FHE + NPR = Syngergy

Our FHE lesson was an article by Elder Oaks, "The Atonement and Faith". As we read, we felt that he was teaching that atonement is harder than we are taught as children. The atonement and repentance do not save us from all suffering, nor is it as easy as saying "I'm sorry, I promise not to do it again." Melinda wanted to make sure that as our children matured, we should teach them more completely about the atonement. As she talked about it, I realized how something I heard on NPR was connected.

Radio West had a guest who wrote a book: The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work. They talked about "modern sensibilities", that taught current generations that we ought to be looking for work that is like our hobby. We ought to love our jobs, that a happy life is predicated on finding that career that we never dread going to work.

Unfortunately, it also teaches the corollary, that if we don't find that perfect job, we should feel unfulfilled. People won't apply for jobs unless they are fit their perfect description, or they quit their job because it's not going in the direction they want. They go on Eat, Pray, Love tours of the world. When they lose their job, they don't find a temporary job to tide them over, they look for months to find a job that is just right.

In a way, the same pressures have been brought to bear on marriage. We should be rapturously in love with our spouses, our perfect mates. And if we are not, we should feel unhappy. People who should be perfectly happy in their marriages will look outside for that spark, that may just be the perfect romantic love. People who should be dating will wait for the chemistry of a crush before saying yes to the first date, or even flirting in the hope of a first date.

These cultural pressures have made "endurance" into a bad word. Endurance gets you through torture without breaking. It means grit your teeth, push through the pain, wait for the perfect outcome on the other side. Forgotten is the idea of finding fulfillment in what we endure. That endurance is about the current experience, and not about the difference between our current circumstances and perfection.

We should endure the imperfections in life, not because at some point all will be perfected, but because through endurance of imperfection, we may find bits of perfection. In a job, we may find the fulfillment of responsibility, or the pleasure of putting in our full efforts. In a marriage, we may endure routine days by finding the perfect moments: quiet moments when in the same room, the pleasure of companionship when running an errand.

Just so, we should endure the suffering imposed by a necessarily imperfect life. We can't avoid the suffering imposed by sins without leaving those sins unaddressed in our lives. We endure that suffering by looking for the perfect lessons. In this way suffering is part of the process of repentance. We use those perfect lessons to crack and soften our hearts. Then we call upon the power of the atonement to reshape our hearts, and seal it against the sin.

At the same time, endurance is not inaction, nor should it imply pacifistic acceptance of unjust circumstances.

What are your thoughts?

p.s. This post was written in May.