Today, Jake and I spoke in sacrament. He spoke on miracles and hit it out of the park. I spoke on careful vs casual and did okay.
Careful versus
Casual
12 September 2021
Once upon a time, approximately 3000 years ago, there was an
ancient city on the coast of Turkey named Troy. It was located across the
Aegean Sea from the Greek city-state of Sparta. When the king of Sparta heard
that his wife, the beautiful Helen, had been kidnapped by a prince of Troy, he
called on the other Greek city-states to help him get her back. His call was
answered. A thousand Greek ships set sail for Troy.
The city of Troy was protected by a high wall built around
the city. Some parts of the wall were 20 feet high! There were gates in the wall
to let people in and out, but it provided great defense for the people of Troy.
It gave the Trojan warriors a relatively safe place to stand, while they rained
arrows down on the people below, who were trying to break into the city.
At the time of this story, Greek warriors had been trying to
breach the wall around Troy for about ten years. The Greeks could not find a
way in, and the Trojans did not seem able to drive the Greeks away.
Things looked pretty hopeless until Odysseus, a famous
ancient Greek general, thought of a trick. It was the custom back then to leave
a peace offering behind to admit defeat. Odysseus suggested the Greeks build a
huge, heavy, beautiful wooden horse, and leave it outside the gates of Troy.
Then, the entire Greek army would pretend to leave, as if they were headed for
home. But it was a trick. The horse would be hollow. Thirty men would be hiding
inside. The very best Greek artists got busy carving the giant wooden horse,
adding great detail, because everything in the Greek world had to be as
beautiful as possible.
When it was done, the Greek warriors pretended to sail away,
leaving the horse behind. The people of Troy rushed outside, cheering their
victory! They dragged the heavy horse inside the city gates and put it on display,
which is just what the Greek general thought they would do - gloat.
That night, while the Trojan people were sleeping, the men
hiding inside the wooden horse climbed out and opened the gates. The waiting
Greek army entered Troy. That was the end of Troy.
After years of consistently being on their toes, the Trojans
had one moment of letting their guards down, and it led to a victory for the
Greek and the fall of Troy. The Greeks chose a form which appealed
to their targets, using a sacred creature and type of wood. Likewise, Satan
does this today, he makes things appealing to our basic interests. He has more
knowledge than we know and will do all he can to distract us from drawing near
to Christ.
Our lives can
parallel this story as we too are in a constant battle and must be diligent in
not becoming casual in our daily interactions. Today the word
"Trojan horse" is used for things that are like that story: something
that looks good, but in truth has another purpose, usually bad or to distract.
The Trojan horse became a distraction for the people of Troy. Throughout this
talk, please reflect on any distractions you may have in your life, some of
which maybe good but deterring us from the best.
As members of the
Lord’s battalion, we must adhere to the path that leads to eternal life and be
diligent in our choices. The scriptures contain various stories of where if we
are not careful, we become casual. Peter
denied the Savior three times as he was casual, maybe it was an unintentional,
but he failed to be careful in his circumstance and hold to what he knows true.
The Book of Mormon tells the story of the vision of the tree of life where
Lehis pleads with his family to hold to the “iron rod” or pure truth contained
in the Lord’s gospel. Sister Becky Craven counsels: “The vision of the tree of life shows us how
the effects of casualness can lead us away from the covenant path. Consider
that the rod of iron and the straight and narrow path, or the covenant path,
led directly to the tree of life,
where all the blessings provided by our Savior and His Atonement are available
to the faithful. Also seen in the vision was a river of water representing the
filthiness of the world. The scriptures describe that this river “ran along” the
path yet passed only “near” the tree, not to
it. The world is laden with distractions that can deceive even the elect,
causing them to be casual in living their covenants—thus leading them near the
tree, but not to it. If we are not
careful in living our covenants with exactness, our casual efforts may
eventually lead us into forbidden paths or to join with those who have already
entered the great and spacious building. If not careful, we may even drown in
the depths of a filthy river.1
There is a
careful way and a casual way to do everything, including living the gospel. As
we consider our commitment to the Savior, are we careful or casual? Because of
our mortal nature, don’t we sometimes rationalize our behavior, at times
referring to our actions as being in the gray,
or mixing good with something that’s not so good? Anytime we say, “however,”
“except,” or “but” when it applies to following the counsel of our prophet
leaders or living the gospel carefully, we are in fact saying, “That counsel
does not apply to me.” We can rationalize all we want, but the fact is, there is not a right way to do the wrong
thing!” Let me repeat that, there is not a right way to do a wrong thing.
