Thought shared by Dad Hanks 8-24-09

Our lessons today were from Elder Oaks’ Conference talk about service and sacrifice. “This is the ‘me’ generation—a selfish time when everyone seems to be asking, what’s in it for me? Even some who should know better seem to be straining to win the praise of those who mock and scoff from the ‘great and spacious building’ identified in vision as the pride of the world. The worldly aspiration of our day is to get something for nothing. The ancient evil of greed shows its face in the assertion of entitlement: I am entitled to this or that because of who I am—a son or a daughter, a citizen, and victim, or a member of some other group. Entitlement is generally selfish. It demands much, and it gives little or nothing. Its very concept causes us to seek to elevate ourselves above those around us. This separates us from the divine, evenhanded standard of reward that when anyone obtains any blessing from God, it is by obedience to the law on which that blessing is predicated.” We are glad that our family knows how to love and serve one other.