King Noah Eats All The Peaches He Wants

I've been thinking, the past little while, about perspective and about choices and about selfishness. I've wondered often about how we humans are so easily fooled--by ourselves. How easily we are able to go through life rearranging things just because we feel like it, and then think it is right or true. I've had conversations with a few of my girlfriends about this, and we always end the discussion wondering what we aren't seeing and everyone around us is seeing and then wondering why we are so blind/dumb. Years and years ago I read a quote that had to do with perspective and our tendencies to think we are always right. The author wrote that he always said this to himself when he was in a situation of possible conflict, and I knew it would be a good mantra for me:

I could be wrong about this.

This afternoon I took a peach pie out of the freezer so I could bake it for dinner tonight. I made this peach pie last September when we had a big box of fresh peaches that we had been gobbling up. Oh my. There are few things as delicious as a fresh peach.

It was kind of hard to keep some of the peaches from being devoured by everyone, but I knew that during the long cold winter we'd love the taste of a fresh/frozen peach pie. It would remind us of the summer that would come again.

That's what perspective can do for us. Perspective lets us see past the moment. Perspective tells us that a winter is going to come and it would be a good thing to save some of the peaches.

Perspective helps us know that we shouldn't burn bridges.

Perspective lets us say to ourselves: I could be wrong about this. And not many people are brave enough to say that.

When my kids were small we listened to Scriptures Scouts a lot. We listened and sang on our road trips. We listened and sang in the house. Sometimes I played the music on the piano and we'd sing. One of the songs that always cracked me up was when King Noah, the wicked king in the Book of Mormon, sang his song: I want-want-want what I want-want-want and this is how I get it I take-take-take what I take-take-take and I never let it bother me, no sir-ee! For I am king, king, king.

There are a lot of "King Noah's" in this world. What they want they go about taking, not considering the impact on the future, not considering the hearts that are hurt, not pausing to say quietly to themselves: I could be wrong about this.

This song isn't so funny to me anymore.