Little OnesWritten by Joyce C. Lock
(suggested midi - Oh, Be Careful, Little Hands What You Do)There be four things which are little upon earth, but they are exceeding wise: 1. The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in summer; 2. The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in rocks; 3. The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; 4. The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I Lord will hasten it in his time. Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as a little child, same is greatest in kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold face of my Father which is in heaven. And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into sea.
| | Think About It Written by Joyce C. Lock
My mother has gift of teaching and, when growing up, that included us girls. We could be doing almost anything and, suddenly, she would present a hypothetical question. On first occasion, I recall asking her a question in return. Only, mom's response was, "No, I'm not going to answer. I want to hear your answer. Think about it. God gave you a brain and I expect you to learn how to use it. It's important. All through life, there will be someone telling you what to believe, you'll run across strange religions, and such ~ and you need to be able to reason for yourself, and 'know' what you believe. So, think about it and give me your answer." And, I did. Though, immediately, it became obvious that my answer would not suffice without an explanation of how I had reached that conclusion. Next, mom made suggestion as to further considerations and, soon, expectation, within these lessons, was well known. Often, these questions were deep and tricky, and I have been using brain God gave me ever since. Though, as a result of a couple generations of thinkers, it has made our family well aware that other children never received these lessons. Not only do we realize that we think differently from much of world, but also that most are not thinking at all. In all honestly, offended or not, it appears as if people believe whatever they are told to believe; regardless of how educated they have become. From infancy, we were taught to obey parents, listen to teachers, and follow leadership. While each of these ideals have scriptural base and merit, somewhere along way, we began to think there was another path to righteousness and, often, that path was religion (whether our god became shepherd, congregation, or law itself).
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