For Zion

"But the laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion; for if they labor for money they shall perish." (2 Nephi 26:31, emphasis added) 

One of the questions on the get to know you sheets that I'd pass around to my students asks what kind of a profession they would like to pursue. Sometimes I'd get answers like "rich" -- and that always reminds me of the scripture above. Pursuing this truth there are a couple questions that need answering: What does it mean to labor for Zion as opposed to for money? Does this mean we are to refuse payment? What does it mean to perish? There are plenty of wealthy people who seem to have sought it with a determined and singular approach just fine. 

Zion can be defined a few ways scripturally: a chosen land (D&C 58:49-50), the Lord's people (Moses 7:18), and a state of heart (D&C 97:21). I think the latter two definitions are most helpful for understanding this scripture.

The Lord describes the people He calls Zion as being of one heart and mind and dwelling together in righteousness without any poor among them. This society is interested enough in each others welfare that poverty is eliminated. Their interest in unity has overcome all selfish interests. To labor for that kind of Zion would require someone to buck the one of the prevailing trends in of our current day: profits over progress. It has been demonstrated over and over to the observant citizen, that large and wealthy industries and the share holders within them are more interested in preserving and enlarging their profits than they are in benefitting human kind. The oil industries repeated killing of alternative fuel vehicle startups is only one of a tidal wave of examples. In a capitalist market, without moral discipline, money becomes God. On a personal level, the laborer in Zion's own drive for personal enrichment would have to be checked by the desire to lift and bless all others in his society. His yearning to lift them would emerge instead of just his desire to lift his own household above theirs. Maybe that's what his heart needs to be purified of - the pride of one-up-man-ship. 

Do I really labor for Zion? Am I really seeking to lift and change my society for the better with my efforts? Or is it only a means to the end that is my paycheck? While it is a natural and God-given inclination to support those within one's stewardship. To do so in a way that genuinely lifts all others - and for that to be one's true motivation seems to be much more noble than racing rats. Perhaps it comes only as we broaden our understanding of our stewardships - to include our communities - that we begin to care enough to approach Zion.    

The Responsibility to Provide

 

"By divine design, fathers.. are responsible to provide the necessities of life.. for their families." (The Family Proclamation) I read a book a few years back that claimed the human form was, among other living animals, the best suited of them all -- for distance running. Aspects of human anatomy like the achilles tendon, the presence of an independent diaphram, and our upright stature were cited as distinctly advantageous. These allowed certain tribesman to persistence hunt antelope across the African savanna. Not able to match their speed, the hunters would track their prey on the run, catching up to them just before they recovered over and over until they were too exhausted to flee. Physical form had prepared the way. There are, of course, many other things the our physical form could be uniquely gifted at and prepared for. We were created in the image of an all-powerful Father and Mother. 

What about the design of our spirits? What could it mean that fathers were designed to meet the responsibilities of providing for families? Are there certain pieces of our spiritual anatomy that predispose us? Certain interests or capacities that persuade us? I remember hearing that the motives of providing, presiding, and protecting are played upon generously by video game producers interested in enticing young men. That seems to make sense. Perhaps less familiar with spiritual than physical anatomy, I digress.

At lunch with Mark Schultz olympic champion and then coach of the BYU wrestling team, he asked me what I planned to pursue as a potential career field. My less than convincing answer belied my indecision. I was young, and figured I had time yet to decide the pursuit I would be giving over a quarter of the waking hours of my adult life to. He asked what my dad did for work. When I told him he was a school teacher, he assured me that I would likely find something lucrative - most he knew that grow up in such scarcity did. The thing is, I didn't really feel like I had grown up in scarcity. I did notice we didn't live in luxury, but I don't think I cared much, then or now. His confidence in my future prosperity was memorable enough for that day.          

Attending various class reunions and other adult gatherings over the years have left me with the impression that there is an underlying belief that net worth and actual worth are in fact correlated. That is, in my opinion, a specifically potent poisonous position.

What about the potential of job loss? What about the conflicts that may arise between climbing the corporate ladder and being there for family? If the numbers in my bank account are growing shouldn't I be growing happier and happier too? 

Remember, the worth of souls is great in the sight of God (See D&C 18:10,15-16). It is His work and His glory to bring to pass their immortality and eternal life (See Moses 1:39). He who possesses all things cares most about His children - their growth and progression. To become like Him and qualify for the promised blessing of all that He hath, they must learn to prize what He prizes too.   

