ˈeɡzət,ˈeksət/
noun
1. a way out, especially of a public building, room, or passenger vehicle.
"she slipped out by the rear exit"
synonyms: way out, door, egress, escape route;
2. an act of going out of or leaving a place.
"he made a hasty exit from the room"
synonyms: departure, leaving, withdrawal, going, decamping, retreat;
verb
1. go out of or leave a place.
"they exited from the aircraft"
synonyms: leave, go (out), depart, withdraw, retreat
"the doctor had just exited"
If you're like me, you think that words should be pronounced properly. It drives me insane when people throw in a random "k" sound in words like "especially" and "et cetera." Odds are that you're not like me, though, and I certainly hope for your sake that you're not. However, many people with whom I speak occasionally point out one "mispronunciation" that apparently reaches beyond just English majors: exit.
Okay, be honest. How did you say it? Did you pronounce the "x" like a "k" or a "g"? Did you say the end like "zit" (pimple) or "sit" (what you do in a chair)? Almost everyone who has ever talked to me about this agrees that it must be pronounced "EK-sit." I used to agree with you.
But did you look at the very top? I was totally shocked. Both "EG-zit" and "EK-sit" are official, acceptable pronunciations of the word. My entire childhood was a lie. I've always said "EG-zit," but I've always "known" that it "should" be "EK-sit," and many people have corrected me. This isn't about me getting vindicated, but it got me thinking about how we interpret truth in other people's lives.
One of my biggest flaws is my quickness to judge others harshly. I see people and assume an entire backstory for them of how they were raised, their personality style, and their entire life experience to explain why they do the things they do. Sometimes I'm convinced that somebody is doing something wrong just because it's not the way I would do it. I remember my mom once telling me that her parents used to argue about which direction the toilet paper roll was supposed to face—folding in front or folding behind. It seemed so funny as a child, but I definitely decided that it should unfold in front of the roll. And now, whenever I see a roll wrapped behind, it bugs me. It doesn't drive me crazy, and I won't even say anything to the people who put it there. I just silently think to myself, "That's wrong." No, it's not. It's toilet paper.
There's a hilarious moment in Pixar's Inside Out where Joy knocks over two boxes of little wooden pieces—one labeled "facts" and the other "opinions"—and scrambles to put them back in the right box. She says, "All these facts and opinions look the same. I can't tell them apart." Bing Bong responds, "Happens to me all the time. Don't worry about it," and they just put the pieces back into whichever box. I laughed my head off. I thought it was one of the cleverest commentaries on human thought in the movie (which is saying something).
I don't think it's our fault when we mistake opinions for fact. It generally comes from us forming an opinion when we were too young to remember that it was just an opinion, or we were very trusting as children, or something was told to us so often that we can't see it being any other way. A Church leader once taught a big group of missionaries when I was in Chile about the concept of a false dichotomy: two things that seem contradictory and cannot coexist but that actually aren't and can. The term can also refer to decisions where people pretend that there are only two extreme options while a third solution is perfectly plausible. The whole "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" is one example. Can't both of them be my enemy, too? "If you're not with me, you're against me," when I could easily just not care one way or the other.
One of the biggest false dichotomies I heard as a missionary, serving the Lord 24/7 for two years with a whole handbook full of rules, was that you had to choose between being exactly obedient or showing your love for people. Ironically, a very similar concern faces us in everyday debates about terrorism, tragedy, LGBT rights, alienation, immigration, poverty, education, etc. (there's no "k" in that, remember). People think that we have to choose: Christ, or tolerance? Law, or love? I can see why people would see that discrepancy; I think it's mainly caused by media and over-generalizations about human behavior.
It also comes from a lack of knowledge about the Savior. He's the center of my life, so I can't leave Him out of this conversation. After the recent controversy regarding the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' new policy on baptizing children of gay couples (the explanation of which can be found here: https://youtu.be/iEEMyc6aZms), my brother and I crafted a statement that we offered on Facebook in an attempt to post an objective, non-confrontational insight. It was this:
Jesus Christ is the most loving person in history. Showing evidence through His every action and teaching, He manifested a selfless, pure love for us, even to the point of atoning for our shortcomings.
