Learn from the Past

                The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday is the simple fact that we can learn much from previous generations that could save our society from total destruction.  History is full of examples of societies rising and falling.  We should learn what caused them to rise and why they fell.  This information could be very helpful to us.  We can learn about two societies that rose and fell on the American continent by reading the Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ.  This book tells in plain language what the good leaders did to preserve their nations and how evil caused their destructions.

                Greg Trimble wrote an interesting article titled, “Dear Politicians… Here’s Why You Should Read the Book of Mormon.”  He admits that the name of his article is “weird” and has “some stigmas associated with it” but asks politicians to “please give the Book of Mormon a quick read.” 

                “The Book of Mormon is not a novel.  It’s a history book compiled by a string of prophets, politicians, and historians who lived on this continent long before we did.  It’s the only book I know of that has so accurately depicted what we are watching unfold right before our eyes today.  This book is like a field manual for leaders of nations.  It lays out in perfect detail how to avoid complete collapse and destruction.  This book was written for us in our day.  You can learn from the leaders in this book who faced the same problems many years back.”

                You can find Mr. Trimble’s article here.  You can find the Book of Mormon here.  

Learn from the Past

                Families, communities, and nations are strengthened when we help the rising generation to learn from the past.  We understand that human nature does not change; we also understand that many of the youth of today are similar to us in our younger days when we thought we knew more than our parents did about any given subject.  We learned as we matured that the older generations gained wisdom through their personal experiences, and we seek wisdom from them. 

                I recently had the opportunity to visit a couple whom my children adopted as their grandparents.  Grandpa is nearly 91 years of age, and Grandma is just a few years younger.  We met them approximately thirty years ago on one of their trips to Alaska.  My husband took the older children to float down the Gulkana River; I kept our youngest son with me as we dropped them off and returned to camp.  I was washing dishes in our little trailer while my son played around outside.  I noticed that he was missing and went looking for him.  I had barely stepped out of the trailer when I saw him coming towards me holding the hand of an older woman who was smiling.  He had wandered into their camp, and she brought him home.  Our family has stayed in contact with them since that day, and we have visited them whenever possible.

                Since Grandma and Grandpa live in another state, I see them every couple or so years when my husband and I are near their home.  This year we were enjoying a normal conversation about their many travels since he retired from working for a telephone company.  I knew they had done a lot of traveling around the United States and asked if they had traveled to any foreign nations.

                Grandpa immediately said yes – and I recognized right away that he meant during World War II.  I asked a few questions about where he served and then sat back and enjoyed his great wisdom.  He marched across Africa with his Army unit and then went into Europe – Sicily, Italy, Normandy, etc.  After the war with Germany was over, he was on a ship heading home when his ship was turned around to go fight Japan.  He said that he saw all of the foreign countries that he wanted to see.  The only country he would even consider visiting again is Switzerland.  When I questioned why he liked Switzerland so much, he indicated that the people are very friendly.

                I have learned much from the Greatest Generation.  Since my own parents as well as my husband’s parents have all passed on to a better world, I am grateful that my children and grandchildren have these adopted grandparents who continue to share their wisdom with me and my posterity.  We can help the rising generation learn some of the lessons of past history by sharing with them what we know and putting them in contact with those who lived it.  Hopefully, we can teach them before they make fools of themselves like the clerk in the following story.

                When we learn from the past, we can live better in the present and prepare for the future.  I know that we can strengthen our families, communities, and nations by learning from the past generations. 

                                                                                                                                                          

Being Green

                Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment.  The woman apologized and explained, “We didn’t have this green thing back in my earlier days.”

                The young clerk responded, “That’s our problem today.  Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations.”

                She was right – our generation didn’t have the green thing in its day.  Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store.  The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over.  So they really were truly recycled.  But we didn’t have the green thing back in our day.

                Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we reused for numerous things, most memorable besides household garbage bags, was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks.  This was to ensure that public property (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings.  Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags.  But too bad we didn’t do the green thing back then.

                We walked up stairs, because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building.  We walked to the grocery store and did not climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.  But she was right.  We didn’t have the green thing in our day.

                Back then, we washed the baby’s diapers because we didn’t have the throwaway kind.  We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts – wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our day.  Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.  But that young lady is right; we didn’t have the green thing back in our day.

                Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house – not a TV in every room.  And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana.  In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us.  When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.  Back then, we didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn.  We used a push mower that ran on human power.  We exercised by working so we didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.  But she’s right; we didn’t have the green thing back then.

                We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water.  We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.  But we didn’t have the green thing back then.

                Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service.  We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances.  And we didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.

                But isn’t it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn’t have the green thing back then?

Past, Present, Future

Families are strengthened when they “learn from the past, live in the present, and prepare for the future” (Thomas S. Monson).

There is much to learn from past experiences – good or bad, our own or those of others. The scriptures are full of stories depicting both good and evil. When faced with a choice, remembering those stories could help in our decision. For example, when Joseph faced the “opportunity” to become immoral with his boss’s wife, he remembered that adultery was forbidden and fled the scene. He suffered in prison for his decision but was later given great responsibility and honor. A study of family, American, or world history would produce many other experiences that could teach us important lessons. Remembering past years can help us too.

We must live in the present in order to be truly happy. We must not dwell on past problems or continue to brag on past accomplishments. Today is to be enjoyed. “Take time to smell the roses” and “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” are sayings that have real meaning. Live life fully today – but prepare for tomorrow.

Preparing begins with making plans and setting goals. Preparing also means getting appropriate education and saving for a rainy day. There are many ways to prepare for tomorrow.

Gordon B. Hinckley said, “I don’t worry too much about the future, and I don’t worry very much about the past. The past is gone, and you can’t change, you can’t correct. The future, you can anticipate, but you can’t necessarily do very much about it. It is the present you have to deal with. Reach out for every good opportunity to do what you ought to do” (Stand A Little Taller, 382).

President Hinckley is a good example of a person who studied and learned from the past, lived with enthusiasm, and prepared for tomorrow. Families can grow stronger when they follow his examples.