I know only as much of God and the world
As a creature with two eyes must.But what I do understand, I love,
And what I don't understand, I trust.
-Carol Lynn Pearson
Going on a mission for a 19 year old Mormon boy is not really optional. If you don't go, you won't be in that club which other return missionaries are in. For your parents, it's a sign that they've done their job raising you and it is a source of pride for sure. You won't be judged your whole life per se but I've been told by some who didn't go that it always felt like a regret they didn't. You may not be judged your whole life but at the time, people will ask, "why didn't he go on a mission?" and worthiness will certainly be considered as one reason why you wouldn't go. Maybe you messed around with your girlfriend too much or you partied a lot. There is a lot of social pressure to go. All that said, I always wanted to go on a mission. For me, it was something I really wanted to do. I couldn't wait.
Growing up, we were never really well off. My parents told me that they didn't know how they could afford to send me on a mission but I knew it would work out (Mom's influence here). I got my dream job, working as an animator only a year after High School. Living at home, I was able to save more than enough to go on a mission in less than a year. I paid my whole way and I'm still proud of that. When I started telling people at work that I was going to go on a mission for my church, many of them thought I was crazy. An evangelical guy gave me some tapes called, "On the doorstep with a Mormon." I listened to them and thought they were entertaining to be honest but didn't take much of it all that seriously. I knew the guy cared about my soul so I didn't take it personally and I even thanked him.
One guy told me, "you know, you're going to forget how to draw as good and you're throwing your career away." I told him something like, it's worth it to me and it was. I had no illusions of getting my job back. God is watching out for me and I'll be blessed for choosing to serve him first.
When I got home, I called to see if there were any openings and they wanted me to start the very next week and they doubled my pay (which I now realize was pretty low to begin with). The week after I got home and just over two years after I left my career, I went right back into my old job and I actually found that I could draw better.
In Mormonism, there is a strong sense that if you do what is right, you will be blessed. We are trained at an early age to make connections between good stuff that happens to you or others and gifts from God. Certainly, this is true of other religions too but there is almost an expectation that blessings will result from righteousness and asking in prayer for blessings.
When I was pretty young, I think around the age of five, I have a memory of going to the store with my parents. When we were done, we got to the car and it wouldn't start. My Dad is somewhat handy with cars and was trying to fix it. It just wouldn't go. At some point I asked the obvious question, "why don't we say a prayer?" We said a prayer and the car started right up. It was a miracle right? All because of the simple faith of a young boy. Well, it could be more complicated than that. It is apparently a common thing. Car gets flooded, people take a break and say a prayer, the car starts once the engine has had a chance to "unflood". Whether divine influence or not, for a believer these kinds of experiences confirm faith. I spoke with my Dad about this recently and he said, maybe the car was just flooded but maybe it was also something for you to reflect upon in the future to help your faith.
I think that even if coincidences are just that: coincidences, they can still make our lives more meaningful. Perhaps how we interpret them tells us more about ourselves than the event itself. Now, I don't know if landing right back at my dream job was divine providence or that I merely happened to come home when there was a shortage of animators, but at the time, it certainly confirmed my feelings of how the church was "true". I was being watched out for by God and He made sure I was was blessed for my sacrifice. I can think of many other ways to interpret that now, but that is still the most emotionally satisfying. I do hope there is something or someone watching out for us in the heavens. Coincidence or miracle, I still choose to hold these experiences as enriching and meaningful to my life.
Growing up, we were never really well off. My parents told me that they didn't know how they could afford to send me on a mission but I knew it would work out (Mom's influence here). I got my dream job, working as an animator only a year after High School. Living at home, I was able to save more than enough to go on a mission in less than a year. I paid my whole way and I'm still proud of that. When I started telling people at work that I was going to go on a mission for my church, many of them thought I was crazy. An evangelical guy gave me some tapes called, "On the doorstep with a Mormon." I listened to them and thought they were entertaining to be honest but didn't take much of it all that seriously. I knew the guy cared about my soul so I didn't take it personally and I even thanked him.
