Fighting for Important Things First

I am currently reading C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters. The book is a fictional account of a correspondence between Screwtape, an "under-secretary of a department" in the devil's kingdom, and Wormwood, a junior temptor. Screwtape is giving Wormwood advice as he works to bring his "patient" to Satan. In chapter five, Screwtape warns Wormwood not to get too excited about the war in Europe that started. He says, "So do not allow any temporary excitement to distract you from the real business of undermining faith and preventing the formation of virtues." The war was a big deal, but it was more beneficial for these servants of Satan to focus on the inner virtues and faith of the individual.

Today there is what could be called a "social justice war" going on. Liberals and conservatives are at each others throats, spreading lies and slandering the other side. Everyone is angry, and the adrenaline rush they get from this "righteous anger" keeps them angry. While it is hurting the world to be fighting like this, how more is it hurting us individually? Are we so distracted by this war that we are allowing Satan to undermine our faith and prevent our forming virtues? 

In Jesus's sermon on the mount, He teaches, "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?" (Matthew 7:3-4). Are we calling out the other side, telling them about the mote in their eye while we, in our own lives, are suffering from a beam in the eye? It may seem like the causes in this social justice war are the most important things, but if we are not working on our relationship with the Savior, praying and studying the scriptures daily, and increasing in charity toward others, then we are losing the real war--the war against Satan. 

There is injustice in the world. There is racism, unfair wages, favoritism, unfair biases, and undo violence toward others. However, we cannot help fix the bad in the world before we fix the bad in ourselves. As I was reminded by a recent Facebook post, in the event of an airplane crash we need to put our own oxygen mask on before assisting others.

Back to The Screwtape Letters: In that same chapter, Screwtape says, "Give me without fail in your next letter a full account of the patient's reactions to the war, so that we can consider whether you are likely to do more good by making him an extreme patriot or an ardent pacifist." This statement presents two more ways Satan can try to bring us down: By making us "an extreme patriot or an ardent pacifist." 

First, I will address the idea of being a patriot. I am all for passion; if you've ever met my husband, you know that passionate discussions fill most of our car rides. He is passionate about everything from his faith to his jokes about invading Canada to his conviction when saying the phrase "God bless the USA." The problem with passion and patriotism comes when we let zealousness for "the cause" overcome our desires for kindness, understanding, and civility. In a way, extreme patriotism can shift us from worshiping God to worshiping the cause. 

Today, many people have left their faith to join "the religion of social justice." All their energy and thoughts go into fighting for the cause on social media and hating the other side. Jesus said, "For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another" (3 Nephi 11:29). Satan wants us to fight, because Jesus says, "if ye are not one ye are not mine" (Doctrine and Covenants 38:27), and the devil wants us to be anything but the Lord's.

On the other hand, Satan is also happy with us being ardent pacifists. In the Book of Mormon, Captain Moroni actively fights to defend "the cause of Christians" (Alma 48:10) by encouraging righteousness and physically preparing to defend their city. Mormon, the man who abridged the Book of Mormon, says of Moroni: "...this was the faith of Moroni, and his heart did glory in it; not in the shedding of blood but in doing good, in preserving his people, yea, in keeping the commandments of God, yea, and resisting iniquity. Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men" (Alma 48:16-17). 

Satan does not want lose his power over our hearts, so he does not want us to be like Moroni. He does this by encouraging pacifism, the idea that "it doesn't hurt me, so why bother fighting it?" And it's true: You may never have been attacked because of your race, or neither you nor your children were killed by abortion, so it's not your problem, right? Wrong! We are taught to "mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort" (Mosiah 18:9), which includes standing up for their rights and helping to protect the defenseless. If our lives are so good, then we need to raise awareness for and give aid to those who's lives are less so. 

So where's the balance? How do we help others while avoiding contention? That, I believe, is a personal decision, but I do have some suggestions. First, we can be kind. We can be bold and direct while avoiding a direct insults of those who believe opposing views. Using kind words and pictures goes a long way. Second, try to understand others. Even if you don't agree, show understanding as you express your views. Acknowledge the struggles and ideas that led to having opposing views. Third, don't just fight the bad, but add good to the world. It is in loving and serving others that we will make the most difference, much more than fighting against the bad that we see in the world.

Our ultimate goal is to return to live with God, and to help our family and friends return to Him, too. As we work on improving ourselves, avoiding contention, and trying to make the world a better place, we can completely thwart whatever Screwtape and Wormwoods there are trying to drag us down and successfully become more like Christ. That will make us happy, and the world better.

Baby Monitor in the Bathroom-- A Day in the LIfe

00:00-- The baby starts making noises. He stops and I'm almost back asleep when he starts crying because he's hungry. I go into the other room to get him his heart medicine before he eats, and his crying intensifies steadily until I put the medicine in his mouth, then put his mouth to my breast so he can eat. He falls asleep while eating, so I carefully wrap him up and put him back in his crib. As soon as I lay down he starts crying again, realizing he wasn't full. I grab the nursing pillow and burp clothes and get him set up again. After just a few minutes he falls asleep while eating again and I go through the process of putting him in bed again. He starts to cry again as soon as I lay him down, so I put his pacifier in his mouth and put him in bed with me. I know it's supposed to be dangerous, but I've done this enough to know I won't roll over on him, and it's the only way I'll get him to sleep. I lay down next to him, make sure the burp cloth is securely under his head so he doesn't spit up on my sheets, put my arm gently over him, reach my feet out to cuddle with my somehow still-sleeping husband, and finally go back to sleep.

