Later that same day, I came across something else that this former companion of mine had written. This time, his comments told of the beer he had just consumed and his picks for his "five best beers."
It did not take me long to discover that he has gone totally inactive in the Church.
I was shocked and disappointed. How could someone who I worked side by side with so dilligently for all of those months have come to this? I wondered. How could a person who had given his life to serve the Church totally given up on it?Since this little incident, I have done quite a bit of pondering about the "straight and narrow path" that is discussed in the scriptures and the reasons why so many people wander off of it. Some of the questions that I have tried to answer include:
What kinds of things am I doing to make sure that this doesn't happen to me? Just how converted am I to the gospel? Is it enough to pray and read the scriptures every day and attend Sunday meetings? Or do we have to be even stronger than that?
Your comments and thoughts on this issue, if you would like to share any, would be much appreciated.
In the meantime, I am including my former companion in my prayers, and I will write his name on the temple roll later this week when I visit. I have faith that he will remember the good person he was and still is - though he seems to have forgotten it for now - and return to the Church someday.
6 comments:
Good post Jonny! I think staying on the straight and narrow does require more than praying and reading every day, and more than just attending Sunday meetings. We all have a choice of putting more lightness or more darkness in our lives and the more light we have the better whatever that light is that brings us closer to the path.
I don't know what it takes to drift away, lose a testimony, become inactive, etc., because I've never been anywhere close, but I have heard several bishops say that their first indication every time that someone was in danger was when they stopped saying personal prayer or taking personal scripture study time.
Timely post Jon. My response became too long for a comment and so I just posted about it. Seeing dear mission friends struggle really is cause for an examination of our own lives... Thank you for your thoughts.
great post. I think some people tend to go on missions for the wrong reasons (expectations, parental pressure, etc). I am glad President Hinkley was inspired to raise the bar. Missionaries go out young enough that they might rely heavily on others' testimony to get them through. When they get home and are a little older, their testimony doesn't have enough of a foundation and they fall away. You are right. Each member needs to search within ourselves to make sure our testimony has a solid foundation.
Hmm, I had a similar experience this week. I looked up two old friends from high school and found them in the "eat, drink, get tattooed, and be merry" category. I actually mourned for them (even though they are "HAPPY"). They split with the Church over feminism. You know, agency is an amazing gift, and with it we show who we really are and what we really love. Great post, Jon.
That "simple little path" is the hardest one we will ever be on and it is very easy to find ourselves moving towards the edge and then before we know it, we've left the path. we tell ourselves we're right next to it and could go back at any time, but we slowly wander farther and farther away. it's a lot of work and needs a good support system and good friends.
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