Utah shell-shocked once more. What a gut-punch! 

I woke up so sad this morning to see the news – “historic come-back by the L.A. Clippers”… “epic collapse by the Jazz again.” 

Wasn’t this year supposed to be different? 

I don’t watch the games. Too painful for me. But I check the scores. 

And a few nights ago, I checked right before bed the latest on Game 5 of the Jazz-Clippers game – sad again to see the Jazz falling behind. After clicking off ESPN on my phone and settling into my evening prayer, I could feel a residue of real sorrow in my heart. Before I could vocalize anything, this surprisingly clear and direct impression came into my mind: 

“God doesn’t care one bit who wins this game.” 

It felt strangely reassuring. “Wow.  Okay.  So, do I really need to be so caught up in this emotionally?”  

I’ll never forget coming to my own Dad years ago in tears after Karl Malone and John Stockton had broken my little boy heart (once more) in the playoffs. I was a mess! 

My incredible father knew just what his boy needed – opening up right there on the couch to 2 Nephi 4, and paraphrasing it to tell me of a time when another boy felt really sad. Until he concluded:

O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever.  I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of [Karl Malone]. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm. 

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Note: The events of recent months have prompted some significant wrestles for faithful members of the Church with sincere questions about vaccines, even leading some to the edge of estrangement. That has compelled me to write this. Although directed primarily at Latter-day Saints cautious about some of the dominant public health messaging about COVID-19 over the last year (and sympathetic to alternative, more natural approaches to healing), I hope some of it might help foster more understanding among those who are neither of these things. Where we disagree strongly about important matters, I keep feeling like the Lord wants us to keep reaching for each other, with love, gentleness, and curiosity.

Come along with me, for a moment, on a little imaginary thought experiment. It’s General Conference, and President Nelson is mid-way through a fall 2020 message on “letting God prevail in our lives.” Then he pauses, and says the following:

As a prophet of God, I must raise my voice about another matter. We are sincerely grateful for new inventions and technological discoveries that have improved the quality of life for so many, including in matters of health. Too often, however, I fear the degree of trust we place in external interventions can unintentionally lead us to discount the Lord’s power in our lives, along with simple adjustments He can inspire us to make in order to improve our health. For instance, scripture and science are both clear on the value of improving what we eat and getting better sleep – with abundant evidence that less stress, and even a little more physical activity can help boost our immunity against disease. Brothers and sisters, now more than ever, may we relish the benefits of greater faith, and inspired daily repentance, including in how we take care of our bodies. Even when we need additional assistance from competent medical practitioners, may we continue to appreciate and explore ways to better care for the “temple of our spirits” – including in serious periods of pandemic.

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If you’ve read any commentary about Latter-day Saints of late, you’ve likely read the sad tales of Cal Burke and Natasha Helfer Parker – two of the latest entries in the modern Roll of the Martyrs of Religion. 

To be clear – satire aside – neither of these individuals is a true victim by any stretch of the imagination. By many accounts, both had earned the actions and words directed at them. But public commentary has largely side-stepped both of these realities, to paint a picture of their treatment most likely to generate sympathy for their views, while metastasizing even more grievance, resentment, and suspicion towards orthodox perspectives…exactly what we need more of these days, right?

Let’s also be clear, no true victims of anyone or anything should be minimized.  Not of any brutality. But precisely because we are awash in a world of so much real, heart-breaking violence, we owe the many victims of true brutality the clarity to acknowledge the difference between true aggression, and something else.    

So, in other words, to honor true victims, we need to see through the creation of false ones. But it’s arguably precisely the abundance of aggression all around that makes accusations of any kind of victimhood so believable.

If a central aim of public discourse is establishing truth, I believe there are times to confront persuasive, impassioned rhetoric, even satirically – especially when that rhetoric leads so many to conclusions destructive of their own faith.   

And I believe now is one of those times.

Without further ado, the Five Steps to Making a (Psychological) Martyr: 

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