"...[T]he riches of the earth are mine to give;" the Lord told the early Saints of this dispensation, "but beware of pride, lest ye become as the Nephites of old." (D&C 38:39) 

Because they are His to give, seeking them to his exclusion makes little sense. Even in this small verse it is evident that he is much more concerned with the soul than the pocketbook.

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth," the Lord's voice echoes from the mount, "where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matt. 6:19-21).

In the Book of Mormon the wearing of costly apparel is always the companion of the prideful mistreatment of others and a precursor to destruction. 

Timothy taught that,

"...[T]he love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (1Timothy 6:10). 

Causing God's children to err from their faith in Him and pierce themselves through with sorrow is the obvious work of the devil who seeketh to make all men miserable like unto himself. He lurks around this divine responsibility to provide as nearly as the river of filthy water follows the path to the Tree of Life.

The Father doesn't cede the territory though, He asks us for an invitation into our career fields and financial pursuits saying:

"Cry unto [me] over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them. Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase" (Alma 34:24-25).  

He comes both to generously bless and carefully protect those who invite His influence into their labors.

To the early Nephites, the Lord gave this counsel and promise: 

"But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God. And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good--to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted." (Jacob 2:18-19)  

I remember wondering what exactly the Lord meant by "obtain a hope in Christ." I've come to conclude that it has to do with the hope of a glorious resurrection in and through Him because the course of life I am pursuing is carefully aligned with His will. It is a change in me that makes me more concerned about others than my own financial bounty. Wealth is a means for the expression of that changed heart and not the object of it. The firmly changed heart magnifies the good in the gift while honoring and delighting the giver. United in purpose, they may become an agent of the Father for the fulfillment of His purposes on earth. 

Maybe I'm Charlie Brown...

One of the most challenging things I consistently face in this life is loneliness. Ironically, I don't think I'm alone in this.

In elementary school I recognized that the word "weird" was just my name spelled backward with a lonely looking "I" standing in the middle of it. My mom assures me that she and my dad weren't trying to send me that message when they chose my name. She also assured me, over and over, that normal really wasn't what I should be shooting for anyway. Different wasn't just ok, it was desirable.

In junior high, some of my closest "friends" decided that they would spread a rumor that I was gay if I didn't do like they did and get a girlfriend. The thought of such a label terrified me, but so did romantically pursuing some seventh grade girl. I was doomed... and then Diana asked. We "dated" just long enough to placate peer pressure, then it was over. I can still feel the awkwardness of the whole situation now as I recount it.

Since then my memory convinces me at times that I have stood alone more often than not. It might not be really be true though. Then there was tonight. After a lonely couple days, feelings of abandonment by my students, and the pressure of hard conversations and faculty dynamics had peaked, an afterwork nap on the couch seemed the appropriate recourse. I awoke to an embarrassing phone call. I had forgotten the adaptive needs sports team that I was going to grill for at the school! I was late, and they were trying to make due without the services that I had promised. Hustling as hard as I could with my tail so deep between my legs I rushed and risked to undo the shameful abandonment I was guilty of. Through it all -- she was there and that made all the difference. 

So, between junior high and now the Lord saw fit to bless my loneliness with the most beautiful and wonderful red-headed lady the world may ever know. On this occasion she anxiously helped me throw things together in my embarrassed rush, she called over and over at the most inopportune times, and ultimately just came and stood by my embarrassed side in the high school lunchroom -- with me - in support. 

I'll be forever grateful for the God who knows me so well that He knows exactly how to run to my aid in every time of need including this one. I'm also grateful for the beautiful little redheaded girl that was His hastening feet today.        

Seeking Home

Should others know?

It's been an interesting experience telling people about our plans. This post isn't about how they came about, or what they even are, but more the learning experience that this process has been. 

Deana and I noticed that people respond in a few different ways to the news that the state Home Builders Association (HBA) is demolishing our house and building a new one for the purpose of helping us improve Christi's quality of life. In the eyes of some we will see genuine joy mirrored as we rejoice together, in the eyes of others there is less excitement. I think I understand it too - we certainly don't deserve it. 

