Are there invisible people in your ward? People that are always there, but aren't the center of attention, nor in leadership positions, but continue to come each week. They don't bear their testimony with words during testimony meeting, and have served probably in the same calling for years and years and years without murmuring or the opposite of murmuring (whatever that might be)... They just do it... no talkie...
My mother-in-law is one such person. She has some remarkable stories when you talk with her, but when she gets in a public setting, she purses her lips and seldom if ever says a word. She's been the subject of ward gossip, and had her fair share of bad member experiences, but she keeps going and has unshakable faith, though it's not the fancy shiny faith that everyone sees because they let their light so shine by burning it into your retinas...
--Ray
__________________
I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
Ooops, no, I'm not a jelly filled donut, wrong venue and discussion
We have a lot of invisible folks in our ward. We also have a core group of lighthouses complete with assorted frenel lenses to aide in the burning of retinas. Our ward also has a fair amount of transition that goes on regularly. Who becomes a part of the "invisible crowd" depends largely in part on who and how many folks in the ward have the charisma or inherent need to be in the center of things. There is a certain amount of the social interaction that also plays a part as to who typically ends up in the center of things in our ward. We have been in the ward for nearly 9 years now, and yet we're not really in the "center" socially. Have we had positive impacts on our fellow ward members? Sure. Just like I'm sure we've done our share of inadvertantly making others feel left out.
I gave up long ago trying to become part of that crowd, though we did notice a big difference in how we were treated and accepted after we bought a home after renting a townhome for 3 1/2 years. One thing we learned over the years is that learning charity is not about only about seeing and loving others the way Christ sees them when the people are not as bright or not as well to do economically or not as talented as you... it is also seeing and loving others the way Christ sees them when at first glance, the folks appear to be brighter or more talented than you or better off economically.
Zion is the pure in heart, and when a ward family is working on that goal, I've found that fewer and fewer people end up feeling like an outsider, even if they are "invisible". A ward needs all, not just those that burn yer retinas by the brightness of their light shining...
__________________
It seems to me the only thing you've learned is that Caesar is a "salad dressing dude."
Christ knows and loves the invisibles. I wish I could learn from the invisible saints. They have remarkable stories but hearing them is a real challenge...
--Ray
__________________
I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
I dunno about that... I always assume that the apostles that Christ chose were all really good men, but the only ones that got their apostolic writings in scripture was Paul, Peter, John and James (not counting the synoptic Gospels, of course).In the same way, I think they find other ways to share who they are without necessarily being as visible as those who are moreso.
--Ray
-- Edited by rayb at 13:50, 2007-03-27
__________________
I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
Our ward also has a fair amount of transition that goes on regularly. Who becomes a part of the "invisible crowd" depends largely in part on who and how many folks in the ward have the charisma or inherent need to be in the center of things. There is a certain amount of the social interaction that also plays a part as to who typically ends up in the center of things in our ward. We have been in the ward for nearly 9 years now, and yet we're not really in the "center" socially. Have we had positive impacts on our fellow ward members? Sure. Just like I'm sure we've done our share of inadvertantly making others feel left out.
