Sunday, May 4, 2014

Conquering Divisions In Our Midst

We had a great discussion in Relief Society today and we don't want it to end there!  We based our discussion today on Question #2 (see the post on RS Bulletin Boards!) --> What things divide us in KC1RS?  We had a lively discussion on the things that divide us and how we can connect in spite of those differences.  Here is a picture of our bulletin board at the end of class:


We have so many sisters who are unable to attend Sunday RS meetings for a variety of reasons, we want all of our RS sisters to have the opportunity to participate in this (and other) fabulous discussions!  Comment below to share your thoughts!

6 comments:

  1. This was a really fun discussion! I really enjoyed hearing so many different perspectives.

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  2. I loved this lesson! I'm looking forward to future discussions about the rest of the questions on the RS Bulletin Board!

    Tammy Gay

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  3. I loved this lesson! I'm looking forward to future discussions about the rest of the questions on the bulletin board.

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  4. i liked when "pride" was pointed out as the root of all division.

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  5. To add a little more, this started as a discussion of 'the things that divide us' which naturally led to a discussion of how we connect and overcome those divisions so that we are united as a sisterhood. The pic of the chalkboard above shows (in a rather messy fashion:)) the divisions we discussed:

    perceptions
    attitude
    standards
    holding grudges
    comparisons
    pride
    age
    technology
    life circumstances
    differences in observance (i.e. interpreting the gospel differently)
    religious preferences
    cultures
    tax brackets/income
    personality
    politics
    residence / distance

    Some of these are important and some are petty (but real and human!). ALL are overcome-able.

    The connections we discussed were:
    don't judge for a different "sin style" (i.e. your sin is worse than my sin)
    affirm God's love
    find similarities
    meet halfway
    be humble and grateful
    prayer and service
    APOLOGIZE
    *Individual Worth*

    I know there are many more things we can do!

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  6. I had another thought on this topic today. There are some things that can serve to unite or divide us (us as sisters, us in our families, us in the community) depending on how we respond to them. The two that are particularly on my mind at the moment: grief over the loss of a loved one and mental illness. Sometimes, when we grieve, we use our pain and sorrow to turn to the Lord and to cling to those we love. Other times, we allow our pain and sorrow to lead to bitterness and anger towards those we love and even towards the Lord.

    The same is true of mental illness, whether we deal with it ourselves or as caregivers. We can allow our struggles to turn us to the Lord and cling to Him or to turn to anger and bitterness.

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