"Boiling Water Hardens Eggs but Softens Carrots!"In teaching the Book of Mormon I'm suddenly reading verses that jump out at me with new meaning! I'm fortunate to be assigned to prepare lessons since it forces me to spend more time reading scriptures!
There is a verse in 1st Nephi 16:2 that ends with this statement: "...wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center."
A comment I read about this verse was the quote above; that while boiling water HARDENS eggs, it SOFTENS carrots! It sounds silly but if you think about it, the TRUTH is going to either cause people to "soften their heart" (and listen) or "harden their heart" (and turn away). As a teacher I can almost "sense" the countenance of a student and which way they feel when they encounter truth.
The challenge for me lies in helping the students have a DESIRE to be softened. It all starts with an honest desire. It's hard to explain to teenagers that I KNOW that a moral life will bring them greater happiness than seeking worldly pleasures. My class age range is 14-18 years and I realize that life looks different from their vantage point. But, there is something to be said of time plus experience (equals Wisdom... at times).
Perspective comes when we can look back over our life and the lives of friends and family. 50 years of hindsight does give some dimension and insight to life's events! And from where I'm sitting, living what we know to be TRUE brings PEACE while fighting it brings a restless, empty, and unsettled existence! Unfortunately, many people discover this too late - hopefully none of my Seminary Youth!
