Opportunities to do Good

[Greg44]

I am not sure how many here have ever attended a Mormon (LDS) Church service, but because we do not have a paid ministry - members of the ward (congregation) are asked in advance to speak on an assigned topic. I have dodged this bullet for several years, but my day has come!

Tomorrow I have been asked to speak for about 15+ minutes on a talk one of our Church leaders gave in the last "General Conference of the Church" - Opportunites to do good. Basically how lives of others are blessed by our service - we become the answers to their prayers.

http://lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/opportunities-to-do-good?lang=eng

I am pretty much ready (well are you ever really ready for public speaking?) but would like some input!

Maybe some short examples of how people have done good deeds to you, your family, etc. or what good deeds you try to do? Its not bragging, but sharing ideas.

Opportunities to do good can cover a broad spectrum - to giving a listening ear to someone going through a difficult time, to providing a meal to a family, donating to worthy causes like maybe the Red Cross, your Church, etc. etc. any ideas?

[loosechickens]

Hey, I'm sure you'll do great Greg.....probably good to emphasize the importance of realizing that "doing good" does not necessarily mean big and wonderful earthshaking things, but that every person can accomplish wonders simply by looking around themselves, seeing who or what within view is in need of assistance, and providing it. Not for credit, not for praise, but just simply seeing what is right there in front of our eyes, and attending to it.

The Dalai Lama said once that if every person would simply look at things in their path, and help with what was right in front of their noses, huge amounts of good could be accomplished.

So many people don't recognize just how much difference a helping hand, kind word, caring smile, or help with small things can mean to others. And none of us realize how much some small thing can matter to someone else and reverberate for a long time.

I'm sure you'll do a wonderful job with this, your very own opportunity to "do good" right there in front of you.......

[Greg44]

loosechickens - thank you for your kind words. I don't know why I freak myself out so much about speaking in public.

I even had my "re-occuring nightmare". I have returned to Australia, but for a very short time - only a couple of days. I have forgotten my address book and have no way to get a hold of my friends - extremely frustrating nightmare. But the theme is a feeling of being "unprepared"....*sigh*.

My wife is speaking first, so I am hoping she takes all my time :-)

Thank you for your take on doing good deeds -- very well said!

[redfox]

Hi Greg - the most powerful talks are those with stories... personal, universal, and recognizable. Speak more slowly than you think you should, and come form the heart. You'll rock it!

[flowerseverywhere]

one of the opportunities to do good is not to use more than our share of water, oil and goods and be mindful of where products come from. In this day of jobs leaving countries that have laws that protect workers to cheap labor with no protection for workers it is more important than ever to be mindful. In my view, doing good is to reuse, recycle and not add to the landfills and waste in this world. Not having your air conditioning on and cooking a turkey in the summer, not having the heat on high in the winter while sitting in shorts, not adding chemicals to your lawn you don't need, not wasting gas by driving mindlessly. Kind of all the things many practice here on a daily basis but are foreign to many others who live their lives unaware of the limited resources our planet has and the effect of our chemical use on the environment.

I agree about speaking very slowly, especially if you are prone to be nervous.

[leslieann]

floowerseverywhere, thanks so much for those ideas! I forget that the reasons we do these things are big and about doing something good. Often I think of doing good as direct service to other people, but you've reminded me that there are many ways we can make a difference.

Greg44, I bet if you just let your heart out through your words, you'll have helped lots of people to see ways of doing good. Talking about doing good is actually doing it, by the way, if it motivates or inspires others. So you are doing good by having the conversation.

It is 11 am here in the maritimes...perhaps you are heading out to speak even now...best wishes!

[Kat]

I'm sorry I didn't see this thread sooner! How did it go, Greg?

[catherine]

Greg, First of all, I am not LDS, but when my mother was in a nursing home (she had her mental faculties for the most part, but was a stroke victim), she was kind of "adopted" by a group of Mormon elders, and I am eternally grateful for the attention they gave her. They brought her to church every week, where she stayed all day, they came on the weekends to visit. And, on what wound up being her last birthday, I couldn't be there and felt so guilty. I called the nursing home and asked to speak to her, and the nurse said, "Wait a minute--she's having a party." Turns out the Mormons had come and given her a pizza party. I am eternally grateful to them--and I can't even express how much.

Come to think of it, feel free to use that anecdote for your speech on "love in action." I didn't start out thinking about my story that way, but actually it fits pretty good. Feel free to PM me if you'd like more details filled in.

One of my VERY FAVORITE quotes is the one by Martin Luther King Jr. in The Drum Major Instinct:


And so Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness. If you want to be important—wonderful. If you want to be recognized—wonderful. If you want to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness.

And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant.



ETA: Shoot! unless you check before you leave (it's still early out there in the Northwest)--I'll have missed you!! Let us know how it went.

[Greg44]

Well I guess public speaking is just not my bag - members said it went well, but I had to cut it short and it just didn't flow well IMHO. But my ward family really didn't need me to tell them to do good - they are just naturals, very caring people - they are the example to me!

I wanted to use both LooseChickens & Flowerseverywhere's comments because they both fit in so nicely.

Catherine - I read your post after I arrived home - thank you for sharing the story of your mother - it made my day.

That is what I love about this site. We are all so very different, but doing good is universal - it transcends all religions.

I truely believe God uses each of us to answer the prayers of others. We become the miracle workers. The opportunites on how we can do good is really as varied and unique as each of us. And I believe doing good is a form of worship - as we care for others, whether it is people, animals or the enviroment - all his creations - we honor him.

[flowerseverywhere]

Thanks Gregg, I live not too far from Palmyra so I know a lot of Mormons and I think that the whole preparedness thing is such a big part of your religion that is so in tune to these simple living boards. And most of us can't get to that point without putting material things secondary to people. It is such a good thing to be in charge of your life and from what I have seen people who are Mormon work towards lack of debt, food stored in case of emergency etc. When things go wrong in this world the worst thing that you can do is be a further burden on society and it is so great to be able to take care of yourself and those you love.
Be proud.

[Sad Eyed Lady]

And I believe doing good is a form of worship - as we care for others, whether it is people, animals or the enviroment - all his creations - we honor him.
I am so glad to read this from you Greg44. I struggle with prayer from time to time, but I always have this thought/desire in me that I want my life to be a prayer. I think what you said expressed what I am feeling. I volunteered at a mission food pantry for about 10 years and on my day there I would kind of feel that maybe this day of serving WAS a prayer.