Arise and Shine Forth

The theme for this year in Young Women is Arise and Shine Forth.  In YW on Sunday we presented the new theme. The YW President turned off all the lights, but one lamp she had brought from home.  Then she had all the Laurels share a time when they stood for something that was right.  They each shared a personal experience, and as they spoke they turned on a light that they held. 

One girl paid for her movie ticket when all her friends went into the theatre without paying.  Another asked her friends to change the music when she heard the artist swearing.  Another spoke of asking a date to take her home when she became uncomfortable at a party. Another of standing and bearing her testimony.

Marissa talked about drawing her "line" that she would not cross and making an exit strategy in case she comes up to that line.  I like the idea of deciding how you will act before you get into the situation and people and specifics complicate your choice.  Kudos to Rissa.

As the girls spoke the light in the room got brighter and brighter.  For the last 15 minutes of the class three leaders shared stories from their youth.  I shared a story from when I was a sophomore in high school.  Since my journals from this time were filled with mostly a travel log about who was where and what they said, I thought I should record somewhere the experience.  (Before I forget more of the details of the story.)

Sabrina was a pretty, new girl at my school.  She attracted the attention of many of the boys that I knew and hung out with.  One boy in particular really liked her.  It was Brad, a boy who I had liked for over a year and who had become a good friend of mine.  Truthfully, I was hoping he'd be more than a friend, but when Sabrina arrived his attention was diverted to her.  Brad ended up dating her a few times and soon they became a couple. Noticing my disappointment of the recent loss-of-boyfriend development, I had friends who began saying bad things about Sabrina in an effort to make me feel better.  I didn't stop them because I was hurt, and the idea that there were some people didn't like her was somewhat comforting to me.

One day walking down the hall at school I overheard some boys saying some critical things about her.  Later I saw Sabrina crying.  I stopped to talk to her and try and make her feel better.  She was crying because of the mean things that were being said about her.  I realized then, listening to her, that by not saying something when my friends had said mean things, I was essentially saying those things too.  I decided to start defending her, and began willing myself to say something kind about her when her name was brought up.  It was a little awkward at first.  Most of my friends couldn't understand how I could be nice to someone who had "stole my boyfriend".  But I looked for ways to be nice, and kind things to say imagining that she stood beside me as I spoke.

Sabrina and I  became "friends". I use the quotes because we never really hit it off and spent a lot of time together.  I invited her to play volleyball with our ward in an effort to get to know her a little better.  (Let's face it I was scrounging to find something nice to say.) She and I went to lunch a couple times until she made friends of her own, and the high school gossip circle moved onto the next victim.

As we finished sharing our stories, the light in the room was bright.  Not just the physical light, but also the spiritual light.  It made me think that possibly--even now-- my light should be less about me and instead more about seeing if there are others who may be in need of something that I could give--allowing my light encompass and help those who surround me, just as the light in the room did.