Just listening to Christian radio earlier today, there was a discussion about some scriptures in Leviticus. The gentleman running the program admonished us to not treat holy things as if they were common.
He mentioned his frustration at others of his faith constantly (or so it seems) talking about the "precious blood" or some other precious thing. His point is that if something is precious to us, we should not be constantly speaking of it in idle conversation.
I agree--to an extent. I have been privileged to have some powerful spiritual experiences and confirmations. Some of them so intensely personal and revelatory to me personally, that there is no way I would even want to share the details with others. I firmly believe in the "line upon line" concept. Everyone learns key doctrines when and how they are ready. Things have been opened up to me when I was ready and able to receive them. I love this about Heavenly Father. He doesn't give us more than we're able to understand and receive.
At the same time, I remember teaching more than one lesson in Young Women's and being as specific as I dared about such topics as boys, dating, marriage, divorce, temple worship, etc. I do this because I feel it is important to be specific. Most of my Young Women's leaders (back in the day) were not specific and there were some key things that I did not understand. I want these girls to understand--to know the importance of their marriage choices and the problems caused by divorce. I want them to know their divine nature and that any one who would have them forget or act beneath that is a second class citizen on their best day. They can choose for themselves, but I don't want it to be because I did not do my best to make them understand the seriousness of the choices they are making right now--at this point in their life. I tell them how I feel when I'm in the temple. I help them in every way I can think of to understand who they are.
I still found myself wondering, in the act of being specific and trying to help these wonderful Young Women, am I making light of serious things? I hope not, I don't mean to--but the thought remains. I suppose I'll have to ask the only one who really knows won't I?? Oh well. I'll keep you posted.
2 comments:
I think there is a HUGE difference between taking the very sacred too casually and being specific when teaching the laws and principles of the gospel, particularly as they relate to marriage and procreation. I, too, suffered heartache that grew out of unclear teaching, and when I talk to the youth about these things my philosophy is this:
Pull no punches. Speak plainly. Use biologically correct terms, even if it makes people uncomfortable. Answer all questions.
When I was teaching Sunday School I mostly taught the priests & laurels, and we had some very frank discussions on a number of occasions. "What is lasciviousness?" stands out in my memory as a good discussion and it was one that lasted 2 weeks, because I wasn't perfectly clear myself when the question was asked. Shortly before I was released I had a new class, 14 year olds that time, and the first week they told me they wanted to talk about sex. I set down the lesson I'd planned and asked them what they wanted to know. There was a great deal of shoe-shuffling and floor-staring, and we returned to the lesson. But had they come up with a question I would have done my best to answer it.
In my mind, that's a whole different ball of wax from, say, talking about the specifics of the temple or personal revelation.
Thanks Rits--I appreciate you! It's just funny how sometimes our brains work alike :)
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