"This Isn't Fair"

Perhaps I should give an update on the Joseph Smith Papers.  I have been working there for a few weeks now, and I am having a wonderful time.  I have spent the last several weeks trying to answer questions like: Where as Joseph Smith's office in 1839-1840? Where did Oliver Granger live during 1839-1840?  What was the population of Nauvoo in 1839-1840?  I have to admit that these are items that I've never thought or really cared about, but I've enjoyed working on them because they have forced to learn new ways to research.  I have had to start looking at things like censuses, burial statistics, land records, etc. that I never thought mattered.  And so these first few weeks have been challenging as I've had to begin learning some new skills as a historian.  I have also gone through many of Joseph Smith's documents for 1841, including sermons.  I was familiar with many of these sermons, but not all of them, and so the process of reading through these sermons has added to both my understanding and appreciation for the Prophet Joseph.  What a blessing it would be if we had a more complete record of what the Prophet said!  But I suppose that day will come.

This past week I've been reading through Alma 31 and 32, dealing with Alma's mission to the Zoramites.  As has usually been the case, I found myself upset as I read about how the Zoramite poor had been "cast out of the synagogues because of the coarseness of their apparel" (Alma 32:2), synagogues which they had "labored abundantly to build with [their] own hands" (Alma 32:5).  I found myself thinking to myself, "This isn't fair!"  And to be certain, to be cast out of a house of worship that you had helped to build, simply because of your poverty, isn't fair or right or just.  But it was this phrase, "This isn't fair!" that caught my attention and began to make me think deeper.

I began to think about the number of times in my life when I have either said or thought something along these lines:  "This isn't fair!"  "That isn't fair!"  "It isn't fair that . . ."  Perhaps I'm not the only one who has thought along these lines at times.  As a 34 year old single male who works in downtown Salt Lake at Church headquarters, it is challenging not to see the parade of brides and grooms--most of whom are a good 10-13 years younger than me, and think "It isn't fair!  I've waited a lot longer than them!  Shouldn't it be my turn?"

But as I pondered over Alma 32, something hit me.  The unfair circumstances of the Zoramite poor "had truly humbled them . . . that they were in a preparation to hear the word" (Alma 32:6).  These unfair circumstances had actually been the things that had opened the door up to great blessings for these poor Zoramites.  Under different circumstances, they might have ignored and mocked Alma just as the rest of the Zoramites had done.  It struck me that when I cry out to God, "This isn't fair!" I forget that God does not measure fairness by mortal standards.  In God's eyes, fairness does not mean equality of income or equality of circumstances.  In God's eyes, fairness is measured by the opportunities that we receive to come to Him and to receive His blessings.  Of course this does not negate the pain that the Zoramite poor had felt in being cast out, or that a family feels at the loss of a loved one to illness, or that one might feel in being single when they desire marriage, or at not having children when that is a couple's deepest desire.  But sometimes these painful and "unfair" circumstances serve the purpose of turning our hearts to the Lord and helping us to be prepared to hear the word of the Lord.  In the end, these unfair experiences may prove to have been among the greatest blessings the Lord ever gave us.

Brett