We know of so many others with such difficult circumstances and no such calvary coming to their rescue. Why us? We ask it too. Some of these interactions became awkward enough that we - and that's significant, because my wife is much more socially adept than I am - decided to quit telling new people about it. In the discomfort of our obvious unworthiness, we even contemplated declining the offer.

I heard on the news this morning that one of the worlds wealthiest men, Elon Musk, was paying $1 million to a few lucky voters in Wisconsin if they'd sign a petition for a particular candidate for the state supreme court. So there are certainly more frivolous expenditures and promises, and more dubious ways of spending even large amounts of money. Unlike that, however, this effort has nothing to do with the political influence of a multi-billionaire and it doesn't really come from deep pockets at all. Steve, our contact with the HBA, asked us to create a slideshow to introduce people to Christi and her needs. He's been showing it at various meetings for over a year now, soliciting donations. I wonder how many people have become familiar with our faces through his presentations without ever meeting us. Would it make for an awkward passing in a super Walmart when only one of us recognizes the other? Would it be more awkward if I were wearing sweatpants and a stained shirt and scolding one of my kids at the time? We are unworthy.

Are we supposed to feel unworthy? 

When Jesus asked Simon Peter to cast out for a drought and subsequently filled his and his compatriot's boats to the sinking point with fishes, Peter responded saying, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord." (Luke 5:8) That could have been the end of the story had Jesus obliged. He didn't though, He had other things in mind for those fishermen. When Jesus appeared to the Nephites in the land Bountiful after His resurrection, their growing realization of who He is culminates with the combined exclamation "Hosanna!" or "Save us now!" (3 Nephi 11:17) In recognizing the incredible goodness, power, and holiness of their resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ, and having personally felt the wounds in His hands, feet, and side they must have known and felt it was for them. And because they each had their individual opportunity for this personal experience - they must have felt it individually too. Like Elder Renlund shared of a woman who had been overlooked in the administration of the sacrament in her ward:

   "One Sunday, as [Diane] sat in the congregation, the layout of the chapel made it so that the deacon did not see her as the sacrament was passed. Diane was disappointed but said nothing. Another member noted the omission and mentioned it to the branch president after the meeting. As Sunday School began, Diane was invited to an empty classroom. 

   A priesthood holder came in. He knelt down, blessed some bread, and handed her a piece. She ate it. He knelt down again and blessed some water and handed her a small cup. She drank it. Thereafter, Diane had two thoughts in rapid succession: First, "Oh, he [the priesthood holder] did this just for me." And then, "Oh He [the Savior] did this just for me." ("That I Might Draw All Men unto Me," April 2016)

The Lord emphasized to Joseph:

    "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God; For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him." (Doctrine and Covenants 18:10-11, emphasis added) 

What should we do with this feeling? (still a work in progress - more to come)

Forty-Five

 Joseph Smith Sr. was 45 when his Vermont farm failed. That's my age. As the provider for his large family (9 kids), I'm sure it weighted heavily on him. The circumstances weren't even in his control. Mt. Tambora in Indonesia had erupted with such force on the other side of the world that it caused "the year without a summer." Midsummer frosts doomed many crops worldwide. To save his family, the Smiths picked up and moved. 

Martin Harris was a different story. By the time he was 45 he had amassed over 300 acres of farmland. He was well enough off to take time off for travel. The Lord put him close to the prophet Joseph too. His relationship with his wife was a little rocky, but maybe the money had kept problems from coming to the surface for awhile. I heard a political pundit claim in November that Kamilla Harris' campaign may have suffered from her fundraising success. Money tends to insulate businesses and organizations from recognizing problems until they become larger and maybe out of control. The same might be true for individuals and families too.

Sorry, forgot to ask. Is now a good time for a midlife crisis? I'm not sure I know exactly what that feels like, but every now and then when I feel restless or without much traction I wonder... 

I came home on Saturday from the wrestling tournament feeling impotent. Four coaches at the arena was good for the one time we had four matches going at once, but otherwise I was just another guy making noise in the corner. Some of the wrestlers are starting to make some real progress. That's exciting, but likely not a direct result of my efforts. As effective and useful as I try to be, I have a growing feeling that I would be making a greater difference elsewhere. That elsewhere is likely home. The pay is never why people do these things. That I'm talented at it, or enjoy it, those reasons aren't really good enough either. What if all the effort I invested into wrestling was systematically invested in Christi and the boys? I would have to make sure that it wasn't wasted, because there is a temptation there, but I think I could make a more significant difference with them. 

