Beware of Pride II. Mar 5th

Sorry I skipped a day. Sometimes it's just not easy to concentrate, type and entertain a four-year-old at the same time.

So, for the second half of the Beware of Pride discussion, sort of: Pride toward follow beings. Usually when you hear the phrase "the daily grind" it's either referring to going to the same old job every day or perhaps a coffee shop. I think the daily grind is trying not to compare yourself to others for a good portion of the day. So much of our time and our attention is dedicated to what we see, what we don't have, what we can get, who has a new thing/talent, something that makes life easier/faster/glamorous/more praiseworthy. Ahhhh, me. . . .

This sums it up: “What will men think of me?” weighs heavier than “What will God think of me?” and “How everything affects me” is the center of all that matters—self-conceit, self-pity, worldly self-fulfillment, self-gratification, and self-seeking." or “If you succeed, I am a failure.” Ahhhh, me. . . .

President Benson just really nails the topic and like I said before, it hits home every time I read it. I don't think that we need to ignore what we see or what we have or don't have. It is after all God's plan that we have opposition in our life so that we me grow, but we only grow if we make good judgement that changes our hearts. We need to make careful judgements on how much of our emotional and spiritual strength is spent on trying to achieve something that will just not matter in the grand scheme of life.

You know, I think that patience is closely linked to keeping pride at bay. Maybe when we let go of our insistent, urgent desires and let some time pass, to see what else might be available, or to see if you can live with and be happy with what you've got (including all things material, emotional, physical and natural). Or maybe you do need something right away. But the point is to have at least enough patience to see what Heavenly Father thinks about it. Enough patience to pray and wait for an answer. Enough patience to gather information to make a good judgement for yourself. Ahhhh, me. . . . . yup, the daily grind.

"God will have a humble people. Either we can choose to be humble or we can be compelled to be humble. Alma said, “Blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble.” (Alma 32:16.) Let us choose to be humble." Yup, daily action required.

I'll sum up tomorrow all these thought regarding Emma Smith.