How Long Can Rolling Waters Remain Impure?

This thought has been rolling through my mind a lot lately.  I am not a water expert, so I do not know the precise time it takes for a river to clean itself when it is contaminated, but I do know that it can.  If you think about it, the way that water is filtered is by running it through a bunch of stuff that you find naturally in rivers.  We can see this in the following picture. 

In Doctrine and Covenants 121:33, The Lord teaches us something about this. "How long can rolling waters remain impure?  What power shall stay the heavens?  As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri River, or turn it upstream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints."  If we think about our minds as rolling waters that are being the receptacles of knowledge from heaven, it would make sense that they need to be rolling rivers and not stagnant ponds, right?  

I was connecting this with a talk I was listening to by Elder Holland entitled The Tongue of Angels where he talked about the power of words.  He talked about how amazing things happened when The Lord, or any of his prophets, apostles, or disciples spoke very specific words.  This world, and the universe were created as The Lord spoke.  Prophets moved mountains, by the spoked word.  People were healed, and people were smote. 

I think we have all felt the affect of words in our day to day lives.  We have been crushed by words that have torn us down, and we have felt deep abiding love from words spoken to us by loved ones.  These words have power.  We have also all seen, sadly enough, the effects of bullying, how words can drive someone to do the unthinkable.   

I think it is quite obvious to most, that there is a lot of negativity out there in the world.  I have been noticing it particularly in posts that make their way around social media, and the majority of it is in click-bait ads.  A whole lot of judgment is thrown at a person, group, or idea, but what they will never do is give you the whole story, including the other side of the story.  The reason I bring all of this up, is because I have found it very easy to join in on the judging and the criticizing myself.  On occasion I have done it publicly, with a "like" or brief comment to add fuel to the fire, but most of the time, the argument is just in my head, but the damage is done non-the-less. 

The point is this; am I choosing to be a stagnant pond, were negative thoughts can sit and build upon themselves like bacteria, or am I choosing to be a rolling river, constantly renewing my thoughts with positive ones? I was thinking about this in context of being kind.  I know for myself, and many others I have talked to, sometimes it can be weird and awkward and scary to say something nice to someone.  There is so much opposition to doing it.  We think, "How are they going to react?"  "What are they going to think of me?"  "What if they think I am an idiot, or just walk away like I'm a creeper?"

Now let me ask you something else.  When was the last time you regretted complimenting someone?  When was the last time you regretted getting a compliment from someone?  When was the last time you became mortal enemies with someone just because they said something nice to you?  All of those reasons why you shouldn't, that go through your head are all the influence of the one person, Satan.  Remember how we talked earlier about how words have power?  He knows that, and he does not want you to have that kind of power for good in this world.  He knows that when you say one nice thing, it is going to be that much easier to say something nice a second time, and a third, and to become that rolling water, which when you become that, CANNOT be stopped from receiving knowledge from heaven.  Talk about power.  

So, my challenge to us all is to say that kind thing that pops into your head to that person it pops into your head about.  That kind thought is put there for a reason, to be acted on.  If it is in your head, it is sincere, so don't worry about trying to come up with something nice to say to some random person and force it.  However, if it is already in your head, why not say it?  See how they react.  I can say from personal experience, I have never had anyone say, "Leave me alone creep".  Most of the time, they are completely surprised, and excited that someone noticed them that day.  Most of the time they will say, "Thank you".  Now, if that happens, don't panic, just say, "You're welcome".  

I would love to hear about your experiences.  Let me know in the comments below.  Also by commenting it helps me to know you actually have a pulse:)