Eureka!

Friday I finished the last of the 1971 conference talks. Only 49 more years to go! 

(By the time I get there, another four to seven years will have passed, but that's okay. I know.)

The plan is feeling better, because of two things that have happened along the way.

One is that I am finding lots of inspiration. It may not be directly related to what I am reading, but it still works. Maybe one talk will have an anecdote or a key word that will lead to another thought, and then it connects to something else.

I should mention that right now I am getting a lot of ideas and insights in general. I have cleared room for it, and put myself in a position for it, so it could make sense that almost anything would contribute. I also don't think it is random, though, because reading old conference talks was a thing that I specifically thought I should do.

In addition, I am relieved to find that I don't hate all of the talks. Some of them are really good, which makes me more hopeful that as I get into the 90s I will not find myself hating talks that meant a lot to me the first time around.

The post title comes from a realization as I was thinking about some of those talks. I realized that the talks that inspire and comfort me have in common the sharing of personal experiences and faith. The talks that anger me are pretty consistently based on assumptions about the experiences of others. 

I thought I was bothered by how judgmental the talks were. That is part of it, but exacerbated because the judgments are ill-informed and wrong.

It is not surprising that someone born and raised in a good church family in Utah in the 70s might not have great insight into drug addiction or people who believe in God more as a presence than as a person, or a host of other things. I can also acknowledge that some of the things happening on the outside would have looked threatening and scary. If you know chastity is important, and suddenly your church is the last one that still believes in it, that could seem dire. Also, women want to work and wear pants!

When I don't know something, I believe in trying to learn about it. The problem here is when you don't know that you don't know, especially when you are sure that you do know. It is much easier to be able to hear and read about other people and their lives now, fifty years later.

I remember years and years ago, being with some really good members looking at the news about a serial killer who was targeting prostitutes. (It was almost certainly the Green River Killer.) I remember her saying that it looked like someone decided to clean up the streets.

It bothered me, but there was a level at which I believed - based on other observed behavior - that if she was actually dealing with a prostitute, she would be kind. 

It was still a twisted way to believe. It does not acknowledge the realities of sex workers or serial killers. It wasn't a mindset that would make the world a safer or kinder place.

The Bible tells us of Jesus dining with publicans and sinners. We know he taught them, but I believe he also listened to them, and understood them.

When we are looking out at the world as a scary, evil place, we are not understanding it. That severely limits the good we can do for it.