What a Wonderful World

I LOVE “I Love Lucy.”  I always have.  The good humor, the innocence, the extreme faces, all of it.

I often catch myself thinking back to what must have been simpler times and wishing that the world mirrored patterns of generations past.  I forget, however, that when “I Love Lucy” was airing (in the early 50’s) that there were still trials and struggles.  I know that my mother was born during these times and that her own father had to leave to fight a war while she was still a baby.

Interestingly, I’m not alone.  I was just reading this morning of Nephi, son of Helaman wishing for days gone by.  He said, “Oh, that I could have had my days in the days when my father Nephi first came out of the land of Jerusalem, that I could have joyed with him in the promised land;” (Helaman 7:7).  It appears that he’d forgotten that times were not easy then either.  His forefather, Nephi, fled from his brothers and their families who were trying to kill and enslave them.  The first Nephites attempts at sharing the gospel with the Lamanites were fruitless, but he witnessed the conversion of an entire nation.

President Uchtdorf tells us that one of the ways Satan tries to manipulate us is to exaggerate how evil the world is.  I have to admit, I fall for this frequently.  I have said, on multiple occasions, that I hate raising kids, teenagers specifically, in our modern world.  The perils of the internet and social media can seem so daunting.  That’s why I was so awestruck when I heard President Uchtdorf say, “I wouldn’t trade living in this time with any other time in the history of the world. We are blessed beyond measure to live in a day of unparalleled prosperity, enlightenment, and advantage. Most of all, we are blessed to have the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which gives us a unique perspective on the world’s dangers and shows us how to either avoid these dangers or deal with them.”

For the last couple of years, I have changed my approach.  I am trying to be more like President Uchtdorf and appreciating the WONDERFUL WORLD I am a part of.

Go ahead!  Listen to What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong!