1. Every person has the capacity to do good and is a unique child of our heavenly parents
I know this is stated often but sometimes it's hard to look at someone and think, "That person is my brother/sister, and we are all equal in God's eyes." I am not being high and mighty or anything, just honest, I don't think there are many people who can say they haven't turned down their nose at a bum on the street, or at the juvenile delinquent on the news. Today when I showed up to DI, most of the people working there were not people I can say I would feel comfortable around, but after working beside them for 4 hours I learned to love them. For instance, the first woman I met there, the head honcho, came off as this mean mean woman, barking orders and putting down other people working, and I was pretty much scared to death of her, but later on I heard her laughing and joking, and she sincerely thanked me for my help. So after my shift I totally changed my perspective on this woman. Another example was the quiet hispanic woman who spoke little english and was often asking other workers, "como se dice?" and pointing to various things, trying to learn the english translations. At around 10 we all got to take a 15 minutes break and this woman sat next to me and shared some dessert-like bread with me that she said her sister made from scratch the night before. I was just so touched by this woman's kindness to me, a complete stranger. Once our break was over the woman asked if I was a member of the church, and I replied that I was, and in her broken spanglish she said that she was too. It made my heart just swell to know that this kind woman knew the same truths that I knew and to feel that Christ-like love that she shared with me.
2. One man's trash is another man's treasure
Sorting through piles and piles of clothes would have been the most boring four hours of my life, if I hadn't decided to entertain myself. Every once in a while I would pick up an article of clothing and try and picture the kind of person that would wear it. Some examples: The nasty, sweat-stained in n out tee shirt could have been dropped off by my former manager, Corey, who is lds, o rmore likely dropped off by his amazing wife Jenna; the Red Mountain HS game day shirt, perhaps worn by a HS freshman girl, standing in the bleachers at homecoming, cheering her face off for the cute quarterback who was in her biology class, surrounded by her favorite girl friends; the faded something corporate shirt, that should be worn by me as I dance and sing around my apartment; the many many BYU and EFY shirts, all worn by the lds kids that I know who are still in high school and attending seminary; a whole pile of onesie pajamas with the built in feet made me chuckle, picturing a christmas card with a picture of my husband, me, and a mini toddler version of me, all wearing these ridiculous pajamas with the biggest goofy, yet genuine, smiles on our faces. Instead of viewing all of these discarded relics as trash, I tried to imagine certain pieces as they were during their prime. It was actually pretty fun and somehwat stimulated my brain for the four hour shift.
If you haven't noticed this about me yet, I am quite the "unique" individual, ha ha. I embrace my individuality. Hopefully you will get a laugh out of my ridiculous thoughts concerning old stained clothes and how wrong one's pre-conceived notions of others often turn out to be.
http://www.providentliving.org/channel/0,11677,2022-1,00.html
Much Love,
Madison
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