“Love one another
As I have loved you
Love one another “
This was the theme of my
younger son’s mission. He asked his six year- old sister to play this hymn and
sing it for his farewell.
This theme can be found in
other New Testament scriptures and in the Book of Mormon.
John 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.”
John 15:12- This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have
loved you.
Mosiah 4:15 But
ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach
them to love one another, and to serve one another.
We have been encouraged to learn to
be better ministers to our families, friends, and others around us this year,
and have been learning ways we can do this. I love going out to my front garden
when I know my friends are coming over and cut the dead flowers off the rose
bushes because, knowing them, they will just start helping. Sunshine, fresh
air, good conversation, and the smell of roses; what better way is there to
spend a happy hour.
My husband and I just got back from
our first real vacation in four years. We went on a river cruise from St Louis Missouri
to Nashville Tennessee. The ship, a paddle wheeler, was full of older couples like
us. The staff consisted of young adults just out of high school to early
twenties. It was fun to see the
interactions between the generations. The young people were learning to care
for and about others; and the others, mostly grandparents were enjoying being
served and cared for by such happy people. Little things happened like holding
doors open; hiding a favorite desert for someone at their table so they wouldn’t
run out; learning about families and difficult experiences to give
encouragement; helping hands for the unsteady going down the gangplank; pushing
a wheelchair for an exhausted traveler; encouraging the youth to hang in there
and don’t quit a hard job early though they thought they couldn’t follow
through.
On the last day hugs and good byes
filled the dining area.
Even the adults were anxious to help
each other. Though strangers at the beginning of the trip, there were groups of
friends at the end of the week. One woman didn’t know how to send text messages
on her new I phone. We took care of that. One man fell in the parking lot. It
took twelve people to help him up again, but they accomplished it. One person
wanted a picture of a superb quilt but didn’t have a camera. Another took one
and emailed it to her. Another found an implement to hold Hor d’oeuvres
together that she thought she could use to teach crafts to some the people with
dementia that she worked with. Every day, every meal everyone brought theirs to
her.
There are hard things you can do
like helping towns after a hurricane
There are simple things like when my
son-in law makes sandwiches for the homeless in the park he practices in.
There are kind things, like waving
to or smiling at neighbors on the street. What can you do today?
