My friend, Jacqui, sent me this email today about her experience at church recently:
Today in Sacrament we listened to 6 men they wore short haircuts and white shirts with colorful ties, they smiled and joked. They looked like you and me but this was a sacrament meeting unlike any other I have ever attended and one of the most sobering times I think I shall ever experience but also one of the most spiritual times I shall ever encounter.
Within our ward boundaries we have a drug rehabilitation center called the Renaissance Ranch. People come from all over the country to attend, but all are members of the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Days Saints. For an hour and a half our family and others listened to these men young and old confess that they were all recovering drug addicts and alcoholics.
You might think that these men were what you would consider your stereotypical drug addicts from broken homes and not very educated but they weren’t. These were men, who had been successful in their lives, who had been bishops son’s and had served missions, been sealed in the temple and had loving parents. As we listened they spoke to us of the devastation that drug addiction had played in their lives and how it has damaged their families. They spoke of what had brought them to this point and they also spoke of how the atonement was what had finally brought them home.
Our first young man spoke of how he had been in a family that looked perfect from outside but was emotionally distant within, though they attended church, they were unhappy as a family.
Our second young man from Arizona spoke of how he had served a mission, he was one of five kids and had loving parents but he also spoke of the expectations that come from being a latter day saint and how we are often given the message to be perfect and how often we are judged by those around us if we get it wrong and how we feel we sometimes cant live up to those expectations, so we live a lie. This young guy spoke of how he and his counselor wrote on a stick it note “today is the day I begin to live real.”
Are you living real? Are you happy with your life? Are you being really who you are? These were all questions he asked us. We aren’t expected to be perfect. Begin today by living real, being honest and open about what you really are.
Our third guy who spoke to us, he too had served a mission and had a good career, been married within the temple , he had a beautiful family with four children, he was sixty days clean, he had just two years ago began using drugs by the time he arrived at the renaissance ranch he was a heroin addict. He said he felt worthless till he was able to put the atonement within his life.
You see, yesterday I realized the power the atonement really has within our lives. These men told us that they had been to hell and back literally that they had done things that they were so ashamed of, that it was only through the atonement of Jesus Christ that they could stand before us and truly know they were forgiven.
Our last man who stood before us was not young, he was graying around the temples, he was older than the others, he looked like he had been here before but one thing he said touched everyone, he said “help someone around you who is struggling and help yourself in the process.”
I looked at my children today and wondered what lessons could be learnt from these men and the other recovering addicts that have passed through our ward this past year. I think the words that were spoken rang loudly in my ears; it’s okay to be you, to make mistakes. Today is the day we can all begin living real, the day we can use the Saviors atonement within our lives.
Today is the day we can look around us and realize we are all part of the same family and that when we help those around us suffering we help ourselves. I felt inspired to share this experience; it certainly made me think of what is real in my life. I hope you can for a moment ponder on what is real in your life and then if you feel someone else may benefit from reading this… PAY IT FORWARD.
Jacqui
I don’t think she meant to start an email chain by that last line. But I posted it because I thought it was a good point about being judgemental, (critical, if you will) even within our own families.
Recently, we had a family over for dinner and the husband made a comment that I found interesting. He told me, “I’m glad you talk to me.” Then he explained that he’s a friendly person and says “hi” to people who pass him. In his experience, he’s found that many women shrink away, especially if they see that he has a wedding ring. It’s as if because he’s wearing a ring, he shouldn’t talk to women other than his wife (um, what country do we live in?) or that means they’re going to have an affair. That broke my heart to think that a nice guy is getting treated that way because of a snap judgement being made. He doesn’t seem creepy or look weird – I’d understand if people were apprehensive if he were, although that wouldn’t be an acceptable excuse.
I wish more people would just be niiiice to everyone.
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