Not So Subtle Anymore

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Priesthood session of the October 2000 conference.

While I was growing up in the 1960's and 1970's (I graduated from high school in 1975 for reference) we were taught in church that Satan was very subtle and we needed the power of discernment to see and understand his wilily ways. Now, several generations later Satan is about as subtle as a foghorn, easily heard and seen.

Bishop Richard C. Edgley, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, titled his talk "Satan's Bag of Snipes". 

. . . there is another 'snipe hunt' going on all around us, and we may be the naive victims. It is not a practical joke, and it will not end with a good laugh and a little warm fellowship. Satan is the great deceiver, liar and enemy to all that is good, including our happiness and our well-being. His great desire is to thwart our Heavenly Father's plan of happiness and make us 'miserable like unto himself' (2 Ne. 2:27). Being the very author and perpetrator of deceit, he in effect would invite us to join him in his snipe hunt, to fill our bags with excitement, fun, popularity, and the so-called 'good life'. But his promises are as illusionary as the nonexistent snipe. What he really offers are lies, misery, spiritual degradation, and loss of self-worth.

 

The latest news from Nashville, Tennessee bears this out. Following Satan's lies brings nothing but misery to the individual as well as many others who are innocent.

We've been given eternal truths by which we can discern Satan's lies in The Family, A Proclamation to the World. We don't have to wonder what is right and wrong. We don't have to go along with what Babylon teaches.

Bishop Edgley concluded with this stirring testimony:

Because of His priesthood, we are empowered. We are royalty. And we have the power to discern between Satan's snipes and God's true principles of happiness. Because we know who we are and because we are endowed with the Holy Spirit and empowered with His priesthood, we have the power to just say no. "No, Satan, I will not be a victim of your deceitful, vicious, and often deadly snipe hunt." I testify that 'wickedness never was happiness' (Alma 41:10) and wickedness never will be happiness. I further testify that happiness and self-worth will come only from living the principles of Him who created the plan of happiness.

 

What a blessing to have modern seers, prophets and revelators to guide us in these latter-days.

Righteous Traditions

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday afternoon session of the October 2000 conference.

When most of our children were teenagers I asked them if they could tell what was most important to me. They answered almost in unison, "The Gospel." (In voices that also said, "Duh, what a dumb question.") I was surprised and pleased at the same time. And I realized that my efforts were working.

Elder Donald L. Hallstrom of the Seventy said

Of all the traditions we should cultivate within ourselves and our families, a "tradition of righteousness" should be preeminent. Hallmarks of this tradition are an unwavering love for God and His Only Begotten Son, respect for prophets and priesthood power, a constant seeking of the Holy Spirit, and the discipline of discipleship which transforms believing into doing. A tradition of righteousness sets a pattern for living which draws children closer to parents, and both to God, and elevates obedience from a burden to a blessing.

While some of our children have strayed from the Gospel Path, I know that they had a strong foundation while growing up, and that they feel loved, accepted, and encouraged in their (righteous) endeavors now. I am hopeful that someday they will feel the pull of the Savior's love and return to the righteous traditions of the Gospel and their family.

Noble (oldest) & Me

Me with (next oldest) Lt. Lehi and his wife Miss Pasta

JET (middle child) and Me

Me and Mr. Movie (fourth in line)

Me and Dandylion (baby of the family)

Some other posts where I share how I taught my children:

Reverence, Family Home Evening, Nineteen Year Training Program

(Yes, I'm the shrimp of the family. I'm 5'7", Noble is 5'9", the boys range from 6'2" to 6'4".)

What Kind of Women Do We Need?

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday morning session of the October 2000 conference.

In less than two months our daughter will graduate (debt free) with a Masters degree in Creative Writing. It's been a delight to have her live with us for the past four years. We regularly discuss books and writing and such. Learning from her as she learns has been tremendous fun. She also teaches a section of "Freshman English" each semester, so we hear about the current state of students too.

A phenomenon in recent years has been the rise of the "strong woman" protagonist in stories, books and films. This strong woman doesn't need a man to rescue her, she is doing the rescuing, battling males with aplomb and leading armies to victory, etc., etc. 

Our daughter grew up with four brothers so she is not entirely drawn in by the myth of the strong woman. She understands that a woman's strength is more in the emotional and spiritual realms rather than the physical. (Although I will say that she and I regularly move furniture and heavy boxes, open jars and doors, and fix things around the house in the absence of any males.)

In this session of conference Sister Margaret D. Nadauld, Young Women General President, spoke of The Joy of Womanhood. She said so many profound things! The best of all was this:

Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity.

 

Our daughter, who I call Noble on my blogs, served in the USAF for four years, and has now gone to college for seven. She stills lives up to her name, Noble, because she is the kind of woman Sister Nadauld describes. We need more like her!