The Zonky Zoramites

When I was in high school, I went to girls camp (church camp) for a week in the summer. I remember those times fondly. We were supposed to come up with a name for our ward’s group. The name was supposed to fit with that year’s theme. One year we chose “Zonky Zoramites.” Because I was a relatively new member of the church, I really wasn’t that familiar with the Zoramites. That was 40 years ago this year, so I think I have it down now.

My husband and I have been married almost 19 years. We have so much fun just hanging out with one another. I feel so blessed. I love so much about my life these days. One of the things we have always joked about was whether any of our prospective two-story houses (we have moved several times in those 19 years) had a Rameumptom. Of course, our purpose was not to stand at that Rameumptom and pray out loud about how awesome we were or how much better we were than the others in our family. We are parents – no one would have believed us anyway. The reality is that any Rameumptom in any of our homes was used to communicate loudly to get one another’s attention when one person was on the top floor and someone else on the bottom floor. We are currently searching for a new home to rent; our search for the latest Rameumptom is afoot!

I continue to love and learn about Alma and his companions. I can only imagine how difficult their lives were and the conditions that were part of their experiences. I’m sitting in a comfy king size bed in a nice hotel (my hubby is a hotel photographer, and I came with him on his latest assignment). We have a comfortable car we can drive back home where we have our own king size bed waiting. We never go without food or water. We have the necessities of life. We like each other, and we like our kids. Like I said, I am so blessed.

The Zoramites during the time of Alma were an interesting bunch. They were so disdainful of the Nephites. They were also very critical of their fellow Zoramites who didn’t dress just right and didn’t have quite a high enough income. I have been and continue to be judged by others for things like that, and it really makes me shrug. Seriously? Don’t we all have enough to do in our lives that we really don’t have time to spend thinking about the supposed inferiority of others?

The poor castouts were humbled because of their circumstances. They were not allowed to worship where their “church” worshiped, and if they were in the vicinity, they got to hear the more prosperous Zoramites declaring to God that the poor Zoramites were beneath their notice.

Alma pointed out that he was glad the poor people were humble, though he took note of the fact that they had to be humbled by their circumstance in life in order to be ready to listen to the words he and his companions were there to preach. He mentioned how much better it is when we humble ourselves because of the word of God and are not forced to become humble before we’ll listen.

Alma the Elder was completely different. He was among a group of pretty worldly priests. I have a feeling he was a good priest, as far as that went, before he met Abinadi, but I wonder whether he felt his conscience pricked from time to time, knowing that he was not living quite the way he suspected God wanted. When he heard Abinadi, the bells must have been going off in his head. He must have been saying in his own mind, “This is it! This is what we are supposed to know and what we are supposed to be doing!” I can’t imagine his being able to go someplace quiet and be able to remember the words of Abinadi so clearly that he could write them down and preserve them for us to have today. Alma was a humble man. He wasn’t compelled to be humbled, but he was reminded of the right thing to do and immediately went out and did it. So many people were blessed beyond measure because he recognized truth when he heard it, and he acted upon that recognition.

40 years. Wow. Where has that time gone? I see pictures of my high school classmates and wonder to myself, “Why are these people so old? Weren’t they JUST 14?” Every single day of those 40 years I have marveled at what a blessing it has been to me. I am grateful for the Almas in my life. I am grateful for where I am today. I don’t like to think of where I would have been without the knowledge I now have.

Life’s pretty good, isn’t it?