Miriam did beautifully. I trembled like a leaf. Andrew made on-the-fly adjustments to fill the remainder of the time left in sacrament meeting. And Alexander spoke a little later in primary and did just great!
Also—fun fact!—I used the word "been" nine times in my talk and apparently that it is real tell for a Canadian. I say it so that it is homophonous with "bean," not "bin." To me it rhymes with "seen," not "sin." And apparently that's a dead giveaway!
Good morning brothers and sisters! I’m Miriam Heiss, you’ve probably seen me up on the stand playing the organ, I’m also the young women class president. I’m preparing to take the AP music theory exam tomorrow, so I’ve been reading a lot about what I need to do to obtain a passing score. Approximately 20% of test takers score a 5, and 67% get a score of 3 or higher. I want to get a 3 or higher (a 4 or a 5 would be ideal), so I need to obtain a level of quality that is good enough for the AP graders. They have fairly high standards, and I want to meet those standards. In one very interesting analogy, I’m going to compare Heavenly Father to an AP grader. Heavenly Father wants us to meet his standards, and, as said in Doctrine and Covenants 45:9-10, he wants us to seek his standards. He has fairly high standards, as stated in 3 Nephi 12:48, we are supposed to be perfect, like Jesus is.In D&C 45, the standard Heavenly Father wants us to seek is his “New and Everlasting Covenant”, which is, quote “[a] light to the world, and…a standard for [his] people,” unquote.
So, what is the new and everlasting covenant? In Marcus B. Nash’s December 2015 talk, appropriately titled “The New and Everlasting Covenant”, he says, “The new and everlasting covenant ‘is the sum total of all gospel covenants and obligations’ given anciently and again restored to the earth in these latter days.” This includes the baptismal covenants, baptisms for the dead, and all the temple ordinances, the endowment, initiatory, marriage, and sealing. These are things that separate us from most churches, it’s something for us to gather under, these are ideas that we use as a “norm”, and a standard of quality the Lord wants us to obtain. When we keep these covenants, it allows the light of the gospel to go forth into the world.As many of you know, I’m homeschooled, which means that I have a very small social circle. I also chose activities to do that are pretty solitary (surprisingly, you don’t talk to a lot of people when you knit and play the organ) so it’s always a little bit difficult for me to answer the questions that talk about how to spread the gospel at school, or to my friends. Something that my parents always say is to just exist, and exist in a way where people around you will feel the light of Christ through you. Something that I probably should have realized earlier is that my parents actually say a lot of things to teach us valuable life lessons. When I started digging more to find where these sayings might have come from, I found that most of them come from the scriptures. For instance, something that my parents say (that was referenced over the pulpit twice, by Bishop Dallin and my brother) is “do what you can do.” I connected it to three scriptures. D&C 58:27, “men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause,” Mosiah 4:27, “it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength,” and D&C 123:17, “let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power.”This is how you pass the AP exam. In the Free Response questions, there are 4 “dictation” questions, which is where you hear a melody, and notate it. The other day, I was watching the college board videos on what to do in this section, and the teacher who had recorded the lecture kept saying “Fill in as much as you can, if you only have a little bit, you’re doing wonderfully.” The AP graders don’t expect perfection now. I don’t think Heavenly Father does either, despite what 3 Nephi 12:48 says. We can’t be perfect in this life, but we need to try as hard as we can. This is how we meet the Lord’s standards. We need to put in effort.In the temple endowment, which we learned about last week in Sunday school, you covenant to keep specific “laws” of our church. The law of obedience, consecration, sacrifice, and the law of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Quoting from the Church’s page about the temple endowment and the covenants you make, quote “When you keep your covenants and repent of your imperfections, your relationship with Him is strengthened and He will bless you more fully. Your relationship with the Savior also becomes closer and more meaningful. Covenant keepers gain greater access to the power of God and to lasting love, peace, comfort, and joy.” unquote. When we keep our covenants of the new and everlasting gospel, we are brought closer to Heavenly Father. When we put in effort, He puts in effort.One great example of a covenant keeping people are the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. They made a covenant to not take up weapons of war, and kept that covenant even when they were at war with the Lamanites, by sending their sons. The 2000 stripling warriors knew that “God [was with them], and he [would] not suffer that [they] should fall.” They put in the effort to keep their covenants, and God delivered them. They were also taught very important lessons by their parents, their mothers more specifically. “They had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.”I bear my testimony that if we keep our covenants, try our very hardest, and exist in a way that people can see the light of Christ through us, we will feel God’s presence more fully. To quote Helaman’s 2000 sons, “I do not doubt, my mother knows it”. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Here's what I said:
