“I first opened up to Bishop Scott about the time I began to get to know Audrey. He was concerned about me and started meeting with me on a regular basis. On one particular visit I was still suffering from an inability to cry, but my bishop's reaction surprised me to the point of tears. I knew that he had very critical administrative duties to attend to, but that didn't stop him from spending time with me. I actually became tearful about it, something I had thought I was incapable of.
“Journal entry, Sept. 5, 1991:
“I had a terrific experience talking with my bishop last night. He was so kind—much more than I expected him to be. Our interview didn’t begin until 6:50 p.m. and I knew he had another meeting at 7 p.m,. so I asked if he just wanted me to come back later. He said, 'No.' Then we talked and about 10 or 20 minutes after 7:00 I said, 'I really need to let you have your meeting.' He looked at me and said, 'You are more important than that meeting.' I was really touched, because he meant it. Well, we ended up talking until 7:55 p.m. . . .
“After I left, I immediately remembered him saying that I was more important than his meeting and I started to actually cry. I began to stop myself and decided I wouldn’t. So I cried off and on for about 15 minutes. It was . . . interesting that kindness brought it on.
“I realize that from a bishop's perspective it comes down to deciding whether to focus on running a critical program, or to focus on a troubled person. It may look like an easy answer to focus on the person, but the consequences of such a decision can be dire and immediate for a bishop when he sees critical program necessities being pushed aside. I am thankful Bishop Scott was a man who was able to keep Christ-like priorities. It really comes down to the somewhat trendy question, ‘What would Jesus do?’ The scriptures are full of Jesus' compassionate involvement with people, and not one incidence of Him worrying about programs.” (My Tears Fall Inside, pages 101-102)
Bishop Scott’s decision to make me “more important than that meeting” really shocked me since I didn’t have a sense of my own personal value. What a difference it could make if each of us asked ourselves the question, “What would Jesus do?” and then actually tried to do what He would do.
“Journal entry, Sept. 5, 1991:
“I had a terrific experience talking with my bishop last night. He was so kind—much more than I expected him to be. Our interview didn’t begin until 6:50 p.m. and I knew he had another meeting at 7 p.m,. so I asked if he just wanted me to come back later. He said, 'No.' Then we talked and about 10 or 20 minutes after 7:00 I said, 'I really need to let you have your meeting.' He looked at me and said, 'You are more important than that meeting.' I was really touched, because he meant it. Well, we ended up talking until 7:55 p.m. . . .
“After I left, I immediately remembered him saying that I was more important than his meeting and I started to actually cry. I began to stop myself and decided I wouldn’t. So I cried off and on for about 15 minutes. It was . . . interesting that kindness brought it on.
“I realize that from a bishop's perspective it comes down to deciding whether to focus on running a critical program, or to focus on a troubled person. It may look like an easy answer to focus on the person, but the consequences of such a decision can be dire and immediate for a bishop when he sees critical program necessities being pushed aside. I am thankful Bishop Scott was a man who was able to keep Christ-like priorities. It really comes down to the somewhat trendy question, ‘What would Jesus do?’ The scriptures are full of Jesus' compassionate involvement with people, and not one incidence of Him worrying about programs.” (My Tears Fall Inside, pages 101-102)
Bishop Scott’s decision to make me “more important than that meeting” really shocked me since I didn’t have a sense of my own personal value. What a difference it could make if each of us asked ourselves the question, “What would Jesus do?” and then actually tried to do what He would do.
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