Human Relationships

Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 125. It is a very short section that asks the Saints in Iowa to gather in Nauvoo. I can't even imagine how hard it must have been during those days to just have to pick up and leave your home and move to a whole new state. And some of the Saints in those days did it multiple times in their lives.

I remember once as a youth when I was being taught about the early Saints and how they had to move around a lot and give up all their worldly goods. I remember my teacher asking us all what we would miss the most if we had to do the same thing as those Saints. I remember nothing seemed terribly important to me so I answered I would miss my bed the most. I would indeed miss my bed if I were forced to get rid of all my earthly possessions but it could be replaced. All earthly possessions could be replaced, a fact the Saints came to know very well.

I am glad that the command to gather together in a physical location other than our own ward or branch has been removed and we no longer need to "come to Zion" in a physical sense. However, as you all know very well, we still need to come to Zion in a spiritual sense and we need to grow together as a people. The reason the Saints were able to accomplish so much in those days and overcome such adversity as they did is largely due to the support they offered each other. At least that is my opinion. Most, if not all of you, are familiar with the phrase "no man is an island". For most of my teenage years I did my best to disprove that statement. I would go out with my friends and spend time with them and I had a very good time, but when something rough would come along, I did my best to cope with it on my own and not my friends or my family were much help to me, mostly due to my not allowing them to be.

We all stand in need of comfort and support at times. The reason we have families in this life is so that we can have that support and a steady source of comfort to turn to. My daughter is just about 8 months old and it just amazes me how if she is upset or overtired or scared or any other emotion other than happy, she immediately stops what she is doing and crawls over to her mother or to me and just wants to be held. There is something very comforting that all humans need in touch and contact with other humans. It is amazing that babies are instinctively born with it. But somewhere along the way, machoness, for lack of a better term, sets in and we think we can do it all on our own. We don't need or want anyone to help us. We want to be self made men and women. Such thinking is not only very silly it is fatally flawed. No one does anything on their own in this life. Heavenly Father is always helping us and doing what He deems best to help us accomplish our worthy goals.

All human relationships, even the unhealthy ones, are give and take. Even in an abusive relationship, the abuser needs the emotions of the other person. Now, luckily in most cases the emotions most of us are seeking are healthy and happy emotions. We are designed to be this way and one of the most important things we do in this life is learn to master those emotions so that we control them and not vice versa. Although the Lord can help us quite a bit in this area, as with all areas we need help in, I have found the most help I've gotten in this regard has actually come from my wife and to a lesser extent because she has been around less time, my daughter. As I interact with my family, I am forced into situations that I would easily avoid if it were my friends or even other members of my family. But I cannot avoid my wife and daughter and I have to respond in appropriate ways and it helps me to learn and grow.

I hope all your relationships with your fellow men and women are healthy ones and that they can help you progress just as much as you help them progress. Even people who treat you poorly are helping you to grow as they give you even more opportunity to act in a Christlike manner. It is hard to remember that in the heat of the moment though. But practice makes perfect. Until tomorrow.