As I was pondering what to write today, I realized that many of you have asked me what I spoke about with the United Nations this week. In case you missed my post earlier, I was invited to join an incredible conversation as part of the global online conference, “Faith in the UN: Commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations and looking to the future.” So, here are my notes! 🥰 #HappySunday
One of my treasured memories of witnessing unity in action is when we put together our Redeemer Interfaith Celebration concerts a few years ago involving singers, musicians, choirs, representatives, leadership, and members from many different faiths and groups. Every denomination in the area was invited to be a part of the concert. We had a collective audience of over 35,000 people in attendance between the two shows. The youth and all of us witnessed that it is possible to love all people without all believing in the same thing. Anything that can bring youth together in a positive way is so important as we work together for the common good, and I know that is what unites us all!
While admission was free, attendees were asked to bring food donations for local food banks, we fed them with music and they served by donating food. Food donations collected added up to an INCREDIBLE 28,630 pounds of food, which was distributed to 18 food banks and shelters in the community.
One of the highlights was looking out from the stage and seeing so many youth, all from different faith backgrounds, lighting up their phones while they swayed and sang along to the songs. They felt God’s spirit. In spite of our differences in backgrounds or personal beliefs, we felt a real strength in that we were brothers and sisters in God’s family. We felt like we could move mountains!! It was a remarkable way to experience true unity among different religions and the youth was able to catch the vision of serving and loving one another.
Speaking of youth–I have 8 children, 4 boys and 4 girls. There is nothing in this world more important to me than they are. Some are adopted and people have often asked me which ones. I’ve always responded, “some of them are adopted but I don’t know which ones." They are all completely different and have taken different paths in life but I love them all the same, it just doesn’t matter what our differences are because God loves unity, and He teaches love above all else.
So, while we are reflecting on how we can all work together through our faith-based institutions, I would ask, “what tools are we giving youth to help them build their future?” They need to start with the tools of God. We need to bring youth to the house of worship, to help them find peace and healing in these troubled times. Every child needs to have their own conversion to God and not lean on their parents or faith-leaders testimonies. It starts in the home, and then we take it out to the wider world. But where to start–what are we doing right now?
My parents instilled in me that we are ALL Children of God, irrespective of color, race, nationality, background, gender. As we teach our children to look at themselves first and foremost as His children, it helps them see who they are through a different lens and gives them a higher understanding of valuing not just their own lives, but the lives of those around them. Imagine, if we could just instill this one basic principle into the minds of our youth today, we could eradicate so many of the hate problems we see played out constantly on the news before us.
We live in a noisy world with so many voices to distract and divide our youth and even us, but we can guide them to quiet places where they learn how to tune out distractions and hear the Lord’s directions. As Children of God, we have each been given a “compass” or a “still small voice” (also known as our “conscience” or “spirit”) to help guide us on our life’s journey. We can teach our youth how to feel and act on the “still small voice’ which comes from God.
My mother told me a story of when she was a little girl that stayed with me my whole life. She trudged all the way up a hill after a very heavy snowfall to slide down. When she finally got ready to go she heard a voice say, “Olive, don’t do it, take your sled and walk back down”. Because she was so excited to go sledding that day she ignored the first warning, but after the impression came again she reluctantly picked up her sled and walked back down. After getting to the bottom she looked up the hill and was shocked to see a massive snow drift that she had not seen from the top. If she had ignored the warning she would have been buried in an avalanche that would have ended her life. My mother had been taught by her parents to recognize the still small voice is from God and to have the faith to act on those promptings. This experience stayed with her throughout her life, she never dismissed those promptings again! Our youth needs to know we are all qualified to hear God’s voice, we just have to listen for it.
My mother had a plaque in our kitchen that said, “The greatest work we will ever do will be within the walls of our home.” Our home is where the real work of family life is. And my children knew home is wherever we were together. There were times I was working 260 days a year on the road, but leaving them at home was not an option. We loaded up the tour bus with books and stuffed toys and I took them with me. It may have been unorthodox but I fought to keep my family together and to make sure they knew what was most important to me. Although I had to make a living they knew they were my first priority.
Here are a few ideas used in my church that I feel have been a blessing to help my children know they are God's first priority as well. Your faith-based institutions or churches can maybe use these ideas to support your youth and foster leadership, inspire self-improvement and encourage education.
From youth, our faith-leaders encouraged my children to take an active leadership role in their youth classes. The tendency is usually for leaders to get in there and take over, because often it’s easier to do it themselves than to watch the youth make mistakes. But I believe our faith leaders need to provide leadership opportunities and then stand back and let the youth lead. Let them make mistakes in a loving environment so that when they enter the real world they can effectively lead others.
We have some remarkable youth programs that build self-confidence and faith where youth are given these leadership opportunities. Perhaps I can expand on some of them:
1) “Come, Follow Me” – Our Sunday School curriculum is designed so that the youth take an active role in teaching, leading meetings, organizing activities, etc. Not only does this teach them leadership, but compassion and service as they minister to others in their age group and congregations.
2) Personal Development – Also, leaders work with youth to encourage them to set self-improvement goals in four areas: Physical, Spiritual, Social, and Intellectual
3) For the Strength of Youth – We also produced a small pamphlet that outlines social and moral standards to help encourage our youth to understand the reasons why God asked us to live by them. When our children have “decided to decide,” it makes things easier when they are faced with tough situations.
One thing I remember about some of my faith-leaders is how they inspired self-improvement. As a youth, my parents and leaders inspired me to set goals and acquire new skills. I remember My mother studying all the great world religions and because of that I inherited that desire to learn also. When parents and faith-leaders encourage youth to follow what they are passionate about success follows.
As a person of faith myself, and as faith-leaders in general they can also call upon the power of the Divine. By helping youth put their trust in Divinity, their natural talents can only be magnified and they will in turn be able to lift and inspire others. Daily prayer was one of the best ways my children remembered they are a child of God.
Abraham Lincoln said “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.”
As my children were growing up I tried to instill in them that their Heavenly Father was a God filled with love and kindness and was always there for them... He should be their first resort and their last resort. When we establish these basic values in our youth, they are then better prepared to serve others outside their homes.
As we know, education is vital for long-term success of children. As the current global situation has shown, none of us can take education for granted. While keeping children in schools during a pandemic has been difficult in the United States, it has been impossible elsewhere in the world. Even without the pandemic, far too many children, with a disproportionate number of young women and girls, parents of the future, are being overlooked.
So what can we do? One of “Latter-day Saint Charities” projects, for example, has been partnering with “UNICEF USA” to provide early childhood education for children, in refugee camps in Uganda, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. As of last count, over 40,000 children and 10,000 parents have participated. The importance of this cooperation cannot be overstated.
In one of the programs I spoke of earlier “Family Home Evening” ideas are given from the study guide for families individual needs. We would start with prayer and close with prayer and in ours, we would have a short lesson, sing, play games, discuss problems, have treats and even go on an outing. But our focus was on happy time together; it's amazing how a child will talk when you are putting a puzzle together. Families in our Church throughout the world have been holding Family Home Evenings for decades. I have fond memories of Family Night as a child and as I became a mother myself, I remember getting my small kids to participate. It was challenging but we stayed with it and now it’s part of their families.
All of these ideas, commitments and experiences if applied by all denominations could prove uniting in bringing love and unity to this world by creating it first in our homes, families and churches.
We need to not just believe but assist and help each other make it happen through all faiths and communities! After all... God is the father of us all. As we teach our children His words through the great template of Scripture, He will be pleased as we follow and seek Him.