Due to the weird circumstances of my life for the past 20 odd years living with dad, I have been in Relief Society off and on. When I was in the presidency of course I felt obligated to be there as much as possible. But lately I confess I have missed it much more often than I have been attending. So this past Sunday I was without any of my normal family responsibilities and felt impressed to stay for RS. I have no idea why, maybe you can help me out.
The lesson was on a conference talk by Elder Pearson Stay by the Tree. The teacher was emphasizing the distractions and deceptions that Satan uses to keep our attention away from the things that matter eternally. It was a good discussion. One sister when asked to read an excerpt from the talk went on a rant about Facebook. She is a gentle soul that finds the kind of shall we say frank and spirited discussion of politics on FB harsh and mean. She had decided to absent herself from FB for some time until she could figure out how to deal with the incivility. All well and good until that caused the discussion to slide over into technology is wrong and wicked and the root of all trouble with the younger generation.
Fast forward to my turn to read out an excerpt. Part of that excerpt mentioned earnest scripture study as one of those things we need to do that has eternal consequences. I just had to do it...so I said most of my FB friends are LDS. And while at times the discussions can get spirited for the most part they are uplifting and enlightening. That technology simply is...it is how you use it that makes it "good" or "bad." I even talked about how I use old world maps and Google to help me put scripture events into historical context which sometimes helps to see the broader picture. I moved the discussion in the other direction. But at least I put my two cents in for what it was worth.
But I walked out of church wondering why I was impressed to go. No, I really don't think it was the discussion. I doubt I changed anyone's mind. We all have our own opinion of technology and our experiences reflect that. I know I'm "suppose" to go to all my Sunday meetings, but I just wonder if after all it was simply a small obedience test. If so, I hoped I passed with flying colors considering I even contributed LOL. Do you ever wonder though why a certain nudge and yet fail to see clearly the purpose?
Hmmmm...you won't change everyone's mind, but I suspect you gave more than one person something to pause and think about. Good for you - for obeying a prompting - and for doing so actively. You are magnificent. I wish we lived closer to each other! Great post as always! hugs~
ReplyDeleteI wish we did too. Thanks. Maybe I did help someone and I'll probably never know I did. That's happened to me.
DeleteTerri, I think we don't always know what the purpose of a prompting may be. We can ask ourselves endless questions, or we can accept that we followed the Spirit at that time, and be satisfied or comforted that we did so.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, I'll never know why I was prompted to get out of my car, return to my locked house, and get soda straws for the Cub Scout Pack Meeting before I drove off. Someone else had the assignment to bring them that night, but I followed the Spirit--after three repetitions of the call--and unlocked my back door to fetch them. To this day I don't know why, but it's a handy object lesson for following promptings.
Thank you for the insightful blog--and for defending technology in such a plain fashion.
You are so right. And it's happened before. Sometimes I guess we do expect instant understanding when it's not really necessary.
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