Monday Sketchbook: So this almost happened...

Haven't we all done this? We're not really paying attention during ward business or the sustaining of officers during stake conference, and our hand goes up automatically — an unconscious reflex in a sustaining stupor of thought.

I thought it might be kind of fun for Kerry Jo, as a gung-ho returned missionary, to accidentally do the same thing while watching General Conference. I drew this up on Friday, and thought I'd run it on Sis. Kerry Jo's Mission Blog on Saturday, the day they usually do the Sustaining of Church Officers in General Conference. But for some reason, I didn't get around to coloring it in time so it didn't get posted.

Then the Saturday Afternoon Session of General Conference happened. I decided that I didn't want Kerry Jo associated with that kind of controversy!

I know that there's a reason we ask for opposed votes during the sustainings. There are some folks who have legitimate concerns that need to be brought forward — it even happened in one of my wards one time (and it proved to be a good thing that it did!). But it was handled in a thoughtful and appropriate way. It wasn't a stunt.

I liked what one Twitter user said about the dissenting votes in conference: "It made the act of sustaining our leaders that much more meaningful to me."

So, yeah. This isn't the usual Monday Sketchbook. But I do like the gag, it's just that the timing was wrong!