On Priesthood Quorums

I just encountered the following by David O. McKay. It affirms what I have written earlier: the brethren have taught for years the importance of the priesthood quorum in each man's life. As I noted elsewhere, the priesthood quorum should be the support group of choice.

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Teachings of Presidents of the Church: David O. McKay, 3: The Purpose of the Church, pp. 23-24

Consider the priesthood of the Church. Picture therein the men and boys organized in working sections or groups, from the father ninety years old, down to the boy twelve years of age. In these groups you find exemplified all that human society seeks in social groups and in societies. There is opportunity in these quorum groups for fellowship, brotherhood, and organized service. …
Those who are active are working in an organized way for the betterment of one another, for the personal welfare of the membership and for the good of society as a whole. If we considered no further than the quorums, is not that a sublime picture, where men and boys may congregate, associate, affiliate in service for humanity, in which every man considers everyone a brother? In that quorum the doctor sits by the side of a carpenter, each interested in the most ennobling of aspirations—worship of God and helpful service to humanity!
The responsibility of the Relief Society is to aid the priesthood in establishing the kingdom of God, in relieving the suffering and giving succor to the poor, and in many ways in contributing to the peace and happiness of the world. …
One of the most encouraging promises ever given to people who love service is that made by the Savior in these words, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Matt. 25:40.) … I grew to manhood before I realized the significance of the service that is rendered by our sisters in this Church.
The Church, recognizing the potency of other influences besides the home in the growing child’s life before he reaches self-determination, offers a religious environment almost from the time of birth. The Sunday School, the Primary, the [Young Men and Young Women organizations] arrange suitable instruction, entertainment, and proper guidance from the cradle roll to maturity.
The Latter-day Saints are truly a people who aid one another in the productive life, a life that tends towards the salvation of the human being. By that salvation I do not mean just a place in the hereafter where all our cares and worries may cease, but a salvation that applies to the individual, to the family and to society here and now. Through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the perfect organization of the Church as revealed in this dispensation to the Prophet Joseph Smith, we are aiding one another spiritually by taking advantage of the many opportunities for service in the Church. We are fostering brotherhood by activity and association in priesthood quorums, in auxiliary associations and in our social gatherings.

Coping With Trauma -- Final Excerpt

A final excerpt from Coping With Trauma:

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Finding your way out of meaninglessness is a major step, but there is another -- finding hope. My mentor, Paul Pruyser [Pruyser PW: Maintaining hope in adversity. Bull Menninger Clin 51:463-474, 1987], saw early attachments as the wellspring of hope: "hoping is based on a belief that there is some benevolent disposition toward oneself somewhere in the universe, conveyed by a caring person." He must have been right; hopelessness is a glaring result of trauma in relationships with caregivers. But the search for benevolent attachment is rarely squelched, even in those who have suffered dire childhood trauma. The quest for secure attachment and hope thus conjointly lay the foundation for coping with trauma:

I suggest that hoping may be a third basic type of response that does not have the
vehement aggressivity of fighting nor the limp abdication of fleeing. If
hoping is developmentally based on having experienced the mutuality of trust and
having received some benevolent care, a person may be prepared by such
experiences for meeting adverse circumstances with quiet courage rather than in
a competitive fighting posture or in meek retreat. The fight and the
flight responses are reflex actions programmed in the limbic system; hoping
is a much more thoughtful response that presupposes consciousness, freedom, and
choosing, and is surely organized at cortical levels of brain action. [Ibid, p. 472]

Beyond fight or flight, there is hope.

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Source information:
Jon G. Allen, Ph.D., Coping With Trauma: A Guide to Self-understanding, American Psychiatric Press, Inc., 1995