I've Grateful for Versions

I am so thankful for the many versions that now exist of the Bible. Comparing different translations is one of the best ways to ponder and learn. Growing up I only read the King James Version (KJV), but for many years now I've loved the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) and the New International Version (NIV).

Let me show you what I mean. In the KJV Romans 15:1-3 reads: "We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me."

Now let's look at the NRSV of the same verse: "We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building up the neighbor. For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, 'The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.'"     

And now the NIV: "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: 'The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.'"

In this case the NSRV and the NIV are not much different, but even that small difference makes you think in different ways. Both the NSRV and the NIV, however, are modernized and explain in ways that are easier to understand and that often speak directly to my heart.

There are hundreds of versions of the Bible available on line and anyone can use the to study. I'm so thankful for them and for the technology that makes them so assessable!

I've got so much to be grateful for!  

Encouragers

Today I'm grateful for encouragement. I'm thankful for those who have encouraged me and I'm thankful for everyone who has encouraged anyone else. Everyone needs encouragement at one time or another. Encouragement makes the world go round.

I'm writing this thanks to electricity. The electric light in this room allows me to see what I am doing, and I am so thankful for all the people who encouraged Thomas Edison so that he didn't give up and leave me in the dark.

I am thankful for all the people who encouraged Alexander Graham Bell and all those who have improved upon his idea to send voices along air waves. I remember the days of picking up the telephone and telling the operator what number I wanted. Now I speak to my daughters clear across the United States while I'm shopping in the grocery store.

I've always been grateful for these marvelous inventions, but this Thanksgiving I'm also grateful for the unknown people who kept the inventors inventing. Most of us will never be inventors, but we are all have a voice and are well equiped to be an encourager. I'm grateful for that, too!

Scatter Sunshine

This morning I passed a student going down the stairs, a young man I have never met or seen before, and he greeted me with, "Have a great morning!" The tone of his voice carried as much cheer as his words and I found myself walking away from that simple encounter feeling empowered enough that I could fly--I could do anything!

Too often we vastly underestimate the power we have to lift and encourage others. Simple words spoken with sincerity to complete strangers or friends and family can change their day--maybe even their lives.

Lines from the hymn "Scatter Sunshine" come to mind: "How much joy and comfort you can all bestow, If you scatter sunshine everywhere you go."

So make this a day of scattering and watch the world glow!

Influences

Today and last Saturday I attended funeral memorials for very beautiful, wonderful people who have left great legacies for their families and friends. I am grateful for these kinds of people and for the many people like this who have touched my life for good. I don't think any of us realize how much of an influence we have on each other. One of these people was my aunt who had a very great influence on my life. I loved her and I know she loved me. I learned so much from watching her faith up close.

The other woman I wasn't real close to, but seeing her occasionally, hearing about her from others, and watching her from afar taught me so much about love and faith. This has made me think about so many other people who have gone on but who have greatly influenced my life--both those close to me and those in the periphery of my life. There are so many and I am so grateful for them.

This has also made me think about the many people who are still alive who encourage and lift and help me to be a better person. Again, some of them would be surprised to learn what they have done for me because I don't interact with them that much. Others are close to me but are unaware of how much I learn from them. I need to tell them. But in the meantime, I think all of us need to realize that we do have an influence on those around us, even if we don't know it. We can't do life alone and God has sent all of us amazing people to help us through.

Helps

I love coming across short statements or visual reminders that capture the gist of what it means to Live in Truth. I found one the other day that quickly rose to the top of my favorites list. It says, 

The Lord said, "Go and do, not sit and stew."

Putting these kinds of reminders in places where we see them often reinforces and strengthens our ability to Live in Truth.

What are your favorite sayings or visuals that encourage you to Live in Truth? 

Leave a comment and share them with all of us.

Overcoming the Default "Position"

A few people in life are able to take what comes to them and love it without much effort. These are the people who were raised by parents who rolled with the ups and downs of life without vexing and so they learned how to do it by watching their parents. It comes naturally to them. But for most of us learning to Live in Truth takes continued effort because the default "position" in a telestial world is vexation. We experience stress and we become vexed. We think it is what has to happen.

But the Good News! is that when we realize that Living in Truth doesn't come naturally to us and that we need to work at it, we can do things that will constantly remind us and encourage us to drop the vexation and move on.

