So my lesson for the Priest Quorum today is titled, "Overcoming Temptation". Yeah, I scored on that one...lucky me, LOL. This coming from the guy who can't pass up a bag of Tostito's Hint of Lime chips whenever he shops the grocery store. Oh, and by the way for those wanting to know, Tostito's Hint of Lime chips now come in a bag that offers 20% more. Isn’t that great? This is how it's advertised on the bag:
HEY! THERE'S 20% MORE FREE FUN TO SHARE IN HERE
15.625 oz. FOR THE SAME SUGGESTED RETAIL PRICE AS 13 oz.
Fun to share, FUN TO SHARE...are you kidding me? Who wants to share when you can down all 2,400 calories and 2,560mg of Sodium during an episode of Lost? I'll be honest, not me! Also, you want to see some rationalization here? I have scoured through D&C Section 89 with a fine-tooth comb and nowhere, and I do mean nowhere, do I find any reference to Tostito's Hint of Lime chips being against the Word of Wisdom. To take it even one step further, I honestly believe Tostito's Hint of Lime chips builds health in my navel and marrow to my bones. How's that for justification? Actually, I do believe the Destroying Angel resides within each bag and the Adversary is the CEO of Frito Lay. 'Nuff said about that!
So back to the lesson. Teaching is great. Especially teaching 16 and 17 year old young men. The challenge is imagining and understanding the temptations they face nowadays. See it's been over a quarter century (NO OLD JOKES ALLOWED!) since I was their age and times have changed. Oh I know they face many of the same temptations I did as a youth, but somehow in this day and age those temptations seem more sophisticated in their presentation. Convenience has become a common theme in our society. So much is laid in our lap without us having to lift a finger literally (o.k., so you lift a finger when you use the T.V. remote, the computer mouse, the game console control pad, etc.). Entertainment is so easily accessible without leaving the confines of our home, our couch, or our desk. At least when I was a kid and wanted to get into mischief, I had to go looking for it. Now it seems like the mischief comes looking for us.
Anyway, Chris Stewart is an LDS author I have really come to enjoy. He wrote a series of books titled, "The Great and Terrible", and from it I have retained an excerpt from his writings that I find very enlightening, very applicable to our day. It's something I will include in my lesson today and it's something I give a lot of thought to as our society, and I do mean American society in particular, struggles with moral right and wrong.The setting is the Pre-existence and Lucifer is counseling with his angels as to how they can better convert the children of God to his plan for mortality. Like present day LDS missionaries, Lucifer's angels go about the kingdom spreading their message, however their success is minimal. So Lucifer decides on a new approach and provides an orientation to his angels where he teaches them the following...
"...Now listen to me, people, for this is the key...evil can be twisted into virtue if you phrase it just right. Any vice is acceptable if you cloak it as an issue of freedom. Any immorality is worth fighting for if you tell them they are fighting for choice, if you wrap it in the mantle of privacy and freedom. So take their moral agency and turn it on them...Only lie when you have to. Speak the truth when you can; for the truth, once it's twisted, is the most effective tool we have. Coat your lies with enough truth, and they will swallow it down. But be patient...be patient...it takes time to turn the truth upside down."
If that paragraph does not describe the state of our society so accurately, I don't know what does. Hopefully, I can convey that message to my Priest Quorum effectively. It is vital they understand the necessity of putting on the whole armor of God. We must all understand it and do it, or we risk losing everything that matters most.
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