no. 4

Last to stand was Cesar, who talked about being converted a year ago by his son and daughter-in-law because "they saw something in me I didn't see". He said there are no perfect families, but when we follow the recipe of OBEY-LOVE-FORGIVE-PRAY we change lives. He said his life was changed because he was forgiven and loved even when he didn't deserve it.

Cesar is a personal friend of mine.

no. 5

"Small Kindnesses"
a poem by Danusha Laméris 

I’ve been thinking about the way, when you walk
down a crowded aisle, people pull in their legs
to let you by. Or how strangers still say “bless you”
when someone sneezes, a leftover
from the Bubonic plague. “Don’t die,” we are saying.
And sometimes, when you spill lemons
from your grocery bag, someone else will help you
pick them up. Mostly, we don’t want to harm each other.
We want to be handed our cup of coffee hot,
and to say thank you to the person handing it. To smile
at them and for them to smile back. For the waitress
to call us honey when she sets down the bowl of clam chowder,
and for the driver in the red pick-up truck to let us pass.
We have so little of each other, now. So far
from tribe and fire. Only these brief moments of exchange.
What if they are the true dwelling of the holy, these
fleeting temples we make together when we say, “Here,
have my seat,” “Go ahead—you first,” “I like your hat.”

no. 6

E M P A T H Y

“When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don’t blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce. Yet if we have problems with our friends or family, we blame the other person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like the lettuce. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and argument. That is my experience. No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding. If you understand, and you show that you understand, you can love, and the situation will change.” -Thich Nhat Hanh, At Home in the World: Stories and Essential Teachings From a Monk's Life

no. 7

"Being mistreated is the most important condition in mortality,

for eternity itself depends on how we view those who mistreat us."

-James L. Ferrell, The Peacegiver: How Christ Offers to Heal Our Hearts and Homes

In the Book of Mormon chapter heading for 1 Nephi 7, it says

They bind him with cords and plan his destruction—He is freed by the power of faith—His brethren ask for forgiveness

in that order. It stuck out to me that mistreated Nephi experienced freedom before he received forgiveness. There must be a way to feel free and full of faith no matter what people ever decide to give you. Reading between the lines, personal freedom isn't contingent on mean people waking up and realizing they are mean.

no. 8

"The [good] Samaritan rescued someone

who might not have done the same

if the tables had been turned.

The Savior asks us to go and do likewise."

-Carolina Núñez, "Loving Our Neighbors", BYU Devotional given September 18, 2018.

Photo quote from Luke 10:37