I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and am loyal to it as an institution and as the proponent of a faith. Although I am keenly aware of the flaws any body of men and women will display, those weaknesses inherent in the human condition do not diminish the greatness of an institution. I believe in constructive explanations about shortcomings, ways to understand or process what appear to be flaws. In that sense only do I believe in apologetics. To deny the existence of shortcomings is, I believe, to depart from the warnings given to us by Christ, Nephi, Mormon, Moroni, the Apostle Paul, Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and others. I like the comment made by President Hugh B. Brown about us Mormons: "We are a lay church; and this gives rise to much mediocrity."
It helps to have a sense of humor if you're going to try to be a faithful Mormon. It also requires thick skin.
For me President Brown's quote calls to mind the most haunting warning from my patriarchal blessing: "The Lord knows what you can do; He will not be satisfied with mediocrity."
ReplyDelete