Sunday before last we were given permission, or should I say, told not to come to church that day. No, it didn’t snow or hail, or blow a windstorm, or flood. Well, it kind of flooded. The reason we couldn’t go to church was because there was a small electrical fire in the mechanical closet during the night, and it turned on the building sprinklers, which ran for quite awhile, hence the FM group was called in to dry things out.
We had already made a 10:30 appointment with a young woman who wanted to see a desk we had advertised for sale, so if we were going to get to another ward, we had to go at our regular meeting time 1:00 pm. The only ward we were sure of that met at that time was C. P. Ward.
There was an interesting woman in the congregation. She looked like she was ready to host a birthday party for young clowns–no kidding! In her black patent shoes with square silver buckles, were striped socks--red, yellow, and green stripes. Her long, flowing skirt of multi-colored fabrics and her blouse with a wide floppy collar, kind of matched each other like a crazy quilt matches a basket of scraps overflowing at the sides. Sticking out under the blouse on both arms were striped knit sleeves, which did not match the striped socks. These were narrow stripes in yellow, green, purple and blue (at least I think that’s what I remember). Her short pink hair was capped with a colorful cap turned up at the edge, or was it black? My senses couldn’t take it all in at once.
I learned a new term during Sunday School. The principle of Non-distraction. The teacher, a former member of a stake presidency, while explaining what was going on with the Apostle Paul in I. Corinthians, Chapter 13, looked directly at this woman, (who seemed very knowledgeable about the scriptures from other answers she had offered) and he said, “When we go to Sacrament Meeting there should be nothing to distract our minds from the Savior and the Atonement.” I asked my husband if he had ever heard of the term. He answered , “That’s why we ask all the Deacons (and Aaronic Priesthood youth) to wear white shirts or suits and ties.”
Come to think of it, we often hear the admonition that we should aspire to reach a “Unity of the Faith”. We sing the song, Come Follow Me. If we follow the Savior’s example we must become more Christ-like in our behaviors and beliefs. But, does it mean also that we are like robots who mindlessly follow the leader? No, we all have different talents, interests and abilities. We choose to follow the Savior’s example because what he does is right, and because we love and respect him. We choose not to draw attention to ourselves as part of this respect. There are some times when it is appropriate to stand out in a group; and other times when it is appropriate to blend in.
The regular members of the ward we attended are used to seeing this woman dressed like this every Sunday, and just ignore her costume. “That’s the way Sister ----- is,” they say. She must have a desperate need to be noticed, and I’ll guess she might be a very interesting person to talk to, it if weren’t for the fact that she distracts away from her own good qualities as well!
