I remember an experience on my mission where we were visiting with a woman who had lost a child to SIDS. She was mourning and depressed and was having a very difficult time finding a reason to get up every morning. I remember thinking that I had never experienced death of a close relative or friend in my life up to that point. I wondered how I would react. Would I be depressed? Could I function? Would I be sad but comforted because I had a knowledge of the Plan of Salvation? It made me wonder who I really was deep inside. What are my core beliefs? What was my foundation? I could speculate all I wanted but until a situation came my way, I wouldn't be tested.
Zane has shared some feelings he had when he was in jail. The one thing that stood out to me was his reaction to it all. I'm sure there are many people in the same situation who would ball up in the fetal position and lament the entire situation. Others might get mad and build up resentment and ill feelings the entire stay. Zane did neither of those. I am sure he had moments of those feelings. He wouldn't be human if he didn't. However, the thing that impressed me was that he made the most he could of the situation. He got out of himself and instead, served those around him. He helped inmates study for the GED, he committed acts of service, and generally, he kept a positive attitude in the situation. He became friends with some of his fellow inmates. Relationships that I have seen continue today and many of them thank Zane for his influence and example in jail. Zane is such a good guy and has such a love for those in his life. I am truly grateful for his example in my life.
I came across this quote from "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl and, although Utah County Jail cannot compare to a concentration camp, it reminded me that we all have a choice. How are we going to react to our trials? What is our foundation? In moments of trial and stress, it will manifest itself. Zane chose a positive path and, in so doing, made that year in jail meaningful and purposeful. What a great example.
"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.
Zane has shared some feelings he had when he was in jail. The one thing that stood out to me was his reaction to it all. I'm sure there are many people in the same situation who would ball up in the fetal position and lament the entire situation. Others might get mad and build up resentment and ill feelings the entire stay. Zane did neither of those. I am sure he had moments of those feelings. He wouldn't be human if he didn't. However, the thing that impressed me was that he made the most he could of the situation. He got out of himself and instead, served those around him. He helped inmates study for the GED, he committed acts of service, and generally, he kept a positive attitude in the situation. He became friends with some of his fellow inmates. Relationships that I have seen continue today and many of them thank Zane for his influence and example in jail. Zane is such a good guy and has such a love for those in his life. I am truly grateful for his example in my life.
I came across this quote from "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl and, although Utah County Jail cannot compare to a concentration camp, it reminded me that we all have a choice. How are we going to react to our trials? What is our foundation? In moments of trial and stress, it will manifest itself. Zane chose a positive path and, in so doing, made that year in jail meaningful and purposeful. What a great example.
"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.
And there were always choices to make.
Every day, every hour, offered the opportunity to make a decision, a decision which determined whether you would or would not submit to those powers which threatened to rob you of your very self, your inner freedom; which determined whether or not you would become the plaything of circumstance, renouncing freedom and dignity to become molded into the form of the typical inmate.
Seen from this point of view, the mental reactions of the inmates of a concentration camp must seem more to us than the mere expression of certain physical and sociological conditions. Even though conditions such as lack of sleep, insufficient food and various mental stresses may suggest that the inmates were bound to react in certain ways, in the final analysis it becomes clear that the sort of person the prisoner became was the result of an inner decision, and not the result of camp influences alone. Fundamentally, therefore, any man can, even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him--mentally and spiritually. He may retain his human dignity even in a concentration camp. Dostoevski said once, 'There is only one thing that I dread: not to be worthy of my sufferings.' These words frequently came to my mind after I became acquainted with those martyrs whose behavior in camp, whose suffering and death, bore witness to the fact that the last inner freedom cannot be lost. It can be said that they were worthy of their sufferings; the way they bore their suffering was a genuine inner achievement. It is this spiritual freedom--which cannot be taken away--that makes life meaningful and purposeful."
