Butterfly thoughts

Hi! I wanted to take a moment to let you know that my conversion story, which appeared in the January 1995 issue of the Ensign magazine, is listed to the right as a link to a book I wrote, "Visions of Kolob," for sale on Amazon. BUT, it is also available free to read if you access the Ensign magazine in the Gospel Library app, which link is here:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1995/01/the-power-to-change?lang=eng

(You're gonna have to grab that link, copy & paste since I haven't yet figured out how to make it a hyperlink in blue from here--I don't know how to edit in html at all).

That done, I have a thought for today:

In a recent seminar for seminary and institute teachers, Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve said: "Teaching is not talking and telling. Rather, teaching is observing, listening and discerning..." (From https://www.thechurchnews.com/2011/12/10/23226076/teaching-is-not-talking-it-is-observing-listening-and-discerning/#:~:text=Bednar%20of%20the%20Quorum%20of%20the%20Twelve,is%20observing%2C%20listening%20and%20discerning%20so%20we)

"Observing, Listening, and Discerning." I'll call that "being OLD." I have recently come to realize that JUDGING and DISCERNING are very different things. To discern is to see (observe) something that is going on that is not blatantly obvious. To discern is to tell from someone's facial expression, for example, how they really feel despite what words are coming out of his or her mouth. Discerning is seeing, for example, the real interaction between a mother and child on a playground when they're too far away to eavesdrop on their conversation. You can discern many emotions, and spiritual states from observing and listening to what is and isn't being said. How is this done? Through the Holy Spirit. It is a gift given by God to many of his children. It is a gift that seemed to come to me in my early childhood--so I don't remember asking for it!--but it is something one can request in prayer, too.

To judge is to take what you discern and apply some sort of Good or Bad label to it. Now, if you are driving and you discern that the driver in front of you is acting erratically and his car is drifting, it might be well to judge that it's time to put on your brakes and stay out of the imminent accident! Judging if a drink is too hot to put to your lips by discerning that there is a lot of steamy heat coming from it, well, this too is an example of judging things in the real world that have consequences, good or bad.

But when judgement is about spiritual good or bad, or as they used to call it, when you're making a "value judgment," you're on shaky ground. We are told in scripture not to judge unrighteous judgment, and it's not talking about whether or not something's physically dangerous, it's talking about judging character, morals, whether someone's going to Heaven or Hell...

Wanna keep this blog short, so there's my take for the day (thank you, Elder Bednar), that we should actively engage ourselves in discerning (through observing and listening), but AVOID judging others (and ourselves) in a moralistic way.

Until next time,

Barbara