participating

Participate 

During church today, the choir got up to sing. As sometimes happens, an understanding was opened up to me.  

First, these two scenes from the nick cage sorcerer's apprentice. 

"Dave: (dismayed groan) Oh, no, please, Bennet. Not this again with the gray wolf. I can't...

Bennet: (showing the calendar's current animal month: Gray wolves) The gray wolf is a pack animal. He must find a mate. He must hunt and grunt. He must participate! You're going to get booted out of the pack! Alone. Eaten by a hungry bear."

Dave kept to himself. He didn’t participate in life. He ends up being the sorcerer's apprentice and is embroiled in crazy magic and preventing world domination by the evil Mab. He interupts Bennet's date to get help.  

"Bennet: (excited that Dave now participating in something) I don't know what you're into here, Dave, but whatever it is, you are definitely participating!"

Back to the sacrament meeting vision. Everyone particpates in the gospel differently. We even participate differently at different times in our lives. Ministering, choir, service, callings, greeting new faces, reading the lesson, commenting in class, family histor, temple attendance ...... there are a lot of ways we participate in the gospel.  

As we talked about the individuality of the atonement, this all came back to me. Jesus Christ lived every bit of our experience. He knows the sins, sorrows, weaknesses, joys, triumphs, and strengths. He knows our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual resources and deficiencies. 

I'll probably never be a choir person. I'll always volunteer to give a prayer though. It doesn’t have to be perfect. I'm not measured against anyone else. It's just important that I'm participating. 

I think that goes for the gospel and relationships with those around us. We're always going to screw up. We'll have strengths and weaknesses. It's important to participate and recognize the participation of others. We're all just fallable mortals after all. 

Go participate. Make mistakes. Make messes. Just keep going.  

“Doubt not, but be believing” 

Mormon 9:27

It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don’t worry. I say that to myself every morning. It will all work out. If you do your best, it will all work out.

Gordon B. Hinckley