08-11-2010, 03:52 PM | #1 |
Demiurge
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 36,367
|
Fallen missionaries
I recently found a missionary I served with on facebook. He was a great guy, very serious about missionary work, dedicated, selfless. Somewhat quiet, but I would have gone to war with him.
I don't know if disappointment is the right word. If staying active in the church is a mark of having "survived", then this is a battlefield strewn with dead bodies. Friends, family, everyone. Nothing is a surprise anymore. Someday I may see him and say, of all people, I thought you would have been with us. Not in chastisement or anger. But the disappointment of not going to war with the brothers you have loved. |
08-11-2010, 11:50 PM | #2 |
house-elf 3rd class
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 386
|
Sometimes I imagine that this is what it must have felt like to land at Normandy where you are trying to press forward seeing others get blow away, stopping to take account of your own wounds and thinking "therefore by the grace of God go I".
I have a great deal of empathy for people who at one point had strong testimonies and later changed their views and positions. While I was young, dumb, and much more judgmental I struggled to see how it could happen. Now, I worry that it could ever happen to me.
__________________
<---- Mikewaters drives the lane... |
08-12-2010, 04:40 AM | #3 |
Demiurge
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 36,367
|
It's also interesting why some people come back to the church, after long absences.
One guy in my ward came back because his nonmember wife pushed him to get their family involved in a church, she gave the LDS church a try and was converted, perhaps moreso than him. Another guy came back. When asked why, said, "You know why. Because it's true." We should create worship communities where people feel valued and welcomes, and the experience is such that their is joy in fellowship. Where friendships grow in number and strength. Easier said than done. |
08-12-2010, 01:13 PM | #4 |
Assistant to the Regional Manager
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: The Orgasmatron
Posts: 24,338
|
Well, there are many reasons why people stay, leave and return. As your second post suggests, we should improve our community so the disenfranchised wish to stay or return.
__________________
Ἓν οἶδα ὅτι οὐδὲν οἶδα |
08-12-2010, 06:23 PM | #5 |
I must not tell lies
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,103
|
Many people age 15-25 (give or take) join a church for social reasons. Some of them are converted; some see a mission as no more than a Peace Corps-esque worthwhile activity, and never truly separate the gospel from their personal wants.
These days, learning that someone who was active then but is a clubber now is nothing new; his gratification is the same, just at a different venue. |
08-12-2010, 11:51 PM | #6 |
Assistant to the Regional Manager
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: The Orgasmatron
Posts: 24,338
|
Some suffer disillusionment in life, loss of loved ones, illness, loss of job and assets, find disturbing aspects about the organization or its members or a collection of all of those things.
It's much easier living a life as a missionary, when you don't worry about finances, relationships, function within the ward or other matters. You come to serve and you become a somebody, even if you were a nobody beforehand. You meet people who are thankful for what you have to say. You develop convictions and for the most part they're not challenged significantly. Certainly disappointment confronts you, but you're involved in a common cause with like minded individuals. After you return many of life's real items settle in and it's not so easy being valiant.
__________________
Ἓν οἶδα ὅτι οὐδὲν οἶδα |
Bookmarks |
|
|