Helaman 1

(May 7, 2015)

                Once again, we have a perfect example of someone who steps back, does the right thing, and ends up getting their head crushed against the wall of the city.  Pacumeni set aside his pride and ambition, and supported the will of the people.  Yet despite his efforts to do the right thing, he suffered an ignoble death very shortly after ascending to the chief judge position.

                I feel for Pacumeni more than a little bit right now.  I have tried, consistently, to do the right thing and I feel like I am now in a position where I am about to get smitten into a wall.  I am struggling with feelings of bitterness over this, and I am trying to let them go.

                The reality is that Pacumeni, with his death, received a release from many of the struggles he dealt with.  And his death, of course, isn’t the end of Pacumeni’s story (just the end of what we have record of).  But it is so hard to see a story like that and not feel bad for him – though perhaps I am just projecting myself into that story and feeling self-pity instead.