Education - A GOOD BOOK

By Layton Lolo 21 March 2016, 12:00AM

Is there something better?

Something better than this feeling?

Better than how others think of me?

Something less tormenting?

 

How come they judge me so?

Do they do it out of spite?

Do they do it because they can?

Or just because they know I won’t fight?

 

I never understood

How people delight in the misery of others

How they could just be so rude

When we all are sisters and brothers

 

I try to be my best

Yet no one sees me for that

All they see is what they want to see

My flaws; my mistakes; my secret facts

 

But proving to them that I am more than that

Will take all that I have and all that I am

But trust me when I say

This isn’t the end

 

 

Have you ever had those moments where you just want to scream at someone for judging you incorrectly?  Or those moments where you wish you could prove to anyone and everyone who hurt you emotionally that all they did was make you stronger?  Like that saying, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

Another saying that comes to mind I one that this column is mainly based on, which is that one, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”  I for one never try to judge people by what I’ve heard of them or how I see them physically; I try to see them in a way that is beyond bodily vision, but more of how a parent might see them.  What I mean is that I try to interpret the way that that person makes me feel into my initial critic of them, like if the make me happy or if the cheer me up rather than drag me down.

An experience I had at school once taught and gave me perspective on this matter more than I could ever realize.  One day while I was walking with some of my friends, I heard them gossip about a boy they disliked because they said he made fun of their church which happened to be mine as well, which is “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints.”  They kept repeating to others what they heard him say, like “Man, the Mormons think they are such perfect people but in truth they’re just pathetic!” or “Why does the LDS Church say that everyone can believe what they believe, but in the end only Mormons can be saved by God.”  At first I was offended because of the things said because this was the church I had grown up in and come to love and someone was mocking it, but then I remembered something that I learned from my church leaders and parents.  They taught me that gossip is nothing more than lies that incorporate a fraction of the truth and that we should never involve ourselves in it.  Gossip is a poison that plays with and tricks the mind.

So what did I do?  Well I went up to this hated fellow, shook his hand, talked with him, and found out the truth for myself.  The truth was he had said something about my church, but it was a statement out of frustration.  “Man, the Mormon church is so confusing” was all he said and someone over reacted to what he said and started to spread false rumors.  So when I found the truth, I did what I was taught to when someone did understand the gospel; I taught him.  I tried to tell him about my church teachings in a simpler, more understanding way as best I could with the help of the lord as I said a silent prayer.  Now he goes to Robert Louis with of firm understanding of the LDS gospel, but not a member, (yet!! He he!)

So my challenge for this week is, “Don’t judge too quickly.”  There is always someone in everyone’s lives that will the butt of all the jokes, the target of criticism, and the victim of the cruelty of others.  All I ask is you read the title and contents of that book before you begin to judge, and who knows, maybe you’ll find a story in it you’ll like.

 

By Layton Lolo 21 March 2016, 12:00AM

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