Good morning sisters and brothers,Before I begin I’d like to thank Miriam for her talk, and especially for pointing out that we should all listen to our mothers—because we absolutely should!I’d also like to thank the wonderful primary children in advance for the beautiful song they are going to sing (which Miriam happened to arrange for us). Our children truly are gifts from heaven. Serving in the primary has been a joy for me. I’ve wanted to be a primary chorister my entire life. When I was little it was one of the things that I would have listed if I were asked what I wanted to be when I grew up—primary chorister! Easy answer. I don’t know if it’s because my mom was my chorister in primary for years and I saw how it brought her to life…or if it’s just because singing has always been an easy way for my soul to commune with God…either way, it’s a calling I’ve always wanted but have never had before now, so I’m very grateful for the opportunity to serve in this capacity this past year.Another title that I would always place on my list of things to be when I grew up was mother and I’m very grateful for the privilege of mothering my six children. Our youngest, Phoebe, is three years old. Alexander is seven and is excited to be baptized later this year. Zoë will turn 10 later this month. Benjamin will be 13 soon after. You just heard from Miriam, and then there’s our oldest, Rachel, who will be leaving for BYU later this summer, which is a terrifying and exciting prospect. On the one hand, it’s thrilling to see the wonderful young woman Rachel has become and to imagine all the amazing things life has in store for her, but on the other hand…how dare she grow up so quickly!?I don’t know where the time went, but it’s been a delight.As I said, I’ve always wanted to be a mother and I enjoyed being a stay-at-home mom for several years, but I did reach what I termed my “mid-mom crisis” a few years ago when I realized that the intensive—but rewarding—work of raising small children was indeed temporary. People had warned me about this, but…I dunno…it sounded fake.It’s not fake, guys. Children grow up.And then what?What was I supposed to do—to quote Mary Oliver—with my one wild and precious life? [1]I really wasn’t sure what the answer to that question was, but I knew I couldn’t simply be a homemaker. Anyone who has seen the inside of my house knows I’m not cut out to be a homemaker. I burn cookies and am always forgetting about laundry. And, frankly, I’m happy to forget about the laundry. I’d much rather be doing other things, anyway.So, a few years ago I went back to school and got my master’s degree in education at the University of Georgia. But evidently I still couldn’t answer the question about what I wanted to be when I grew up so I’m back at UGA working on a PhD in Language and Literacy Education, while also homeschooling our children. So I’m in the trenches of education all the time. And despite my best judgement—because you should hear me rant about standardized testing—I’ve had to concede that a crucial tool for effective teaching is a good rubric.As Miriam explained using her upcoming AP exam as an example, people like to know what’s expected of them. They like categorizing things. They like organizing things— Abraham 4 tells us that God organized and formed the heavens and the earth [2]. And then what did he do?He determined that His creation was good, right?So he must have had a rubric.As children of God we crave the knowledge that what we’re doing is good.In his book Varieties of Religious Experience, William James asks readers to imagine a universe devoid of emotion, stripped of values or rules—essentially, he’s asking us to imagine a blank universe, which he notes is rather impossible to do. Without a rubric in place, he says, “the whole collection” of the universe’s “events would be without significance, character, expression, or perspective” ([3] James, 1902, p. 150) and we wouldn’t be able to handle it. We would immediately begin to sort things, categorize things, assign value to things.Humans crave these kinds of systems.We want to know the limit—in part to test the limit or potentially transcend the limit. But also because without known limitations we often feel powerless or lost, not knowing where to begin or where to go. Limits can provide a sense of safety and peace—as we learn from Barbara McConochie’s song ‘Keep the Commandments.’ Limits can help us to safely explore our environment, and understanding established rules and principles can help us solve problems confidently and creatively—not to mention more effectively than if we had been given no ground rules at all.In 2006, researchers at Mississippi State University conducted a study on preschoolers and playgrounds. They found that when preschoolers were taken to a playground that was not fenced in, they tended to stick closely to the play structure itself and kind of orbit around their teacher. When those same groups of students were taken to a playground that had a fence, however, they would spread out to explore the entire area. “The overwhelming conclusion,” the researchers said, “was that with a given limitation, children felt safer to explore... Without a fence, the children were not able to see a given boundary or limit and thus were more reluctant to leave the caregiver.” [4]Now, most of us in this room aren’t preschoolers—thank goodness! Some of us are preschoolers and we love those preschoolers dearly, but I think we’re all probably happy they’re in the minority here. Anyway…most of you aren’t preschoolers, so what does this study on playground fences have to do with the rest of us?In the church, we have standards, as Miriam talked about, many of which help us to keep God’s commandments. Such limits help us to learn in a safe environment, but they aren’t immutable. In fact, they can sometimes feel quite arbitrary and are prone to changing over time. For example, when my mom was at BYU women weren’t allowed to wear pants on campus—they had to wear skirts or dresses. And when I was at BYU there was no Coke on campus because many people felt that that beverage wasn’t in keeping with the Word of Wisdom. Rachel is heading to a BYU campus where she’s free to wear leggings and chug Coke without judgement, but the underlying principle—of living a dignified life—remains the same.Rules, standards, limits, and even commandments shift, often depending on what people need, what we’re ready for. Those rule changes at BYU feel rather trivial to me, but other times changes can feel more radical.In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus kind of took off the training wheels from the Ten Commandments by offering a higher law to live by. He said, in Matthew 5, for example: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.” [5] Here he’s moving us from the small sphere of loving our neighbour to loving everyone—including our enemies. Such a shift doesn’t prevent us from keeping the commandment to love our neighbour, but it does widen the playing field—with increased expectations, since where much is given, much is required (Luke 12). [6]One milestone I’m looking forward to as a mother is having all my kids graduate from car seats—boy, those things can be a hassle! There are certain size requirements a child must meet before various transitions can be made. They have to be a certain age and weight in order to transition from rear facing to forward facing, for example. But there are additional behavioural requirements that must be considered before transitioning from a five-point harness to a booster seat that uses the seatbelts built into the car. In addition to meeting the height and weight requirements, the child also has to understand that they have to sit, properly buckled, for the duration of the car ride. And they have to essentially choose to follow these limitations since nothing is forcing them to do so anymore. That behavioural requirement can be difficult for some children to meet.Car seat laws have changed a lot even in the time that I’ve been a mom. Like God’s laws, man’s laws change depending on our knowledge and understanding. When Rachel was a baby the recommendation was to transition from rear facing to forward facing at one year. A little later that recommendation was moved to two years old. And now the recommendation is to stay rear-facing as long as possible. We only flipped Phoebe’s car seat around recently—and she’s three years old—so the following story might seem implausible to some of the younger moms with us today. The rules have become stricter over the years, but were developed for the safety of our children, just as God’s law was given with our well-being in mind.Like I said, our youngest, Phoebe, was rear-facing until age three, and she’s still in a five-point-harness today. But my oldest, Rachel, was definitely in a booster seat at age three. That said, when Rachel was three we’d just moved back to the States from Egypt, where there are no seatbelt laws to speak of and where cars were often without seatbelts altogether—and I’d just been holding my kids on my lap or sitting them beside me whenever we’d needed to ride in a car. So Rachel was well-trained on how to sit nicely in a car by the time we introduced her to the booster seat. She’d never experienced the limitation of a five-point harness so the freedom of being without one wasn’t a novelty for her. If Phoebe wasn’t strapped into her carseat, on the other hand, she’d probably think it was party time because she’s never known that kind of freedom.Ten years ago—when car seat laws were a little different than they are today—Sister Carole M. Stephens [7] spoke in General Conference about a time when she was trying to take her three-year-old granddaughter for an outing, but her granddaughter repeatedly unbuckled herself, causing Sister Stephens to stop the car to buckle her back up again. They were making very slow progress and it was getting very frustrating for Sister Stephens, who tried everything from negotiation to bribery to get her granddaughter to remain buckled. After offering “a silent prayer,” Sister Stephens “heard the Spirit whisper, ‘Teach