While it's a little too early to be talking about Mother's Day, one of my favorite memories surrounding the holiday is one that my mom has shared with me. Apparently, the local paper was trying to do a piece for the upcoming Mother's Day that would include children's thoughts on why they loved their moms. I don't recall how they got my thoughts, but I apparently told them (either by writing in or being interviewed) that "I love my mom because she brings me pretzels while I watch Thunder Cats." I still love my mom for that!
Among the shows other than Thunder Cats that I would watch while snacking on pretzels brought to me by my mom was SpongeBob. In one of my favorite episodes, SpongeBob and his friend Patrick Star try to construct a stable for SpongeBob's sea horse Mystery. Mystery is eventually released back into the wild and the episode ends with Patrick repeatedly banging his head against the entrance of a hat store due the board nailed to his head. It has made me laugh nearly every time I have seen it. However, as I've aged and laughed about his stupidity, I have realized that while I haven't literally nailed a board to my head, I have figuratively found myself banging my head due to metaphorical boards at various points in my life!
There is an old adage that goes "if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got." Sometimes in life, I have found myself truly frustrated by the lack of progress that I have been making! In a feeble attempt to get things going again, I just try to do what I have been doing--but with more zeal. The problem with this, though, is there are still figurative boards attached to my head!
These figurative boards can be any number of things--sin, not getting enough sleep, not accepting personal responsibility, and etc. However, its interesting as we bang our heads as a result of these things, the natural tendency, at least for me is to just keep smacking my head rather than taking the board off at first! These times can be extremely painful and can leave us feeling hurt, bewildered, and a little bit lonely as we contemplate why we are suffering so much. If any of you are like me, you may find yourself sadly looking for excuses or places to lay the blame while continuing to smack your head. However, not surprisingly, there is something we can do to relieve this pain.
In Alma 60, we read a letter from Moroni (captain of the Nephite armies) to Pahoran (Chief Judge over the Nephites). For a little context, the Nephites have been fighting with the Lamanites and have been slowly regaining land back they lost earlier. Just when they seem to be doing well, though, the Lamanites overrun some of the recaptured Nephite cities. Moroni is irate because the army has received little help from the government and He also knows that many of the Nephites are bothered by the lack of progress the Nephite front is making. Moroni writes, "Do ye suppose God will look upon you as guiltless while sit still and behold these things? ... begin to be up and doing" (Alma 60:23-24).
I think at times, the Lord looks down and sees us smacking our heads and has to think "man, that probably hurts." However, He wants us to become and while learning this way can be painful, it is sometimes the only way we seem to learn! Moroni seems to have caught hold of this truth and while it would seem the Nephites certainly did hit their heads, Moroni's timely counsel helped them change and allowed them to go onto very quickly win back their lands. It is at times like these that we may do well to remember to be "up and doing" regarding those things we have control over!
I know the Lord loves us and wants us to succeed. I also know that a lot of times, we can be our worst enemies and not even realize it. I know that as we seek to do all that is within our power to reevaluate our lives and make changes that will allow us to progress, the Lord will help us. I know we can get where we want to go as we stop and take minute to get the boards off of our heads!
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