that Church X had an exciting new Pastor behind the podium.  I recall that I was probably Baptized at least 6 times while I was growing up.  We were Baptists, Southern Baptists, Methodists and I think we were even briefly Episcopalians at one time as Momma jumped from Church to Church.

     So needless to say, by the time I was about sixteen and old enough to refuse to go, I had just about been churched out.   I was tired of the shouting, yelling and speaking in tongues.   I told my Mom that I wasn’t going to church with her anymore, even though I did offer to drive her to the meetings every week.  Momma took it hard, but hey I could do what I wanted to do.

     So over the next couple of decades, I pretty much ran the entire gamut of Religion.  I was briefly an Atheist; Agnostic for a long period of time, even tried my hand at certain Pagan religions like Druidism and Wicca.  Basically wound up a Deist by the end since I mostly believed in a higher power but was pretty unsure about religions in general and Christianity in particular.

     Recently my wife and I made a major leap of faith and moved from our home in Georgia to our Nation’s Capitol so that my wife could have a better job with a better future.  Financially the move made no sense, but everything seemed to be pointing us towards this so we moved.  My Wife’s best friend allowed my wife to stay with her while we looked for a new house. 

     For those who have never met her, Stephanie and her family are what I like to call the perfect examples of what good Christians should be.  They are happy, loving and almost insanely helpful.  They go out of their way to help everyone who needs their help and truly seem to care about the people around them.  They are also Mormons.  While my wife was staying with them, she was exposed to the since they work in the Spanish Wards.) and listened to their quiet but caring stories and lessons. 

     As time progressed, we both began to appreciate the incredible power of these wonderful peoples’ faith and became more and more interested in exactly what that faith was based on.  I especially identified with Joseph Smith.  We both looked at the literally hundreds of religions all around us and wondered exactly which one was right.  We both knew that all of them couldn’t be right, but we had no idea which one was the true word of God.

     Unlike Smith, I didn’t receive a revelation from God or suddenly have my doubts cast away.  Instead, I have begun a slow and sometimes frightening trek towards what I hope is the truth.  Since we made this leap of faith to move, there have been so many small signs that we are indeed on the right path.  I like to believe they are also signs that our faith is headed in the right direction.

     My journey is a slow one and I am uncertain of my final destination, but for the first time in a long time I feel I might be on the right path.  With the help of the church and its amazing members, I hope I can stay on this difficult path.

Amen