Yesterday I sat in the testing center staring at my physics test racking my brain, trying to figure out how far a car would skid after slamming on its brakes if it had an initial velocity of 54 m/s. I really didn't care how far it slid. How is this really going to improve my life? Why was I spending nearly 5 hours on a physics test? This kind of question has come to my mind over an over again in the last few weeks. Why do I care about what a Lewis Dot Structure of a Nitrate ion looks like? Why do I care what the electron probability of a d-type orbital looks like? These tedious tasks seem like endless hurdles on my way to medical school. I find myself getting very bogged down by these things and lose sight of my real end goal.
This Sunday these thoughts were still in my mind as I was in church. The Stake President was visiting our ward this Sunday and opened the last 10 minutes of Priesthood Meeting to questions. Someone asked a question about how they could better organize their life. He mentioned several things, but one thing in particular he mentioned was that we could serve more. Thinking about the opportunities I've had to serve in my life so far, I realize that the times my life is the most organized, meaningful, exciting and happy have been when I've been able to serve in some way.
In my reading of the New Testament this week I read the passage in Matthew 25:35-45 where Christ is talking about how important service is and how we can show our commitment to him through our service to others. "For I was an hungered and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger and ye took me in: Naked and ye clothed me: I was sick and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me..." I tend to get really into what I'm doing and don't think a lot about others nearly as much as I should.
Last night, I found my friend JJ in the library studying. When I got there he had already made friends with the girl across from him. He knows how to make friends fast, and not only can he make friends, but his friends know that he genuinely cares about them and that he wants to see them happy. As we went to eat some dinner and through the course of our conversations, I wondered how he does it. I think he is just trying to follow Christ's example and notice those who are a little downtrodden. He takes time to get to know people and gets to know what makes them happy. I know several people in my life that do this, and I think they embody this scripture very well.