This month's principle is Accountability. For me I always tie this word to the phrase - The Age of Accountability. This is from church history when it was revealed that the age of 8 was when children had reached the age of accountability and they could make the choice to be baptized. In the eyes of the Lord, all children at this age could be taught enough to understand what covenant or promises they are making. Now you are all in the Age of Accountability and should be able to understand any promises you have entered into - whether if it's with the Lord, your parents, siblings, church leaders, teachers, coaches, employers, or neighbors - you have relationships that involve accountability.
We have lots of promises, duties and covenants that we make or have every day. It used to be that people took their promises and duties a lot more seriously and their word was as good as their bond - or in other words if they said they would do something, they were going to do it!
This month we will be exploring this idea and others associated with it so that we can stand completely upright when it comes to doing what we've said we will do.
There
are a few other words that associate very closely with accountability:
Responsibility, Agency and Choice. These will help us explore and understand
our principle this month.
William
J Bennett in the “Book of Virtues” states “Responsible
persons are mature people who have taken charge of themselves and their
conduct, who own their actions and own up to them—who answer for them.”
Our
scripture for the month is:
Wherefore, men are free according to the
flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are
free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men,
or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the
devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.
2 Nephi 2:27
The optional Journeyman scripture is any 3 additional verses from 2 Nephi 2. Or hey you could memorize the whole chapter. : )
Our poem
to memorize is:
A Bag of
Tools
Isn't it strange how princes and kings,
and clowns that caper in sawdust rings,
and common people, like you and me,
are builders for eternity?
Each is given a list of rules;
a shapeless mass; a bag of tools.
And each must fashion, ere life is flown,
A stumbling block, or a Stepping-Stone.
-RL Sharpe
and clowns that caper in sawdust rings,
and common people, like you and me,
are builders for eternity?
Each is given a list of rules;
a shapeless mass; a bag of tools.
And each must fashion, ere life is flown,
A stumbling block, or a Stepping-Stone.
-RL Sharpe
This will be an optional Journeyman poem
The Bridge Builder
An old man going a lone highway,
Came, at the evening cold and gray,
To a chasm vast and deep and wide.
Through which was flowing a sullen tide
The old man crossed in the twilight dim,
The sullen stream had no fear for him;
But he turned when safe on the other side
And built a bridge to span the tide.
“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near,
“You are wasting your strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day,
You never again will pass this way;
You’ve crossed the chasm, deep and wide,
Why build this bridge at evening tide?”
The builder lifted his old gray head;
“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There followed after me to-day
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm that has been as naught to me
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be;
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building this bridge for him!”
Listen: This radio show on Agency and Accountability – Ponder, why are those two words always together? http://www.mormonchannel.org/
Read: The
chapter titled “If You are Wrong, Admit it” from “How to Win Friends and
Influence People”. It is attached, but
if you own the book I’m sure it will be easier to read it there. You can listen to it here start on minute 38:00.
Make: A list of 3 people
you are accountable to and what you are accountable for to each of them
Choose: one
or more Inspirements to do:
Fill in
an accountability report for your week. Have a mentor meeting with
your running partner.
Do a
word study on one or more of these words – Accountability, agency, duty,
liable, responsibility, promise or talents. Look them up in a dictionary or lds.org - find out all about them. Try the 1828 dictionary here.
Go to
this page - .For the strength of the youth link
Click on at least two things and read,
create, think, do.
Watch
the ”"Book of Virtues: Responsibility" video. Make some connections to your life. When have you kept nor not kept a promise. Write a story, draw a picture or create something else that will remind you of this.
Take one
of these personality tests The Enneagram Test or The Myers/Briggs Test
– Think about your talents and who gave them
to you. Use one of them to help someone be
happy.
Read the
conference talk from April 2014
Choose a
way to use technology to progress the Lords work and account for the many
blessings you have been given. Example:
create a mormon.org profile to share your testimony and beliefs.
Listen
to General Conference this weekend with an ear toward learning about
accountability. Write down your insights
and share it with us.
Create a
video like this Dale Carnegie link to share with us.
Take the
Dale Carnegie challenge to admit your wrongs quickly and emphatically. Share your experience with us.
Gather 5
quotes (or more!) on Accountability, Responsibility and/or Duty.
Account
for your actions, words and thoughts in a one-day period of time. Write down as much as you can and ponder your
day. Decide how you would like to
improve for the next day. Share how it
felt to be consciously accountable.
Complete
a Personal Progress goal in Choice and accountability or prepare a lesson from
Lesson 2 or Lesson 8 in Preach My Gospel.
Sister Hampton and Sister Higgins
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