The truth is, Joseph Sr. and Martin Harris were both on the brink of something big at 45 - life changing even. Is there something like that in the cards for me? I'm not sure. There are a number of things about my life that I don't want to change, there are also many that could be improved though. For both of these 45 year olds drawing closer to God than they'd ever been before was important. For both, aligning themselves with God's work even at great personal sacrifice was essential. For both hearing God's voice through His prophet and following through with diligence was crucial.

Section 4 of the Doctrine and Covenants is a revelation for Joseph Sr., section 5 (3 and 10 too really) is a revelation for Martin Harris. Both are invited to play specific roles in the work. I always found it interesting that the scripture missionaries recite most (sec. 4) was given to someone who didn't leave his family to serve a full-time mission. He didn't go abroad to teach, but was to share the message with friends and neighbors. So I approached the sister missionaries after they spoke in our sacrament meeting today and asked if they could come teach us how to be better member missionaries. They're coming on Thursday. Do you have any suggestions in the mean time? 

Martin is a fixed on his desire to be a witness of the plates. It is an inspired desire for sure, but one he really has to stretch for. From pressures within his own family circle come things like the loss of the 116 pages, the ransacking of Joseph's house, and even lawsuits. His pursuit of this desire however may be his saving grace. The blessing of that witness and his firmness in his testimony of it changes his trajectory significantly. What stretching things does the Lord have in store for me? For this 45 year old? While I wait for these questions to be answered, I think I'll work on that three part list above. 

I've started on my third time through the conference messages this week. As I study, I'm going to try to channel Joseph Sr. in my obedience. I want to be a useful tool in the Lord's hands, and I'm sure he'll help direct my efforts as I hold closer to Him and His word through His prophets. 

Helping Christi

 in January of 2007 we went for the 20 week ultrasound at a small imaging clinic in Taylor, Arizona. We were excited and the tech was silent. Expecting it was standard operating procedure, we waited for the doctor's read of it. The phone rang a few days later inviting us to visit a specialist 3 hours away in the Phoenix Valley to investigate "abnormalities." When we made the trip, the specialist brought us in, hypothesized about a defect called "holoprosencephaly" with an incredibly high mortality rate and suggested abortion. We caught our breath, asked if Deana was at risk, and refused. He transferred our care.

The next doctor gave us one of only two prognoses that we have ever received for Christi. He told us that while in the womb she was in a safe place, but whatever was going on in that head of hers would be too much for her to survive more than a few minutes to a few hours after birth. That was all we could expect. 

Trusting that families are forever, we decided to loose no time building a relationship with our girl and began singing nightly to Deana's growing belly. "I am a Child of God" was the standard, and we hoped together for opportunities to lead guide and walk beside our sweet girl through whatever life held for her. 

March 29th was the scheduled C-section delivery. The pressure in her head had caused it to grow off the charts and she needed to come 2 months earlier than expected. We steeled ourselves, but were overjoyed to welcome our rather robust looking 4 lb 14 oz angel into the world. 

The doctors worked hard to stabilize her and then collect tests and samples to determine how they could best help. I followed - with a finger for her to hold and a familiar song on my lips. And when I sang it was powerfully clear - She knew me! She would quickly calm down and listen intently whatever was going on to hear our common plea that Heaven would lead us, guide us and help us find the way.

Within hours of birth they made a hole and inserted a tube into her head to relieve the pressure. 10 ounces and three days later, her now overlapping head plates created a curious spectacle. But she was here! she was ours! And she was beautiful!

The doctors determined now that she had suffered a stroke in utero killing some and disfiguring other parts of her brain. She had prenatal hydrocephalus and the fluid pressure in her head had literally been smashing her brain tissue against the inside of her skull. 8 days after her birth - on the 6th of April she had her first of many shunts placed to keep a regular fluid pressure in her head. The ensuing years included all sorts of new experiences and helps: head shaping helmets, feeding tubes, and seizure meds. Occupational, speech, and physical therapists came to our home became part of our routine. Milestones we had taken for granted and used to compare our children against others with our first two children became priceless and personal miracles. Talking was maybe the most normal milestone she reached around age two. She took her first steps at age 5. Before she began schooling, at 4, Christi's cognitive function testing revealed that she was significantly behind in all categories except one. She had the auditory memory of a 9 year old! She loved music and we felt so grateful for those early feelings to sing to her. 