her.’” So Sister Stephens showed her granddaughter that she was also wearing a seatbelt and explained, “I am wearing this seat belt because it will protect me. But you aren’t wearing your seat belt, and you won’t be safe. And I will be so sad if you get hurt.”Her granddaughter stared at her while she thought about this new information, before responding, “Grandma, you want me to wear my seat belt because you love me!”Reflecting on this experience, Sister Stephens explained how quote “we may feel at times that God’s laws restrict our personal freedom, take from us our agency, and limit our growth. But as we seek for greater understanding, as we allow our Father to teach us, we will begin to see that His laws are a manifestation of His love for us and obedience to His laws is an expression of our love for Him.” Unquote. This principle appears in several scriptures, notably John 14:15, as well as D&C 42:29, which says, “If thou lovest me thou shalt serve me and keep all my commandments.” [8]Keeping the commandments can help us to find peace in our lives. Mosiah 2:41 asks us to “consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness.” [9] That is a beautiful promise. And I can certainly testify that I have felt blessings in my life because of my efforts to keep God’s commandments—and that’s all I can offer, right? Like Miriam said, perfection is unattainable in this life, so the best I can do is make an effort and hope that the Lord will “pardon [my] faults” and “bless [my] efforts day by day.” [10]I also know, however, that there are days when I don’t feel peace, in spite of making an effort to keep God’s commandments. Sometimes these fences that are erected to give us a safe place to explore can instead make us feel trapped on the outside. If that’s you, rest assured that God does not intend to fence you out. As Elder Kearon expressed in General Conference last year, “our Father’s beautiful plan…is designed to bring you home, not to keep you out. No one has built a roadblock and stationed someone there to turn you around and send you away. In fact, it is the exact opposite. God is in relentless pursuit of you…and He employs every possible measure to bring you back.” [11]Those words have stuck with me over the past year—God is in relentless pursuit of you.I’ve had a scene from Finding Nemo stuck in my head this week, which I’ll close my talk with. It’s where Nemo is at the Drop Off with his friends and they’re taking turns swimming farther and farther out into the open ocean, away from the safety of the reef. Nemo’s dad comes and freaks out when he sees them and gets into a bit of an argument with the teacher who should have been watching Nemo. While they’re arguing, Nemo swims out to a boat in the open water. His father notices and warns him not to touch the boat but Nemo puts out his little fin and slaps the boat anyway.And nothing immediately happens. Nemo begins swimming back to the reef (and his very angry father), when suddenly a scuba diver comes and scoops Nemo up, takes him back to the boat, and speeds away.The rest of the movie is about Nemo’s quest to come home and—importantly—his father’s relentless pursuit of him. While Nemo would have certainly been safer if he had not left the reef, leaving the reef didn’t change his father’s love for him, and his father—like Our Eternal Father—“employ[ed] every possible measure to bring [him] back.” It is the same for us. There is nothing we can do to change Our Father’s love for us.God’s commandments are designed with love, and his intention is that they will bring us safety and peace. Although sometimes we may feel that we don’t measure up to His standards, or that we fall short of the rubric, or that we are the one exception to God’s pattern of finding His creations good—and even if we, like Nemo, happen to touch the boat—we are loved forever and always. Each wild life is precious to Him.I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
[3] James, W. (1902). The varieties of religious experience. Longmans, Green, and co.
And here's what Andrew prepared:
In 1981, the First Presidency announced the future construction of the third temple in Europe, in Stockholm, Sweden. The announcement was met with little resistance, and even with some support from the community. However, in 1985, in the months before the temple's dedication, a vocal opposition movement started to emerge, criticizing the Church for constructing such a secretive building and labeling the Church as a mysterious cult. Sweden, like England, has an official state religion (Lutheranism). In response to this growing opposition, the Church of Sweden announced a press conference. Krister Stendahl, the bishop of Stockholm and a professor of theology and New Testament studies at Harvard, spoke in an effort to encourage religious harmony. He offered three rules for religious understanding, that anyone seeking to understand other religious sects should follow:
1. When you are trying to understand another religion, you should ask the adherents of that religion and not its enemies.2. Don't compare your best to their worst.3. Leave room for "holy envy"—or be willing to recognize parts in the other religious tradition or faith that you admire and that you wish could, in some way, be reflected in your own religious tradition or faith.
