Posted by:
Formermormon
(
)
Date: January 16, 2011 01:26PM
When I was a kid I pretty much thought that Bishops, Stake Presidents, and GAs were gods. I was taught to hang on their every word. When I got a little older I started to realize that to be a "leader" that was "chosen" by "inspiration" one had to fit into one of several categories:
1. Wealthy
2. Learned
3. Prestigious livelihood such as doctor, lawyer, CPA, dentist, engineer, or in my locality wealthy insurance salesman.
At one point I spent several years in the army. I did a three year tour in Germany and was in a small serviceman's branch. Again, all the leaders were "officers" and never "enlisted" people such as myself. Our stake president was a Lt. Colonel as were his counselors. Our Branch President was a Captain. At one point when it became necessary to pick a new counselor in the branch presidency the Branch President got up in church and told us all that he had a good friend that was on his way to Germany (fellow officer) that he wanted us to sustain as a new counselor even though he was not there yet because he was such an outstanding guy. As if there was no one in the congregation that was up to the task.
When I was released from the army and moved to another state that was Mormon heavy I started to realize a pattern. You could always tell who the new Bishop was going to be because the man was made a counselor in the Bishopric or put on the High Counsel to "groom" him. I always guessed who the next Bishop was going to be. I was actually considered for the High Counsel once. The guy they picked instead of me had a 17 year old kid show up at his door one day and say they he was the man's son. Evidently the man had gotten a German foreign exchange student pregnant before he left on his mission and he knew nothing about it until years later. At least that is what I sort of figured out.