Jospeh Smith taught: "All the minds and spirits that God ever sent into the world are susceptible of enlargement" (Teachings, 354). Parents naturally hold the primary responsibility to nurture that growth. With our first two children, that looked pretty standard, setting goals for milestones, school, sports, etc.. With Christi, sometimes it felt like all we could do just to keep her alive. Her growth and progress were punctuated dramatically with life threatening episodes from time to time. Shunts would fail, seizures wouldn't stop etc.. We joked with life flight teams occasionally about the frequent flyer miles that we must be accruing. 

There were great times of almost normalcy too, and we looked, hoped, and prayed for ways to help Christi's life be as wonderful and enriching as possible. Some of the answers to those prayers included the idea to enlarge the hole in a bottle nipple using a heated fork prong - to help her get off her feeding tube and learn a normal hunger response. And later, when she was 7 years old, the idea to bungee-cord her feet to the pedals of her bicycle to help her learn to discipline her muscles to the pattern for riding (watch her here). She was so determined and worked so hard! She inspired us with her drive and zest for life.

Then when she was 7 1/2 years old we had our closest call of all. After struggling to keep anything down for at least 12 hours, Christi went into cardiac arrest. When I found her she was blue gray and unresponsive. I called out to Deana and started CPR. She called 911 and our neighbors. After a pleading blessing, she was transported to the nearest hospital and then flown to Phoenix Children's. Deana flew with her and I drove. The former student of mine that was on the ambulance crew that day went home and told his mom, "There's no way she'll make it." With a few close calls on the flight, they arrived at Phoenix Children's hospital where they put her into a medically induced coma to save her life. She would stay that way for the next 2 weeks. 

After my 3 hour drive to the hospital one of the doctors took me aside before I was allowed to see her - to convey the severity of the situation and to temper my expectations. Doctors and nurses rushed in and out for a while, but then things slowed down and it was just me and her. It was pretty clear - our lives were going to change again forever. The eerie way the monitor showing her brain waves drew a continuous flat straight green line day after day testified to it. We yearned for her, talked and sang to her, prayed for her and hoped. We wondered too - what was her experience like? What would it be like if/when she awoke? We talked to each other too - about how important it was to provide as much normalcy for our other 4 children as possible. They couldn't feel they were less important.

So many around us fasted and prayed for her and us during that time. When she finally woke up two weeks later we found out slowly that she could no longer see, speak, eat, or even move her muscles voluntarily. But she was still here and still ours! Maybe we could help her regain function. We were excited to help her as much as possible. Fasting, prayers, improvements and setbacks filled our days and nights before an insurance company and a bedbug outbreak sent us packing back up the mountain and home.

Since that time we have worked hard to improve Christi's life. We moved back to Utah to be close to Primary Children's and family. We learned an intense medication and physical care regiment and how to de and re-construct her wheelchair to fit into the trunk of our car. We've been with her in the hospital over and over and over again. Long enough to learn the lingo, know many of the doctors and nurses that work there, and the staff at the Ronald McDonald house. Sometimes it has been intense - like the time all her doctors assembled in a room to tell us that they felt like she was in decline and encourage us to put her on hospice for what they expected to be the last weeks or months of her life - that was back in 2017. She likes to defy the odds.

She has helped teach my children compassion and service without expectation. She has taught me lessons about topics from determination and grit, to love and simple joy. She has brought us neighbors and friends full of love. 

Deana bears such an immense burden for her! Countless daytime hours for stretching and therapies, medications and bowel regimens as well as meeting the needs of our other 4 children. I, for nearly the past decade, have covered the night shift. I slept on a beanbag outside her door for most of it, but now on a foldable mattress beside her bed. Helping her has been a helping us for a long time. (to be continued) 

A Sacred and Protected Place

After attending a stake fireside on pornography put on by family services, and while living in a world where sexual things have become divisive and pervasive, I wanted to write down my thoughts and convictions. 

I’m currently a bishop, a father, and the principal of a seminary. Before any of those though I was a boy, a teenager, and a young man with all of the awkwardness I could handle, and all of the strength of emotion that sometimes I thought I might not be able to. Long before all of that though, I was - I am - a child of God. I now recognize that that last truth is more important to all of this than I had supposed.

