The Family

"Ideals are like the stars: we never reach them, but like the mariners of the sea, we chart our course by them." --Carl Shurz

I think all of us know that the world we live in is kind of crazy and messed up! :) We see awful things happening all around us, BUT we also see such goodness! It's hard to believe such opposite things can exist side by side. People talk of solutions to the world's problems: more government help (my thoughts on that on a previous blog post) :), stricter laws, improved understanding and help for the sick (mentally and physically), better school systems, etc. But ironically, I think we are lacking, as a society, in focusing on the one thing that would improve our society: the FAMILY. Families are the fundamental unit of society. They are where we learn and grow; where we teach and nurture; where we feel love, happiness, safety, and peace. And of course we all experience, to some degree or another, the negative side of family life--sadness, contention, anger, fear, abuse, divorce. We are human and these feelings and situations are inevitable, but God gave us families because as challenging as it is sometimes, that is His plan for each of us. He knows that successful families bring the greatest joys and allow us to reach our full potential--to become as He is. The "ideal" does not exist in any case, but the quote I posted above says what I think we sometimes miss: that just because we are not perfect as families, it does not mean we stop teaching the ideal. God's plan for ALL of His children is one of happiness and one of families. Teaching these things is not meant to make those who are not the ideal feel guilty or inferior, it is meant to give us HOPE. Hope that even though we do not have the ideal now, we will receive it if we are faithful. We all have things that keep us from the ideal, but the point is that we know what God's plan is for us, and we follow it to the best of our ability. Elder Bruce D. Porter said, "We live in a day when the love of many, even toward their own children, is waxing cold; a day when so many people love pleasures more than God; a day when good is called evil and evil good. Those who defend the traditional family, who stand for fidelity and chastity and all that once was considered wholesome and praiseworthy are mocked and ridiculed. On the other hand, those who see no problem with fatherless homes, who advocate abortion, who fight all attempts to limit pornography, and who seek to redefine the very essence of what a family is, are praised and upheld as champions of tolerance. Truly, the world has turned upside down." So very true. There are all kinds of ideas and opinions out there about the family and we might think it just doesn't really matter anymore. But it does. God's word is unchanging and drifting away from what He has taught will only bring misery, both as individuals and as nations. But imagine if each one of us had a personal relationship with a God, if we knew we were literal children of God, felt His love for us, and shared it with our families and everyone around us? Imagine how different society would be. If we make God a part of our lives, and seek for His guidance, His counsel, His truth, we cannot fail. "...remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth His mighty winds, yea His shafts on the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation upon which men build they cannot fall." Jesus Christ is our Savior. He alone can change us and that's how we change our families, our society, and the world.