Temper Tantrum

I can envision my sweet, little four year old sister screaming in innocent frustration, "NO. NO! I WILL NEVER BE HAPPY AGAIN! I AM SO MAD AT YOU!" She stamps her foot and frowns in such a way that makes her look like a fish. Her messy pigtails bounce as she runs out of the kitchen and after a couple seconds of loud, quick stomping down the hall, we hear her slam the door to her room.

What happened to spur such a tantrum?
She was told she couldn't have more cake. :) (In her defense, she was exhausted and didn't have a nap that day.)

The funny thing about all of my younger siblings, even my sixteen year-old brother, is that they almost immediately forget when they become extremely mad. I remember a couple of times when my younger brother and I would get into a giant argument and we would both storm off red in the face. Usually when I was still fuming, he would come in to my room and start telling me about his day as if nothing had ever happened. To be completely honest, it would drive me insane. Not wanting to break the sudden peace that had come between us, I would do my best to pretend that I was completely over whatever we were arguing about and listen and ask questions about things he mentioned about his day. Other times I was even more immature and would make him leave my room.

In Mosiah 10 it says, "Believing that... they were wronged... they have taught their children that they should hate them, and that they should murder them, and that they should rob and plunder them, and do all they could to destroy them; therefore they have an eternal hatred towards the children of Nephi."

As Brother Griffith pointed out in class, did they really have reason to hate the Nephites so much? Did they have reason to be so extreme in their teachings?

Um. NO. Any one of the Lamanites could look at this and go, "Geez man. It's been 400 years and this land is actually pretty great. It's very fruitful. I'm content. None of that actually affected my daily life. I can still have a family and learn. I don't know what the deal is."

But how often do people hold grudges for stupid things? All of this shows two distinct things to me.

One: it is so, SO hard to go against false traditions. For 400 years, the hatred of the Lamanites grew and everything was blown out of proportion. What I teach my children is extremely important.

Two: Forgiveness is necessary. Because the Lamanites were so engulfed in how they had been wronged they weren't happy. From what I read it seems like revenge became their purpose in life. If someone is so stuck in the zone of getting revenge, it would almost be necessary to get slaves to fulfill everyday needs. :)

"By their fruits, ye shall know them." Nephi didn't complain and teach his children to destroy the Lamanites. It was the other way around. The Nephites didn't demand contention with the Lamanites. It was the other way around.

In my everyday life, this showed me that I needed to realize that my arguments with my brother just don't matter. What I think is important in that rush of anger is not really what is important. What is important is my relationship with him. I need to forgive and let go because, frankly, I don't want to live in a temper tantrum.