Tangible Good That Flows From The Mormons To Others

[johnNewingtonn]

In my position, I'm sometimes called upon, usually in the 11th hour, to take over and fix things that aren't going as well as possible.

So recently this involved reinvigorating a small coat drive at a very small High School.

Last year the school contributed just under 20 coats to help the needy in the bitter cold New England winters where freezing to death does sadly occur, particularly to the most vulnerable and helpless people.

Speaking to chronically distracted and disinterested High School students can be a challenge. How would I get a 'hook' into these kids?, I wondered.

Then I recalled a small and moving film I'd watched (Mormon Messages - The Coat) where your President Heber Grant relays his past encounter with a needy child and his own transformative response.

 

So I asked the first class of students to please come up and watch a very short film. The film seemed to immediately engage them, no simple task. By the end, it seemed that the chord had been struck as the students began to discuss the film among themselves, . " I would have given my old coat" etc. I knew that this was a strong indication that it had impact; they didn't simply walk away and forget about what they'd seen. I briefly told them about the need in their community and of the fact that even military veterans who'd served their country can find themselves without something as basic as a coat on a cold day. In the first group, at the end  of the film, a couple of young students came up and said "You should show that film to all the classes" what a beautiful thing this was to hear.

 

By the end of the drive, a couple of weeks later, we delivered two hundred seventeen coats to the local center. The women receiving literally wept to see so many boxes being carried in by helpful students. And the students were forever transformed, having done charitable work that helps others always leaves that impact.

 

To the Mormon community, I remain grateful for the many positive talks and lectures given, the countless blogs, such as member-Ken's, the costly films made, all for such a good purpose: to implore people to live better lives, to help one another, to avoid proven pitfalls, to care for family and build strong relationships, to give comfort for those in pain, to recognize the mortality of this life and live as though greater hope exists. Surely the two hundred seventeen people who will receive warm coats this winter are benefitting directly from that goodness, the goodness that issues from you even to those outside your Church. So great is that light that it even allowed me to help do good.

 

On the film: Being a public school, and one in New England with it's unique political climate,  I did not show the very beginning nor end, so as to show no religious connotations. However, there were many questions at the end "what is that film?" etc. "Oh,  I think ..it's called "The Coat"?; I'd say. and that was it. I'm certain that many of those students have no doubt found it, watched it, and maybe, like me, will go on to find more of those beautiful films with their transcendent messages. I may not be a Mormon, but I can certainly sow the ground...

Edited December 21, 2014 by johnNewingtonn

[Kenngo1969]

To the Mormon community, I remain grateful for the many positive talks and lectures given, the countless blogs, such as member-Ken's ...

 

Thank you, John.    As much as positive public perception/mention of anything I've written means to me, I'll simply demur and say that it's just my way of being a small "light to the world," part of a whole "city on a hill that cannot be hid" (Matthew 5:14) and putting my candle "on a candle stick" (see Matthew 5:15).  And I assure you that attaching my name to anything I've written has less to do with "do[ing my] alms before men, to be seen of them" (see Matthew 6:1) than it does with simply wanting to exercise modest control over my own intellectual property (although candidly, if someone were to repost something I've written without attribution, I'm not sure how inclined I would be to seek redress.)

Edited December 21, 2014 by Kenngo1969