The feelings of my heart
This is a personal post. I rarely share my feelings in public like this, but I feel that I need to; if only for my own aching soul.
I deplore the way we are treating others and conducting ourselves. Shootings at schools, churches, and other gatherings of people. Screaming at one another, rather than conversing and listening. Treating each other with disdain when we don't agree on something. Verbally bludgeoning people in an effort to prove a point of view, belief, or opinion.
We can't keep doing this.
We can't keep treating each other as the enemy. There is no endgame that does not end in our own destruction. Destruction of ourselves, our families, our communities, and our nations.
Some may say that we need to tear into our "enemies" that live in our communities, because it will be better afterwards. That the price of destroying another group of people is worth the gain.
I don't see it.
They leave destruction in their wake when they impose themselves on others and a massive shambles when they are eventually halted or overthrown. Everyone pays a severe price for decades.
I ache watching what it is doing to people. I ache watching it shatter what were once loving relationships into anger and bitterness. Each person feeling they are right and their cause is just, so they can say terrible things to the other without remorse.
I'm not immune to feeling angry or bitter. I'm often very frustrated and upset. I don't like how it makes me feel. To counteract those feelings I try to love and respect others the best I can. Imperfectly, yes, but I do the best I am capable of. If a cutting thought comes to mind, I don't say it. If I'm uncomfortable with something about a person, I try very hard to accept it and not let it show. If I disagree, I don't try to tear the other person down or apart. I'm not perfect at it by a long ways, but I'm working at getting better at it.
A couple of days ago, President Russell M. Nelson passed away. He was the leader of the church I belong to and a man who I believe was a prophet of God. In April 2023, one of his teachings had a strong impact on me. He called on us to become peacemakers. He was clear in his invitation.
"Now is the time to lay aside bitterness. Now is the time to cease insisting that it is your way or no way. Now is the time to stop doing things that make others walk on eggshells for fear of upsetting you. Now is the time to bury your weapons of war. If your verbal arsenal is filled with insults and accusations, now is the time to put them away. You will arise as a spiritually strong man or woman of Christ."
He repeated this call two years later in April 2025. While I don't think I had huge problems with acting badly towards others, his words made me think about how I could do better in my thoughts and feelings. I'm still a work in progress.
You may not believe that he was a prophet. You may not believe in Jesus Christ. I understand and respect that. But surely his invitation sounds far better than living a life full of bitterness at others. His words echoed the far more direct call from Jesus Christ himself, when he instructed his disciples on how they should treat others.
John Chapter 13
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
The greatest individual that so many follow called us to love each other as he loved us. Please, let's turn away from the path we are on. Let's do far better at following this admonition. Life is hard enough without us tearing each other apart.
Is being "right" worth being miserable and making others miserable too?
Doesn't a world with more love for each other sound better than where we are now?
I may not be able to change the course of communities, nations, or the world, but I can choose to try to live with more compassion, charity, and love for others. The same choice is there for all of us.