Would you like to read something that I really believe? Of course you would. This is an article from today's Mormon Times. All I have to add is, amen.
Last Sunday night, a breath of fresh air blew through the Brigham City 5th Ward. A professional consultant, Karen C. Eddington, showed up at "New Beginnings" to speak to the young women about self-worth.
At one point, she asked the girls if they'd accept a $100 bill if she offered it.
Yes, they said.
"What if I wadded the bill up, tossed it on the ground and called it names?" she asked. "Would you still want it?"
Of course, they said.
She used the example to teach that our true worth has nothing to do with outward appearance or what other people say.
It was just one telling moment in an evening of telling moments.
Eddington also said she's often been forced to wear two hats in life. In the secular world, she's a "motivational speaker," but with LDS groups she's a religious speaker. Yet, she said, everything she says at seminars in the world can be found in the gospel message. She just doesn't present it that way.
I've thought about that several times since.
How often do we reject wise counsel simply because we are biased against the source?
We tune out people we don't want to hear.
When our parents, spouses or friends give us advice, we often reject it out of hand. But if we get the same advice in a new bestseller, we often lap it up.
If I were to say, "George Washington once said … ," many people would take whatever words that followed completely to heart.
But if I were then to say, "Wait. It wasn't George Washington who said it. It was Harry Reid," those same people would quickly blot the comment from their minds.
When LDS apostles speak of moderation, members of other faiths often tune them out. But when similar thoughts show up in some sacred text — say, the "Tao Te Ching" — those people will quickly stoop and sip from the great fountain of knowledge.
I think we're all guilty of such bias.
We often care more about the source than what is being said.
When PBS aired a documentary on the Mormons some time back, I was amused by how many people complained that the filmmaker didn't distinguish between the devout LDS historians and the secular historians who were being interviewed. Apparently, a lot of viewers felt incapable of listening to what was said and deciding if it made sense. They were more concerned about the source of the comments than the comments themselves.
To me, that's a little like wringing our hands and wondering if the author of a hymn is LDS or not. Either the hymn resonates with our spirits or it doesn't. And the fact that half the hymns we sing in the church were written by members of other faiths shows we are, indeed, capable of making such distinctions when we care to do it.
All it takes is an open heart and an attentive ear.
Truth and wisdom can stand by themselves.
As for Karen Eddington, I wish her well in her quest to help young girls see through the masks and ruses of the world — whether she's speaking to LDS Church groups or others.
She is a wise person with wise things to say.
And I'm pretty sure I'd feel the same way, even if I found out that instead of saying she was a "Mormon," she actually said she was a "Martian."
