Lea und Vater Andreas |
Andreas wurde am heutigen Sonntag als Bischof der Gemeinde Herne eingesetzt. In bewegenden Worten schilderte er in einer Kurzansprache, dass er geglaubt hätte, für diese göttliche Berufung nicht würdig genug zu sein, aber nach der Bestätigung bereit sei, sich der ihm übertragenen Aufgabe mit ganzem Herzen, aller Macht, ganzem Sinn und aller Kraft zu widmen. Damit wollte er nicht nur den Mitgliedern seiner Gemeinde, sondern auch seinem himmlischen Vater sagen: "Erkenne mein Herz!"
Lea hatte nach ihrer Rückkehr begeistert von der schönen Fahrt berichtet. Von ihr erfuhr ich, was sie so aufgebaut hatte. Sie erhielt den Auftrag, während des Aufenthalts einen Workshop zu leiten. Ihr half eine Ansprache von Ann M. Dibbs, der zweiten Ratgeberin in der Leitung der Jungen Damen Organisation der Kirche (http://www.lds.org/liahona/2012/11/i-know-it-i-live-it-i-love-it?lang=deu). Sie hatte von einem 15-jährigen Mädchen berichtet, das sie an der Kasse eines Supermarkts traf und das ein T-Shirt mit dem Aufdruck trug: „Ich bin Mormone. Sie
auch?“ Sie sei von dem Selbstvertrauen und der Ausstrahlung des Mädchens beeindruckt gewesen und hätte sich damals gewünscht, dass jedes Mädchen und jedes
Mitglied der Kirche so überzeugt und selbstsicher sein könne. Lea hatte nun diese Anregung aufgegriffen und mit der Gruppe eigene Aufschriften entwickelt und auf T-Shirts gedruckt. Ihr eigener Aufdruck: "Ich kenne den Plan des Glücklichseins. Du auch?" Nun sei es noch eine andere Sache, das T-Shirt in der Öffentlichkeit zu tragen, aber da die Gemeinde sich das Ziel von 13 Taufen in diesem Jahr gesetzt hätte, würde sie auch diese Herausforderung annehmen. Auch sie könnte beten: "Erkenne mein Herz!"
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Know my heart!
One again I
want to write about our heart. As I have learned last week, it is not only the
centre of our emotions, but also the centrepiece of our character (http://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-of-presidents-of-the-church-lorenzo-snow/chapter-8-search-me-o-god-and-know-my-heart?lang=eng). So if we
want to strengthen our character we have to work on our heart. “Know my heart”
(Psalm 139:23; http://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/ps/139?lang=eng) is a plea of King David to our heavenly father. He wanted to
prove his devotion to God. When David spoke this prayer, he was most probably
still in a good status, but the same plea could have been made by the prophet
Jonah, when he was purified by the experience inside the whale and ready to do
Gods will again. Throughout our life in the church we learn that by faith and
repentance we can change and build our character and we learn that if we do
good things we allow godliness to take up more room in our soul.
Lea and her Dad Andreas |
I want to
give two examples on how we can be the ones that make that plea “know my heart”
from my family. When my son Andreas was old enough to decide on a profession,
he wanted to be a captain of the sea. His grandfather, who had been a sailor
himself, told us that we didn’t have to worry about him. He would master his
life.
When the
youth of our stake planned a temple trip after Easter and my granddaughter Lea
wasn’t too excited about the trip and only decided to take part very hesitantly,
we, as grandparents, were a little worried and tried to encourage her. When she
had returned home we met Mateusz Turek, second counsellor in the stake
presidency. He had accompanied the youth on that trip and he told us that we
didn’t have to worry about Lea, because she had fulfilled all the tasks that
were given to her and she had been very reliable.
Andreas was
called to be the Bishop of the Herne ward and was set apart today. He gave a
short but moving talk about how he felt inadequate and unworthy for this
calling. But he was willing to fulfil his task with all his heart, all his
might, mind and strength after being sustained by the members. With that talk
he didn’t only tell the members of his ward but also his heavenly father to
“know his heart!”
When Lea
returned from her trip she was very excited about the week. She told me what
had been so uplifting for her. She was asked to lead a workshop about the talk
by Ann M Dibbs, former second counsellor in the Young Women organisation of the
church (http://www.lds.org/ensign/2012/11/i-know-it-i-live-it-i-love-it?lang=eng). She had given a talk about how she had met a girl at the supermarket,
who wore a shirt saying: “I’m a Mormon. Are you?” She had talked about the
stunning radiation that girl had had and that she had wished that every member
of the church had that conviction and self-confidence. Lea now wanted to
develop a similar shirt with her group. They decided on: “I know the plan of
happiness. Do you?” Lea said that it was one thing to design a shirt, but the
other thing was to really wear it in public. But since the Herne ward set a
goal to have 13 baptisms this year she said that she was up to the challenge.
Her plea could also be “Know my heart!”
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