When I first learned of Stendahl's three rules, I was struck most by the third point—holy envy. While I love being a member of the Church and draw incredible spiritual strength from the restored gospel, I am full of holy envy, especially other religions' holy places. My love of other religious spaces started while I was on my mission in Rome. I would often take breaks from knocking on doors to admire, explore, rest in, and sometimes attend mass in ancient cathedrals. When we lived in Egypt, I would take breaks from studying to visit, rest, and reflect in ancient mosques. While going to graduate school in Durham, my favorite place on Duke's campus was the Methodist-inspired Duke Chapel. I would often take breaks from researching and writing and go sit in the chapel and reflect and find refuge. These other, non-LDS spaces became holy places for me. Earlier this week, the Catholic church selected a new pope, Leo XIV—the first pope from the United States (from Chicago), and a close friend to the previous Pope Francis, whose ministry focused on the marginalized and on building community. When I got a push notification that white smoke had appeared from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, I turned on a live feed and watched, waiting for the new pope to emerge on the balcony at St. Peter's, another one of my favorite non-LDS holy places. In his first sermon as Pope, Leo reminded all watching that
God loves us, God loves you all, and evil will not prevail! All of us are in God’s hands. So, let us move forward, without fear, together, hand in hand with God and with one another other!
From a holy place, a religious leader urged his followers to stand together and not fear. The world has always been a messy, scary place and people crave stability and refuge. Finding holy places is an idea common throughout all religions. In the Come, Follow Me readings for this week, we saw similar themes. In Doctrine and Covenants 45:31, after the Lord describes the calamities of the end times, he tells us that [M]y disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall not be moved. Today I want to explore both parts of this commandment and promise by looking at two questions that seem straightforward, but are surprisingly complex:
- What does it mean to not move?
- What does it mean to stand?
What does it mean to not move? I'll start with the second half of the scripture: "[M]y disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall not be moved." If we stand in holy places, we won't be moved. What does that mean to not move? From a non-spiritual perspective, not moving is the natural side effect of standing—if we're standing in place, by definition we're not moving. But I don't think that's what Heavenly Father is going for here. This promise comes in the middle of a long section about the impending horrors of the end times and the second coming. A few verses later, the Lord references the parable of the 10 virgins and reminds us that the 5 wise virgins could stand and "abide the day" because they were prepared. Last month in General Conference, Dale G. Renlund taught that this preparation meant that they didn't need to fear because they would survive and prosper—[they would prevail]. If we are prepared, we shall not fear—we shall stand. The Doctrine and Covenants is full of reminders to not fear. Every year, as part of our family scripture study, we choose a couple dozen scriptures to memorize over the course of the year. This has been great for evenings where we run out of time for "real" scripture reading, and we'll often go through a few memorized scriptures while driving home from some event or just as the kids leave for mutual. Though she's only 3, Phoebe also joins in. Since it's so short, her favorite this year is D&C 6:36: "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not." This verse broadens the definition of "not moving." Not only does not moving entail protection from fear, but also protection from doubt. For some people this might manifest as a type of unshakable and unchanging conviction of the truth. In my experience, though, I've found that doubt is a necessary component of unmovable faith, and that having beliefs that are too firm or too rigid might not adapt well when facing inevitable adversity. Paradoxically, doubt is necessary for faith and necessary to "not move" in these latter days. Going back to Catholicism for a minute, the 2024 movie Conclave depicts a fictional—but good faith—version of the process for choosing a new pope. The dean of the college of cardinals, or the cardinal in charge of orchestrating the voting process, opens the conclave with a mini-sermon to his fellow cardinals. In the film, he explores the relationship between faith and doubt:
There is one sin which I have come to fear above all others: certainty. Certainty is the great enemy of unity. Certainty is the deadly enemy of tolerance. … Our faith is a living thing precisely because it walks hand in hand with doubt. If there was only certainty and no doubt, there would be no mystery and, therefore, no need for faith.
Though fictional, this sermon aligns with something Pope Francis often taught—the idea that we need intellectual and spiritual humility. In a 2013 interview, he said
If one has the answers to all the questions—that is the proof that God is not with him. … The great leaders of the people of God, like Moses, have always left room for doubt. You must leave room for the Lord, not for our certainties; we must be humble.
