A new family in our ward spoke in Sacrament meeting this past weekend. "Sister Brown" in addition to telling how she met her husband and a bit about her career and children expressed her admiration for a friend in a previous ward. This friend endured some unkind comments when she welcomed home her gay son and took care of him as he died of AIDS. Apparently some people in the ward and neighborhood advised her to put him in a nursing home and that he was just getting what he deserved. This woman continued to care for her son. I don't know how long ago this took place, but I'm encouraged that our new ward member was impressed enough by this woman's example of compassion to share it with us.
It reminds me of a favorite Martin Luther King, Jr. quotation: "You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive." It also reminded me that it's been a long time since I've seen Philadelphia and I think it's time to take another look.
I've been wanting to watch that again, too. Scott has never seen it. It came out while he was on his mission in Philadelphia--no joke!
ReplyDeleteBut I know it is depressing, and so I never chose to watch it in the limited time I have to watch movies.
Ned, I was touched by both the remarks of the new member and the kind mother who cared for her dying son. It is hard for me to imagine a mother who wouldn't. My instinct would be to wrap my arms around my son and hold him tight.
ReplyDeletere philadelphia; tom hanks has interesting connections with mormons. his family flirted with mormonism (is he still a member of record??); he's the executive producer of big love, and called the church unamerican for its support of prop 8 (he later apologized). he converted from r.c. to eastern orthodox when he married. catholics are probably distressed with his involvement in the da vinci code movies.
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