Have we forgotten what a wonderful world we have to live in? Are we so caught up in ugly politics that we can’t see all that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have offered us? Sometimes, I wonder what our masks are hiding, or perhaps exposing in us?
Speaking to the Young Women, during this 1989 conference session, President Gordon B. Hinckley reflects on what it takes to be grateful for our surroundings, and why it’s important to show that gratitude.
When we are grateful, we feel happiness more intensely. We feel satisfied, actually demanding less and appreciating more. We recognize that more money doesn’t make us happy but managing money does. Managing our lives better does. We see that kindness to our loved ones and others around us is so much more fulfilling than judging and equalizing everyone else. Our attitude is an outward manifestation of the love we feel inside us.
Pres. Hinckley speaks of rising to the stature of the divine within us. We are all divine creatures, sons and daughters of God. He says,
“There is much of evil in the world and too much of harshness, even in the home. Do what you can to rise above all of this.”
As women of faith, daughters of God with the intent to one day be gods ourselves, we can humbly rise above the sinful world we live in today. We don’t rise with our heads lifted up above others, but rather with our hearts searching outward to lift others.
Wearing masks may be helpful during this pandemic, but I’ve found that it is a great inhibitor. I typically have a quick smile to offer people, but they can’t see my smile anymore. I can bob my head to show expression, but most of the time I realize too late that words are the only thing I can use to express an instant response. And sometimes, my brain doesn’t work fast enough to form words as my smile goes completely unnoticed.
This dilemma causes me a little concern. If I want people to see my gratitude for life, I need to find a positive way to show it from behind a mask. With so much negativity in the world I don’t want my mask to hide my sincere positivity and my gratitude for life and the beauty I see around me.