"A soft answer turneth away wrath" (Proverbs 15:1).
Today at church, I watched as a new brother to the ward sat down near me in elders quorum. He had long hair, tied in a ponytail. Soon after he sat, one of the elderly brothers sitting behind him made a comment to another elderly brother next to him that he wanted to clip off the ponytail.
Insert brief tense pause here.
Instead of moving to another seat or ignoring them, this new brother instead turned around, smiling the whole time, and introduced himself to these two elderly brothers. After a few moments, he was laughing and joking with them. He told them that he had served in the U.S. Marines for a number of years and that he always had to keep his hair very short during this time, and now he was doing something else with his hair. He was proud of it, and he said his girlfriend loves it. After the meeting ended, he talked and joked with these brothers for an additional few minutes, and I think it's safe to say they were friends by this point.
This new brother handled this moment perfectly. It was the brightest spot of a memorable, wonderful day fellowshipping with my fellow Saints.
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