The Good Fight

Here goes:

I got a little upset in church the other day which is actually the opposite of what you want to happen when you go to church. The reason I got a little mad is because I heard two statments that I'm just plain sick of hearing. The first is the sometimes hollow reassurance that if you do not have the opportunity to marry and have a family in this life, and you desire that, you will have that opportunity in the next life. The second is that the family is under attack by the worst forces in the world. Before I go any further I need to say that I believe both of these principles to be true. I'm just tired of hearing them. And I guess I'm tired of hearing them because I'm a benchwarmer. And I can't say I've ever heard of anyone who is happy warming the bench (ask my brother Michael).

Let's start with the all too common promise that those that are not blessed to recieve the happiness and joy that only comes from family life in this life, if they'll only be patient, they will recieve those blessings in the next life. Why do they keep telling us that?! Are we supposed to be satisfied with that? Are we supposed to use that as an excuse for not getting married? It's like being provided with a safety net or padding all the sharp corners in your house for an infant learning to walk. We have to learn how to do this. Its the most important thing we will ever do! And by being told all the time that its so important and then not to worry if it doesn't happen, because it will...eventually... after you've lived an entire, lonely life longing for it to happen just feels like a contradiction. I'm 23. I'm not worried about not get married yet but when I consider my future I would be a fool not to consider the possibility of not getting married. And I need to be able to live a happy and fulfilled life regardless but stop telling me that its ok if it doesn't happen because it will eventually! It almost starts to feel like they are telling me to plan on not getting married.

It's a little akward being a single person in a plan where the family is central. I'm not mad however because the Church does an excellent of job of providing for the needs of its' memebers. And its all pretty fool proof because even if you're not in a position to build you're own family you're built into one so one way or another everyone gets what they need (but maybe not always what they want, wink). I remember my freshman year my single's ward bishop saying that a single person in the church was like someone in a wheelchair at a dance. The person in the wheelchair is included as best they can be but the dance doesn't stop because one person can't dance. The dance won't stop for anybody or anything (not even a bad DJ which is all too common at a church dance). And that's why the church is true.

Onto my next point which is directly related to the one above: The family is under attack. I believe this with all my heart and it scares me. The greatest joy and comfort I've experienced in this life comes from my family. And to think that that is being destroyed, that millions of people are missing out on the greatest joys this life has to offer is staggering. We as members of the church, who know the truth, have been given the responibility of fighting this battle by creating strong homes where gospel priciples are taught, that are havens from the evils of this world. Here's where I get mad. I can name a solid 20 (if not more) women off the top of my head who want to fight this fight and have yet been given the opportunity to. They're benchwarmers. Plenty of these women are still young and I'm not worried about them but I know other women who may never get the opportunity to get what they want the very most from this life. It seems like such a terrible waste. A waste of love, talent, charity, righteousness. It's like everyone is starving and you have more bread than you need in the next room. Dumb! Think of the righteous generations these women could raise that this world may never see. And then think about all of the children being born in abusive homes, broken homes, homes where parents can't feed them, homes where they will never hear the gospel in. I don't understand. It doesn't make sense to me. Who's fault is this?

Now here's the part where I stand back and I remind myself that I'm this close to being critcal of God. And that would be the stupidest mistake anybody could ever make. I need to remember that He knows all and understands all. He knows what's right for everyone and I should never pretend that I know what's best for myself let alone other people. But why wouldn't He tap into this amazing resouce he created to fight this fight. We're dressed for it, we've been training for it, we've read the rule book. We're ready to play! Put us in coach. I don't understand.

I believe that one of the ways that Satan is destroying the family is by making the Young Single Adults believe that they are fine being single. And I'm really sorry but I gotta lay this on the men. Women indeed play an active role in getting asked out and the courting process but women can only take it so far. At some point it becomes the Preisthood responsibility of a young man to pick up the phone. And to be fair I know men who are fulfilling this responsibility and maybe you feel like you're failing but I promise that if you keep at it you'll eventually find what you are looking for or realize that what you're looking for doesn't exsist and that you are surrounded by young women who would make incredible companions.

My mom says she thinks there should be a place where all Preisthood holders who didn't marry in a timely manner on this Earth should have to sit on a bench for 1,000 years. I just hope that they open their eyes at some point during their eternal life and say "boy wasn't I an idiot!"

And please don't think I don't understand why its hard to get married. I've blogged about it before and I have my own set of issues I've got to work through before I can go there. Its not easy. But was anything worth doing ever easy?

So I guess for now I'll cheer for my team and do my part by warming my section of bench. And try not to get mad at what I hear at church.

"To find somebody you love, you gotta be somebody you love." -- Nada Surf