The Iwon Wad...

Years ago when we were first married, there was a family in our ward with three little boys. It's a wonder those boys actually grew up - they spent their days trying to figure out how to kill one another. For example, the family was remodeling their old home and the dad had cut a big hole in the floor in the living room to access the crawl space. So, the oldest two put the toddler on a TV cart with wheels and wheeled him across the room into the hole where he plunged down into the crawl space and broke his leg. When asked why they did it, they said, "We wanted to know if the TV cart would fit in the hole." Okay, fine, but did you need to see if your brother would fit, too?

Anyway, I digress. One of the boys had a rather pronounced speech impediment. Mark had the same one when he was small. It was the dreaded "Elmer Fudd" pwoblem. He couldn't say his "R's". And, if you'd like to read this blog entry in "Elmer Fudd-Speak" just for fun, you can translate it HERE. Just pull down Elmer Fudd and put the domain of this blog in the box.

Again, I digress. Really, I have a point - and a spiritual thought, so stay with me! One Sunday, we were sitting in front of this family and the closing song was "The Iron Rod". The son with the speech problem was BELTING it out like Ethel Merman. Only it was coming out like this:

"Hold to the wod, the iwon wod
it's stwong and bwight and twue
The iwon wod is the wooowd of God
Twill safewy guide us thwooo!"

We got the giggles and could hardly finish singing. To this day, we can hardly sing that song without thinking of this little boy. He's like 24 now and I assume, like Mark, he is good with the R sound now.

So, a few months ago, at a stake meeting, our wonderful stake president decided to talk about that 1 Nephi Chapter 8 - Lehi's Dream. I am still thinking about his words - they made a profound impression on me.

There are three groups in the dream -

1. Those who held to the rod until the mist of darkness came. Then they fell away and were lost - they let go willingly. They never even got to the tree of life to taste the fruit.
   
2. Those who held to the rod until the mist of darkness came and then they pressed on CLINGING to the rod. They then partook of the fruit but then looked around ashamedly, as if they didn't REALLY believe in what was happening. Then, when others mocked them for doing that, they ditched it all and ran.
   
3. Those who held to the rod DESPITE the fact that people made fun of them for doing so. They just carried on and ignored the mockers and pointers - "they heeded them not". They just grabbed hold and kept going.
   

The group he talked most about was group 2. He said that those people were fine until they faced opposition in the mist of darkness. Then, they had to CLING to the rod. They could no longer merely hold on. They held on for dear life.

Think of someone CLINGING to a rope or ledge. The mental picture of CLINGING is someone desperately trying not to lose hold. Or, you cling to something because you are unsure of the path you are taking. He said you would think that by CLINGING to the rod that that group had the surest grip on it, but they were actually the weakest of those still holding to the rod. They were fragile and knew that if they didn't cling, they would let go.

Look what happened, they made it only to be ashamed and embarrassed to even be associated with the group of fruit eaters. Then, when times got tough and the others made fun of them for being with the fruit eaters, they bolted. "Hey, dude, what a LOSER. Nobody wants to hang out with a FRUIT EATER!"

For some reason, I had never thought about that middle group. I, probably along with most others, assumed that their clinging didn't really mean much except they were just trying really hard to get through the mist of darkness.

So, what areas do I "cling"? It has caused me reflect a lot on times when I cling and times when I just hold steady. Our testimonies are fragile things - especially in this world where us "fruit eaters" look like freaks at times to those in the great and spacious building. I see people around me clinging and some of them are holding on by their fingernails. My prayer is that I can help them lesson their grip but keep it strong that they will be happy to be known as a "Fruit Eater" when the world mocks them for it.