Hope In Humanity

I stood in line anxiously awaiting my turn to order dinner.  It had been several hours since my last good meal.  I wanted to be in my seat eating before the dimming of the concert venue lights.  While waiting I did what most everyone does in public- try to be inconspicuous and not do anything dumb, while at the same time inconspicuously observe others.   I observed people from all walks of life- people old, people young, people with family members, people with friends, people with special needs, people with tattoos, people with colorfully dyed hair, people of different ethnicities.  Some of these people made me a bit nervous, some of these people seemed like my type of crowd. 

Just ahead of me was a blonde, well-groomed, modestly and fashionably dressed woman in her early forties.  Just ahead of her was a blonde, gel-haired, slim-figured young man who couldn't have been more than twenty years old.  He wore a trendy t-shirt and tight stretch jeans.  Black earrings adorned his earlobes.  He could easily be described as punk rock.  It was clear that both the woman and the young man were standing in line alone, just like myself, without friends or family members.  We were perfect strangers.  Other than the commonalities that we were in the same food line and at the same concert, our worlds were completely separate.  

After a few moments the young man turned to the woman, smiled, greeted her, and complimented her shirt.  His greeting made the woman smile.  She didn't smile because she was happy that someone noticed her shirt.  She smiled because she was noticed and valued as a human.  All it took was the small act of someone opening up his world and letting her into it.  I watched the woman's eyes light up.  The woman thanked the young man and they struck up a conversation.  Once the young man received his food he smiled kindly at the woman again and said good bye.  In like turn, the woman received her food and walked away.  I then received my food and walked to my seat feeling a little less alone in the world, a little more confident in my step, a little more willing to smile and greet passersby, a little more HOPE in humanity.  

Mosiah 18:21 states "and he commanded them that there should be no contention one with another, but that they should look forward with one eye...having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another"  because love is the fulfilling of the law.  

How do we combat the discouraging wickedness in the world?  We do it one personal choice at a time.  Choose to be the good in the world and choose to have eyes that see the good others bring to the world.  Or as Massimo De Feo so eloquently put it during April 2018's General Conference, "True disciples [of Christ] love to 'stand in holy places' and love to make holy the places where they stand. Wherever they go, they bring the love of the Lord and peace to the hearts of others."