I spent my Easter driving my (younger) children to the LDS Church and dropping them off at the curb because (like a non-Mormon visiting the temple), I'm not allowed by the LDS Church to step foot on LDS property ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. There my children joined their mother and older siblings (without me). I made the 14-mile round trip, then received word from them that my oldest son refused to go inside because he didn't have the right SOCKS.
That's right. Jesus hung on the cross STARK NAKED and walked out of the tomb BAREFOOT on Easter morn. But my son didn't have the right SOCKS so he wouldn't go to church. (He likes to wear NIKE socks.) His mother asked me to bring him A PAIR OF SOCKS. Would I make the 14-mile drive again?
I found only ONE Nike sock at home. So I left it there and drove to church with ANOTHER pair (one of my own, which I no longer wear since I don't don the church's "uniform" anymore).
When I got to church, I found my son RIDING HIS BIKE, jumping the curbs of the church parking lot, wearing shorts and a ratty, "casual" shirt (like he was visiting a skate park!) -- not the "Easter Sunday" clothes I expected him to be wearing. "I don't like to go to church," he said. He REJECTED the socks I offered him. (Admittedly, they were "dress" socks. He was wearing one black "Nike" sock on one foot and NO SOCK on the other! This was "acceptable" to him!)
I drove all the way home AGAIN -- rather than attend church (as I wanted to) with my family.
"Church" had been turned into a "fashion show". A "wrestle" over socks, rather than worship of God.
I took the sacrament at home alone -- and choked on the words "WE ask thee...." (Who are "we"?) "...to the SOULS of all those...." (I'm the only "soul" here!) "...that THEY may eat...." (Who's "they"?) "...that THEY are willing to take upon themselves...." (I'm all alone here!)
Clearly the sacrament was MEANT to be taken in company with others.
I am aware of a "friend" who lives EVERY DAY alone. He dwells in filth. His house is a cesspool. His hygiene (or lack thereof) is so vile that NO ONE wants to get within 20 feet of him. (He stinks!)
Do I treat him like this? Yes, I do. I "banish" him from my life. I do not succor him -- as these "Mormons" banish and do not succor me. My "judgment" is just. It is being done unto me even as I am doing unto him. The only way I can rid myself of my stain is do unto him as I would have done unto me!
I don't WANT to be his friend! He is filthy, feces covered, and vile in every way!
But so am I, apparently (to some).
Sunday, April 16, 2017
The jungle gym
A boy at school injured himself while climbing on a massive jungle gym installed decades earlier. He had thought to stand at the very top: a place so precarious and frightening that hardly anyone dared make the attempt. But the boy regarded it as a worthy effort, even an adventure!
While climbing, he gashed his leg on a broken feature sticking out of the equipment, a deficiency few had discovered and no one else could see looking from the bottom. (None of those who ran the school dared climb the jungle gym themselves.) Writhing in pain and becoming distracted, the boy lost his grip and fell all the way to the bottom.
On his own, he made his way to the school nurse and explained to her what had happened. She insisted, however, that it WASN'T the jungle gym's fault! "You shouldn't have been climbing there! It was YOU who slipped! The jungle gym isn't broken! It's YOU!"
She had never seen such an injury before. Swooning at the sight of so much blood, she foolishly suggested that a tourniquet and amputation were the only acceptable remedies. The boy vehemently protested. He said the gash was deep, but in no wise irreparable. The injury would heal with proper treatment. The boy, not wishing to see others suffer his fate, endeavored to warn them about the broken jungle gym.
But his pleas were ignored by those who could see nothing wrong from where they stood. The fault was the boy's.
The nurse told the principal what the boy had said. The principal expelled the boy for his "misconduct" and banished him from the school grounds (so he couldn't tell others what had happened to him).
The boy received no treatment for his injuries from the school nurse or the school, but was left to heal on his own. The pain and suffering he experienced were intense! He not only suffered his injury, but "lost" nearly ALL of his schoolyard friends! Plus he could no longer play on the playground equipment he so much enjoyed. Not to mention the rigor and discipline of attending school with others.
He was on his own now.
But the jungle gym was still broken.
While climbing, he gashed his leg on a broken feature sticking out of the equipment, a deficiency few had discovered and no one else could see looking from the bottom. (None of those who ran the school dared climb the jungle gym themselves.) Writhing in pain and becoming distracted, the boy lost his grip and fell all the way to the bottom.
On his own, he made his way to the school nurse and explained to her what had happened. She insisted, however, that it WASN'T the jungle gym's fault! "You shouldn't have been climbing there! It was YOU who slipped! The jungle gym isn't broken! It's YOU!"
She had never seen such an injury before. Swooning at the sight of so much blood, she foolishly suggested that a tourniquet and amputation were the only acceptable remedies. The boy vehemently protested. He said the gash was deep, but in no wise irreparable. The injury would heal with proper treatment. The boy, not wishing to see others suffer his fate, endeavored to warn them about the broken jungle gym.
But his pleas were ignored by those who could see nothing wrong from where they stood. The fault was the boy's.
The nurse told the principal what the boy had said. The principal expelled the boy for his "misconduct" and banished him from the school grounds (so he couldn't tell others what had happened to him).
The boy received no treatment for his injuries from the school nurse or the school, but was left to heal on his own. The pain and suffering he experienced were intense! He not only suffered his injury, but "lost" nearly ALL of his schoolyard friends! Plus he could no longer play on the playground equipment he so much enjoyed. Not to mention the rigor and discipline of attending school with others.
He was on his own now.
But the jungle gym was still broken.
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