The procreative power our Heavenly Father has given to each of His children on this earth through birth and maturity is such an incredible trust! Think of it, of all the possible opportunities to partner with the Father in His Creative work, He extends to us the chance to be co-creators of the physical bodies He gives His very children!

Adding powerful detail to the degrees of glory revealed to Paul, the Lord taught Joseph that, “In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; "And in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage]; And if he does not, he cannot obtain it. He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase” (D&C 131:2-4). Increase means family. The procreative power will only remain in the eternities with those who will be exalted. It is the privilege and even the very essence of Godhood. 

It is such a privilege to wield procreative power in a lasting manner that no cheat, liar, or even lazy person will. Only those valiant in the testimony of Jesus (D&C 76:79), those who love not their lives even unto death (Rev. 12:11), those who sacrifice after the manner of the Son of God, those who make and keep sacred covenants. For the rest its use is momentary and, in eternity, fleeting.

Why does such a sacred and godly act have such a sordid reputation here on earth then? The answer lies at least partially in the raging jealousy of the devil and his followers.

When Satan and his followers were cast out of the presence of God for rebellion they came disembodied to this earth (see Abraham 3:26). Forever lacking that essential characteristic of godhood, their rebellion halted their progression and stifled their capacity for joy (see D&C 93:33). Their rage directed at sexuality seeks constantly to make something that is inherently Godly and sacred common and profane. Popular music, movies, shows and styles seek to arouse and exploit sacred God-given emotions for profit. These modern moneychangers need to be driven from this sacred space as forcefully as Jesus did it from the temple in Jerusalem.

Society won't do it - individuals and families must protect the sanctity of sexuality. I got a feel for this need as a college student looking for extra credit in my Psychology of Gender class. Without enough thought to look at the guest or the topic, I chose a date to go hear a speaker on campus. Walking in a little bit late, I looked quickly for a seat in a packed combination of ballrooms. I noticed, in passing first, but then more and more, that the audience was predominantly female. I took my seat and quickly found out why as the speaker began to recount her experience with date rape. The air was heavy with shock as we listened motionless to her detailed account. Then at the end she asked the males in attendance to stand. I remember quickly scanning for the exits and wondering if I was going to have to make a break for it. On the heels of such a story, opinions of males had to be at an all time low. The handful of us in attendance stood up slowly -- then she thanked us for coming. She suggested that in case we felt that this topic didn't have much to do with us that we should remember that 1 in 4 women are sexually assaulted in their lifetime. She asked us to think of four - mother, sister, wife, daughter - which one were we willing to let this happen to? I had 4 sisters at the time. I couldn't imagine. If we wanted to change that culture, she encouraged us to do a few things -- not to laugh next time someone told an objectifying joke, maybe even speak up against it. It would take bravery, but given the weight of what we'd all just heard, it wasn't hard to commit.

I heard once that President Nelson refuses to be entertained by the breaking of the commandments. What a powerful, yet difficult position. It sounds like Nephi to me - praying that the Lord would help shape his response - "Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of sin?" (2 Nephi 4:31). The media would shape my response to the appearance of sin also. What influences will I permit?

One of the strongest - and even surprising - emotions the Savior displayed during His earthly ministry was His response to the presence of the moneychangers in the temple. Those seeking to make money - to desecrate and make common merchandise of the sacred. "Sex sells," the modern moneychangers say - as they seek to stimulate sacred God-given emotions to move their product and attract viewers. Such is the world people say with a shrug of the shoulders. What about those who have taken upon them the name of Christ in this world though? How are they to act?  

Last week we attended the open houses for the Taylorsville and the Layton temples. Neither one had been dedicated yet, that was still to come, but each had a row of people by the entrance to the temple putting white disposable plastic booties over each set of shoes that came by. To be holy means to be different, set apart, sanctified for a specific purpose. Right on the building, etched in stone are the words "Holiness to the Lord," His house is uncommon by nature - even in it's undedicated state - so much so that my shoes need covering before entering. The Lord said to Moses on Sinai - "put off thy shoes from off thy feet for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground (Exodus 3:5). What if we refused to allow the immorality in popular entertainment to be tracked into the sacred temple-topic of sexuality in our hearts and minds? What if the music we allow to play upon our feelings was also similarly guarded. What if we really drove the money-changers out?