"And now, I desire to know the cause whereby ye were so bold as to come near the walls of the city, when I, myself, was with my guards without the gate?
And now, for this cause have I suffered that ye should be preserved, that I might inquire of you, or else I should have caused that my guards should have put you to death. Ye are permitted to speak.
And now, when Ammon saw that he was permitted to speak, he went forth and bowed himself before the king; and rising again he said: O king, I am very thankful before God this day that I am yet alive, and am permitted to speak; and I will endeavor to speak with boldness."
Mosiah 7:10-12
I like Ammon's attitude here. He's been held in jail for two days, and the rest of his party went through a lot and are still outside the city where he can't help them, and they are here to help. Resentment or bitterness wouldn't be surprising, especially since from a general political perspective they are both Nephites, supposedly on the same team. Instead though, he rejoices that it wasn't worse, and trusts that they just didn't recognize who they were (even though they had no knowledge of the priest of Noah).
I wonder how often we react badly to things when it could go well if we just had a different attitude. I'm not suggesting that we need to be pleased that someone threw us into jail without even asking who we are, but with God's help, we can follow Ammon's advice and have hope and faith, even when things seem to be going poorly. Today, let's work on reacting better and keeping a positive attitude. Let's trust in God and seek his help to stay in a good mental space so we can treat others with respect and kindness, even if they haven't treated us that way.
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