05:00-- I wake up to the baby beginning to cry. When I look at my phone I see I miraculously got a whole five hours of sleep, but by that point the baby is crying loudly and is apparently starving and wasting away. I quickly get set up and feed him again, wincing as he bites down with his gums. This time he finishes eating before he falls asleep, but now is starting to stink. I carry him to the changing table and change his poopy diaper by the soft blue glow of the night light. Changing his diaper woke him up more than I wanted, and as I wrap him up in his blanket he is looking all around, eyes wide and mouth in a "o" shape, just cute as can be. Still, I can't quite muster a smile because I'm far too tired. I skip the attempt to get him to sleep in the crib and just lay him down next to me. I cuddle him close to keep him from wiggling, and we both fall asleep quickly.



07:30-- The baby wakes up hungry again, and this time doesn't want to go back to sleep. I try snuggling with him while laying down in bed, but he cries and complains until I bring him out to the living room. We sit in the recliner and I rock back and forth, the baby propped up against my shoulder. I hope he'll rest his head on my shoulder and fall asleep, but instead he uses his unusually strong neck muscles and looks all around the room, which I have dark to try to keep him asleep. My husband gets up and gets ready, and as he leaves for work at 08:00 the baby and I are still rocking in the recliner, rocking and snuggling.

08:30-- I finally admit he's not going to sleep, so I put him in the swing, turn on the music, and attempt to get breakfast. I'm halfway through my bowl of rice crispies when he starts crying again. I shovel in a few more bites before he begins crying in earnest, and so I pick him up, hold him in one arm, and finish eating as best I can.



09:30-- I feed the baby again, adding another dose of heart medicine before feeding. I watch an episode of "Bones" on Netflix as he eats. This time he falls asleep, so I put him in the bedroom in his bassinet all snuggled up and set up the baby monitor. I bring my half of the monitor with me to the bathroom, where I finally get to pee and take a shower. I try to shower quickly, knowing the baby doesn't like sleeping in his crib as much as he does while being held, but the warm water is so relaxing and nice that I hear him crying over the monitor when I'm halfway through conditioning my hair. I hurry as fast as I can, wrap up in a towel and hurry into the bedroom, where he is near screaming his disapproval of being left in his crib so long. I pick him up, my dripping hair getting his pajamas all wet. When he's finally calm I set him down, quickly get dressed in jeans and a loose t-shirt, and pick him up again. We go into the living room, sit back in the recliner, and he goes back to sleep as I start yet another episode of "Bones".

10:00-- He's finally deeply asleep enough that I can lay him down, get more food, and load the dishwasher.

12:00-- Feed the baby again. Watch more "Bones". Put him in the swing when he falls asleep and throw a load of laundry in.



12:30-- When I decide I want lunch, the baby wakes up screaming. He fell asleep during his last feeding and I didn't really burp him, and it seems to have caught up with us. I hug him and pat his back until I get a good burp and a good amount of spit up on my shirt. He is still in pain, so I give him some Mylicon drops and rub some diluted peppermint oil on his tummy. He seems to feel better, but he spits up four more times before falling back asleep. I make a mental note to ask the doctor about reflux the next time the baby has an appointment. I call my mom as I cuddle the baby, desperate for adult conversation outside of Facebook, and she talks to me for a few minutes until the obligations of her own life cause our conversation to end.

16:30-- I have fed the baby two more times and have spent hours holding him as he fusses or sleeps, but won't sleep in his crib. During the in-between times I've eaten a popsicle and some tortilla chips and have thought about dinner, but I've realized that dinner isn't happening tonight. Thank goodness my husband brought home dinosaur chicken nuggets and frozen burritos yesterday. I throw some in the oven, then rush back to pick up the baby who is fussing again. Maybe I need to try not eating dairy for a day or two and see if that helps his tummy.



17:00-- My husband comes home. As soon as he's in the door I give him a kiss, ask about his day, and hand him the baby because I've been needing to use the bathroom nearly an hour but haven't had time. During dinner we watch a "Parks and Recreation" to unwind, but after dinner we go back to our work. I hold the baby and feed him again, while my husband studies for a test he has next week. I get to talk to him for a while, babbling on about my "Bones" episodes, funny things I saw on Facebook, and what happened with the baby, until I realize he really needs to study and so I go back to playing with the baby, who is wide awake and enjoying me singing "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" and "Old McDonald Had a Farm" while I help him dance. At least I think he's enjoying it, because at two months I don't get a lot of response from him.

22:00-- The baby has eaten and fallen asleep, and I tell my husband I'm going to bed, too. He shuts his computer, reads scriptures and prays with me, then gives me a big kiss before I go back to bed and he keeps studying.

23:45-- The baby wakes up to eat. It hasn't been a full two hours, but my grumpy, sleepy mind says, "What the --" (like I said, grumpy) and I get up, get his heart meds, and start the cycle over again.