Things do change

Ok, so both of you that have read my blog know that I have complained about the chubby guys that like to sprawl next to me on the bus. It's a challenge, and I face it with appropriate indignity.

But things change. Yesterday, I had to leave the office a little early. I jumped onto the train about an hour before I normally do so I could get downtown and catch the early bus home. I sat down up against a window. The next stop rolls up and lo and behold one of the cute coeds sits next to me. There were other options, and other places to sit, but nope, she sat down next to me. She sat there quietly, didn't say anything, and neither did I. Two stops later, she gets off, and what do you know, another cute girl sits down. This girl was younger and looked to be one of the high schoolers getting out of class for the day, anyway she sat next to me until my stop.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am not interested in the Coed girls in any real sense. I am just a middle aged pudgy guy (who's working out and dropping pounds right now) who found it just the slight bit flattering that these two girls weren't so repulsed by my appearance and presence that they were willing to sit next to me.

Now, I am being kind of humorous, or trying to be, but really, this got me to thinking about how sometimes simple things can help us feel a little bit better. I had another experience years ago, when driving by a middle school in a bad mood, a student looked up at me from the street corner I was turning around and smiled. The whole atmosphere of my day changed, and really my whole climate. Ever since then, I try to smile more at people, I never know when I might be the one who makes somebody else's day.

Monday Musings: Cleave and Broken things

This morning on the bus I was listening to Elder Holland's talk titled Broken Things to Mend. A few weeks ago I decided it would be a useful thing to download all of the talks from a specific Apostle and listen to them chronologically from oldest to newest. I started with Elder Holland because I remembered that over the course of several conferences he had spoken about The Prophet Joseph Smith, the Godhead, and several other doctrines peculiar to Latter Day Saints. He had was directing his remarks toward other religions and Christian churches pointing out how we are different.

Broken Things to Mend was a wonderful talk and reminded me of the gratitude I should have for the gospel, the church, and my family. It also helped me understand the need I really have for the Savior's influence in my life.

Elder Holland mentioned how remembering what the Savior has done can help build and strengthen a marriage, which got me thinking about an odd word: cleave

It has two meanings. It can mean to cut apart or break up especially along natural lines of weakness. That is the way it is used when talking about how minerals break. But it also means to hold tight to with unwavering loyalty. It is in that sense that it is used when talking about cleaving unto our spouses. I find it ironic that the same word has such different meanings in different contexts, but I do love the word related to marriage.