Sunday, April 17, 2011

It's You I Like

Again Vic has inspired me. This time in his Gay Gospel Doctrine Class posting today. His take on God's unconditional love for all of his children reminded me of this Fred Rogers song:

It's you I like.
It's not the things you wear.
It's not the way you do your hair,
but it's you I like.
The way you are right now.
The way down deep inside you.
Not the things that hide you.
Not your toys.
They're just beside you.

But it's you I like.
Every part of you.
Your skin, your eyes, your feelings,
whether old or new.
I hope that you'll remember
even when you're feeling blue,
that it's you I like.
It's you yourself.
It's you.
It's you I like.

So the takeaway for me is that thanks to God's unconditional love for all of us, we all have multiple opportunities--I have multiple opportunities--to feel his love for me and for others. If I know I am fully loved for who I am right now; and if I know that unconditional acceptance and love is in place right now for all of us on this planet; I can feel less critical, I can love myself, others and God with greater depth and understanding.

And if not, I can at least listen to Mr. Rogers and remember that I have felt this love before and it is possible to feel it again. The problem isn't in God's always beaming sunshine, but in my own cloudy days and nights of darkness when I fail to remember that dawn is only a few hours away, that blue skies will eventually prevail. God loves us, no matter what.

2 comments:

  1. I shared this quote in my LDS priesthood meeting today by LDS Church President Thomas S Monson:

    "Life is perfect for none of us. Rather than being judgmental and critical of each other, may we have the pure love of Christ for our fellow travelers in this journey through life. May we recognize that each one is doing her best...and may we strive to do our best to help out." Happily (I guess...LOL), only one member of our group chastised me for thinking this.

    We still have a lot of work to do to convince some Mormons (I think particularly in Utah where Mormons are a majority of the population) that "love everyone" is not like the department store sale where EVERYTHING is on sale with the EXCEPTION of a variety of items in the fine print. It really does mean "love everyone".

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  2. Way to go, Frank. Thank you for teaching your brethren and giving them something to think about. I'm sure that a few of them will.

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