I Am Not/Now Prepared

I am not prepared. I had only a week to prepare for my talk, and I spent so much of that time doing holiday stuff and dealing with my own personal issues that I am now at the point where I'm giving the talk in about 12 hours, and I don't even have an outline yet. I'd better get started.

A typical way to begin a talk is to state the topic of the talk along with a dictionary definition. According to the Oxford Dictionary, compassion means "sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others." It comes from the Latin "Compati," meaning to "suffer with." When we have compassion for someone, that means we suffer with them and have pity and concern for their sufferings and misfortunes.

I suppose, then, I'll want to give some examples, but given that I'm the last speaker, I'll want to keep my outline mostly modular, so I can expand on, reduce, or even eliminate sections of my talk, as time requires. I should try to have several examples at the ready, to fill time, but to be willing to cut them if time is short. I wonder if this would be a good place to put my bicycle seat story. Maybe not yet. It might go better in a more call-to-action-y section.

Once we know that compassion means to suffer with someone, and possibly have some examples of what sorts of suffering we're talking about, I think it'd be good to talk about what we can do about that suffering. This'll be good for me, since there are many possible answers, and I can list and elaborate as many and as much as I need to.

So, let's brainstorm. What can we do to practice compassion and help others?

Sympathize - Try to understand, and let them know you understand, what they're going through.

Forgive their offenses against you (if any). This point (or the last one) would be a great place for the bicycle seat story.

Lend a hand - Maybe get their permission first, and I can also list multiple possible ways to lend a hand, from a shoulder to cry on to financial assistance (especially the financial one, because the previous talk will have been about the Law of Consecration).

Actually, speaking of consecration, there's a few points I should probably make about the "Infuriating Unfairness" Elder Dale G. Renlund spoke about, including how the Lord will consecrate our afflictions for our gain, especially as we seek to alleviate the afflictions of others. I should bring some of that up in my Examples of Suffering section. That way, I'll have brought Elder Renlund up early enough in my talk that it won't seem completely out of place if I bring him up again later.

There's another point that Elder Renlund made that I'll want to slip in somewhere, time permitting. Basically, the question is: "If this unfairness and suffering are so bad, why doesn't God fix it?" and I have three answers to that. 1) He will resolve all unfairness, and He is likely already doing far more in that respect than we realize. Karma is a widely recognized phenomenon. Perhaps karma is some measure of divine justice, ensuring that people get the rewards and punishments they deserve, in this life or the next. 2) Suffering can be good for us. It builds character, if we let it. And 3) God wants to leave some of the work of alleviating unfairness to us. I've got a good, semi-relevant quote ready to go, but it basically boils down to God wanting to give us the opportunity of practicing Godly work.

These are fantastic points, and I'd love to fit them in somewhere, but where? Maybe between the Examples of Suffering and the advice for how to Practice Compassion. That way I could go from a) suffering stinks to b) Why does God let this happen? and from c) God wants us to help fix it, to d) here's how we can help alleviate suffering. Or, if necessary, I can go straight from a) suffering stinks to d) here's what we can do about it.

So, I've got four main sections so far.

1. Definition of Compassion

2. Examples of Suffering

3. Why Doesn't God Fix This?

4. What Can We Do?

Sections 2. and 3. can be reduced or eliminated for the sake of time, and sections 2. and 4. can be expanded if time permits.

From there, I can conclude with my testimony of the importance of compassion in addressing all of life's many problems. All people need sympathy and compassion. All people sometimes need help. It is the moral responsibility of those who have been blessed to share those blessings with others. If we were blessed with an abundance, we can share with those who lack, and that's as true with money as it is with knowledge, emotional stability, and physical strength. There are as many ways to help people as there are people who need help, and it's important for each of us who are able, to do our part.

Or something along those lines. One should almost always speak as directed by the Spirit through the Testimony part of their talk. I mostly just wrote that out for the people who bothered to read this stream-of-consciousness style, talk planning "blog post."

So, that's the plan. I have the outline written out in another document. I'll print it up and have it ready as I give my talk tomorrow morning. I feel better prepared now. Thank you for helping me hash this out.