Robert writes home #97 22 June 1997
22 June 1997
Dear Mother:
We're into the quiet zone of summer. However, we're going to Idaho next week to visit Mary and Jeff and their girls. Then we're planning to swing back through Tremonton and pick up Melinda's oldest two daughters, Rachel and Tess, and bring them back for a visit.
Janet and the boys had a yard sale in town with a friend last Friday and Saturday. They seemed to have fun and got a few dollars for their efforts.
Last night the boys went to Merced to a stake dance. Charlie had a vacation from his bee job last week, so Janet has been working him and Sam pretty good here at home.
Charlie won a 3 month membership at the racquet club in LB. He went in a played racquet ball with his friends last week. I hope you're doing well.
Love,
Robert, Janet, Charlie and Sam.
PS Here's another little essay:
Once, as I was watching my son's baseball game, he was playing third baseman when the batter hit a hard ground ball to him. It was the kind of a hit that he had practiced for and worried about fumbling. He ran forward with quick response, scooped the ball perfectly, aware that the runner was heading for home plate from third, he threw the ball hard to the catcher thinking to throw low to the catcher so he wouldn't have to reach far to put the runner out. Unfortunately, the throw was too low, and a little wild. The runner scored. The batter got on base. The perfect catch of the hard hit line drive to third was of little significance because he didn't follow it with a good throw to the catcher.
There's an analogy to be drawn here. In our lives charity is alot like the throw to the base to put the runner out. The apostle Paul said, in 1 Corinthians 13, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. And thought I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing." If you don't couple your good works and accomplishments with charity, it doesn't work in terms of the long range outcome.
Too often I find myself not thinking about desiring the welfare of the people affected by the actions I'm involved in when I do things, and until I can get that frame of mind in all my actions, I don't feel like I'm a candidate to live in a celestial society. It's like feeling charity is not something you can make happen just because you want it to. I think some people find this discouraging and they tend to despair that they will never make it be a naturally occurring part of them. It's my personal opinion that feeling charity is either a gift that comes after you prove yourself by being charitable out of duty, whether you feel like doing it or not; or it comes when you get your spirit in harmony with Heavenly Father sufficiently that the holy Ghost can fill your being with his influence. Either way, the proper course of action is to "fake it" if you can't feel it and just do it out of duty and love of God until you finally receive the gift and can feel it. But, it's the Spirit that makes everything we do in the church meaningful...It's the difference between genealogy being a pride motivated search for roots, identity and enhancement of self image; or a labor of love performed to give access to the saving ordinances to those who didn't have that opportunity in mortality. It's the key to a Celestial society.
Dear Mother:
We're into the quiet zone of summer. However, we're going to Idaho next week to visit Mary and Jeff and their girls. Then we're planning to swing back through Tremonton and pick up Melinda's oldest two daughters, Rachel and Tess, and bring them back for a visit.
Janet and the boys had a yard sale in town with a friend last Friday and Saturday. They seemed to have fun and got a few dollars for their efforts.
Last night the boys went to Merced to a stake dance. Charlie had a vacation from his bee job last week, so Janet has been working him and Sam pretty good here at home.
Charlie won a 3 month membership at the racquet club in LB. He went in a played racquet ball with his friends last week. I hope you're doing well.
Love,
Robert, Janet, Charlie and Sam.
PS Here's another little essay:
Once, as I was watching my son's baseball game, he was playing third baseman when the batter hit a hard ground ball to him. It was the kind of a hit that he had practiced for and worried about fumbling. He ran forward with quick response, scooped the ball perfectly, aware that the runner was heading for home plate from third, he threw the ball hard to the catcher thinking to throw low to the catcher so he wouldn't have to reach far to put the runner out. Unfortunately, the throw was too low, and a little wild. The runner scored. The batter got on base. The perfect catch of the hard hit line drive to third was of little significance because he didn't follow it with a good throw to the catcher.
There's an analogy to be drawn here. In our lives charity is alot like the throw to the base to put the runner out. The apostle Paul said, in 1 Corinthians 13, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. And thought I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing." If you don't couple your good works and accomplishments with charity, it doesn't work in terms of the long range outcome.
Too often I find myself not thinking about desiring the welfare of the people affected by the actions I'm involved in when I do things, and until I can get that frame of mind in all my actions, I don't feel like I'm a candidate to live in a celestial society. It's like feeling charity is not something you can make happen just because you want it to. I think some people find this discouraging and they tend to despair that they will never make it be a naturally occurring part of them. It's my personal opinion that feeling charity is either a gift that comes after you prove yourself by being charitable out of duty, whether you feel like doing it or not; or it comes when you get your spirit in harmony with Heavenly Father sufficiently that the holy Ghost can fill your being with his influence. Either way, the proper course of action is to "fake it" if you can't feel it and just do it out of duty and love of God until you finally receive the gift and can feel it. But, it's the Spirit that makes everything we do in the church meaningful...It's the difference between genealogy being a pride motivated search for roots, identity and enhancement of self image; or a labor of love performed to give access to the saving ordinances to those who didn't have that opportunity in mortality. It's the key to a Celestial society.
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