Linger Longer

Linger Longer. That is something that members of our church do outside of Utah. We stay after our meetings, talking and chatting and sometimes (most of the time) we eat and share. In Utah, where the church is so prevalent, where the majority of neighbors are members of the local unit, there seems to be no need to do that. We supposedly see each other during the week in the neighborhood but that is a fallacy. We are so busy, we barely have time to see each other as family members, let alone our neighbors. If we do, it is a quick wave, a howya doin', and see ya later. We need to spend more time together, getting to know each other. We take for granted here what we have, around whom we live and the area where we live. There is a commonality shared among people that, at times, can be viewed as a closed society. We are not very social around here with all. Why this quasi-diatribe? We had our annual High Priest Quorum meeting tonight and the President of our High Priest Group, the Stake President, shortened the meeting, asked us strongly not to use the side doors to leave but to go to the back of the meeting house in the cultural hall (acutally a basketball court, we are crazy for basketball out here) and just mingle and get to know each other better. Not to go with people we already knew but to introduce ourself to people, to ask questions, to serve each other and to listen. What a wonderful experience. It was almost, just like what we, my wife and I, experienced outside of Utah. It was wonderful. We all, whether at work or wherever we spend time with people, need to get to know each other better, appreciate our similiaraties, celebrate our uniquenesses and differences and Linger Longer.