Faith without doubt, faith without questions, faith with unerring certainty, and faith without humility can all lead to intolerance and disunity. While on the cross, some of Jesus's final words were "My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?" Christ intimately understands doubt. He felt abandonment. He felt alone. He felt utter depression. He felt existential spiritual doubt. He felt the pain of a faith crisis. This means that he understands us when we have the same feeling of abandonment, depression, doubt, and crisis. An excellent modern example of this is Mother Teresa, a Catholic nun who spent her life in the slums of Calcutta serving the poorest of the poor. She became a nun because of powerful spiritual and mystical experiences early in her life. However, early in her service in India, the heavens darkened. She lost all connection to God, writing "I am told God lives in me and yet the reality of darkness and coldness and emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul.… Heaven from every side is closed." (The Crucible of Doubt, p. 124). She remained in this spiritual wilderness for the last 50 years of her life, until her death. However, even in the face of her internal torture of pain and doubt, she lived a life of compassion and service. Whether we, like Mother Teresa, feel completely cut off, or whether we have more benign doubts, we can find comfort in the idea that Christ himself had the heavens darken and withdraw from him. He felt doubt, but was able to stand and "not be moved." Our church is structured in a way that allows us to cultivate our faith and wrestle with doubts. In October 2013, then-President Uchtdorf taught that
It’s natural to have questions—the acorn of honest inquiry has often sprouted and matured into a great oak of understanding. … One of the purposes of the Church is to nurture and cultivate the seed of faith—even in the sometimes sandy soil of doubt and uncertainty. Faith is to hope for things which are not seen but which are true.
In conjunction with doubt, faith lets us feel God's love. President Uchtdorf continues:
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters—my dear friends—please, first doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. We must never allow doubt to hold us prisoner and keep us from the divine love, peace, and gifts that come through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
As President Uchtdorf taught, we shouldn't let doubts overwhelm our faith, but we also shouldn't run away from doubt entirely. We need to have a strong, sure foundation and a firm core testimony, but also allow ourselves to be flexible in the face of doubt. As a social scientist, I conduct research to find truths about society. I'm certain in the quantitative and statistical methods I use, but I'm always a little bit doubtful about the results I find. I explore my own research questions with skepticism and try to leave room for uncertainty. This is actually a core part of statistics. You've all seen polls in the news about approval ratings or probabilities for storms where reporters talk about a margin for error. Good sources will rarely say that a politician's approval rating is precisely 43%—they'll say it's 43% ± some amount. Uncertainty and flexibility are built into the numbers. That same flexibility and space for inquiry applies to us and our testimonies. In 1934, Elsie Talmage Brandley, an early leader of what is now the young women's organization, and the daughter of apostle James E. Talmage asked
Is there a place—a legitimate and reverent place—for inquiry in the building of a testimony? We answer—we must answer—yes, and say that the basis of doubt and inquiry has been the genius of the church, the power through which members have fought their way into it. [1]
I would argue that working through doubts through sincere inquiry helps build a stronger, more powerful, and more flexible faith that will allow us to "not be moved" when facing hardships. What does it mean to stand? Let's return to the two questions I had at the beginning. We've explored the second—what does it mean to not move. Not moving is not fearing because of our flexible faith. So what does "standing" involve? Again, there are many possible interpretations for this. We can attend the temple—that's clearly a holy place where we can stand an strengthen our faith. We can make our homes feel like holy places by embracing love and respect and creating a spiritual atmosphere. We could even reclusively cower in a bunker, waiting for troubles to pass us while we stand in safety. I don't think Heavenly Father wants us to literally stand and passively not do anything. Having flexible faith, or "not moving," paradoxically pushes us to action. Standing involves work. In his famous "doubt your doubts" talk, President Uchtdorf taught this principle too:
Believing in God is commendable, but most people want to do more than listen to inspirational sermons or dream of their mansions above. They want to put their faith into practice. They want to roll up their sleeves and become engaged in this great cause.
Similarly, in spite of her doubts, Mother Teresa worked. She was deeply involved with her community. She served the poor. For her, standing did not involve sitting in a convent all day. Her faith drove her to action. In October 2008, President Uchtdorf recounted a story about a group of priesthood holders that were trying to move a grand piano from a church chapel to the cultural hall. After much deliberation and several failed attempts, they were told by one member, "Brethren, stand close together and lift where you stand." [2] He went on to discuss the importance of working together as priesthood quorums to serve and lift others. But the same lesson applies to all of us. We can and should lift others where—and while—we stand. Once again, standing isn't a passive thing—it's action. In D&C 123:17, the Lord teaches the same thing, saying
Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.
