Bright side

You know, I really should be more charitable at church. People share ideas that sound weird to me and probably help them through tough times, and I really should be more understanding of their needs. Nevertheless, when someone says something bone-headed, along the lines of, "I know the women in this church were valiant spirits in the pre-existence because they were born into homes where their fathers hold the priesthood and have married righteous priesthood holders" I do at times have to resist the urge to gag, laugh out loud, or simply slap someone silly. Ugh. I'm sure that a thought of that nature is, in some sense, a compliment to the women in the life of the man who expressed the sentiment, but it's just so backhanded and condescending, and at the same time so elitist, I have a hard time stomaching it.

I often wonder if the reverse isn't true anyway--what if those of us born into the covenant (at least some of us) are here because we wouldn't have otherwise sought out the church? I'd probably fall into that category. I have a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel and the power of it in my life, but would my attachment to my particular religion be any different had I been brought up Methodist or Baptist, or Hindu or Muslim? I'm certainly glad to be where I am--I like my life, I enjoy the freedoms afforded me by my culture and my nationality, but how much of that was something predetermined before my birth, and how much of that was random chance?