Today in priesthood we watched a talk given by Elder Bednar at BYU-ID about the use of electronic media with regards to yourselves and your family. Usually when the general authorities talk about the use of the internet it is regarding pornography, but his talk did not discuss that at all. He was talking about virtual reality programs where you take on different identities online. I guess there are programs where you create a person with different personality and character traits and sort of live a made up life. He shared examples of people who spend up to 6 hours on a week day and 14 hours on a weekend online living out some fantasy life. It's sort of hard to explain like he did, but one of his main points was when we spend so much time online we neglect not only our relationships with loved ones, but our own physical bodies as well. If you have heard him talk enough you know he is very into physical fitness. He has a routine where he exercises and studies the scriptures every morning.
Although I have heard other general authorities tell us we need to be physically healthy, I don't remember any of them putting so much emphasis on it. I guess it's like everything else, we need to be consistent with that aspect of our lives. That's something I am not exactly good at, but it is something I want to be better at. I guess I should add it to the list of things I need to be more consistent about doing.
He also shared a very interesting quote that Neal A. Maxwell told him: "today's generation has more capacity for obedience than any other generation ever has", speaking of the students at Ricks College when Elder Bednar was president. I immediately thought of my kids, but I think it was actually speaking of my generation. I think we can assume that our kids' generation has an even higher capacity than us. They definitely face more wickedness from a younger age than I ever had to. If it wasn't for my parents teaching me things that I need to know, I would have been much worse off. That same responsibility rests with me now for my kids. That message of consistency is going through my head again.
Anyways, I'm not sure what the point was, but there you have it. I'm interested to see if anyone else has seen that talk. Discuss it amongst yourselves.
Colin
HISTORY
A Little History:
Our story begins in Pocatello, Idaho, circa 1972, when the lovely Debby Christensen agreed to a first, though fateful date with admirer, David Croshaw. Long story-short, he bade her follow him, and they went arm-in-arm to the Logan, Utah temple for establishment of an eternal family unit, Generation 1, on May 23 1973.
From their first blissful summer in Salt Lake City, educational pursuits took them to Provo/Orem, Utah, birthplace of Leslie and Rebecca, and to San Francisco/Oakland California, birthplace of Colin and Matt. Then, for establishment of livelihood, expansion of the tribe with Abby and Dana, and for raising/unifying of Generation 2, it was back to the roots in Pocatello for a rewarding sojourn.
In time, driven by a raging, but commonly shared sense of adventure and independence, one-by-one, Generation 2 escaped the homeland to distant regions of the country and the world, each ultimately developing their own tribal expansions by pairing with worthy mates and initiating Generation 3.
Now sensing fulfillment of their purpose in Pocatello, Generation 1 has also left those roots and transplanted to Cascade Idaho, from which base, they anticipate more abundant contact with The Posterity, Generations 2 and 3, in the future. That contact however, awaits fulfillment of a call to LDS missionary service in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, wherein they hope to help the state of the world by sharing the love of Jesus Christ.
So now, including Generation 0 (Grandma and Grandpa Christensen) home base includes Yuma, Arizona, Pocatello, Idaho, Cascade, Idaho, Vancouver, BC, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Spokane, Washington, Boise, Idaho, Los Angeles, California, back to Boise, Idaho, and on and on (Generation 3+) to infinity.
Our Mission Statement:
This is the blog of our eternal family unit. Initiated years ago, it served well as a journal, but even more so, as an archive of our personal interaction. It was a gathering place, a confabulation instrument, a unifying force for four generations of widely dispersed and progressively prolific posterity, and their valued associates. Though it served these purposes well for many years, it eventually took a back seat to new-kids-on-the-block, Facebook, and Instagram, and was sadly forgotten.
We now move to resurrect this blog with an added functional purpose of archiving the missionary experiences of Generation 1, of their movements and activities as they participate with The Gathering of Israel in the land northward. In so doing, we hope that via their own comments and posts, this blog will again serve to gather and unify the posterity and their friends.
As in the past, that the young and vibrant may know the old and tired, that enduring bonds may be fostered and maintained, that experience and encouragement may be openly shared, that posterity may embrace truth, and that hearts may be knit together, we must resist detachment despite our geographic divergence. We shall do so here.
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5 comments:
There was a very similar CES broadcast (I think) on social media. I think the point was that we need to foster real relationships with people. It's hard to really serve someone over the internet, unless perhaps you're a divorce lawyer, but I think even those papers are served in person.
At any rate, I think it's a great point, and interestingly, the catholic church also came out with a similar statement last week. Of course they also are considering nominating St Isidore as the patron saint of the internet, at least according to the BBC.
On your other point though, I have to agree on the physical fitness. It's so important, but like everything else, consistency is the key. It's hard sometimes to get started, but I've learned that a little bit each day eventually gets us there, and it builds a sense of discipline and accomplishment - the latter being the more important to getting there in the end. Anyway, that's my 2 cents for now.
i am a huge advocate of physical fitness. i think it is great to combine scripture study and exercise. i have at least tried to combine ensign study and exercise. i even find that i can tune out the loud radio station when i study--sometimes. how does he do it, colin?
David beat me to it - I was thinking of that same CES Fireside he gave recently. It was basically about how virtual relationships can't and shouldn't compete with the real thing. Soon I'll move back to DC and start heeding his counsel.
I heard this connection made recently between maintaining physical and spiritual health. I'm a big fan, because I think both are so important. I think there are a lot of parallels - the principles behind it are the same, and I think the fruits are similar, too. In either case, if we're physically or spiritually healthy, we're stronger people overall, and we'll be better-prepared to be instruments in the Lord's hands.
About the parallels Abby mentioned, yesterday in Sunday School someone was talking about hitting a runners wall, but you have to push through it to keep on going. It made me think that sometimes we hit spiritual walls, I think I have before, and if you don't try harder and stop being so slack you can't push past it, and your progress will stop. Not sure if that goes along with the topic, but I thought it was so interesting.
So I'm not sure if that was Jason or Dana that wrote that, but I think it's a great comment. I think our personality comes through in all we do, so sometimes we learn through physical manifestations and other times through spiritual ones. I've learned lots of lessons and skills through exercise and hard work. It's been interesting to me to see how my personality (strengths and weaknesses) come through when working out.
Oh, and as for working out and reading, I'm not sure how he does it but I'll share my tricks. From the MBA-I-have-no-time bag of tricks, I would often warm up at the gym with a recumbent bike and an ensign article, or whatever case I was supposed to be reading. This works on the elliptical sometimes too, but treadmills and pools are out. I've also used that time to listen to conference on the iPod. That works too when you have less time. Sometimes I also stretch out at home when I'm reading my scriptures. It keeps me awake while pondering and helps me maintain some flexibility (when I'm consistently doing it).
wow. I think I set a record for longest comments so far. hmmm...
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