I have reminders all around me. Every morning when I look into the mirror I see "My Charge." On the back of my Ipad is engraved the words, "Take what comes, and love it." I have good words taped to the inside of my kitchen cabinets so that when I need or put away dishes I see them. I also have associated reminders to items in my home so  that when I see them I am reminded of what Living in Truth is all about. Daily scripture reading also reinforces my desire to Live in Truth.

In short, Living in Truth doesn't come naturally to most of us. But the little bit of effort it takes to Live in Truth is well worth it.

Words of Power

I’ve been doing a lot of experimenting lately with words and the power they have. I’ve written about that before, but the more attention I pay to the words I use, the more convinced and amazed I am with their power. You don’t need to take my word for it. Stop right now and say out loud, “I can’t do it” about ten times. Then stop and pay close attention to what you are feeling inside you. After noting your feelings, say out loud, again about ten times, “I can do it.” And again stop and pay close attention to what you are feeling.

If you are like me, the feelings after the first exercise are depressing. I feel deflated, helpless, victimized, fearful, and just plain low. But just by changing the words the feelings change to hope, encouragement, empowerment and excitement. Did you feel a difference? Let me know what happened when you did this. I’d really like to know.

I think I’m going to go around all day today just saying, “I can do it!” Whatever “it” is, I know it will be done better and with more enjoyment accompanied by those words. Words do have power!

Climbing the Family Tree

Family Tree here

I've been reading some family histories my mother gave me for Christmas and marveling at the ancestors that made me. I've heard most of the stories before; I grew up on them. But reading them now when I've experienced so much more of life, I appreciate what the stories mean more than I ever did before. For example, my great-grandmother Christina Marie Sorensen Anderson (Steena for short) was widowed when she was just forty-seven years old. She'd given birth to eleven children and also raised two other neighbor boys whose extended family refused to take them in when their parents died. She only had a few weeks of education and so when she was left to care for the family, she did the only thing she could, she farmed to keep them all alive and in her spare time was midwife to most of the women in the area. She lived a widow for forty-nine years, and I remember her making the most delicious cinnamon rolls I've ever tasted in her big, black, coal burning stove.

Her seven daughters have been my idols all my life. They were strong women--all of them either nurses or school teachers who each faced incredible adversity and tribulation with courage and strength. It makes me proud and has inspired me knowing that I am an "Anderson Woman." One of these Anderson Women was my grandmother, the oldest of the sisters and a school teacher who served a mission in Hawaii, who died when my mother was sixteen so I never knew her, but her influence has been with me every day of my life.

Reading these histories has warmed me, and it can warm you. It seems that sometimes we feel so alone in life. Discouragement sets in, dull winter days erode the joy, and life feels empty. At those times one of the best things you can do is remember the stories of those who have gone before you. Everyone has someone a generation or two back who inspires courage and motivates to be better. If you haven't found that person or persons on your family tree, start searching. I guarantee you they are there, and when you find their story and savor it, you will feel of their spirit walking beside you every day bouying you up and urging you on through the cold Januaries of life.

The Power We Have

It is surprising what a simple gesture of kindness can mean in a person’s life. As I look back on my life, I realize that there were a few people who greatly influenced me. The amazing thing is that in every case the things they did were small simple things–so small the people have no idea what an impact they had on me. But even though they don’t remember what they did, I do.

Growing up in what was then the small town of Centerville, my friends and I used to visit the older ladies that lived on our street. Two of these especially influenced me by their kindness. Mrs. Torrey once gave me an old book, Heidi, with the simple words, “I have only sons and so I want you to have this.” It made me feel so very special and important.

When only five years old, I’d write “books” of my own, illustrate them and go door to door selling them. Mrs. Torrey and Aunt Nora would praise my books so much that it felt like they filled me with helium.
Later, in high school, an English teacher, Miss Lee, encouraged my writing. She wrote at the end of one assignment words that I memorized. “Sherrie, You’ve got it–whatever it is. Don’t ever stop writing!!!” I can’t even count how many time those two sentences saved me when encountering editors who rejected my manuscripts and through many other bumps in life.

Other friends such as Lucille Reading and Laurie Thornton warmed, encouraged and bolstered me, again without knowing what an impact they were having on my life. They just did what was natural for them. They loved me despite my faults. Whenever I’d get discouraged, I’d go visit Lucille and I’d come away lifted. When I went, I didn’t talk about my problems. I just knew that being in her presence for a little while would “cure” me. She was that kind of person. Laurie was the same way. Laurie was blind, but she had learned to laugh with life despite the fact that life had handed her some bad cards, and her laughter was infectious.

