When we consider thoughtfully, why would we listen to the faceless, cynical voices of those in the great and spacious buildings of our time and ignore the pleas of those who genuinely love us? These ever-present naysayers prefer to tear down rather than elevate and to ridicule rather than uplift. Their mocking words can burrow into our lives, often through split-second bursts of electronic distortions carefully and deliberately composed to destroy our faith. Is it wise to place our eternal well-being in the hands of strangers? Is it wise to claim enlightenment from those who have no light to give or who may have private agendas hidden from us? These anonymous individuals, if presented to us honestly, would never be given a moment of our time, but because they exploit social media, hidden from scrutiny, they receive undeserved credibility.
Elder Vern P. Stanfill, “Choose the Light”, General Conference, October 2015
As I was watching a TV show, I noticed how often a political agenda gets pushed so that it destroys an otherwise decent plot. And, it’s more than one agenda sometimes. Then I realize how many people watch these programs. Most of the viewers are not mentally awake enough to know there is propaganda being thrown at them. Before they know it, they’ve become desensitized to what is normally wrong. Worst yet, they agree with these agendas.
Satan has a tremendous and powerful influence in society. His “great and spacious buildings” are full, enticing, alluring, and even comfortable….until they’re not.
There are two paths to take in life. There is no other way way to travel through this life. One path is very wide at the start, promising freedom to do what we want, say what we’d like, even be how we want to be. Overtime, that wide, freedom promising path becomes narrower, until it is tremendously restricting and our freedom is gone. That’s exactly what happens when we don’t choose wisely. When we give our agency away so we can indulge or enjoy the moment.
The second path is just the opposite of the first. It starts out very narrow. Travelers on this path are protected by following or adhering to the commandments. The commandments are not there to restrict by any means, or to limit basic rights and freedoms or agency. They are there to guide, to light the path, to keep us from wandering toward the other path. Overtime, this second path widens. As we continue to put our trust in the Lord, He puts more trust in us. We travel this path until we have every freedom in eternity, until we are at complete peace, until we are like our Father. We know that all things are done in wisdom and order. The universe is founded on laws and order. We know we can’t break those eternal laws or we will cease to be anything.
So be careful who we try to emulate. There are genuinely good people, and there are those that pretend to be good, and then there are those that just don’t care about moral or ethical rights.
For me, I choose to follow the genuinely good examples in life. The greatest of these is Christ, even the only perfect Being. He is the One to emulate. He is who I want to emulate, even though doing that is challenging and difficult, but I try.