on my (mormon) mind

I have something to say share.  And it's not in response to anyone or anything.  Really.  It's just something I've been thinking about a lot lately...  Let me preface by saying that I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  A Mormon.  Have been my whole life.  And it's been a good life!  And I owe that to the gospel :)

The gospel is true.  The gospel is perfect.  We, as a people, are not perfect.  Far from it, actually.  We make mistakes, just like anyone else does.  Certainly, no one is better than their neighbor.  We are all the same.  We are brothers and sisters.  Our Father and Mother in Heaven, know us and love us.  Jesus Christ is our Savior and our Redeemer.  Yes, we're Christian!  I believe happiness comes through following the commandments.  But, we are free to make our own choices.  Nonetheless, just as I remind my son every day, we need to make good choices.  No one forces us, not even God.  And certainly not Lucifer.  As free agents, we have sole responsibility of our souls.  Through the Atonement, and by the grace of God, our souls can be made perfect.  I look forward to that day.

It is not our place to judge others.  And for that, I am extremely grateful!  That job is God's, and His alone.  What a relief!  But, we do need to love one another.  As (Gay) Mormon Guy puts it: "I used to love people less because they didn't love people as much or as freely as I did. Then I realized how incredibly ironic my feelings were. I was judging the people around me because they were judging others, and refusing to tolerate them because they were intolerant. That sounds like circular logic. I looked inside myself and realized that I, like they, needed to simply love people - even the people who didn't love me or tolerate me and who judged me without context - and help them to make good decisions. But, no matter what choices others eventually made, I still needed to love them."

And that is my goal in this life.  To love everyone.  My family.  My friends.  And my enemies.  Though I hope to have more friends than foes...  Because, I really like people!  And I hope they like me, too.  Me, the Mormon.  *B