Sunday Snippet

Today's Sacrament Meeting topic was "Covenants". Webster made an appearance, for the first time is what has been quite a while for me - and then one speaker discussed covenants using a series of metaphors (including M16s) and the British Military Covenant:

Soldiers will be called upon to make personal sacrifices – including the ultimate sacrifice – in the service of the Nation. In putting the needs of the Nation and the Army before their own, they forego some of the rights enjoyed by those outside the Armed Forces. In return, British soldiers must always be able to expect fair treatment, to be valued and respected as individuals, and that they (and their families) will be sustained and rewarded by commensurate terms and conditions of service. In the same way the unique nature of military land operations means that the Army differs from all other institutions, and must be sustained and provided for accordingly by the Nation. This mutual obligation forms the Military Covenant between the Nation, the Army and each individual soldier; an unbreakable common bond of identity, loyalty and responsibility which has sustained the Army throughout its history. It has perhaps its greatest manifestation in the annual commemoration of Armistice Day, when the Nation keeps covenant with those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, giving their lives in action.

He spoke of this agreement being between the Crown, the public, and the soliders, and then paralleled this official covenant with the agreement that exists between God, the Church, and the Saints (regular members of the church). Substitute "saint" for "soldier", "Church" for "Army", and "God" for "Nation". There are some places to incorporate the blessings the Lord has promised the Church (I'll have to get the re-write from the speaker), and "Armistice Day" is "Easter" as the time we commemorate the Atonement of the Savior. Try reading it with those changes. Pretty cool.

Then, in Relief Society, we talked about "Charity". We started out with the teacher passing around brownies - I thoroughly enjoyed mine, knowing that there'd probably be some kind of object lesson, or reason I shouldn't have eaten it right off... and the teacher goes on to say that she woke up in a panic this morning because she hadn't gotten any chocolate for the lesson, and so she made brownies since she wasn't going to go to the store. The End. (It's good to know about these little traditions from ward to ward... heh.)

Right at the end she asked the class about experiences we'd had with charity, and I thought about my experience teaching at Brighton. Sure, I got paid - but the money in no way covered the actual time and effort I put into that job. Bottom line was that I was doing the job as a service to my friend (and to some extent the students)... and the real benefit I saw (today, in thinking about it) was that I learned what I was capable of. I found, through service, that I could do and be more than I had thought possible. So when we smile at people in the store even though we're feeling very grumpy, when we suppress road rage and let another car in even when we're in a hurry, when we help someone else even though we feel we don't have the time to accomplish even what we need to do... that's the chance to be more than we were. And that's really what charity (the Pure Love of Christ) will do for us.