Thou Shalt Not

I was blessed with a daughter who seems more like my mother than the other way around. She always reminds our family to pray, read our scriptures, and to keep our language clean. She often gives service, and she also tries to be honest and sincere in all her dealings with friends and strangers.

In the present day, it seems that the youth, as well as adults, have become too comfortable using the name of the Lord in the wrong context. Taking the name of God in vain is quite commonplace even on social media.

One day we were going to the airport to drop off a car for a neighbor returning from vacation. He uses a wheelchair to get around, and he had his wife and three children with him. We drove in two cars so we could give him back his own car and then we would go our own way.

The rules are quite strict at the airport. They prefer that you drive around the terminal several times rather than stop and wait for the passengers to arrive. We had already made several rounds, giving plenty of time for our neighbor and his family to gather up all their bags and come out to the curb.

We saw a little place, away from the pickup area, where my daughter and I decided to park to wait for my husband to return after getting our neighbor settled in his car. My daughter was driving, and we figured it would be for only a very short time. Out of the dark, a airport security came up to the window and told us to circle the terminal again. I mentioned that we had already circled the airport several times and that we were helping out a neighbor. He had no empathy for our situation and gave us a warning.

We started to do another go around when out of the corner of our eyes we saw my husband walking towards us, having completed his goal of dropping off the car. So, we hesitated driving off and went back towards my husband. The airport security also started towards us as he began to write a ticket for us.

My daughter was beside herself, which was very uncharacteristic of her. She couldn’t understand why he could not wait just a minute while we waited for my husband. But, true to her nature, she expressed herself to the security without swearing. She said to the officer, “you are so......so, uncharitable!”

She could have sworn, but it was too unnatural for her. Although it was a bit funny, I was very proud that she did not stoop low enough to curse or defile her own mouth. The security personnel was stunned. He probably had not been called that before (uncharitable), but I am sure he had heard many other expletives. I admire her desire to keep her words clean and not degrade herself, even under pressure.

As part of the Mormon (LDS) culture, we are taught not to swear or take the name of God in vain. In a world where it is commonly accepted today, it is not easy.