My Mormon Third Eye: I See... The Perfect Service Storm!

Sunday, August 2, 2015

I See... The Perfect Service Storm!

God designed us to serve others. He has found complete and endless happiness in serving all His children, and He knows that we too can enjoy similar blessings in the support we provide to others. Hence, He has planted within all of us an inner yearning to serve. The drive to make others happy reaps blessings in our own lives.

That natural drive to reap the personal blessings of serving others runs strong and deep in the Mormon Third Eye. Over the decades I have secretly coveted specific opportunities to serve certain segments of the church population, and can bin them into three broad categories: the youth (YM/YW/YSA), the extremely young (Primary), and the extremely old (our ancestors). Serving these subsets of God's children keeps me connected to Him in miraculous ways.

Different seasons of life have delivered different opportunities to engage with these three populations. Sunday afternoon daydreams are often filled with an array of imaginary and sometimes borderline outrageous blends of schedules and activities that permit me to serve all of them simultaneously. What would THAT be like? I'm afraid I would be unable to contain all the blessings that would flow my way and spiritually explode! Actually, there is precedence for this worry in a previous MTE post, which you can read about here.

A couple of weekends ago my wildest dreams came true- the perfect service storm! After spending a week with the youth of our stake in Palmyra, New York....

I then filled my Saturday morning shift at the temple...

A side view of the Raleigh North Carolina Temple, including a view of the spire and the trees on the temple grounds.

And the next day, in Primary, they let me substitute for a vacationing primary teacher!

Four young boys and five young girls sit around a table and color a picture during a Primary class with the teacher at the head of the table.

Does life get any better than this? I think not!

1 comment:

BrittAugust 2, 2015 at 3:01 PM
Careful brother. You don't want to have too much fun. ;-)
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The Mormon Third Eye Quote of the Week

"As men of the priesthood, we have an essential role to play in society, at home, and in the Church. But we must be men that women can trust, that children can trust, and that God can trust. In the Church and kingdom of God in these latter days, we cannot afford to have boys and men who are drifting. We cannot afford young men who lack self-discipline and live only to be entertained. We cannot afford young adult men who are going nowhere in life, who are not serious about forming families and making a real contribution in this world. We cannot afford husbands and fathers who fail to provide spiritual leadership in the home."

Elder D. Todd Christofferson
Priesthood Session Conference, October 2012

Why My Mormon Third Eye?

When I politely excused myself in the middle of dinner to make a bathroom stop, how did Mom know that I had uneaten peas in my pocket to flush down the toilet? When I came home late from a youth dance and slid quietly into bed to avoid waking parental units, how did Dad know, without looking at the car, that I smashed in the front bumper? When I watch my daughter play a video game, how do I know that she's not ready for her Geometry final?

Its the Third Eye. The notorious eye in the back of the head, the extra view of life that God blesses parents striving to do the right thing so they can see more of life than the children they chase after.

Our third eye also permits us to see things and feel emotions that are too refined, too far on the edge of our standard two-eyed peripheral vision to enjoy in its fullness. I've learned that I have a Mormon Third Eye; that is, as a life-long, fully-dedicated member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I have unique perspective on how the doctrines of the gospel and the demands of my faith in them intersect every other part of my mortal existence to create the entertaining, self-deprecating kaleidoscope of my life.

So... for those of you bold and bored enough to read this far, every so often I'll be sharing here what my Mormon third eye sees. Third eyes are relatively huge; they see the humorous, the entertaining, the embarrassing, the beautiful, the inspirational, and even the moral and political; however, they tend to ignore the evil, depressing and destructive: there is enough of that in world already!

The Four Secrets to Successful Living

Always Go Where There is Free Food - This includes ward and work parties, wedding receptions and missionary open houses; the money you spend to buy the ingredients for the world-famous triple chocolate cake you bring doesn’t count.
Never Pay Full Price for Anything – See my posts on Black Friday escapades for more information on this.
Never, Ever Press the Red Button - Usually, if you are faced with a red button somewhere, don’t press it – it usually means trouble. For example, the red button launches the missiles. Do yourself a favor and don’t press it.
Any Problem You Face Can Be Solved With Bungee Cords and Duct Tape - Bungee cord and duct tape technology has saved many marriages and ward parties. I’m not just talking about problems with plumbing or keeping groceries from bouncing around the trunk; I know of relationship and family issues that have been solved with creative applications of these two substances.

Sunday, August 2, 2015

I See... The Perfect Service Storm!

1 comment:

The Mormon Third Eye Quote of the Week

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