Complaints and Whinings

I went to my home ward with my mom and sister. It was wonderful to be with them and visit with old friends and leaders, but somewhat frustrating at the same time. Allow me to explain. Every time I go to church, I find my patience (both with myself and others) and faith in the church (emphasis on church) poked and prodded and bothered and tested. Even though I don't always let it on, I am an incredibly opinionated person and am quite prone to thinking I'm right. This is a problem. Anyway, here are my issues today-

1. In Sunday School we had a lesson about the three degrees of glory, and the teacher introduced it by explaining (what she thought- and obviously hadn't done enough research on) the beliefs of other major religions concerning an afterlife and how- she didn't say this explicitly but it was obviously how she felt- they were inferior to our beliefs, and then began expressing gratitude for being blessed to have the fulness of the truth and how she was SO glad that she wasn't this religion or that religion because it would be simply awful. This really bothered me.

2. In Sunday School (again) we read a quote from the book "Mormon Doctrine" by Bruce R McConkie. He was an incredible man with some great insights, but this book IS NOT DOCTRINE!!! There's actually a disclaimer in the book, and it bugs me first that he would publish under such a misleading title, and second that some people still use it as 'doctrine.' It has some really beautiful, valuable things in it but I think it can be very dangerous when taken as absolute truth.

3. In Sacrament meeting we sang the hymn "Count Your Many Blessings." It has a really good message, basically that gratitude is important. For kids in primary, it's great. But I think it's misleading, especially to those with mental illnesses such as depression. It suggests that you can solve all of your problems and magically be happy by counting your blessings and being grateful. I agree that gratitude is really really really important, but what about grief? What about loss? Isn't part of life about experiencing pain? Doesn't dealing with pain in part define who we are? Tossing it in a shoebox and taping with 'a warm home' and 'the scriptures' and 'bubbles' doesn't make it go away. We have to face our problems, and gratitude will be a great aid in overcoming our weaknesses or our trials, but it's not the end-all solution. I also really dislike the tune. It's simple, predictable, and annoying.

4. In relief society/priesthood (combined) we had this guy come and talk to us about- of all things- building maintenance! An hour of him explaining why the church is focusing on "member maintenance" rather than hiring people, how the rating system works, what cleaners we use and why, etc. That was definitely NOT what I came to church for, and I found it inappropriate for a Sunday setting.


Yes I'm rather ornary, and it's probably because of stupid Aunt Flo who's come to visit again. Sometimes I wish I accepted everything that's taught to me rather than have to go through this frustration of thinking and finding out for myself, but then I wouldn't be me.