It is a reminder to me that I
am not the exception to what the Lord has already revealed, no matter how okay
I think it may be. I must review what
the Lord expects of me and carefully make sure that I am not becoming casual in
my choices, especially the small everyday choices where the devil wants to
sneak in most, knowing if he does, he can more easily creep into my life. It
can be hard to not try to rationalize our choices and see it as a gray area, saying that counsel does
not apply to me because it was given twenty years ago or my circumstances deem
alterations to it. I am reminded of counsel provided by President
Oaks in 2007- “As we consider various choices, we
should remember that it is not enough that something is good.” The good can
also become a deterrent or casual in our lives.
“Sometimes we do find
ourselves in the gray. Mists of darkness are inevitable as we journey along the
covenant path. Temptation and casualness can cause us to subtly divert our
course into the darkness of the world and away from the covenant path. For the
times when this might happen, our beloved prophet, President Russell M.
Nelson, has urged us to get back on the covenant path and to do so quickly. How
grateful I am for the gift of repentance and for the power of our Savior’s
Atonement.” (Craven, 2020) We will make mistake and we will be casual at times
but there is a way to overcome and find our way back.
To be
careful is to pattern our lives in a way that we make deliberate decisions to
prepare for what may come our way. It is
being deliberate in our prayers, our scripture study, our service to others,
and deciding now what we will do when temptations arise. Being deliberate is
living like our good friend Teancum in the book of Alma. To recap my version of
Teancum, let us think back to Moroni, the mighty Nephite leader. Moroni was a
phenomenal leader, whom from what we know was a man of great faith. However, there
is a story in Alma 51, where Moroni was engaged in good things but they were
also a distraction that led to the bondage of the city of Moroni (Alma 51:20-23).
Teancum, an unsung hero of mine, was called upon to help Moroni and Lehi defeat
the Lamanites and regain the cities. As Teancum was preparing to rescue the
city of Mulek, he was deliberate in his actions, which later led to a victory.
How was he deliberate? First, he evaluated the situation and prepared to defend.
Realizing he could not do it alone, he waited for the help of a leader but was
not idle as he waited. Teancum sought out every opportunity to scourge the Lamanites,
followed orders with exactness, but was not afraid to retreat for help. His deliberate actions let to the freedom of
the city.
I am blessed
to surround myself with people who make me better. Frequently, our family is
counseled by Jake to be deliberate in our actions and not casual. He teaches our children that being deliberate
(or careful) is more than just reading the scriptures but trying to learn from
them and apply, whereas being casual would just be reading to check it off a
list. Being deliberate in our prayers is more than just saying them but
developing that relationship with God the Father, Jake suggests telling him a
story each day. Being deliberate in living the gospel and making the better
choices will increase our joy in this life and our relationship with the
Savior. Sometimes being careful is being there for others when it may not be convenient
yet making a difference in the lives of others.
Show up and know you are seen by the Lord. Yes, we will be casual at times, but we have
the opportunity to re-align daily through prayer and each week as we partake of
the sacrament to be more careful.
Sister Craven ends her talk with the following: “It’s
impossible to live a perfect life. Only one man was able to live perfectly
while dwelling on this telestial planet. That was Jesus Christ. Although we may
not be perfect, brothers and sisters, we can be worthy: worthy to partake of
the sacrament, worthy of temple blessings, and worthy to receive personal
revelation.
King
Benjamin testified of the blessings and happiness that come to those who
carefully follow the Savior: “And moreover, I would desire that ye should
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.”5
I testify that as we are deliberate (careful) in living the
gospel and building our relationship with the Savior, we will not fall victims to
the Trojan horses of our day. Let us not
just profess to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,
as those in Helman 3:33, but let us be deliberate disciples of Christ as members
of his gospel. Let us seek to become like Teancum- evaluating situations,
preparing to defend, and not afraid to retreat as we await the help of others
if needed. But if we are called to wait, let us not be idle and continue to
prepare.