This scripture has become one of our family mottos and we'll often remind the kids to "cheerfully do all things that lie in their power" when they have to clean their rooms or do other chores (and sometimes we get eyerolls in response). What's interesting, though, is that the Lord once again mentions "standing still" here. We need to act and do things to find the assurance that associated with "standing." So what kinds of things should we do as we stand? We can think globally. In my research, I study global philanthropy and international charities. In October 2021, Sister Sharon Eubank gave a beautiful report about all the progress that the Church’s official humanitarian organization, LDS Charities, has made in alleviating poverty around the world. In just the past couple years, LDS Charities has responded to a thousand natural disasters in more than 100 different countries, providing millions of dollars in aid. We can get involved in similar causes. In April 2016, Elder Patrick Kearon and President Linda Burton announced a new “I Was A Stranger” initiative aimed at addressing a growing refugee crises, particularly for refugees fleeing from Syria and Iraq. Through LDS Charities, the Church has provided millions of dollars in grants, funding, and support for nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations focused on refugee rescue, rehabilitation, and resettlement. I have personally been involved with one of the organizations that received assistance from this initiative—a nonprofit based in Arizona that helps run and supply refugee camps in Greece, Jordan, Bangladesh, and elsewhere. We can get involved in similar causes. We can also think locally. In 1950, Margaret Pickering—then-general secretary treasurer of the Relief Society—spoke about the Church's efforts in post-WWII reconstruction around the world. She taught
It does not do much good to talk about such big things as “humanity,” “democracy,” and the “brotherhood of man” unless we can bring them down and apply them to our next-door neighbor, as that is where international amity and the brotherhood of man begins. [3]
Get involved in your community. Bake bread for your neighbors. Develop empathy for others. These kinds of actions are a powerful way to stand in holy places. Conclusion We've explored two questions related to God's statement that "[M]y disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall not be moved."
- What does it mean to not move?
- What does it mean to stand?
Both questions have paradoxical answers. We're commanded to stand still and not move, but we do that by acting and… moving. Weird, I know. "Not moving" involves not fearing and instead having faith. But being too certain and inflexible can leave us unable to cope with challenges and doubts. We need to instead confront our doubts with a flexible faith, which will allow us to not move. In the context of the gospel, "standing" implies implementing that faith through action. We shouldn't hide in bunkers. We should cheerfully do all things that lie in our power and live our faith in our homes, in our communities, and in the world. The combination of these two principles of faith and action is what provides us with the calm, peace, and refuge that God promises us. I encourage all of us (me included!) to develop a more flexible faith and to "stand" by acting and making the world a more inclusive, loving, and Zion-like place for everyone. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. [1]: Elsie Talmage Brandley, “The Religious Crisis of Today,” MIA conference, SLC, 1934-06-09 [2]: Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Lift Where You Stand," October 2008 [3]: Margaret C. Pickering, “Unto the Least of These,” RS general conference, SLC, 1950-09-28
And, finally, here's what Alexander had to say in primary—he had the same topic is Andrew:
Good Morning, everybody! My name is Alex. I have been asked to talk about standing in holy places. D&C 87:8 says, “Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved…” and Psalm 24:3–4, asks, “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart…” We can stand in holy places if we have clean hands a pure heart. The second verse of the song ‘When I am baptized’ begins saying, “I know when I am baptized my wrongs are washed away.” That’s metaphorical because when we’re baptized we don’t use shampoo or soap. Going under the water is symbolic of washing away our sins. We also make a promise at baptism to try to make good choices and to always be kind to others. When we “stand in holy places” it doesn’t mean just standing in the temple forever. It means that we do good things and do not stop doing those good things. The chorus of ‘Choose the Right Way” explains that choosing the right way will lead to happiness and says that we “must always choose the right.” I bear my testimony that as we try to always choose the right, our hands and heart will be clean and pure and we will always stand in holy places. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Lovely! For the sake of fact-checking, BYU did not allow girls to wear pants while Colleen was at BYU. She started in 1969 when she was 17. By the time I got there in 1975, girls could wear dress slacks but no blue jeans were allowed.
ReplyDeleteOh, no! I made you sound older than you are—on Mother's Day, too!
DeleteYes, I saw that blue jeans weren't allowed until 1981. I didn't realize pants were allowed so early in the 1970s (1971). I certainly remember the hubbub about leggings in the early 2000s though! Hahaha!