As most of you may know a little over a year ago I decided to ditch my University/Singles Ward because they were sucking the life out of me with their "Mormonism." Also, if you know me, I've lived a lot of life. I can thank the Army for that but I have no regrets. You only have regrets if you don't learn something from the mistakes you make. Having washed my spotted clothing in the atoning blood of the Lamb taught me lots of things. I'm not talking weekly "I sped in traffic or said a naughty word" repentence. I'm talking the "Because of the choices I made I wasn't allowed to take the sacrament for a designated period of time" repentence. Do with that information what you will.
I am a proud member of the Salt Lake Park Stake 1st Ward. The first ward established here in this Great Salt Lake Valley. It's a family ward. In December I was released from my position as the Young Single Adult Ward/Stake/Region Representative and in January was sustained as Secretary in the Ward Young Women's Presidency (it pays to not be able to play the piano). Let me give you an example of the demographics of my girls, and these are the active ones. One is two months away from graduating from high school and marrying a return missionary dousche bag that is thinking with his penis. One might be pregnant. Two have admited to using illegal drugs and drinking alcohol. One is trying so hard not to follow in the footsteps of her betrothed sister but is probably going to be married right out of high school, too. One is an exchange student from Germany and isn't even a member, she just comes because her host family forces her. Remember, these are the active ones. Needless to say, but I'm going to say it anyway, we're not too concerned with Personal Progress, if you catch my drift.
Where do these girls get these ideas from? Let's take, for example, one of the girls that has admitted to using illegal drugs and alcohol. Her father is a dealer. Her mother is somewhere on the east coast. So where do you think she got the idea to use heroin? Her father provided it for her. And when I say provided it I mean he taught her how to tie off and hit a vein.
Why am I blogging about this, you may ask? Several reasons. As a presidency, we rotate through the month who teaches the lesson on Sunday. It was my pleasure to teach on the 16th. The lesson is entitled "Encouraging Enjoyable Family Activities." Okay, let's talk about families for a minute. This example I gave of this young woman whose father is a drug dealer, does she want to do anything with her family? If you come from a broken home, which most of my girls do, would you want to do anything, literally anything, with your family? No. How am I supposed to teach this? (I developed the lesson to include social groups) How are we supposed to teach the lesson entitled "Preparing to be an Eternal Companion" when the girls have absolutely no positive male role-models in their houses to show them what an eternal companion is? (We develop the lesson to talk about roommates)
I also bring this up because I have a very idealistic
friend that just posted about raising ducks because the price of eggs is too expensive. Are you ready for your tarnishment that you were so expecting at the end of your post? Now I'm a cynic and I know how the world works not saying that anybody in blogdom that just so happens to run across my page doesn't, but is that what I'm implying? I understand that this might have been a "crazy" flight of fancy but there is some truth to what is being said, even if it is said in jest. For one, I'm glad she got laughed at because it shows how out of touch this idea is.
First, don't ever assume anything about your reader. Just because the world will never be perfect doesn't mean that it is a dreamless world. I dream of being a medical doctor and I sure as shit know this world is going to hell in a hand basket faster than what we are willing to admit.
I'll also answer the question of "How can a person go through the rigors and frustrations and disappointments of life without hope?" They have given into life. They have been caught in the spiral of hopelessness. If you've never been there, you're not justified in talking about it. Here I've broken the cardinal rule about assuming something about my reader. I do have some insight about this person's family and apparently the worst thing that's happend in her married life is soggy rice. Damn, dinner's ruined and I've lost it.
Oh, and I also think you have an improper use of pronouns. It's not "One day I will have a yard in which I will be able to keep some ducks. If I have a dog, he will learn to ignore/get along with them. The ducks will live next to the small pond (I think I want some kind of fish there) and I will have a large vegetable garden." If it were me, I'd discuss these things with my life partner. The phrases should read "One day, we will have a yard in which we will be able to keep some ducks. If we have a dog, Rover will learn to ignore/get along with them. The ducks will live next to the small pond (we want some kind of fish there) and we will have a large vegetable garden."
Go plant something. Oh, and think about how many people on this earth don't have anything to plant or will never have the pond or will buy eggs from the local supermarket because they're only $2 a dozen or know what's it like to get down into the depths of life and build a foundation of their own (stolen phrase from the movie Quizshow).
Am I cynical? I submit the answer to that question is yes.
Am I jaded? I submit the answer to that question is yes.
Don't come knocking on my door and trying to convince me that I'm wrong because these are my opinions and attitudes. Besides, I won't take your baked goods and I might even answer my door with a tank top on and have an R-rated movie playing in the background.
This post has probably ended about three times so I'd like to close with "I'm taking my ball and I'm going home."
