I love blackberries. I do. It's a sick obsession that just this year ended with me planting a blackberry bush. I made a friend named Lisa a couple of years ago who happens to share this joy for blackberries. We made tarts together with a few of them and I found some that were...a little different to look at. They almost looked like they couldn't decide if they wanted to be a raspberry or a blackberry. Ironically, they were still sweet. They were still amazing. They just looked different. Today I was reminded of them when I heard these words:
"Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down; it is resisting the impulse to become offended easily. It is accepting weaknesses and shortcomings. It is accepting people as they truly are. It is looking beyond physical appearances to attributes that will not dim through time.... It is resisting the impulse to categorize others."—President Thomas S. Monson
How we look at others is a large reflection of what we are inside. If we are judging...we are not loving as much as we could. That being said, I'm so glad that people, like blackberries are usually trying to be good. I can usually find good in them somewhere. As that sweet gal Pollyanna said, "When you look for the good in man, expecting to find it, you surely will". I'm pretty sure she was quoting Abe Lincoln. You get the message just the same.
"Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down; it is resisting the impulse to become offended easily. It is accepting weaknesses and shortcomings. It is accepting people as they truly are. It is looking beyond physical appearances to attributes that will not dim through time.... It is resisting the impulse to categorize others."—President Thomas S. Monson
How we look at others is a large reflection of what we are inside. If we are judging...we are not loving as much as we could. That being said, I'm so glad that people, like blackberries are usually trying to be good. I can usually find good in them somewhere. As that sweet gal Pollyanna said, "When you look for the good in man, expecting to find it, you surely will". I'm pretty sure she was quoting Abe Lincoln. You get the message just the same.
Let's spend less time picking the perfect berries...and more time making pie. There you go.
2 comments:
Yes, it is true. We spend way too much time looking for, or trying to make, or trying to be perfect berries when the scriptures re-assure us there are none perfect but One. We really ought to be making pie. I don't think I'll remember the quote by T.Monson. But I'll remember "Let's spend less time picking the perfect berries...and more time making pie." Tho I may remeber it as jam, jam is just stickier.
This quote you give from Thomas S. Monson...his entire talk on not judging others made me weep on Saturday. I wish you could have been with me. I think we would have wept together. There stood a prophet of God, and I was so grateful to be tuned in. Love you! Thanks for sharing!
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