One guy told me, "you know, you're going to forget how to draw as good and you're throwing your career away." I told him something like, it's worth it to me and it was. I had no illusions of getting my job back. God is watching out for me and I'll be blessed for choosing to serve him first.
When I got home, I called to see if there were any openings and they wanted me to start the very next week and they doubled my pay (which I now realize was pretty low to begin with). The week after I got home and just over two years after I left my career, I went right back into my old job and I actually found that I could draw better.
In Mormonism, there is a strong sense that if you do what is right, you will be blessed. We are trained at an early age to make connections between good stuff that happens to you or others and gifts from God. Certainly, this is true of other religions too but there is almost an expectation that blessings will result from righteousness and asking in prayer for blessings.
When I was pretty young, I think around the age of five, I have a memory of going to the store with my parents. When we were done, we got to the car and it wouldn't start. My Dad is somewhat handy with cars and was trying to fix it. It just wouldn't go. At some point I asked the obvious question, "why don't we say a prayer?" We said a prayer and the car started right up. It was a miracle right? All because of the simple faith of a young boy. Well, it could be more complicated than that. It is apparently a common thing. Car gets flooded, people take a break and say a prayer, the car starts once the engine has had a chance to "unflood". Whether divine influence or not, for a believer these kinds of experiences confirm faith. I spoke with my Dad about this recently and he said, maybe the car was just flooded but maybe it was also something for you to reflect upon in the future to help your faith.
I think that even if coincidences are just that: coincidences, they can still make our lives more meaningful. Perhaps how we interpret them tells us more about ourselves than the event itself. Now, I don't know if landing right back at my dream job was divine providence or that I merely happened to come home when there was a shortage of animators, but at the time, it certainly confirmed my feelings of how the church was "true". I was being watched out for by God and He made sure I was was blessed for my sacrifice. I can think of many other ways to interpret that now, but that is still the most emotionally satisfying. I do hope there is something or someone watching out for us in the heavens. Coincidence or miracle, I still choose to hold these experiences as enriching and meaningful to my life.
One must be careful however when drawing these conclusions and applying them outside our personal life and influence. When one looks at greater issues in the world today: starvation, wars, and general human suffering, one can ask, why is God blessing me when there are all these other problems which one would think God would put a priority on? I think as long as we are humble about it and don't think that we are somehow privelaged, we're on sturdy ground but we should be careful about using these experiences as a way to convince others. I think it is totally valid to consider and interpret them in trying to determine what we believe.
I'll be exploring several of these experiences from my life in the next few posts. They have had deep meaning to me and have influenced my thoughts on things. I interpret them as more than coincidence but I do not expect anyone else to do the same. My conclusions are my own and I respect other interpretations of them as well. No one can know what it is like to walk in someone else's shoes so we must be careful that we do not judge them for what it is they believe or do not believe, especially as it applies to personal experiences.
I'll be exploring several of these experiences from my life in the next few posts. They have had deep meaning to me and have influenced my thoughts on things. I interpret them as more than coincidence but I do not expect anyone else to do the same. My conclusions are my own and I respect other interpretations of them as well. No one can know what it is like to walk in someone else's shoes so we must be careful that we do not judge them for what it is they believe or do not believe, especially as it applies to personal experiences.
Great story. I served a mission as well and can identify with the pressure a young male Mormon feels to serve. For me the motivating thought was, "all the choice girls are waiting for an RM (returned missionary) so if I want one of those girls I better go on a mission."
ReplyDeleteFast forward a few years into my marriage. I lost a good job. The first thing I did as a faithful church member was begin to fast and pray regularly. Within a few weeks I landed a new job.
For years I interpreted the new job as a divine blessing. Today I recognize it as an ordinary event. Information Technology jobs are in demand and always proliferating. I am a talented individual. And I worked all the angles I could to find the position.