Description

It is a Serious Thing

This next story is out of the norm for me, but for some reason it has attached itself to my mind and won’t let go. I believe that most people are pretty fragile. I mean by that they can be hurt, offended, or emotionally damaged quite easily. Hence, the great care we need to exercise in dealing with each other. Let me share an example.

Many years ago there was a young man, not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints. He was painfully shy and socially awkward and wanted nothing more than to belong and have friends. What added more to his difficulty was that he was new to the community and school and knew virtually no one.

Then one day he was approached by some boys from the local Latter-day Saint ward that he lived in. They asked him, if he would like to go with them on an overnight scout outing. He was
so excited for the opportunity. He packed carefully the night before and could hardly sleep. They had told him that they would pick him up well before dawn the next morning.

He was up early with all of his gear on the living room floor waiting. The time came when they were to pick him up and no one came. He figured they were just late and would be along shortly.
But they didn’t come. As the night hours drew along, his heart sank. Had they accidentally forgotten him or was it just a cruel joke that boys would play. He stayed there on the sofa, finally drifting off to a sad slumber just as the sun rose. No one ever came. No one ever apologized or even acknowledged the broken promise.

He was deeply hurt and never forgot it. Later, when local members came and asked him to be baptized, he was angry and rejected their invitation outright.

It would take several more years, going away to college, and finding friends who were true and patient before the lad’s heart was softened, and he was taught and baptized.

I was that angry lad. In the years since that broken promise I have forgiven those who hurt me. I have told myself that they just forgot and meant no hurt nor harm. That experience was one of many that taught me to be careful with people’s feelings for we never know what eternal consequences may be invoked by our words and actions. This thought by C.S. Lewis presses itself upon me. He said:

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship…. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all of our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit”