Did Anyone See That?

"God not only forgives our failures; he sees successes where no one else does, not even ourselves. Only God can give us credit for angry words we did not speak; temptations we resisted, patience, and gentleness little noticed and long forgotten by those around us. Such good deeds are never wasted and not forgotten, because God gives them a measure of eternity." ~~~Rabbi Harold Kushner

I can't remember where I found this quote, but I loved it immediately. Even we make choices that we know we shouldn't or when we stumble in some way, we do take so many right steps. Sometimes all we remember about ourselves are the mistakes, but we can be sure that Heavenly Father will give us credit for all the good we have done and all of the times when it wasn't easy, but we made the correct choice, even if it was a small, baby step toward complete obedience.

After I found this, I sent it to Robin (my husband, the Bishop), but I only wrote that it was from Harold Kushner. He shared it with people in meetings and interviews. Several people wanted to know who he was. I looked it up and saw that he was a rabbi. He has written several books, which look very interesting. Here are a few other unrelated quotes I found from the Rabbi.

"We are here to change the world with small acts of thoughtfulness done daily rather than with one great breakthrough."

"Our souls are not hungry for fame, comfort, wealth or power. Those rewards create almost as many problems as they solve. Our souls are hungry for meaning, for the sense that we have figured out how to live so that our lives matter, so that the world will be at least a little bit different for our having passed through it."

"Fun can be the dessert of our lives but never its main course."

"The circumstances of your life have uniquely qualified you to make a contribution. And if you don't make that contribution, nobody else can make it."

"We have confused God with Santa Claus. And we believe that prayer means making a list of everything you don't have but want and trying to persuade God you deserve it. Now I'm sorry, that's not God, that's Santa Claus."