FAIR's Rising Generation

Since this is my first post, I guess I’ll introduce myself and explain my involvement with Rising Generation a bit. I’m 22 and had been a member of the FAIR mailing list for a few months when someone brought up the idea of a FAIR branch specifically for young people. Feeling like somewhat of a sapling among towering redwoods, I thought it was a great idea! So I volunteered, and here I am.

As I was thinking of what I wanted to contribute to this blog, I had the idea of profiling awesome people. Something I always find extremely uplifting is when I hear stories of real people displaying integrity and courage. Sometimes, with the news and media focusing so much on the people who behave badly, we can really overlook the individuals who live in a way that helps others and makes the world a better place. You know: Good Samaritans.

Speaking of Good Samaritans, it seems very profound how the term originated in the first place. If you play word association with someone and say “Samaritan,” most likely they will say “good.”  If you ask someone what a Samaritan is, they probably won’t know.

Well, a Samaritan is actually a person belonging to a religious sect, similar but separate from Judaism. At the time the parable was given, the Samaritans and the Jews had somewhat of a rivalry as they both claimed to be the true Israelites to the exclusion of the other. In fact, the Jewish community (in general) despised the Samaritans, which is why Jesus included one in his parable. The priest left the traveller lying by the roadside, as did the Levite, even though priests and Levites were supposed to be the “good guys.”

What I find so profound is how this one parable in the Bible has changed the worldwide perception of Samaritans. People now don the name to symbolize charity and love for their fellow man, though Samaritans were once a loathed people. It inspires me. I hope I can be a Good Mormon, because I know that my influence on others always ends up being greater than I think. We have a tendency to assume that we’re too small to make a difference in the world, but it’s billions of seemingly small things happening each day that make the world a nice place or a nasty place, depending on what we choose to let our actions be.

I believe there are tons of awesome people out there; and that they can inspire us; be they young or old, alive or dead, LDS or not; from where ever in the world; and I’m going to make regular blog posts to prove it.

One Response to “Of First Posts and Awesome People”