Every Sunday (EST) in my Google Reader, I get the newest posts on Postsecret.com (PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.)
Today this was one of the post cards.
For all the members of the church who read my blog, I'm curious as to what you would tell this person if it were someone who were close to you, admitting that they didn't believe they could be "good" or, as I'm interpreting it, faithful in living the gospel "forever". I guess I wonder what the thing or things are that are enticing him/her to think that eventually they will stray... But I guess that isn't really my business anyway.
I would tell them something along the lines of:
We will all screw up. We all make mistakes. But we have to keep going, keep trying to be the best we can be. And in the end... I don't think there will be nearly as many regrets as we imagine there will be. It will be worth it. It has to be worth it. You. Can. Do. It.
I guess I would tell them to focus on today. Can you be good/worthy/strong/faithful today? If you can do it for one day and then the next one day, and so on and so on, forever will take care of itself. Every day is a new opportunity and some days are more rife with challenges than others. Some days the desire to give in and cave is an overwhelming sensation. I've lived long enough to know those feeling pass, unless you concentrate on them and nurture them.
ReplyDeleteIf you focus on staying strong for just today and do what you can to survive the challenges this day brings, and continue to cling to faith, it'll all be good.
When those slips come, repent quickly and get back on track. Don't let that be your reason to stop trying.
I would tell them to be true to themselves above all else. And to be true to what he himself values -- not what anyone else tells him to value.
ReplyDeleteTo me that sounds like someone who is lonely, who doesn't really have friends at church and the people who do accept them are nonmembers who are choosing things that get them in trouble. I think that is a pretty common experience.
ReplyDeleteI would say: Build your relationship with your Heavenly Father, and don't worry about "being good." If you're reading your scriptures and praying, and you're building your testimony, the other stuff is all really secondary and "being good" becomes a lot easier. Talk to your Father in Heaven about this instead of random people on the Internet, and He can help you feel a sense of belonging. Often what is missing is service, I think. Serve others, and that will help a lot; it is a good distraction and it refocuses priorities well.