My family-- well, my mother-- invited me to attend the LDS Priesthood Session of General Conference; so, I went.
To be honest, I've been wanting to start attending church again, and I was fully expecting a strong prompting to do so as I listened to the leaders of the LDS Church.
But, I didn't. Overall, I felt let down. I was thirsty to be spiritually uplifted. I was expecting to be spiritually uplifted... but I wasn't.
It seemed to me that the great majority, at least 80%, of the messages were focused on such concepts as "a worthy priesthood holder has well coiffed hair" -- that is, it was rather rare to hear a message that focused on the internal, the heart, the desire to do good and serve mankind, on love, on compassion... and the bulk was focused on the external, the outwardly measurable, etc.
I didn't see the message of Jesus Christ... instead it seemed I got a heavy dose of the Mosaic Law. Has Conference always been like this and I've never noticed? I don't remember this. I mean, I remember a small dose of such, but not the majority...
Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to critique or speak ill... I merely am addressing my disappointment.
I guess my beliefs in God and His Gospel have drifted even further away from Mormonism than I had thought.
Lately, I've been having the opposite effect. I listened to conference today not expecting much, especially since I had the kids running around the house. I was suprised to find myself tearing up while listening to Elder Wirthlin. Ironically, his speach was about laughing. I haven't been very worthly lately so I haven't expected to feel spiritually uplifted. Last stake conference it was all I could do stop myself from crying, even when I tried to ignore what was being said. I haven't felt the influence of the spirit for a long time, but lately, it just won't leave me alone - even when I want to be left alone.
ReplyDelete"a worthy priesthood holder has well coiffed hair"
ReplyDelete...along with many a gay man. ;-)
To me, it's much more common to be uplifted by the off-the-cuff words of my loved ones and friends than the best of speeches from strangers, even those I respect.
Priesthood and Relief Society sessions of Conference are the leadership's chance to craft gender- and role-specific messages — and, as such, often focus on the mechanics of Church membership a little more than the general sessions do.
ReplyDeleteIt's been like that for as long as I can remember. Of course, there are often deep spiritual gems in mixed in with the all the house keeping — like a talk I remember from a decade back on the power of quorums, which had a profound affect upon me.
it just won't leave me alone - even when I want to be left alone.
ReplyDeleteI've felt that many times, especially a couple years ago when things were really horrible for me, emotionally.
I think such is a testament to the veracity of Christ's "Ninety and Nine" parable.
To me, it's much more common to be uplifted by the off-the-cuff words of my loved ones and friends than the best of speeches from strangers, even those I respect.
Absolutely -- in fact, I was going to add in this post that the most uplifting thing was simply being with my family.
silus grok:
Now that you mention it and I look back, I can see that... I wonder why I never noticed such before...
:)
ReplyDelete