Along with being the most loving, Christ is also the most obedient of all of God's children, having never disobeyed his Father. He was perfect in every sense of the word.
He is the most forgiving and understanding, and from this great love and understanding came firm doctrine in which we learn that He could never be lenient toward sin. Among others, three things of which I am certain are: Christ's abhorrence of sin, Christ's loyalty to His Father, and Christ's love for us (the people He gave His life to save).
We know that we cannot prescribe to cafeteria Christianity, picking and choosing which commandments to follow, and to imagine Christ doing so would be blasphemy within itself. He cannot forsake one for the other.
I'll leave you with this final thought regarding our Savior, Jesus Christ: All He wants is for us to come home to Him, even if that means extending correction. "For whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth" (Hebrews 12:6). Chastening isn't necessarily correction from wrong-doing. It's redirection when we need a guiding hand—either in the way we think or in what we want to do. He tells us that He wants us to lose our lives for His sake and find them in Him. He's telling us to get rid of the logic of men, to abandon pre-conceived notions about ourselves and others. He's telling us to remember that life isn't all about us. We can't create God in our image. He wants us to become like Him because He loves us. He wants us to come home to Him because He loves us. He gives us commandments so we can know how to get back to Him, and He does so because He loves us. Christ is love. So when Christ corrects, or chastens, or gives counsel, or when His servants, the prophets, issue statements on Church policy that we may question or disagree with, remember that it comes from Christ, our Savior, who: 1) Cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance, 2) Represents His Father in all things, and 3) Loves us more than we will ever comprehend.
So when God gives us commandments, don't jump to conclusions that He's restrictive or hateful. Just think, "how is this law a manifestation of God's love for me?" You'll be surprised what you discover through the promptings of His Spirit.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Love, Richie and Tyler Angel
True disciples of Jesus Christ shouldn't have to choose between loving God and loving their neighbor, but God's commands come first. If you would like an instance of Christ's direct, unapologetic approach, please consider reading Matthew 10:32-39 as just one example. To see and feel Christ's matchless love and mercy, one place you may refer is John 8:1-11, the story of the woman taken in adultery. Note that he didn't approve of her sin nor forgive it. He simply told her not to do it again and gave her the chance to prove herself.
Sometimes, we may have to openly oppose certain behaviors, but that doesn't give us excuse not to love someone. It's possible to love God and love your neighbor. For ways to show greater love, here's a link to a previous post: http://the-angel-in-the-marble.blogspot.com/2015/11/love-greater-than-diamonds_15.html
Opinion can be relative to perspective, but "truth is truth! It is not divisible, and any part of it cannot be set aside. Whether truth emerges from a scientific laboratory or through revelation, all truth emanates from God" (President Russell M. Nelson, current President of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles). I have many opinions, preferences, and biases. Some of them may pop into this blog occasionally, and I may accidentally present them as truth. I don't mean to.
But here are some thing I know for myself, unashamedly and unfalteringly:
I know that God lives. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know that they love us more than we can comprehend and desire only our eternal happiness in the mansions that they have prepared for us. I know that God reveals His word so we know how to follow Him and return to His presence. I know that these instructions—commandments—are not merely burdens but clues or hints from a loving Father who wants to guide us safely home. I know that in order to reveal these clues, God speaks to prophets, ordinary men with extraordinary faith in Jesus Christ. I know that Moses was such a prophet, that Isaiah was such a prophet, and that Joseph Smith was one, too. I know that Thomas S. Monson is currently the prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and is God's living oracle on the earth. I know that everything God teaches us is what is best for us. I know that we're not perfect but that God can help us become so eventually. I know that when we sin, we can repent. I know that Christ waits with open arms to receive us when we seek His aid. I know that we are never out of our Savior's reach and that His love will never run out. I know that through Christ, we can be changed. Such truths will always remain, no matter how you pronounce them.
The following powerful message comes from the late-President Boyd K. Packer, former President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, just two years prior to his death:
No comments:
Post a Comment