"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."
Henry David Thoreau

When I was a teenager I witnessed a very bad accident. One driver was clearly at fault and when the police arrived on scene they took my name and number and a statement. I had never been involved in anything like that before so I had assumed that my involvement was done.

A few months later, while away at school, I received a phone call from a lawyer representing the innocent driver. We discussed what I had witnessed and in the discussion I had remembered that the walk sign was flashing and that 16 counts had gone by, and that at 15 the light turns yellow. He asked how I knew this and I explained that an old boyfriend and I used to play a silly game that involved those counts. The lawyer checked it out and ultimately proved his case. When he called me to say that I would not be required to testify he mentioned that following something so inconsequential had been almost the deciding factor in his case. He asked if I noticed small details like that all the time, I couldn’t even answer him because I wasn’t sure, I mean little stuff like that is always running through my head.

This brings me to another point. D sees so much more in everyday life. When he was a little boy and we would go see the pediatrician he would look out the window of the doctor’s office and find a MacDonald’s signs and a Wendy’s signs, colors of roofs and roads that we had just driven. Remember here that this was when he was 3 and four years old. It was crazy. It was what eventually would lead to his ADD diagnosis. So if the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, which I believe it does in this case, maybe having ADD can be a good thing if utilized properly.

What am I on about?

We may think that we are looking at is all that we see but when we stop and really think, how much more is there that either we missed or didn’t really think to catalog in our minds? Another point; how much of our minds are cluttered by the little things?

I have been really contemplating this thought. I have tried to simplify and declutter my life. I really work on just making the important things important and not worry so much about the little things that seem to litter the path of living. I mean, come on, walk on over them or even better, pick em’ up and clear the path for the next guy. Breaking whatever cycle that causes heartache and dysfunction is a good thing for everyone involved.

In the old life, so much time was spent just arguing over the things that in the end simply didn’t make a difference. What difference does it make if in your scripture reading you reading a chapter a day? Hey, just let the book open randomly and have a heartfelt discussion on the scripture at hand. Rules are important but the spirit of the law can sometimes open doors that the letter of just simply slams shut. In the end, the war over the letter of the law can just take the spirit of it and close it right down.

I think that is why, when I see those "letter of the law" people in church on Sunday who puff themselves up and sound so "knowledgeable" as they hear themselves talk and answer questions in Sunday School, I get so jaded and find Sunday School so hard. What would be like if we could just open up and have a discussion about the realities of life and not just the expectations? I mean, come on, do we really have to hear the same two guys answer all the questions? Does anyone else have anything to say? And here is the part that gets me, when the quiet ones finally do get the nerve to say anything, they are usually shut down so fast or their comment discarded in an unrighteous fashion that it makes my heart bleed and I know why that person will never speak up again.

Here is an example. A few years back we were having a lesson on the New Testament. We were discussing the relative relationship between Mary and Joseph. Were they indeed, cousins? I have, in my scriptures, pages from my university professor that are inserted throughout my scriptures. I put my hand up and then read, from those inserts a direct quote from one of the General Authorities addressing that very issue. The Sunday school teacher looked at me and then commented "I doubt that’s true!" and then dismissed me. Do you think that I have ever raised my voice again in class? Yeah, I know, I am the fool for letting this slight affect me so much but the reality is that the older generation would rather hear themselves espouse the scriptures then hear the comments of the ones who most probably have a very important and fresh point of view. And they wonder why so many young people are leaving the church?

One of the hardest things I do every week is attend the other two sessions of Sunday services. I find that open and honest dialect is not welcome any more in our church. With the way the world is now, the time is at hand that we open these meetings up and we approach the hard subjects and we address the needs of all the members in stead of simply losing more and more to inactivity. I’m tired of watching my friends leave. I miss them. Maybe someone asks a stupid question or makes a comment that challenges but instead of dismissing these lets open it up and discuss and find answers or at least suggestions so that we can all enjoy church and not just the few who, if you ask them, already know and have the answers anyway.