Often we read about people who have a mentor that takes them by the hand and plays a major part in their lives the way Anne Sullivan did in Helen Keller’s life. That does happen. But in my own life the most impactful influences have been brief, small occurrences like my young women’s leader, Barbara Davis, who despite the fact that I was being a brat during the lesson one night, patiently put up with me. Her love and kindness that night communicated a love to me that was much needed at the time. 

The reason I bring this up is because we too often underestimate the power we have to impact others. We never know when something as simple as a smile, a hug, a phone call, or an encouraging word is just what someone needs to send them on their way injected with hope–a hope that can last a lifetime. We are more influential than we realize, and we need to be more aware of the power we have to encourage others and then use that power.

This, Too, Shall Pass

The phrase “And it came to pass” appears in the Book of Mormon 198 times from the beginning of the book until 2 Nephi 5:30 and then it is never used again by Nephi. Later, in the book of Ether, Moroni uses the phrase 160 times, but he never uses it his own writings. 

What has been discovered from other writings originating in the Near East is that the phrase “And it came to pass” is used to indicate that a period of time has elapsed. This phrase is very useful  when writing history. Therefore when Nephi is recording the story of their leaving Jerusalem that happened several decades before he is writing he uses the phrase until he brings the record up to the current time and then he no longer needs it. Likewise, Moroni while abridging the Jaradite account uses it throughout the book of Ether, but when he is telling us what is happening to him he doesn’t use it.

This is interesting to me, but I like the phrase for another reason. “And it came to pass” are words of hope. Yes, today might be a down day. Things might be going wrong today. Horrible things might even be happening today. But . . . they will pass. There will be a brighter day, and eventually all days will be bright days. God has promised it. 

Remember, 

"Weeping may endure for a night, 

but joy cometh in the morning" 

(Psalms 30:5).

Truth In Tandem

I received the nicest letter this week from a woman who had attended one of my classes at BYU Education Week. She was in the class on “Faith Works by Words” and she came away from the class impressed with “how important it is to be positive.” She had attended with a friend and so they decided to help each other turn negatives into positives. While doing this she discovered some things about herself: “I never realized how many times we were negative in a day. We had to catch ourselves so often and each other and turn our comments around. We could either be frustrated and hot while waiting in lines or we could engage in conversation with those around us! At the end of the day we could be tired or filled with new inspiration.”

She sums up what it means to change the way you think so well I just had to share this. But besides being spot on in her analysis, she is sharing something else that is important. When we want to change and grow one of the best things we can do is enlist the help of a friend who also wants to change and grow.

We get so entrenched in our habits that often we don’t realize how they dictate our days or keep us from being the person we want to become. But when someone is helping us they see things that need to be corrected that we don’t see, and they encourage us when we get it right. Having a helper is a great way to learn to Live in Truth.

Encouragement

The word courage didn’t always mean bravery. At the time the King James translator’s were doing their work on the Bible, the word courage meant “feelings or passions of the heart.” Thus when the word is used in the scriptures we often find it preceded by the adjective good. God wants us to have “good courage” or “only good feelings and passions of the heart.”

This is especially interesting when we look at the word encouragement. The suffix –ment means “process of.” The prefix en- means to “put into.” So if we use the original definition encouragement is “the process of putting good feelings or passions of the heart into.”

As we surround ourselves with all that is good we can overcome much of the despair and disappointment that exist in the world. When we are confronted with the negative things of life we can counter the negative by clinging to the positive good things around us. Good music. Good friends. Good books. Good thoughts. These are just some of the things that can encourage and lift us.

You Do Make A Difference!

Have you ever walked into a room and from all appearances the people in the room are happy but you feel a tension or negative energy and just know that they were arguing or upset with each other before you came in? Or have you been around people that after they leave you feel like they’ve somehow sapped all the energy out of you?

The opposite can happen also. Have you ever walked into a room and been bathed in warmth and light? Or have you been around people that after they leave you feel lifted and encouraged not by what they said but just by being in their presence?

We sometimes don’t stop to realize the effect others have on us or the effect we have on others. Therefore, when we read, “Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another” (Romans 14:19), we tend to think that we need some extraordinary talent in order to edify others. But we all give off either a positive or a negative "energy" that others can feel. That means that just by being we influence others, and when we choose to live in Truth that influence will be edifying. We can make a difference! Our positive attitudes and feelings help us, but they also encourage others.